the three yeast and the rising

The workshop is over, but the building process is not. Luckily, Mike and I have a third member on our team as we continue to sculpt :


This is An. She is originally from Austria, and has been living in Iowa with her husband (an Iowan) for the past year and a half. Just last week, she got the good news that their land dreams will be coming true. Congratulations! She'll take the mud knowledge to the Midwest, and create some beautiful cob houses, I have no doubt. An is a phenomenal fire-builder, knows her edible plants, and has a very solid and creative design mind. I feel completely comfortable leaving her with a project, and letting her make decisions and execute. It's really important to have a team of folks whom you trust. She just started a wild yeast culture over the past week, and sent some back with me to my sister's place, so that I can make for Ian his first ever sourdough pancakes!

We got a lot done this week, including a lot of detailed interior work: the bamboo shelves, slate bench, and sculpted window ledges. The arch is strong enough to walk over, 3 out of 4 windows are in, all the strawbales are up, and we have the desk spot ready-to-go (still searching for the actual desk-top itself). It feels like a cottage!


(mother, notice the bottle of sunscreen on the bamboo shelf)

When looking at the wall and thinking "Hmmm... looks pretty rough and bumpy and uncivilized," be aware that in August the earthen plaster will cover over the cob and change everything. There's nothing more beautiful than a sculpted and plastered hobbit hole.