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Dec 28
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My Cob House in Lloyd Kahn’s Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter book!

By Media
tiny homes book - ziggy 1

Gobcobatron in the new Tiny Homes book

I was really excited yesterday, literally breathless with joy. I walked to the mailboxes yesterday afternoon and spotted a package from Shelter Publications casually lying across the top of our mailbox, and I tore it open to find two glossy new copies of Lloyd Kahn’s latest book, Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter. I literally ran home to pry into it (dropping one of the cute Tiny Homes mini books in the mud in the process… whoops!), and I was thrilled to see my cob house gracing four of the pages within.

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Dec 21
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Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter Book Due in February 2012

By Media

Lloyd Kahn, the man behind cult classics Shelter, Home Work, and the recent Builders of the Pacific Northwest has a new book coming out in February of 2012: Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter.

Lloyd’s previous books all feature the work of owner-builders with a natural flair. Many of his books have the element of travel in it, too, as Lloyd traipses around the country and beyond, meeting creative (and not too infrequently, quirky) builders that delve into natural and traditional styles of building. Shelter set the trend in 1973, and Home Work followed much later with more current day builders and their beautiful work, and Tiny Homes exposes the new exploding scene of tiny houses and small living spaces.

Actually, my cob house will be featured on two pages of the the book. Look for Tiny Homes in February 2012.

Dec 13
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The Year of Mud on Facebook

By Media

The Year of Mud has decided to grace facebook with its muddy-fingered presence. Check out The Year of Mud page and do what you will as far as “liking” us and all that stuff… Expect news announcements, updates about our natural building workshops, and some other good stuff.

(I have been avoiding the site like the plague for a while now, but… what with our building workshops and all that, it seems necessary to break down and get our name out there through the beast that is facebook. So it goes.)

Thanks for supporting The Year of Mud!

Dec 12
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Straw Bale Building Workshop 2012: Build a Straw Bale House

By Straw Bale Building, Strawtron, Workshops

The Straw Bale Building Workshop at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is now open to applicants! Come join us in July 2012 for a comprehensive 10 day straw bale construction course, where you will learn valuable skills you need to know to build your own straw bale house.

You’ll get hands-on experience stacking, securing, and pinning bales, and plastering the walls with local clay. Enjoy and learn from the incredible experience of helping to build an actual home in a well-known, inspiring ecovillage community.
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Dec 08
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Cabin Stove: Small Wood Burning Masonry Heater

By Heating

I’ve been in contact with Max of Firespeaking recently, and he pointed me to a very interesting masonry heater in response to my question about small masonry stove designs appropriate for small homes.

The Cabin Stove, built at Aprovehco Research Center, is a compact multi-functional wood burning masonry heater. A rather attractive one, I might say, that has cooking and water heating functions, in addition to slow-releasing radiant heat.

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Nov 22
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Timber Framing Workshop 2012: Build a Timber Frame Home

By Timber Framing, Strawtron, Natural Building Workshops

beth-slick

March 2013 Update: We are now offering a new Timber Frame Workshop for 2013 in August. Check out the details!

I am pleased to announce that folks can now read about and apply for the Timber Framing Workshop we are hosting at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, June 10-23, 2012. This is shaping up to be a unique and very exciting opportunity for folks looking to gain real building skills in an incredible setting!

2012 Timber Framing Workshop students will spend two full weeks at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, Missouri learning the historic craft of timber framing using mortise and tenon joinery, as well as experiencing and learning some of the fundamental connections between natural building design and sustainable lifestyle alternatives.

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Nov 19
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2012 Natural Building Workshop Pages Under Construction

By Natural Building Workshops

You may have noticed the 2012 Natural Building Workshop page updated with new information, and that the Timber Framing Workshop and Straw Bale Building Workshop pages are password protected. That is because that are not yet ready for public viewing.

So do not fear, you have not missed your opportunity! Check back soon for more information and an application. The information unvieling is coming up quick, I promise.