Let the cobbing begin!!

So heres an update of whats been happening over the last few weeks, I've been building almost everyday and it's coming along.

The stem wall is complete, it is high enough all the way around to protect the bottom of the cob walls

A friend helping to weld some spare poles together to make a frame for a compost toilet area and a shower area, for  camping on the plot during building

putting up the frame for the compost toilet, we followed a very basic bucket design for the toilet. Everything is collected in the bin and covered with saw dust, once it is full this is emptied into a compost pile and left for 1 year once it is full.

Here is the finished toilet, with a basic wooden frame built over the bin and toilet seat attached, thanks to my husband for this!! Its amazing, there is no smell, the saw dust takes care of that, when water is so precious and scarce it's really great to know that we will become part of the natural cycle rather than making this resource into a waste!!

The shower area, where we can hang a solar shower bag in the tree above and catch the run off in a tub below

I made a small fire pit with some clay for our campsite



My husband has been spending his spare time organising the shed, makes a huge difference!

The next step was to position the wooden boxes where the door frames will later be attached

Having first banged lots of nails and blocks for the cob to grip to

 Both door frames are up, my husband helped as this is not a one person job, after a few accidents, we managed to get them firmly into place, supported by temporary planks. The top soil, has been removed from the inside of the house so that the layers of the floor can be built up later.

In preparation for the cob I have been pounding some of the clay as there are large very dry pieces that don't become wet even if it is soaked for a long time

The top of the stem wall is not flat this helps the cob to grip

Yeahhy, cobbing has begun, it's great to take off my boots and to be stomping around bare foot!!

Friends are starting to come and see what cobbing is all about

My son also wanted to help out

I have been covering the cob to slow down the drying as it is getting very hot

So I am happily cobbing away now, it's alot of hardwork but great fun!!