Cob Blog

Hamster

2009-07-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here is another belly pic for all of you family and friends out there! And for those of you who could care less about my belly...sorry to disappoint, but Brian keeps forgetting to take pictures of the house, so sniffle sniffle, I've got nothing to show! Although, if you asked Brian, he would probably say that the house doesn't look any different than it did in the last pictures. He's been a bit pessimistic lately. I think it's a combination of the nasty heat, exhaustion, back pain, and the feeling that the house couldn't possibly be coming together any slower. As he puts it, he feels like a "hamster on a wheel". It seems like no matter how much he works on it, the walls never seem to get any higher. Of course, he is the only hamster out there. I couldn't imagine mixing cob and climbing up and down scaffolding a hundred times a day in 100+ degree heat all by myself with the additional weight of a wife and baby on my shoulders. But still he keeps doing it. I am so proud of his perseverance. He must really love me to work so hard on our house day in and day out. [ooh, the baby just started playing a game of water polo, so I think it wants me to mention that it is proud too!] Anyway, I guess you could say we're both suffering from a case of what-the-crap-were-we-thinkings, but the vision is just too sweet to pass up. I can picture it so clearly--the three of us living, loving, laughing, creating, putzing, cooking, playing, growing and relaxing together in our little cottage in the woods. No worries about rents or mortgages. The freedom to live a purposeful life. A place that is truly ours in a way that no place has ever been before. It's going to be worth it....Now if we can just get there already (and stay sane until we do)!

Fruits of Our Labor

2009-06-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pics! Sorry they are so few and far between, but I don't get out to The Hollow much these days (too busy illustrating and gestating!). So poor Brian has been left to his own devices with no one to take his picture! But I did make it out there about a month ago, and we took these pictures of his progress on the house...and my progress in the belly department. We also planted a fig tree and a grape vine down in the field. Yummy!

Look! The wall is a good foot above "fro height!"

Check out our zippy yellow scaffolding! We got a bargain on these babies!

Lookin' good--the walls, that is!

Not quite as big as a house yet--more like an efficiency apartment. I guess I was about 14 weeks here. I'm about 18 weeks along now, so stay tuned for more pics!

New Pics and What-Not

2009-06-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

So here are some some-what current pictures of the cottage! Being pregnant is a pretty good excuse to avoid heavy lifting, over-exertion, precarious balancing acts, rusty nails, over-heating, and ticks [sorry, Tiffany] ...or pretty much everything that goes along with building a cob cottage.

Unfortunately for Brian, this means that he is all on his own out there, and has the monumental task of building a house out of mud by Thanksgiving for his wife and baby. Not so easy. But he's been doing great, and now needs scaffolding in order to make his way around the house!

See!

Renting scaffolding costs a whopping $175 a month...so after doing some math, we realized that we ought to just suck it up and buy our own. We may have found a good deal on line, but scaffolding is wicked expensive! Who knew! I can think of a lot of other things I would rather buy with that money. This is one of those sneaky hidden costs that you don't necessarily think about when you set out to make a mud house. But who knows, maybe we can go into our own scaffold renting business when all is said and done! But I digress...

I think Brian is doing a fantastic job, and I'm really proud of him. Building with cob isn't difficult, but it's a lot of work, and I sure do appreciate him going out there and giving it his all. It's hard not to get discouraged when we think about how much is left to do...but when we step back and realize just how far we've come (with pretty much just two people working on it--and now one) it's actually quite something. And when everything is said and done, we'll be able to tell our baby that Mom and Dad built this house with their own bare hands, and that's something.

Speaking of houses for babies, check out who's moved in!!! Can you see the sweet little baby bird? Our house has become a veritable wild-life refuge! This little guy lives in our bathroom wall, and Mama Bird comes flying out at us whenever we get close...I scream and flail every time, but it's kind of fun.

Reason # 3 I've Been a Bad Blogger

2009-06-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

3.) We're having a baby!!!!!!

That's right--my egg-o is preg-o!!!! We can hardly believe it ourselves, and are very excited and happy! These pictures were taken at about 4 weeks, and the ultrasound is of Baby Harrison at about 6 weeks. The baby is about 14 weeks old now (they grow up so fast!), and about the size of a fist, which makes our due date November 29th! Coincidentally, that's also the date our house needs to be finished by! Go figure!

So why does this make me a bad blogger? Well, it's a fun little thing I like to call morning sickness--or in my case, night sickness. Don't really feel much like typing when all you want to do is gag and sleep. But, fortunately for me, that little chapter seems to be coming to a close, which means that I am officially back on the blog-wagon! So there you have it--my final and best excuse for being a bad blogger!

Reason #2 I've Been a Bad Blogger

2009-05-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

2.) Rain, rain, and more stinkin' rain.

We were off to a great start at the end of March! Brian and I were out there working our tushies off every chance we got. Brian even took some time off from work in April so that he could work on the house more. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves...and then the rain hit. A lot of it. And it stuck around for about a month. Grrrrrrr. And, despite our tarps, our house took a bit of a beating. So, needless to say, morale has been a little low, and there really hasn't been much to blog about. But the sun is out now, and straw is sprouting all over the place, and it looks like we're back in business!

Water damage and sprouting straw.

Reason # 1 I've Been a Bad Blogger

2009-05-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

Wow! I really stink at keeping up with this blog thing! Awkward!
But really, this blog is supposed to be about building our house, and as you may have guessed, there wasn't a whole lot of that going on this winter. We thought we could push through, but as it turns out, we're just a couple of namby-pambies. And we had some good excuses! For example.....

1.) That bedroom I mentioned remodeling. Well, that, of course, took way longer than anticipated. (insert sarcastic look of surprise here). But it did turn out lovely, if I do say so myself! And Brian and I did everything ourselves with the exception of the carpet! So here are some befores and afters:

Before

After!

And the best parts are the little reminders of home! My mirror, lamp, curtains, bedding, and shower curtain (and a few of my paintings). Finally, an oasis in the Meme and Papa Desert. (Of course Meme and Papa would say that we've turned the better half of their house into an oasis/dumping ground, but this particular room really feels like ours). Plus, it's a nice little "thank you" to leave for Meme and Papa once we've finally moved out.

New Bedroom Coming Right Up!

2008-12-09T16:13:00.000-08:00

Hey, guess what?? IT'S COLD!!! Me thinks it be too cold ta work...plus I've had a case of the snifflies. So no cobbing for us since before Thanksgiving. Grrrrr. And we've taken to unmolding our moldy bedroom (and when I say "we" I mean Brian). This, of course, has turned into a nightmare (black mold, rotted wood, ungrounded wires, big hole in the floor, etc., etc.). So, like a virus, Brian and I have spread to yet another room in Meme's house (that makes 3 plus a hallway). So one room is completely torn apart, another room is for sleeping/working in, and all of our crap is piled in yet another...oh, and now Papa has to share his bathroom with us. So, instead of working on our house, we will be replacing rotten beams and floor boards, installing a bathroom fan, re-installing the toilet, sink, and shower, re-doing drywall, re-taping and plastering, and repainting EVERYTHING, and putting down new floors...all by Christmas. Riiiiight. Well, that's the plan anyway. And given Brian's frantic and stressed-out state, it just might happen. As for me, I'm trying to stay out of the way, not breathe mold, and illustrate a children's book. This is normal, right? Right?

It's gettin' there!

2008-12-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

The walls are getting higher, and it's getting chilly! We were forced to bust out the winter attire (Hence the hat that I made for Brian and then stole. It's times like these--when I look like the Little Dutch Boy--that I miss my long hair. Sigh.). But once we got started, it didn't take long to warm up, and if you wear gloves under the rubber gloves, your fingers stay nice and toasty! So that's good!

Look! I can barely see over the wall from the outside!

And the mud is higher than my left elbow on half the house on the inside

Now I need "scaffolding" to trim!

And look how tall the wall is next to Brian (who is also tall).

Well, I guess that's all for show and tell! I'll try to post more soon!

Howdy, Buck-a-roos!

2008-11-19T16:38:00.001-08:00

So we're finally up to window height! Yippee! Well...actually...I guess we were up to window height a while ago, but just didn't know it. Oops! But that's ok...we like spending our free time undoing things we've already done.

Anywho...

So we had to saw part of our wall out! We thought this was going to be a huge pain in the gluteus, but actually, it was pretty easy. We just drew chalk lines on our wall, and went to town!

Tah-dah!

(Using a screw, tape measure, and some string, McGruber...er Brian...found a way to center our window.)

So now we've got a window buck (a rough opening) for our window, and part of a sill, too!

This makes it a little easier to "play house".

Grass soup and mud pies, coming right up!

These are some pictures of our house as of Friday.

We've got two window bucks in, and about 3 feet of wall.

And I know 3 feet doesn't sound like much (and trust me, I wish we had more than that), but it took a LOT of work to get those 3 feet. So instead of getting discouraged about how much we have left to do, I try to focus on how much we've done.

The good news is, that I found out from Kindra (Workshop Instructor Extraordinaire), that we can keep on building until a bucket of water freezes to an inch thick over night...which might not even happen in Oklahoma. Which means that we can keep on building indefinitely! This is a huge relief because we thought our building was going to have to come to a screeching halt for the winter. So I guess we'll keep on plugging away! It's great to not feel so rushed (it makes building that much more enjoyable), but now we've got to make sure to stay motivated (oh, wait, we're living with our grandparents...motivation found!). Also, I guess we can put our roof on 2 to 3 days after our final course of cob! So it looks like we might have a house sooner than we thought!

Footloose and Fancy Free

2008-11-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of us gathering our building materials! Most people go to the lumber yard...we dig ours up! Fortunately for us, our friend, Chris, has mountains of clay out on his land that he lets us help ourselves to. He also has a Kubota, which comes in real handy....and it doesn't hurt that Brian operates it like a pro! Hello, cute farmer guy! I help out too, by driving the truck a little bit, taking pictures, and fretting.

Watch those shoelaces, Wren!

I need a hero...I'm holdin' out for a hero 'till the end of the night...

After doing an angry drunken high-bar routine, Brian picked up some straw bales. These are actually for standing on...they make for good scaffolding for us shorties...plus we can add them to our cob should we run low...

...and they make pretty prom decorations.

Aerial Shots

2008-11-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

How cool is this?!!! Our friend, Jake (who also happens to fly a plane), was doing a little espionage the other day, and decided to fly over our land and take some pictures while he was at it! So, just in case any of you thought we were kidding when we said we were out in the middle of nowhere...

Kinda purty, ain't it?!

Some of my Favorite Things

2008-11-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pics that I like that, for one reason or another, I hadn't been able to squeeze in yet!

I told you he had some weird sort of fire skills!

["By the power of Grayskull--IGNITE!"]

Zac Christian, Gravel Warrior

Meme, having a quiet marshmallow moment

Me trying to stop Tyler from catching "snowflakes" on his tongue--snowflakes being floating ash from the fire (not so yummy).

2008-10-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our "workshop" weekend finally arrived! After much anticipation the big day was finally here! Heather and I got up bright and early, and headed out to the Hollow for some preparations. Keep in mind, it was freezing cold out, and everything was soggy from the rain the night before, so starting a campfire was no easy feat. We tried burning paper plates, and paper towels--even our precious straw--anything that looked even slightly dry. We huffed and we puffed...but to no avail. Of course Brian showed up and out of nowhere miraculously produced a bag of crispy dry newspaper, and of course all he had to do was look at our soggy logs and they immediately flared up into a blazing inferno. I would have been ticked if I hadn't been so happy to get warm. Anyway, Heather then proceeded to construct a "ladies room" out of shower curtains, and I threw together another luggable loo. We laid out all of the yummy food we had bought for the people who signed up...but wait a sec...where were all the people?????

I'm sad to say they were a no-show, and Heather, Brian, and I were left feeling like awkward pre-teens at a middle school dance--hair fluffed, jeans tapered, and dancing the Roger Rabbit in the corner of the gym because--despite all of your hopes--no one has asked you to dance. Well, that's more hot dogs for us! 48 of them to be exact...which really goes a long way between three people...especially when one of them is a Pescetarian (that would be a vegetarian who eats fish...not a Calvinist Protestant). Fortunately for us, good ole Jake and Abby eventually showed up to help us eat some dogs and s'mores! We can always count on Jake and Abby to make us feel all warm and fuzzy! And Brian, Heather, and I were still able to get 3" or so all the way around the house...and had lots of fun all the same!

Now Friday was a little better! Our sister Laura flew in for the event, Heather's husband Jon got into town (with Andy and Darcy--their English Sheepdogs--in tow), and Rhonda was able to come! And we had some surprise guests, too--Meme, Papa, and Sharyl! And, of course, Jake! And with our crew of 10 (plus two dogs), we were able to make some serious progress--on both the house and the hot dogs! We lapped the house twice, and I think we were able to get between 6 and 9 inches all the way around. Pretty good! but the best part was getting to spend some quality time with the family all together outside on a beautiful day. I just love that so many memories are being made right along with the house. Brian and I are blessed! So to all of you who came (some of you from quite a distance), thank you so much--it really meant a lot! And, Heather, thank you so much for putting this all together for us! You're the best!

From left to right: Jon, Laura, Heather, Sharyl "Sewing Machine" Braddock, Meme, Me, Brian, Rhonda, and Papa...Taking the Picture: Jake!

Laura found her calling: Professional Mud Stomper! She saved the day with her stomping skills, and had a ridiculous amount of fun doing it! Wish you could be here every day, Laura! Your "hopetimism" is contagious!

Here is our house at the end of the day on Friday. This is by far my favorite time of the week...when our work is done, the tools are put away, the sun is setting, and we get to take a look at how far we've come.

It's a Family Affair

2008-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Work it! Work...it!

Well, just when Brian and I were starting to feel sorry for ourselves, reinforcements arrived! On Friday, Meme, Papa, and Rhonda showed up bearing lunch, lawn chairs, and enthusiasm, making that three generations of Harrisons working on the house! Papa was in charge of the bucket brigade, Rhonda was a stomping queen, Brian manned the mixer, Meme was all thumbs, and I pitchforked the cob with a devilish flair! Later, Everette showed up, and so did Jake (who might as well be family), and assisted all--making it quite the productive day! It was nice to feel so loved! It's quite the thing having people willing to get all muddy for you! Needless to say, we all had Ibuprofen for dinner.

Go Team Harrison!

2008-10-15T16:53:00.001-07:00

There have been some big developments since I last updated you on our progress! Some very, very, good developments! Namely the CEMENT MIXER!!!!!

(I heart you cement mixer!)

Now I know some of you cob purists out there may see this as cheating.

Well...tough cookies! I want a house!

We didn't try the cement mixer sooner (I just kicked myself again) because we read that it wouldn't work. But what we figured out is that it mixes the sand and clay together beautifully if you mix it really wet! Then, all that's left to do is dump it out on a tarp, squish out the few remaining clay clumps with your toes, and tread in the straw! Easy-peasy!

Which leads me to the next big development....

...the COB CONVEYOR BELT!!!

(this is Brian's invention).

Because we no longer needed to make cob balls (you'll see more about that below), we needed a way to get the cob from here to there...thus, the cob conveyor belt was born! Now we just roll the cob burrito from one tarp to the next around the house until it's close to where we're working.

Like this!

And the reason we don't need to make cob balls anymore is because we are now using...

... a PITCHFORK!!!!

Oh, the time this spiky little angel saves!

Now I just scoop it off the tarp, and slap it on the wall!

Kersplat! Like this!

This new plan of attack is saving us a lot of time...and more importantly a lot of energy! Brian's been manning the cement mixer, and has been able to keep a steady stream of cob coming so that by the time I finish slapping a batch on the wall, the next one is ready for me. That's not to say it isn't still exhausting! I'm tellin' you--those pitchforks of cob are heavy! I'm going to have Popeye forearms by the time all is said and done (which I can't say is really the look I've been going for, but, hey, whatcha gonna do?). So I think it's safe to say that with these new little tricks, we're probably doubling our speed! Yay, us!

That being said, I was still about ready to "throw in the tarp" on Monday. I totally underestimated the amount of manual labor it was going to take to build this house, and I keep finding myself thinking "what on earth are you thinking!"

But then I'll see some progress, and it'll hit me that we're actually building our house, and I'm in awe that Brian and I get to do this really cool thing together. I mean how many people actually get to try something like this? It's really pretty neat when you think about it.

Par-tay!

2008-10-15T16:15:00.001-07:00

Ok...I'm horrible at taking pictures! I don't know what it is, but I really stink at it...that's if I even remember to do it! So, sorry, folks, but this is all I've got of our Open House! Despite what the pictures would lead you to believe, a.) there were people there, and b.) we had fun!

It was a beautiful fall day! We had a steady stream of visitors from one o'clock until six-ish. Tyler especially liked the cider...and so did the bees! I thought bees were supposed to be going extinct or something! Well, not in our neck of the woods they're not--they were a real buzz kill (Get it? Bzzzzz kill! I'm funny). There's going to be some cider and marshmallow flavored honey out there this year (which actually sounds pretty good now that I think about it). Anyway, I digress. We spent the day talkin', swatin', sippin', toastin', munchin', scratchin' and walkin'! Pretty good stuff! It was nice to be able to show people first-hand what we've been talking so much about. So thanks to all of you that were able to come! There are going to be a lot of memories built into this house!

Open House

2008-10-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

If you've been curious about this "cob stuff", now is your chance to see what it's all about! Come out to Harrison Hollow, toast some marshmallows, have a cup of warm apple cider, and see our work in progress! Bring a lawn chair, and hang out for a bit...or if you feel like it, wear some play clothes, and get muddy! Either way, we'd love to see ya! (Weather permitting, of course).

I'm a Doofus

2008-09-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, apparently that figure I came up with of 2, 634 cubic feet of cob was just slightly off...by 1,554 cubic feet! Yup. Not really sure what happened there...but, praise the Lord, I'm a pin-head! According to my new estimations, our house will consist of 1, 080 cubic feet of cob! I was praying for a miracle, and it looks like I got one! Much, much, much much much better!!! Now, even if Brian and I stay at our poky pace (20 cu. ft/day, 4 days a week), we should still be able to finish the mud in a little over 3 months! Now, if we can double our speed (or get some help), we might be able to get it done in less than 2 months! Now, excuse me while I go breathe a sigh of relief...

Help!

2008-09-28T15:46:00.003-07:00

Ok, this is a cry for help...HELP!

I just did the math, and if we don't get some help,

we're going to have to resort to child labor.

So here's the breakdown:

If a 5 gallon bucket = .777 cu. ft., and if a batch consists of 1.5 buckets of sand, and .5 buckets of clay, then a batch of cob = 1.554 cu. ft. Combined, Brian and I are averaging 14 batches a day (or 21.758 cu. ft.). I thought this was pretty good, until I checked the book, and found out that eventually we should be mixing twice that amount in a day. Hmmm....looks like we best start eating our Wheaties. Anyway, if I calculated right (and I'm kinda hoping I didn't), then we need about 2,634 cu. ft. of cob to make our house. That would mean it would take Brian and I 122 DAYS of mixing to get the job done! Since we can only work on the house 4 days a week (ok, more like 3) at best, we could get it done in 7.625 MONTHS. This is no good...no good at all. If we can work up to mixing 40 cu. ft. of cob a day, then it would still take 65 days or 4 months. Which might be all fine and good--EXCEPT WINTER IS COMING!

Thing about cob is, it has to be dry before winter, because if any moisture freezes in the wall it will expand and crack them. Hmmm. Not so good. Our goal is to have the mud portion of the project done by October 31st. That'll give us November, and into December to let it dry out, and get the roof on. After that, we're hoping to get the windows in, and maybe put the wood stove inside so that we can keep it from freezing, and keep us toasty while we're plastering the interior, and working on our earthen floors and the millions of other things that we'll have to do. But I'm not going to freak out, because I am just bubbling over with optimism (just read the previous post). Plus, I've got faith. Lots and lots of faith.

So, bottom line--Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your feet! If anyone out there reading this would like to help, please let us know! We'd love to have you!

One down, one million to go!

2008-09-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

We made it around the house! Woo hoo! We've got about 6 inches of cob all the way around! That's one small step for man, one g...no wait, it's still a small step, but its kind of a big deal! There was a lot of learning to be done in that one trip around the house--for example, determining our best mix, and how to mix it most efficiently, and how to get it up on the wall the right way, and how to make slip, and how best to transport it, and how to divvy up the tasks, and trimming up the edges...so maybe it was a little slow, but I really do think the next layers will go much faster. Am I being overly optimistic? Probably. But, hey, when has a little optimism ever hurt? I'm just excited to see wall!!!

So here's what had to happen first:

Had the land surveyed

Attended a cob workshop

Read The Hand-Sculpted House

Decided where to build

Cleared a road by hand

Had a culvert put in

Harvested cedars and stripped them

Designed the house

Cleared out the building site by hand

Dug trenches for the foundation

Dug trenches for electricity and water

Ran electricity and water to the house

Got the water and electricity hooked up

Did a LOT of research

Got limestone

Built a stem wall

Found clay and transported it to the land

Found sand and had it delivered

Found gravel and had it delivered

Found straw and transported it to the land

Moved sand and gravel from here to there

Got an address

Put up a mailbox

Put in a gate

Gathered tools

Set up camp

Built a tarp roof

Made test bricks

Ordered windows

Bought doors

Made window bucks

Made door jams

Mixed cob...and all this while holding down our day jobs!

Tent-ative Housing!

2008-09-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

So Brian and I got a tent!

It's our little home until we have a home.

Now we can camp out, and work on the house more (and save a 20 min drive each way every day). We've got a hot pot, a hot plate, a mini fridge, a solar shower, and a bucket to poo in...

so, ya, dis ma crib!

It's a one bedroom, with a kitchen. But the bathroom is huge--roughly 20 acres!

Believe it or not, it's 7 feet tall in the middle, so we can actually walk around standing up!

And there is electricity!

Thanks, Scottie, for the mini fridge...and, Jake, thanks for the cord (yup, that's a refrigerator to the left of the lamp)! Now, whenever I want a nice cold juice box, I can have one! No more hot juicy-juice for me!

I've got to say, camping out has been a lot of fun...and relaxing--which is something I have been desperately needing. Brian and I have been able to spend some good quality time around the campfire, staring into each others smoke filled eyes, talking about life, love, politics, and Bigfoot--you know, the important things. And he's been very good at pretended not to notice how much camping does not agree with my hair and general appearance...which is very sweet, and takes quite a bit of skill ('cause let me tell ya--it ain't pretty). Anyway, the point is that the 20 acres is already starting to feel like home...which is a really good feeling.

Long Time, No See!

2008-09-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hello, Everybody!

I'm sorry that I've been MIA for so long...and sorry to say that I'm going to have to stay that way for a little bit longer! The bad news is that I've been busy to the point of exhaustion (or the Cliffths of Inthanity)... the good news is that some of that busyness has been spent working on the house! So...bear with me, and I promise to have more juicy tid-bits, fun facts, and hot pics for you soon...or at least something for you to look at.

From Here to There

2008-09-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hey, guess what...more cob! Here's our wall at the end of day two...
...and day three!

On day two, we had some help! Aren't Rhonda and Kenny the best!?
And I think they actually had fun!

Hey, look...I found Robinson Crusoe.

On day three, Beardy and I figured out that it's much more efficient when we each mix batches on separate tarps. We raced. He won...but he probably cheated somehow. So from here on out, to each his own...tarp, that is.

I don't like Ike.

It'll probably be a while before there's anything other than rain to report.

Labor Day

2008-09-07T18:41:00.001-07:00

And labor we did! At least it was a labor of love. Today was our first day of mixing! Pretty darn exciting (and dirty)! And fun, too...did I mention fun?!

Here we are stomping on the first batch. Our tarp is actually a piece of lumber wrap courtesy of our friendly neighborhood lumbar yard. They look at us like we're nuts when we ask if we can have it, but hey, it's free, and works better than the tarps you buy...plus it's recycling! So scratch your head and stare all you like Mr. Lumberyard Man, but dumpster dive we shall!

We even had some help from Jake! Thanks, Jake! Jake was a cobbing natural, and was cobbing like a pro in no time flat...although, as he so graciously pointed out, it's not exactly rocket science. But we sure did appreciate his help (and cold drinks), and were in awe of the fact that he sacrificed part of his labor day to hang with us and get muddy.

Hey look! We've got a little bit of wall!
This is a close up of the "spine and ribs". If you do this to the wall at the end of the day, it gives the next layer of cob something to hold on to. To be honest, it kind of freaks me out a little bit--kind of makes the wall look alive--like Champ, or something. Bluck. But, hey, it gets the job done!

So this is pretty much what our wall looked like by the end of day one! Ya-hoo! I know it doesn't look like much, but I've got to tell you, it feels REALLY good to have started on the walls. It may be only 4 inches, but it's 4 beautiful inches closer to our dream!

Take that...and that!

2008-08-30T08:59:00.001-07:00

Thursday was torture...for our test bricks, that is.

We subjected our subjects to various unpleasant tests...

no Chinese Water Torture, though--that would have been just too much!

Just needed a little information is all --didn't actually want to kill 'em.

Lucky for us, the bricks cooperated.

First up was giving the bricks a thorough once-over--being careful to pay attention to any obvious cracks or weaknesses. The bricks didn't look too bad! There were a couple of questionable spots, but Brian seemed to think those were on the bricks I made! Sheesh! I didn't know it was a stinkin' beauty pageant (of course, this coming from the guy who can spend 5 minutes smoothing out a tub of margarine)!

Anyway, next up on the torture agenda was the scratch test...!

We took nails and scratched the bricks as hard as we could. I have to say, all of our bricks held up extremely well! Hardly any crumbling, and it was almost impossible to make a groove.Nice "blue steel"...are you a model?
After that was the Twist Test. We tried to break the bricks by twisting them. I'm happy to report they didn't even budge, and as you can see, we used every ounce of our muscle power.

I think we've decided that our best bricks were made with 3 parts sand to 1 part clay, although 2:1 worked out nicely, too. Supposedly, the more sand, the stronger the wall, so I think 3:1 is going to be our Little Darling! She's one tough cookie!

What's little and green and comes out in the spring time?....

Patty O'Furniture!

We also picked up these little beauties, so now Brian and I have a place to have tea and crumpets, and smoke pipes while reading the morning paper.

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

2008-08-28T07:16:00.001-07:00

Thursday was our much anticipated test batch day! We mixed some cob up in various proportions (2 parts sand : 1 part clay, 3 parts sand : 1 part clay, etc.). Brian and I got to practice our "cob dance", and I've got to say, Brian sure knows how to "mix it up" on the "dance floor"! He's a regular Cob Travolta. I mostly had the rather menial job of moving the tarp around...such is the burden for those of us with smaller feet.

Here's Brian river-dancing on the cob. Due to his extremely ticklish feet, he really was doing the "Elaine" at the beginning. This brought me great satisfaction.

Here I am looking a lot like a cob ninja. Despite my assassin looks, I am actually forming a cob ball to test by squishing (snow ball test), and dropping (drop test?). You listen to the cob, too, when you squish it. You're supposed to hear the scratching sound of sand-on-sand. Mine said "Paul is dead".

We made test bricks of our various cob mixes, making sure to scratch the recipe on the top of each brick with a stick (see below). From each batch, we made bricks without straw, and bricks with straw. Brian made the brick mold out of a broken down pallet. He's so crafty!

Kenny, Rhonda, and Clancy came out to help us! After donning Miss Piggy's gloves, Kenny mixed mortar and helped with the heavy lifting.

We also filled the middle of the wall with mortar and less desirable sandstone from around the yard. This is where Rhonda came in with her tuck point (?...small trowel thing), and helped spread the mortar. Rhonda also brought us fruit juice slushies, which tasted mighty-fine!

Clancy was a big help too (and by "help", I mean a total spaz).

He swam in our clay tub, burried things in the sand pile, made himself some tap shoes out of mortar, ate our leather gloves and flip-flops, peed in our house, and jumped in the back seat of the car covered in mud. All in a day's work, right, Clancy? (Oh, but look at that smooshy face!).

Here are our test bricks drying in the sun. As soon as they're dry, we'll karate-chop them, and submit them to various other forms of torture in order to determine which one most deserves to become our house, and which ones are "fi-yad".

Mailbox

2008-08-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hey! Guess what! We've got an address! We've even got a pretty little mailbox. With the reluctant assistance of the enclosed instructions, Brian was able to assemble it lickity-split. I assisted by watching and taking pictures. Although, later, I was able to put my years of sign making experience to use by skillfully sticking on some numbers. (I'd love to show you, but I don't want Big Foot to know where we live). Later, Brian took the mailbox out to the Hollow and stuck it into the ground on a rather handsome looking log. I have to say, I think it looks quite spiffy! We may not have a house, but, by golly, at least we've got a mailbox!

PS. No, our mailbox doesn't have "naughty bits", and no, despite rumors, that was not our mailbox on Mailboxes Gone Wild IV--our mailbox has never even been to Cancun.

Brains and Braun (or Brian and Bron)

2008-07-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

So here is what Brian and Bron did all last Thursday (I think it was)...they moved dirt and gravel from one place to another. Our buddy, Bron, was kind enough to lend us his time and tractor, and moved gravel and sand from the end of our driveway all the way up to our building site. Thanks, Bron!!! He made a big pile of sand, and dumped the gravel right into our foundation. Brian then proceeded to spread the gravel around to make our foundation pretty (well, there's more to it than just looks, but that's what I like best about it). Supposedly there's a tool/machine that can do this (called a "gravel hog" or some such nonsense), but we unfortunately found this out after Brian did the whole thing with a shovel and rake. Poor Brian. Fortunately, we have about another foot-and-a-half of gravel left to go, so there's still plenty of time to become acquainted with Mr. Gravel Pig (or whatever his name is).

The Wise Man Builds His House on a Rock

2008-07-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures of the foundation! There is still a little more tweaking to be done, and a bathroom wall to finish, but isn't it nifty? It's really starting to look like something (I'm not sure what, but it's something)! It's really a site to behold, and much more impressive in person--some of the walls are a good two feet thick. That sucker's not going anywhere, I can tell you that much!

Some more pictures...hey look... we've got grass growing in our living room. That's weird.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful husband for all of his hard work and mad skills! You rock my world (ah, I crack myself up)! But seriously, you give a whole new (and sometimes pungent) meaning to "sweat equity". I mean, you couldn't pay people to do what you do (well, maybe you could, but I certainly couldn't afford them). I love you. Thanks for building this dream with me (and mostly for me). You're the best!

Good Foundation

2008-07-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of the foundation. I'd like to put them in a slide show for you, but, unfortunately I'm the opposite of computer savvy--I'm yvvas retupmoc, nyuck,nyuck. So you're just gonna have to scroll! Sorry!

^Hey, look! It's almost finished! This picture has people in it (Hi, Jake, Abby, and Tyler!) just to give you a little perspective...in case there were any doubts about how intsy-wintsy this house is going to be.

<--Things were starting to shape up in this picture! Brian has been using his grandfather's old-timey cement mixer for the mortar. This is a picture of the back wall. That little notch is where the back door is going to be.

<--The walls are really thick, so it's economical if you can fill in in between with junky stuff. Some people use ugly rocks. We like to use ugly dogs. [Hi, Iwis!]

<--Job Foreman Tyler is checking out our high-tech home-made leveling device. It's clear plastic tubing filled with water that's been dyed red with

food coloring. Works like a charm!

<--

This is me taking a little snooze in our sleeping nook. It'll be much more comfortable with a mattress in it I think...and walls...and a roof...you know, the little things.

<--Me standing in the bay window/window seat/possible dining nook. We like our nooks. Nooks good.

The foundation is really, truly, almost finished now! Yippee!!! I'll get out to the land soon and take some pictures of Brian's piece de resistance! And more good news...as of yesterday, we've now got clay, sand, straw, and gravel at the job site--so watch out Mud, here we come!

10,000 BC

2008-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Brian working on our foundation. I'd like to say that it has been a labor of love for him, but at this point (about a year later), I'm thinking it's more like a labor of I-hate-your-stinkin'-guts. Ok, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but, seriously, this is the foundation that never ends! Of course the poor guy has had to do the entire foundation by himself (I'm not all that in to heavy lifting...go figure), and he's only been able to work on it 3-4 days a week, and he had to stop over the winter (and built a beautiful fireplace for his cousin, Sam, by the way). Although, I must say, I grow a little suspicious when he comes home with waffle marks all over his body strangely resembling the pattern of the hammock. So, ya, these things take time...and patience. And he's been working so hard. And the foundation looks AWESOME! I'm really proud!

(Pretty cute cave man, huh?)

In the Trenches

2008-07-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

<--Clearing off the top soil.

<--Electricity!

Trench for the electricity/water to the house

<--Rebar around the perimeter.

Tah-dah! Dirt!-->

<--Mr. Trencher himself!

Ok...so about a year ago, we started clearing the site for our foundation. We did this by hand. It sucked. We quickly discovered that about 4 inches down was a layer of solid sandstone. So, after much hemming and hawing, we decided that instead of digging a foundation trench down, we would build up, and then back fill. We also had to dig a trench for our water and electricity...and when I say we, I mean Brian. The trench digger proved to be pretty much useless, so Brian ended up digging most of it by hand with a hammer, chisel, and trowel. To make matters worse, they hooked up the water in the wrong spot, adding about another 50 ft or so of digging. Nice.

To watch a VIDEO of Brian doin' his thang, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7ET-gDsmdM

Living off the Fat of the Land

2008-07-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Our goal is to one day grow our own food out at The Hollow. We want to build a cob greenhouse (we'll use salvaged sliding glass doors as our roof!), and have gardens, and maybe even an orchard of some kind. But for now, the land is providing us with plenty of tasty tid-bits! Like these black berries! There are just oodles of them! Brian and I had a lot of fun picking them--in spite of their nasty stickers. We've also found "cats paws", wild onions, pecans, sand plums, and walnuts to eat! Now we just need to "tend them rabbits"!

Cob Workshop

2008-07-08T20:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from the Cob Workshop we went to in May '07 in Shamrock, OK. This should give you a brief overview of what cobbing is like. These pictures are way out of order (I can't figure out how to arrange the stinkin' things!), so I'll just number them, and maybe you can follow along (I think there are 12 all together)!

2.5 (sorry...I missed this one). This is just a big vat of clay. You soak it in water to keep it soft for optimum toe squish-age.

11. Here's a view from afar of the building site.

6. A mound-o-cob balls! If you cover them up with a tarp, they don't dry out as fast.
7. You work the cob balls into the wall, being sure to integrate each new layer into the one below it. You do this by poking it with your fingers or a "cobbers' thumb" (A cobbers' thumb is really just a fancy name for a stick...you can call your stick whatever you like, I don't care. Larry is a nice name.)
8. You cob right around your window bucks. Window bucks are a smidgen larger than the windows, and are leveled and braced. You don't put the actual windows in until the cob is completely dry and has stopped shrinking.
9. You embed "deadmen" into the walls as you go (a deadman is a fancy word for a hunk of wood). These are essentially your studs. Window bucks and door frames get screwed into these.
10. You trim up the cob and make it plumb before it gets too dry. You do this with a modified hand saw, and a level. It's very important to keep your walls straight.

2. Another picture of the foundation. (They put the roof up first on this cottage, and then built up to it...mostly because half of it was strawbale...but you don't have to do it that way. We're going to build the walls of our cottage first, and then put the roof on top.)
1. You start with a stone foundation.
3. You mix the sand, clay, water, and straw together with your feet on a tarp. It feels great on your feet! A good tip is to hit up lumber yards for their lumber wrap. They're usually happy to give it to you for free, and it makes a great tarp...plus you're recycling!
4. The tarp allows you to toss the mixture around for better stomping. You know it's done when you can roll it into a big "burrito" (...or "dinosaur turd", as some of us like to call it).
5. You form the mix into balls of cob. This makes the cob easier to transport, because you can toss it to your friend that's closest to the wall you're working on. If you are lucky enough to have a bunch of friends helping you (hint, hint), you can form a sort of cob bucket brigade. Just watch out for the wayward flying cob ball--those suckers are heavy!

Drum Roll, Please...

2008-06-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the preliminary sketches of our Cob Cottage!

(also known as the Tulip Cottage because of the tulip
stained glass window that will be in the kitchen,
and the tulips growing on the living roof)

This is our floor plan for the 1st floor.

The cottage is going to be a whopping

690 square feet (roughly), and that's

including the upstairs loft/bedroom.

Good thing Brian and I like each other!

This is what it'll look like from

the outside once the lime plaster

is on, and the living roof is blooming!

We're still not exactly sure about the

roof, or the color of the windows...

but it will hopefully look something like this!

Here's our cottage tucked away in the woods.

Why Build a Cob House?

2008-06-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

* It's dirt cheap! Literally! Like, supposedly only $10 a square foot! (We'll let you know when we're done).

* You're building a house out of dirt, for crying out loud! I mean, how stinkin' cool is that!?

* The creative freedom! Cob allows you to make your house any shape you want--even round! If you can think it, you can build it!

* The empowerment! Making a house with your own hands and feet! No power tools needed! No fancy training! You don't even need to be big and burly!

* No mortgage! No crisis! No debt!

* You can grow grass or flowers on your roof!

* Who doesn't like playing in the mud?!

* It's bug proof, wind proof, fire proof, and sound proof!

* It's completely natural! No toxic fumes or chemicals! No artificial colors, sweeteners, flavors or additives! It's recyclable!

* Almost no carbon footprint or embodied energy (other than your own) if you're resourceful and/or creative enough!

* Holds up better than a regular house in tornadoes and earthquakes!

* You can still have electricity and running water--you've just got to bury your pipes and wires in the cob!

* Dirt is a mood enhancer just like chocolate (it's scientific--look it up!).

* The mud feels great between your toes!

* It's a fun group activity!

* It's a good workout!

* Cob buildings have been known to last over 1,000 years!

* They are sooooo cute! We're talking enchanted cottage in a fairy tale forest cute!

* Cool in the summer, and warm in the winter! Passive solar! Low energy costs!

* The financial freedom to focus on what really matters to you!

* It turns your house into a conversation piece!

* You get to sound like Billy Maze when people ask you about it!

What the heck is cob?

2008-06-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

Cob is a form of earthen building. Some of the first houses ever made were made out of cob. Medieval cob cottages are still standing in England. You can see cob sky scrapers in Yemeni. Cob structures (new and old) are all over the world. You know those old English cottages that are white with thatched roofs? Those are cob. You know those mud huts in Africa? Those are cob. You know those houses hobbits live in? You guessed it...cob! A cob mixture is made of clay, sand, straw, and water. The clay acts as the glue, the sand makes it strong, and the straw gives it it's tensile strength. You mix these ingredients together...usually with your feet on a tarp, and then sculpt your house with it. The word cob comes from an Old English root, meaning "a lump or rounded mass"[from The Hand Sculpted House]. After you mix the mud with your feet, you form it into round balls called cobs. The cobs are easy to transport and build with (you can throw them to each other). So that's how it got its name. You use these cob balls to construct/sculpt your house. It's kind of like adobe, but instead of making bricks first, you just sculpt your house with the wet mixture. In the end you have a monolithic structure that is thick, hard as concrete, and load-bearing. Pretty amazing stuff considering it's made out of nothing but readily available materials literally found in your own back yard. If you want to see some neat pictures of cob, I recommend clicking on the following link. You can select additional photo galleries on the menue to the left.
http://www.cobcottage.com/taxonomy_menu/13/16/29/17
Or google image "cob cottage"...http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=cob+cottage&gbv=2

Clearing the Driveway (by hand)

2008-06-17T17:34:00.001-07:00

(Sorry about my undies hanging out...it was way too hot and buggy to care.)

Clearing the road back to the house took a wicked long time. All we used were handsaws, a chainsaw, a rake, a machete, and our own blood, sweat and tears. We also made sure to strip the bark off of all the cedars we cut down as we went. The bark peels off really easy if you do it right away, and it's actually kind of fun (not unlike peeling glue off your hands!) I think Brian and I were secretly competing to see who could pull off the biggest chunk of bark in one piece. It was a lot of extra hours, but it'll be worth it if we can use some of our naturally harvested cedar in our house--perhaps lintels, or banisters on our staircase. We're trying hard not to waste anything, and our imaginations are seeing all sorts of potential in everything! Brian made some saw horses out of scraps, and we put the trees up off the ground (and out of the bugs' reach) to dry. By the way, the smell is fantastic!

Some Pictures of The Land

2008-06-17T17:02:00.001-07:00

One of our little buddies
Springtime
Our driveway before it was really a driveway
Redbud
Our land across the creek

Summer time

So picture this...

2008-06-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

You turn onto a dirt road. There are lazy cows to your left in a field of tall grass, followed by a little house back off the road. On your right are trees, and a small run down barn. You can hear the gravel ping-pinging the underside of your car, and a trail of dust rises up and does circles in your wake. The road bounces you around, the wind lifts up your hair, and your smiling because you're going to The Land. A half-a-mile goes by, and you slow down to go over a bridge. You catch a glimpse of sun shining off the creek, and you know you're there. The brush is thick, but you can see bits of yellow field between the trees and vines, and then...our driveway.

You pull over and get out. There's a barbed wire gate to open. The dust you made catches up with you and then blows on by as you unhook the latch. It's quiet now, except for the birds and bugs. You lay the gate down, and get back into the car. Now you go slow. You creep over the culvert, and in between some roots. There's a winding driveway through the woods ahead. It's shady, and the bumpy ground gently rocks your car like a ship. You curve around a bend, past some ancient oaks, and a wild rabbit disappears into the brush--crackling the dry leaves in his haste. The driveway curves to the right, up over a bend, then to the left through some wispy grass speckled with wild flowers. Then it's down over a little rocky hill and to a circular turn-around cut through the trees. You park the car and get out. You take a deep breath and fill yourself up with the smell of honeysuckle, or grass, or hay. The cicadas greet you with their song. You exhale, and open your eyes and smile, because your at The Land.

Sanctuary

2008-06-04T18:58:00.001-07:00

Sanctuary is the word that comes to mind when I think of our cottage and our 20 acres. A place where Brian and I can finally be alone. Ahhh. Breathing room. It makes me take a deep breath just thinking about it. A home. A home that's ours. Finally. A little corner of the world for us to carve out and make our own. A canvas for our hopes and dreams. A real future. Birds chirping. Dappled light. Bunnies running to and fro. Peace and quiet. Laughter. Love. Life. It makes my heart float just thinking about it.

Flash Forward

2008-05-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

OK, so a year and a half later, and our dreams are still in our suitcases, or piled away in boxes in our dead-cricket-filled storage unit. Yeah. Not quite what I pictured. The houses were cheap for a reason (total armpits next to other armpits--and I'm not even going to mention what part of the anatomy the rentals looked like). So, living closer to family meant literally living closer to family--as in the bedroom next door. Yup. Been living with Brian's grandparents for a year and a half now. I try not to complain because it is very sweet of them to let us stay (heck, they only thought we'd be staying for a week or two, too), but let's face it--I complain. A lot. OK, all the time. All of those wide open spaces I was dreaming about have been replaced by a 10'x10' box completely void of any reminders of home or of the person I used to be. Brian is my one familiar. Brian is my home. Brian is never here because he has to work nights at "suck-mart". So where does this leave me? Homesick. Terribly, physically homesick. Homesick for my family, homesick for my home, homesick for my friends, homesick for...me. I never knew how hard it would be to be myself when there are no reminders of me in sight. No inside jokes. No remember-whens. No photographs. No furniture. No me. It's like I've disappeared. Poof.

But wait....there's still painting. Painting is familiar. Painting is me. So what's a lonely, depressed, homesick girl to do? Paint. Paint, paint, paint-paint, paint. I have turned into some sort of mad creative recluse, toiling away day after day, creating to the point of exhaustion. So I think maybe that's why we're here. And I guess from that standpoint, our move out here has been a success. I am officially an artist. And a serious one at that.

But there is hope--a beautiful, sparkling, peaceful and awe-inspiring hope. And that hope is our house. Brian and I are building a cob cottage. For those of you who don't know, a cob cottage is a house made out of clay, sand, and straw. You mix the ingredients together with your feet on a tarp, and then sculpt a house out of it. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. This house is going to save us. This house will surpass any happy wish we'd ever had for ourselves in moving to Oklahoma. This house is going to be the neatest thing we've ever done... I hope.

Wagon Ho!

2008-05-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

In November of 2006, Brian and I hitched up our wagon and began our arduous journey across the country from New Hampshire to Oklahoma. Over hill and over dale, over highways and byways, we trekked with eyes fixed on the road and our bright and shiny futures ahead. Houses were cheap in Oklahoma--we could buy one! The cost of living was less--we could really pursue our dreams of painting and playing music! We'd be closer to Brian's family! It was going to be a new chapter in our lives--a chapter filled with new sights and sounds and wide open spaces in which to grow!