Timber Frame and Natural Building Work Exchange 2011 in Missouri

January 19, 2011 at 7:47 pm

The Wabi-sabi sub-community (Ziggy, April, Thomas, and Ali) at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage are seeking individuals to help with building our cooperative kitchen and maintaining our organic vegetable gardens for the summer of 2011.

  Are you interested in roundwood timber framing? Do you want to get some hands-on experience building using natural materials? Would you like to experience community life in an off-the-grid, sustainable ecovillage?…

  Wabi-sabi wants to host excited work exchangers during April to October 2011 to help with the construction of a timber frame, straw bale and cob kitchen.…

  The Wabi-sabi kitchen is a oval structure composed of a reclaimed urbanite foundation, a local roundwood timber frame, and eventually, a reclaimed metal roof and straw bale/cob walls with an attached greenhouse and outdoor cooking space.…

  We are seeking builders with timber frame or carpentry experience.

  This season, building work will largely consist of helping to design and construct a timber frame from locally harvested roundwood using hand tools. Logs will be cut, split, hewn, mortised, and shaped to build the frame for our kitchen. The ideal candidate would have experience using hand tools to shape logs (saws, adzes, chisels, etc.), but a candidate with more general carpentry experience could be a fine candidate, too. Ultimately, we are seeking an individual excited and enthusiastic to experiment and learn about timber framing techniques and methods!

https://small-scale.net/yearofmud/2011/01/17/timber-frame-and-natural-building-work-exchange/

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Great Blue Heron lets me get close

January 19, 2011 at 4:42 pm

On my way to the beach around 5:30 PM yesterday, I spotted a blue heron in the creek, Funny, because these are the spookiest birds in the area, and this one wasn’t bothered by my proximity. I kept inching forward, shooting pics, until I was about 25 ft. away. He stayed there, aware of my presence for sure, but not concerned. Finally I walked past his part of the creek and went around a bend. I heard this fluttering, and he had flown over my head and descended into the creek right in front of me. It was a thrill, this elegant creature swooping so close. (Look at those delicate white plume feathers, nature’s decoration.)

This is the same general area where I talked to an owl one dark night a few years ago — no kidding, owl and me had a conversation — and Ron and I spotted a young mountain lion another time. It’s where a creek comes down from the mountain into an estero and ultimately the sandy beach. Maybe there are spots on this earth where the elements, including planetary vibes, come together in harmony and animals allow us a closer look.

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Horse on beach last night

January 19, 2011 at 4:05 pm

I was on the beach last night around sunset. The surf was big and I was taking pictures of 2 surfers (who were getting hammered) and turned around and here was this horse and rider materializing out of the surf. (It was darker than it looks here.)

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Riding the cable across the river to Louie’s house

January 19, 2011 at 12:12 pm

To get to my friend Louie’s house, you ride a cable 500 feet across a river. Here’s a short video of me walking down the road, climbing up to the 30′ high platform, attaching the bosun’s chair, and rolling across the river. On the other side there’s another platform and another cable to get back. It’s a thrill every time. Not for the faint hearted.

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Horseneck clams and a marauding seagull tonight

January 18, 2011 at 5:41 am

It’s really a lot of heavy shoveling in sticky clay-y sand to get these clams, so no one does it. Me, I have a strange affinity for shoveling, having done it since age 12, and I look on it as a workout. Got these 5 after about 45 min. of shoveling. Took them out and put them in the channel to wash off, went back to get my shovel, and when I got back, a seagull was tugging one of them along. Chased him off. What an opportunist! Such a strong, elegant bird. A survivor.

I leave them in salt water with corn meal sprinkled on top overnight (makes them discharge sand). Then will take long necks, blanch off skin, Cuisinart the white meat, and make clam fritters. Will make broth with the rest of the clams.

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Cacti luminosity

January 18, 2011 at 5:31 am

So much going on now, can’t capture much of it. Numero uno, the tiny homes book gets more fabulous weekly. Sheesh! We’ve hit a vein here. Plus the book is now alive and healthy and growing daily. I did 6 pages in the last two days, mama mia! What people are doing out there…

This afternoon, went clamming, stopped off at Eatdog’s succulent garden to set up for a photo shoot later this week, and shot this in the afternoon sun.

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Birchbark sauna in Finland

January 17, 2011 at 12:27 pm

“Birch bark has been used in Finland for centuries as a construction material and as material for making small objects like baskets and shoes. One of birch bark’s features is good thermal insulation. The surface is water repellent and it can be gently washed with water. Some components of birch bark also protect it from decomposing.

Finnish architects Teija Losoi, Anne Varsamäki and Ilari Pirttilahti used the technique to build a lightweight sauna – basically a huge traditional birch bark basket turned upside down. The light walls are supported by a wooden structure that is hidden inside two layers of braided birch bark.…”

https://tuohisauna.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/saunakonsepti/

https://tuohisauna.wordpress.com/valokuvat/

https://www.arquitecturaymadera.es/blog/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=850&Itemid=132&idth=95

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