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Rainbow Over a Straw Bale Home

By Uncategorized, Photos, Strawtron
Rainbow over straw bale house

Nice way to end the day

Don’t you love it when that happens?

October feels like it is moving quicker than lightning. It is one of my favorite months, no doubt. A much-needed rainstorm ended with this visual feast just the other day.

The work season is rapidly coming to an end…

Earthen Plaster Makes Me Happy

By Natural Building Workshops, Photos, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
Natural Earthen Plaster

Fresh first coat of earthen plaster in our future bedroom

The fact that we’ve come this far during the workshop makes me very happy. Here’s looking at our future bedroom, with a fresh base coat of earthen plaster, and our first trimmed window with embedded black walnut window sill. It looks fantastic. The students have been loving the mud. I love that they love the mud.

Things are good. The workshop has been a blast. Today is our last day!

Straw Bale Workshop Photos!

By Photos, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron, Natural Building Workshops
Earthen Plaster at Straw Bale Workshop

Mo and Rick apply some earthen plaster

We’ve been having a great time during our 2012 Straw Bale Workshop. The students have really taken to working with bales, and most recently, mixing and applying earthen plaster. People just love the mud.

I love working with our students, and again, it will be very sad to see everyone go home. We’ve gotten an incredible amount of work done in just one week.

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Candelight in a Cob House

By Living Electricity-free, Photos
Agricola Board Game

Playing Agricola by candlelight

When there are a bunch of candles lit in the house, I can’t resist snapping a photo or two. (Partly to see if it’s enough light to actually do so, and partly because I just really like the way it looks.) Here’s a photo from a cool night a few days ago, when we lit a fire and played Agricola (an agriculture-themed board game — pretty neat) by candelight. Fun times!

Our new straw bale house will also be lit exclusively by candlelight, too. That meas more good excuses for me to snap photos at night in the future…

My Cob House in Chinese Fashion Magazine (?!)

By Media, Photos
grace magazine - cob house

Gobcobatron featured in GRACE of China

The most recent magazine to feature my cob house, Gobcobatron, is Grace of China. It’s kinda like Vogue, I think. But in Chinese. They did a full five pages on us, so maybe mud houses are trendy or something over there? I have no clue what the article says… translation anyone?

Check it out! (Click for large!)

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Building My Cob House: Updated Image Slidesow

By Photos

I’ve updated my (abbreviated) cob house construction slideshow. This is a great series of images to show folks who are curious about what it is like to build with cob, and to give a look into all aspects of the construction process. The slideshow has been updated to include images of the “new look” of Gobcobatron, including the renovated terracotta tile floor and lime washed walls.

Check it out!

100s of Gorgeous Small Cabin and House Pictures

By Photos

I never tire of thumbing through beautiful images of inspiring natural buildings, tiny houses, and well-designed spaces. Ahhh…

Well, this so-called free cabin porn site is just that and nothing else: a well-maintained collection of 100s of photos of beautiful traditional buildings and small cabins throughout the world, updated regularly. I’d love to see a collection of these images in print! (Print is always better, right?)

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Beautiful Rustic Swedish Cabins: Urnatur

By Living Sod Roof, Photos

urnatur rustic cottages 03

Sometimes I wonder if I wasn’t meant for Scandinavia. What with the region’s stunning living roofs, the old and beautiful traditions of timber construction, the forests… wow. This is my kind of aesthetic. These particular images are from Urnatur of Sweden. Urnatur is a so-called “eco lodge” and retreat, home to these lovely little rustic cottages. Inspirational stuff!

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