Mud dancing with family, friends and elephants!!

So the walls are coming up, the weather is getting hot so it's hard work but visits from friends and neighbours who want to help has made such a difference, thanks everyone!! There has been some excitement, one day I was building alone and a herd of elephants came running towards me, at 2pm it was very unexpected to see these elephants in the communal lands, I had to run for cover so didn't get any pictures!

camping on the plot, we enjoyed solar showers and Oly a bath by the fire

Throwing the cob balls is a lot more fun than having to push the wheelbarrow through the sand!

A bush fire gave me a fright, but was stopped before it crossed the road, although cob is fireproof, my shed is not!!

mud dancing is exhausting!! 

so the walls are coming up, there will be two floor levels, on the one side I am  levelling the wall to fit the arched window frames. 

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!!

Making a plan!!!

This past week my car was broken down, and to get a new part is no simple affair here, I had to wait for someone who could get it 300kms away.

A baboon enjoying my lifeless car

I did manage to get to the plot on several days getting lifts from friends, so the stem wall has been creeping up.

on one day I decided to try and ride to the plot, bearing in mind I haven't ridden a bike in 12 years at least, and this is in a wildlife area, where you can bump into elephants or lions amongst others, I had a great time, was exhausted though and took too long to actually get any building done!!

Watching a lioness from the car 

one of the many elephants around at the moment

and a wild dog

 So after a week of 'making a plan' I'm back working on the plot every day, I'm setting up a temporary compost toilet and shower area so we can camp more often and get moving!!

my husband was working in the area on this day and came to take some pictures

'Shumba' which means lion, our neighbour's dog, likes to come and watch me dance in the mud!

one of the many wonderful animals we see in our garden at our current home, a male bushbuck enjoys the refreshing taste of my mint growing by the kitchen.