Cob: Cob Oven

[Ryan Zwahr]

Hi,
I am planning on building a cob oven in my back yard, using Kiko Denzer's
book.  I am totally new to this and I don't know much about it, so bear with
me.  My first question is, how will the oven stand up to the weather?  Do I
need to build a little roof over it to prevent the rain from washing it
away?  The other thing is, is there any kind of whitewashed plaster or
something I could put on the outside of the oven to make it look more
appealing?  Can you do that on these ovens since they get so hot (can the
plaster take it)?

What kind of plaster do you use for cob structures in general, for example
if you wanted to make a little garden wall and make it like a different
color than the natural cob color?

Does anyone know of any cob workshops in North Carolina?  I live in the
Raleigh area.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan