Cordobe

Is it a cordwood wall or is it an adobe wall? Well…it’s kinda both—It’s Cordobe! Building the house has been quite an experiment, so why stop now? I’ve had great success up to this point with PEM (Paper Enhanced Mortar) and with PEP(Paper...

Fungus Among Us

On my return trip this week I was greeted by a tree blocking my way up to the house. It was a dead elm that probably should have been cut down a while ago, but it looked like a “widow maker” to me, so it just stood there until a strong summer storm brought...

A Chilling Subject

For the last five years a small, simulated wood panel refrigerator has done an adequate job keeping food cold, but its quite energy inefficient and it can only store a few items in its freezer. The refrigerator is barely adequate for one person and when Jo comes to...

I Got So Plastered

  As you can see by the above photograph, there’s a bunch of gray matter stuck to the wall on the left—that’s PEP (Paper Enhanced Plaster). The color is a dark gray at the moment, but once the walls dry out (pick a year), the color will almost be...

Two More Walls Completed and The MREA Fair

Over the past few weeks, I’ve managed to finish two more walls. The going is a little easier compared to the outside walls since I have been placing the logs flush with the mortar. It still requires a bit of pointing with a bent butter knife, but not nearly as...