Mud Plastering Video - Part Two

Here's the second part of the mud plastering video. Lielle decided to say a little bit about the wasp that she noticed while we were working..... check it out on her blog: http://www.liellesblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/nature-lesson.html

Getting Plastered!

As promised - here is a short video about our latest project... replastering the entrance, with mud. It has been great fun and a we learned such a lot from the hands-on experience. For Lielle it was also a nature lesson as together we followed how a wasp was coming along to collect the mud for building its nest.

(For some reason the video didn't want to upload so I split it into two parts - here is part one - part two to follow soon).

Building Projects

To further our plan for turning our homestead in Bulgaria into a comfortable and cosy place for traveling families to stay we have several projects in mind that we shall be working on in the near future. Just how far we get with them and the order in which they are tackled will depend to some extent upon the various material, financial and human resources available to us.

Summer Kitchen: Faulty guttering and a few loose roof tiles combined to create some serious damage over the last year to one of the small outbuildings. We intend to completely dismantle the building and recreate it as a covered, partially enclosed summer kitchen. We are hoping to reuse most of the old materials (mud, bricks and roof tiles) and incorporate some decorative elements which will turn it into something functional and creative.

Compost Toilets: Definitely room for improvement here! We don't intend to get rid of the old outside toilet just yet, but we do hope to add some more aesthetic compost toilets, both inside and outside the house.

Hayloft-to-Den Conversion: We would like to clear out one of the haylofts and turn it into a cool space for older kids as a den or story-telling corner. For younger children we want to finish sorting out the ground-level playhouse in the garden.

Cowshed-to-Craft-Workshop Conversion: This is a bigger job and to do it the way we are thinking of will mean we shall need to acquire a few new skills first, such as working with natural mud and lime plaster. If we manage to make the place really cosy it could also double up to provide additional sleeping space when we have a lot of guests.

We shall be documenting our progress with these various projects and hope to be able to post some impressive 'before' and 'after' photos over the coming months!

How We Built our First Cement Seating Sculptures

The first stage was to collect the materials that were to be incorporated into the basic structure. We collected old tires, discarded furniture, newspapers and lots of plastic bottles. We discovered that we needed more bottles than we had used ourselves so we actually had to raid the local recycling collection point for a few extras!

The next stage actually took several days. The materials that had been collected were gathered together more or less in the place where the structure was to be built and were looked at earnestly from all directions. This is also the stage where you need to think what the structure is all about: how you think you'd like it to look, whether it needs to be functional, etc. The importance of this stage shouldn't be underestimated - it was surprising how many times I changed my mind before arriving at the final result. You need to keep in mind that the one-off nature of using materials that just happen to be available means that the project is created more by evolution than by design. The good thing about this stage is that is can be done quite effectively while enjoying a cup of coffee or a nice cold beer!

Once the 'bones' of the structure has been decided upon by placing the larger items (tires, old chairs, etc) in the appropriate places, the gaps are filled and the various elements are brought together by the addition of scrunched up newspapers, building rubble, plastic containers, etc. These are all kept together by covering the entire structure with thin chicken wire. We found that the easiest way to attach this to the base was with a staple gun.

A few important points to consider: The inner part of tires and other empty spaces need to be filled otherwise the sculpture will soak up enormous (and expensive) quantities of concrete. Remember to put lids on plastic bottles so they retain their shape and don't get squashed under the weight of the concrete. Also don't forget to take into account that the concrete needs to be several centimeters thick and this will alter the dimensions of the finished product. This is particularly important to bear in mind if the sculpture is to perform a function such as being a comfortable place to sit.

The next part of the job, covering the structure with concrete, is pretty hard work - especially if you're mixing the concrete by hand. It's definitely a job for at least two people: one to keep the supply of concrete coming and the other to apply it. Having made three cement sculptures so far I have to admit that I am really looking forward to the opportunity to work with mud. Apart from the fact that it is much more ecologically sound, it is also much more forgiving. There is no need to work against the clock since it doesn't set as concrete does, and the work can be carried out over several days if necessary and not hours.

Over the next few weeks I hope to work on a short video tutorial showing how we made our most recent sculpture - in the meantime here are a few pictures of the finished projects.

Cement Seating Sculptures

One of the projects we hope to get started on as soon as possible after arriving in the village is to arrange an outdoor cooking and general chilling area. We already have a rough plan for a seating sculpture which is to incorporate the recycling of various unwanted items. Here in Israel there is no shortage of available materials to use, from old broken chairs to tires, building rubble, plastic containers, and more which pile up day by day in unofficial dumps around the country. In Voditsa this might be more of a problem - but a good problem in a way. There is very little wasted in the traditional rural villages. While eco-warriors around the world are challenging us all to 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle', Bulgarian villagers have been living this way for centuries.

The idea for the seating sculptures came a couple of years ago when a friend invited me to join her on a trip to Kibbutz Lotan in the south of Israel. The kibbutz runs internationally renown permaculture courses and they do a lot of building and sculpting using a combination of natural and recycled materials. One of the advantages of their location is the weather - the barely 6 days a year of rainfall means that outdoor structures can be covered with mud without undue worry about weather damage. I came away from there there totally inspired and raring to go! My only problem was that where I live in the centre of the country rain would be a problem. I decided on a compromise: the basic structure would be made of recycled materials, but the covering would be cement.

I shall write more about the various stages in contructing the seating sculpture in my next post. In the meantime check out these amazing camel sculptures in Kibbutz Lotan. They are made with old car tires and mud!

Project Bulgaria - Checking Out Some of Life's Alternatives

In just 8 weeks from today our lives are going to be changing drastically. We have decided to take a year out of our 'normal' lives to experience different alternatives: we shall be homeschooling our 7 year old daughter, getting back to basics in a village in Bulgaria, and generally getting as much hands-on learning experience as we can in alternative building, recycling, organic gardening, self-sustainability and more.

For approximately one year we hope to leave behind our routine of regular jobs (as a mechanic / teacher), and take time to discover what really is the essence of a good and healthy life. We are looking forward to living in a community where money and material possessions are not the main motivators, where the pace of life is governed by the seasons, and a good day's work (with liberal breaks for socializing and enjoying life's little pleasures) is the order of the day. We are looking forward too to having more time to get to really know ourselves, as individuals and as a family.

This plan has come about as a result of dreaming, believing and determination... and of course the guiding hand of fate that gave us a gentle push here and there in the right direction.

Before deciding to publish this to a blog I wrote down my own private thoughts explaining where this idea came from and how the whole plan developed from the original dream. These original articles explain quite a bit of the background and can be found here.