Thursday, June 16, 2011

Cobbers Settled In!

Cob-mixers on a cloudy day

These past three weeks have gone by in a flash. Seven volunteers with ages ranging 21-45, from different countries, cultures, even continents, have joined together to build this house here in Tipperary. We all feel very grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this apprenticeship. Trading our sweat for knowledge; there is something so honest in this.

So here we are three weeks in now, atrophied muscles have awoken, callouses have thickened, stomachs adapted(all vegetarian diet).

Well what should we discuss? How about the weather? Irish people love talking about the weather, and for good reason... They have it! It seems every 5 minutes the weather changes. All of the volunteers have been camping in the nearby field and the weatherproofing of our tents has been well tested. Gale force winds, torrential downpours, hail, then sunny with a balmy 23 degrees, and that is just in the course of an afternoon. If you are visiting Ireland a waterproof jacket and wellingtons are essential.


Our life on-site

Our headquarters is a mobile-home beside the construction site. There, we cook our communal vegetarian meals. We also have a small cob cottage on the Western side of the construction site. This cottage was built a couple of years back by human power alone, with no assistance from electric power tools. Its main room is heated by a wood stove and serves as our library. The other room is the bedroom for our instructor Paul, and is available for any one of us in the group to enjoy at times when Paul is staying off-site.

At the moment, fixed weekly deliveries of groceries are brought to us by Paul and his wife Therese, and this will be shared between us for the whole week. Cooking with fixed rations in a group is fine practice for becoming conscious of food consumption and sharing. Often times the people who cook the first part of the week are required to be thoughtful so there would be more inspirational ingredients also left for Thursday and Friday. Ones who cook later on in the week can use the virtue and joy of creativity (no kidding, the challenge can be enjoyable :), as the abundance of the week’s beginning has somewhat reduced.

Each of us is provided a chore that rotates weekly. We could be responsible for cooking breakfast, gardening, firewood, compost toilet emptying and maintenance, making yogurt and bread, tidiness of site and other specified chores. This system gives each of us an opportunity to have an overall perspective and learn from of all our activities.

We have a well on-site and running water is drawn up to the trailer with the help of an electric pump. For hot water, we have a small heater in the trailer that works on-demand. As the group is communally responsible for butane purchases, we are gradually becoming more aware of our hot water consumption and constantly entertaining creative ways to cut down.

Paul instructs on leveling window sills

Our weeks from Monday to Friday are busy with building work starting at 7 am and finishing at 6 pm with a 2 hour lunch break and 1 hour for breakfast mid-morning. By far we have mixed (literally!) tons of cob with our feet, piled it up to more than a meter of wall height, set up stone window sills and chiseled out knee braces for the timber frame structure as well as support posts and lintels for the windows.
Weekends include more time for relaxation and support is given for any personal projects we want to undertake during our free hours.

Checking distance from wall to drip line below window sill

Working in a group is intricate, but sharing the same kinds of core values feels truly helpful. All of us are, in our own ways, on our path to figure out alternatives to what we have been taught within the wider context of society – ways and skills to a more healthy and sustainable way of life. This alone has brought us together from different walks of life, and it also feels like a glue that ties us together, regardless of our personal differences.

After close to a month of sun, rain and heavy winds, we are looking forward to the rest of our season of building and learning.

Fruits of our labor: Level cob base for the West side wall of light straw clay.

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