Saturday, July 28, 2012

nesting

since i am still separated from my crafting tools, i have time to focus on other obsessions...


Patrick Taylor House, 1832, Australia
visually, my favorite historic building technique is hands down wattle and daub...


Speke Hall, 1530, UK


and maybe its the combination of woven sticks and sustainable building materials that is so appealing to me as a process...



Lavenham Priory, 1400's, UK

but, as much as i like to be a purist, i will probably forego the dung and thatched roof... 


http://www.squidoo.com/wattle-and-daub


but keep the exposed wood lattice (half-timbering...fachwerk) and protective white lime plastering which are my favorite parts...

Waltrop House—Germany, 1400

but the timbers don't have to be filled in with sticks...

Moot Hall in Aldeburgh, UK, 1650

it can be stones, brick "nogging" (often replacing the plaster and sticks to add support to a sagging stucture), whatever...


did i mention i am volunteering with a historic preservation crew? this project looks SO fun.


but the exposed timbers were found to last longer (probably in damp climates) if they were completely plastered over (pargetting), a precursor to stuccoing) and i dont have to go far to find beautiful stuccoed architecture...


Colorado, off-grid construction


while not historic, the off-grid communities are doing wonderful things with building materials, and in living in general: "While Rolland does happen to be a rocket scientist, he says it doesn’t take one to invent your own technology. 'It’s buried inside all of us,' he says. 'All you have to do is leave yourself room to find it. I think most of us don’t realize it because we’re barricaded from it by regulation and fear.' His personal building code—no plywood, no plastic, and nothing that smells bad when it burns—is the only creed Rolland adheres to.'

Read more: http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=3180&tag=solar panels#ixzz21vmBmnzq

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Flagstaffin

bike friendly Flagstaff, with trails and friendly people...


Free bikes live on


and a DIY craft fairs at anarchist community centers...




and, best of all, we are back in the beautiful Southwest.


Some girls have all the fun




ballet, puppets, violins, yoga...
i was reading the interview with violinist and yogini Sarah Neufeld  in LA Yoga, and i love her music and responses to the question, why teach yoga? "it's challenging and demanding and yet so simple."
so i thought i would post a video from one of her musical projects, and this video reminded me i want to start practicing ballet again...


while everything else is in storage as we move to Flagstaff except my Cynthia King vegan ballet shoes (yes, vegan. while i am a vegetarian leatherworker--see my post on the leather industry--i know where my leather comes from and synthetic materials are produced from fossil fuels, but i still promote awareness of animal issues and these shoes are mostly canvas)  knitting, yoga mat, and dog leash. hopefully i can channel some of Sarah Neufeld's ambition in this transition, and have fun.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Trashy

We are on the road...again, this time to our final-ish destination, although we are staying in temporary places for the next couple weeks. The hardest thing, for me, about being on the road is making so much trash. It's tempting to get your cupcake to go and grab a plastic spoon rather than use a metal spoon then let the metal spoon get all crusty in the car until you remember to take it into a hotel room with you and try to wash it with hand soap and a rock to chisel off the...cupcake pieces? I guess you don't eat a cupcake with a spoon unless you are very dainty, a quality I am rarely accused of, but I am attempting to match the narrative with the photo. (poster by Give a Shit About Nature)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Stealing a quote

my friend Priscilla is always posting the most insightful things...true inspiration!

"The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life. And the body is born young and grows old. That is life's tragedy."
-Oscar Wilde

**I've been telling myself as a mantra of sorts that "I'm getting younger, stronger, healthier & happier everyday." On a cellular level our bodies believe what we tell them & will always follow suit. Keep feeding your body positivity, loving & healing thoughts & energy...not only will your life will be a comedy & a tragedy but a dream!**

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Megabus to Alamo

Megabus is insane. $3 to get from Houston to San Antonio, dropped me a few blocks from the Alamo. It smelled like Mexico today, in a good way.