Cob: Update from Ozland

[Rosemary Lyndall Wemm]

My Cob Shed is happening.  I've finished the foundations plus a curved seat
made out of left-over paving bricks.  Except for the top layer of pavers,
the seat has been rendered with a mortar mixed with a couple of shovels of
red clay.  The shed-let walls are now several inches higher than the
foundation/seat.  The first layer was a little sloppy [I'm learning,
cobbers] but survived five days of showers.    I'm amazed at how little
damage all that rain did to the sloppy cob.  It washed off the top layer of
fine clay leaving a sandy, pebbly, staw-whispy look.  It was still damp, but
hardening, when I put today's somewhat firmer layer on top.    The rendered
foundation wall is now rather pleasantly blended with the somewhat darker
cob clay which washed off onto it.  If some of the clay stain remains after
a lot more showers it won't matter a bit; the effect is rather pleasing.

My "over-night" mix matured quite well over those few days although I had to
scoop off about a foot of water from the plastic bag which was supposed to
cover the wheel barrow holding the stuff.  [Tonight's mix is covered with an
old piece of painted ply salvaged from the back of an old bookcase.]  I now
understand what wet decaying straw smells like :-)

The only thing which I have to complain about is that I worked somewhat too
enthusiastically on that first afternoon and did not take proper care of a
back which my new chiropracter had just concluded was a "mess".  The result
was that I ended up with severe back strain and couldn't do much but lie
down and walk gently around for five days.  I was banned from bending or
sitting for that time!  Things like putting on socks and undies and the
manipulations required when relieving oneself where also somewhat of a
problem ;-)  So none of you will be surprised that I have been rather more
careful today.  My sand and clay supplies are in mounds on the edge of the
bush strip across the road from my house.  I have been carting the stuff to
my mixing barrow a plastic wash-basin at a time.

Most of Perth and surrounds sits on a sand plain.  Finding sand is no
problem but finding clay was quite difficult.  I finally contacted a
contracter working in the clay-rich hill area on the East of Perth.  Not
only did I ring on the right day [when they were digging the stuff up] but I
also contacted a chap who had made an earth path with the stuff he was about
to sell me.  I even got a follow-up phone call a day later to ask what I
thought of the rich orange-red stuff.  [Wonderful! It's probably got a
spinkling of aluminium in it, since the hills are mined for it.]

So I'm doing my own soil mixing since the local stuff would simply fall
apart!  For others who live in sandy environments and have to mix clay into
their mixture I share my experience:  I have discovered that the easiest way
to mix the stuff is to put a layer of water in the bottom of my wheelbarrow
and then mix the clay into this, extracting large stones [but leaving the
pebbles] and breaking up large clods after they have soaked a little.  Then
I add the sand a bit at a time, and mix it in.  Since I'm using a 2:5 mix I
start with 2 dishes of clay and mix, followed by two dishs of sand, mix, the
next two dishes of sand, mix and then the last dish.  I usually add some
more water at this stage as the mixture is pretty stiff and I don't want to
ruin this back again.  [I don't have the leg or hip strength for foot mixing
on the ground.]
I throw in the straw a bit at a time and mix it through.  It gets a bit
heavy at this stage.  After that I leave it for a while to "cook".  Half an
hour is O.K. but my four day mixture was certainly superior, even with the
layer of water sitting on the top of it for days. [It's amazing how
water-resistant the mixture is!]

The whole thing is a bit like cooking.  First you dissolve the sugar in some
milk, then you gradually mix in the flour and currants until you form a
not-too-stiff dough.  Then you add the coconut to bind it.  When this is all
mixed in you let the mixture stand to thicken.  You line your pie plate with
the mixture and cook it using solar heat.  I stop short of eating it,
though.  I gave that away after sampling my first mud pie at the age of 2.
Even vegetables taste better.

I've put some more photos on my web site but since I'll be collecting a more
recent set next week I'll wait until I've got some of these scanned before I
re-post the URL and suggest you take a lot.

*********

I haven't made it to East Timor yet due to a rather sticky problem with
visas which is currently on its way to being successfully sorted out.   The
good side is that I'm getting some practical experience at a more liesurely
rate than I had expected.

Cheers,

Rosemary
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 Rosemary LYNDALL WEMM,
 B.Mus.(Inst.), T.S.T.C., B.A.(Hons), M.A.(Neuropsych.), etc.  _--_|\
 Clinical Neuro-psychologist                             Perth/      \
 Perth, Western Australia    lyndall at neurognostics.com.au  -->\_.--._/
 ------------------- http://www.neurognostics.com.au ---------------v-




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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>My Cob 
Shed is happening.  I've finished the foundations plus a curved seat made 
out of left-over paving bricks.  Except for the top layer of pavers, the 
seat has been rendered with a mortar mixed with a couple of shovels of red 
clay.  The shed-let walls are now several inches higher than the 
foundation/seat.  The first layer was a little sloppy [I'm learning, 
cobbers] but survived five days of showers.    I'm amazed at 
how little damage all that rain did to the sloppy cob.  It 
washed off the top layer of fine clay leaving a sandy, pebbly, staw-whispy 
look.  It was still damp, but hardening, when I put today's somewhat 
firmer layer on top.    The rendered foundation wall is now 
rather pleasantly blended with the somewhat darker cob clay which washed 
off onto it.  If some of the clay stain remains after a 
lot more showers it won't matter a bit; the effect is rather 
pleasing.    </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>My 
"over-night" mix matured quite well over those few days although I had to scoop 
off about a foot of water from the plastic bag which was supposed to cover the 
wheel barrow holding the stuff.  [Tonight's mix is covered with an old 
piece of painted ply salvaged from the back of an old bookcase.]  I now 
understand what wet decaying straw smells like :-)  </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>The 
only thing which I have to complain about is that I worked somewhat too 
enthusiastically on that first afternoon and did not take proper care of a back 
which my new chiropracter had just concluded was a "mess".  The result was 
that I ended up with severe back strain and couldn't do much but lie down and 
walk gently around for five days.  I was banned from bending or sitting for 
that time!  Things like putting on socks and undies and the manipulations 
required when relieving oneself where also somewhat of a problem ;-)  So 
none of you will be surprised that I have been rather more careful today.  
My sand and clay supplies are in mounds on the edge of the bush strip across the 
road from my house.  I have been carting the stuff to my mixing barrow a 
plastic wash-basin at a time.  </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>Most 
of Perth and surrounds sits on a sand plain.  Finding sand is no problem 
but finding clay was quite difficult.  I finally contacted a contracter 
working in the clay-rich hill area on the East of Perth.  Not only did I 
ring on the right day [when they were digging the stuff up] but I also contacted 
a chap who had made an earth path with the stuff he was about to sell me.  
I even got a follow-up phone call a day later to ask what I thought of the rich 
orange-red stuff.  [Wonderful! It's probably got a spinkling of aluminium 
in it, since the hills are mined for it.]   </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>So I'm 
doing my own soil mixing since the local stuff would simply fall apart!  
For others who live in sandy environments and have to mix clay into their 
mixture I share my experience:  I have discovered that the easiest way to 
mix the stuff is to put a layer of water in the bottom of my wheelbarrow and 
then mix the clay into this, extracting large stones [but leaving the pebbles] 
and breaking up large clods after they have soaked a little.  Then I add 
the sand a bit at a time, and mix it in.  Since I'm using a 2:5 mix I start 
with 2 dishes of clay and mix, followed by two dishs of sand, mix, the next 
two dishes of sand, mix and then the last dish.  I usually add some 
more water at this stage as the mixture is pretty stiff and I don't want to ruin 
this back again.  [I don't have the leg or hip strength for foot mixing on 
the ground.]  </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>I 
throw in the straw a bit at a time and mix it through.  It gets a bit heavy 
at this stage.  After that I leave it for a while to "cook".  Half an 
hour is O.K. but my four day mixture was certainly superior, even with the layer 
of water sitting on the top of it for days. [It's amazing how water-resistant 
the mixture is!]  </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>The 
whole thing is a bit like cooking.  First you dissolve the sugar 
in some milk, then you gradually mix in the flour and currants until you 
form a not-too-stiff dough.  Then you add the coconut to bind it.  
When this is all mixed in you let the mixture stand to thicken.  You line 
your pie plate with the mixture and cook it using solar heat.  I stop short 
of eating it, though.  I gave that away after sampling my first mud pie at 
the age of 2.  Even vegetables taste better.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>I've 
put some more photos on my web site but since I'll be collecting a more recent 
set next week I'll wait until I've got some of these scanned before I re-post 
the URL and suggest you take a lot.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000>*********</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=260231413-13052000>I 
haven't made it to East Timor yet due to a rather sticky problem with visas 
which is currently on its way to being successfully sorted out.   The 
good side is that I'm getting some practical experience at a more liesurely rate 
than I had expected. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000> </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000>Cheers,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN 
class=260231413-13052000>Rosemary</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT 
size=2> ---------------------------------------------------------------------<BR> Rosemary 
LYNDALL WEMM,<BR> B.Mus.(Inst.), T.S.T.C., B.A.(Hons), M.A.(Neuropsych.), 
etc.  _--_|\<BR> Clinical 
Neuro-psychologist                             
Perth/      \<BR> Perth, Western 
Australia    lyndall at neurognostics.com.au  
-->\_.--._/<BR> ------------------- <A 
href="http://www.neurognostics.com.au/" 
target=_blank>http://www.neurognostics.com.au</A> 
---------------v-<BR><BR></FONT></P>
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