Hope you are well. Peter here from Tasmania in Australia. I bought your shelter books over a year ago and have near worn them out. You very politely showed an interest in our small cordwood cabin we live in.
This is a quick note to send you a youtube link, a time lapse of the past 6 weeks of building a 16-sided round house – post and beam frame.
It’s just the missus and I building and we are not builders and wrapping our heads around funky angles and staying married has been a great challenge.!!
That crane is an engine crane with a modified jib and a water tank bolted to the back for ballast. Cost me $12 in castor wheels.
The round posts are around the 750-800 pounds in weight and about 18.5 feet high.
The crane isn’t safe but it works and we got through the 24 posts.
Unfortunately the Aust. code book prevents us from doing anything remotely like the west coast builders in your books; however we have bent the rules where we can.
What a relief to be back home. Took my first hard bike ride in months yesterday. Going to start running lightly. I’m working out in a gym 2-3 times a week to build back upper body strength. I’m mainly trying to revitalize damaged shoulders. One thing that Bill Pearl said about weight training: within a month or so you see results. The principle of progressive resistance. Muscle tone improvements are visible (and feelable). Encouraging.
I’m cookin on the new book (click here). 6 pages laid out (old school style design before it gets MacIntoshed). I’m in contact with a bunch of road people and boat people. All kinds of rigs. Getting them to send in 250–300 word write-ups and pix. Lots of material coming in by end of August. Nomadic Living in the 21st Century.
I found this DVD video online after hearing Muddy and Mick doing Mannish Boy together. Man-o-man is this great! It goes up there on the top shelf of my music videos along with “The Last Waltz,” and “Mad Dogs and Englishmen.” It took place 31 years ago at Buddy Guy’s club, The Checkerboard Lounge, in Chicago. It’s just spectacular, it’s like you’re in the club. Mick sings great. Muddy is just awesome. Regal. Dignified. Every note is right. Plus he does a killer bottleneck guitar solo.
There is brilliant guitar gun slinging throughout. A great Buddy Guy/Keith Richards section. Also, seeing Keith and Ronnie without Mick (and his sometimes a bit weird dancing), just the two of them, is revealing. Keith is a minimalist; it’s as much in what he doesn’t play, as what he does. Simple, rock bottom. Ronnie does some flaming work. They are totally tuned into each other. Guitar players speak a language to each other, and when it flows, it can be stunning.
Also Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Lefty Dizz, two other great guitar players in the opening band.
“…If you want to make the move from a conventional, 2,500-square-foot home to one half that size appealing, you can’t do it with design alone or even with the combination of home and neighborhood design. The trick to living large in small spaces is to have great public places to go to – preferably by foot or on a bike – once you’re outside your private retreat. This argument echoes Scott Doyon’s pitch for balancing privacy and community. No problem feeding the private, nesting impulse with cottage living; but the smaller the nest, the bigger the balancing need for community. Big community. Bigger than a greenfield new town or village.…” https://placeshakers.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/livin’-large-in-small-spaces-it-takes-a-town/
Great article on Tiny Homes in Mother Earth News (circulation 500,000 or so), August-Sept issue. “Owner of Shelter Publications and godfather of the hand-built homes movement, Lloyd Kahn brings us another great book on tiny homes, chock-full of examples of small houses anyone can afford to own.…”
“1950 GMC Flatbed Truck with Custom Built “Gypsy Wagon” or “Hippie Shack” 80 sq. ft. floor space.
Small Block 400 with Turbo 400 Transmission, Lokar Shifter, rebuilt engine…1980 1 Ton Rear end with new wheels and tires. Custom built cedar camper. Whidbey, Washington.” https://tinyhouselistings.com/1950-flatbed-housetruck/
There were a bunch of 10-12-year-old kids down at the town dock last night when I went down to go for a paddle. I lowered my (Joe Bark 12′ stock) paddleboard into the water and lo and behold, up flies this pelican. He lands a few feet away from my board. Sheesh! I’ve never gotten within 50′ of a pelican.
Then he jumps onto my board. I wonder if he’ll stay on when I paddle, so I gingerly get onto the board, scoot up farther than usual, and take off. He stays there! Are we stylin or what?
The kids love it and shoot pictures with an iPhone. He stayed on for maybe a hundred yards, then flew off.
Thought I’d let you know about my straw bale building workshop coming up August 10-12 in the NY Catskills. We still have room for a few more participants if you want to spread the word on your blog.
Sunday afternoon on my way home I stopped off in Santa Cruz at Verve Coffee, and who should walk in but my son Will. He had his 16-year-old niece-in-law with him and they were carrying skateboards. After coffee, we went out and skated along East Cliff Drive, from 41st down to 30th or so. “Do you realize Dad, that you’re skating with someone 60 years younger than you?” Ulp.
Then, on the way up the coast, I stopped off at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., got a beer, and listened to blues singer Pamela Rose, with a very good band. Here were a couple of vehicles parked outside.
