Cob: what an eight year old knows, and its bearing on the structures that may soon rise from my lot

[Donna Strow]

Wow!  This is cool.  Thankyou.

Yeah, I thought my pic was good, but I thought it was being made fun of in a
certain comment -- Like someone was trying to put it over that the pic was
proof that I should have practiced more, that my hiatus from art had done me
no good.

Off the subject -- I've been advised to make a scale model of the structure
to be featured in the workshop I want to host, and some tests that are
full-size, such as bricks and joints.  Did I get good advice here?

Is there anything to be said for the idea that I should stick to recipes,
discussions and slide shows until my hands are muddier and better trained?
That's one of the issues that's really at the heart of my "eight-year-old"
thread;  I wanted to see what specifically I might be missing if I were to
proceed straightaway with a small-structure building workshop.  (Also at
issue was the value of all this to my neighbors, who might also feel that
they don't need much in the way of a practicum; but from what I've been
hearing, I need not worry about this.) So far, it sounds like I can do this.

It also sounds like my neighbors will be glad the structure(s) will be
erected on my lot and not theirs, at least in the beginning.

My parents want to know, what happens if you have a workshop and the
building is messed up?
I told them I assumed the whole thing was about taking reasonable risks and
fixing whatever went wrong... right?

My father says, if I don't have an army of hippies like my mentors did, I
should tool up with a cement mixer (he says fine for cob) and a pickup truck
first (total $1500.)  He's right about one thing -- I hate getting my feet
muddy!


-----Original Message-----
From: "Michael Fitzgerald" <puppetman at ix.netcom.com>
To: "coblist" <coblist at deatech.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 10:34 PM
Subject: Cob: RE: oh, no, & what an eight year old knows


> Donna sweetie;
>
> Your picture is wonderful. You obviously know this too or you wouldn't
have
> posted it to an international list...