Mud Bandits

Following a week of heavy rain and intense woodworking we got back to cobbing during our fourth week here in Nenagh. We had started to put back on the few pounds we had shed over the previous weeks so it was nice to get back to getting our feet and hands dirty again. To speed up the building process and the drying time we set about creating a very high “spine and ribs” at the end of every lift of wall. This meant that we could build higher but it would also dry faster, allowing us to add another layer sooner.

mmmm, pedicure anyone?

We were joined this week by cob legend Christo and his lovely colleague Xavi, all the way from Holland, who are to spend two weeks with us giving us invaluable tips on many of the finer aspects of cob building, including the light straw clay process, plastering and some input into design approaches. But first they introduced us to a new cob dance (which we will dub the “tarp shuffle” - a very elegant way to mix cob with a partner). It took a while to get used to this innovation but we were soon shuffling along quite nicely. Not sure if we’d win any prizes but it was fun..

The latest dance craze -watch out Maximus!

As we continued building up the walls it became apparent that certain areas needed some more design consideration especially where the external walls connect to the internal ones. This was particularly the case for the living room area, where the internal cob wall around the fireplace integrates with the exterior wall. Paul asked each of us to look at the room and think of some design solutions for this particular space and took us through some elements and principles of designing interior spaces. It is definitely an advantage to have a general idea of where you will place shelves, built-in seating, niches, etc. at this stage to save time later on. Designing early on can give unity to a house as a whole, bringing balance and harmony to a project. Lots to think about!

Great excitement on site on Wednesday as the external windows and doors arrived – double glazed with hardwood timber frames. We set about getting the window openings ready for installation. A team screened earth using a wire mesh to make a refined cob mix without large stones. We then made a template for the width of the windows allowing a tolerance of a few centimetres to get the window into the opening. The already roughly built walls then had to be cut back to these dimensions. The windows were then lifted into place on the stone sills, levelled and then braced back to the timber frame. After being secured in the right place we used the refined mix in around the frames to set them into the wall. So we now have full height windows and half height walls!

We also started on the framing for the light straw clay wall –not so easy when nothing in the building is square! Christo thankfully kept us on track with his ingenious ideas. Another task tackled was making the recesses for the round wood window mullions for the large bay window in the living room. There was a lot of chiselling and checking going on with a great result after the long hours put into it. It’s really starting to look like a house now with some of the windows installed.

Therése celebrated her birthday with us this week. Happy Birthday again! To mark the occasion our resident Basque and Gallegan maestros cooked us up delicious paella dishes full of yummy treats like seafood, chicken and chorizo – Que rico! We also had the raw food chefs whisk together another great raw cake.. What a feast! On the theme of food it should be mentioned loudly that we have been treated to lots of yummy bread since Christo arrived -this man has many many talents! Thanks to all the great efforts to make us fat!

Bread-tastic!

This weekend we had the good fortune to attend a cob oven workshop being given by Christo and Xavi and being hosted by the wonderful sculptor Philip Quinn and his lovely family, Liz, Kate, Eve, Ruairi and Will at their home in Holycross. Some more cobbing on our days off but great to see what you can do with cob over two days. Thanks to Philip and family for the great food and hospitality. More about the earth oven building will be written in detail -watch this space!

So almost a month has passed and things are slowly settling into a routine.. Ralphie is keeping us on our toes stealing the cobber's thumbs, Johnny is complaining about the weather and brings us little gifts that he has skillfully hunted down and the rest of us animals are alive and kicking -happily Ben's hand is still in one piece!