COB BUILDING ANCIENT SHELTERS HERE NOW

A NEWAGE TREND of old earthy homebuilding is being reborm with great enthusiasm now in our back-to-the-land & organic fanatic movements of sustainable living in tune with Nature. I attended a COB workshop using: clay, straw, sand & water to make mudpies to build a roundish structure for "Back-yard farms" Marcolla community education projects & meetings, on first day of Virgo sun & Tarus moon signs.

The weeklong workship had 15 or so, with 3 leaders in different simple functions, teaching skills with hands on & muddy feet in fun. It was inspiring them & me to meet & create a new & unique shelter with primative materials, camping out near by. This Capricorn way for construction is done in the more poor 3rd world than we know of. COB building is called Barro in Mexico & includes various thatching roofs, mud, dung, rock or tile floors, shelves & arty creations inside & out.

COBing is fun & unites a group in spirit of cooperation, like many work-parties can do out in nature, like the old barn-raising.

in pioneer building still happens. The spirit of friendly sharing was fully on as we fixed & ate a vegie feast outside on the COB site.

Then we had a party, circling inside the 1/2 done COB house to bless it with our collective energy singing, dancing, touching each other & the 4 directions & talking affectionately. This expands the newage shelter systems of tipis, geodesic domes, A-frames, yurts, caves,

treehouses & adobe kivas with good vibs naturally.

A COB house can be built for $500 to $1,000 depending on how much local materials you use, make & recycle local clay, sand, water & straw, is done in hot season so it will dry out completely & last for centuries it commonly does. Becky Bee the COB leader, teacher & author was there, raving about the ongoing community process. It was so hi, positive & grounding i plan to take another/longer COB workshop to do & learn it, meeting new friends in work & play. COB fits perfectly with Permaculture organic sustainable landing now, each one being different, totally flexable to needs & designs with are communicated daily in the planning & building phases.

The possibilities are endless in COBing at home or friends in harmony with nature! hand making furniture, sculptures & walls any shape that will cllng together, from crude to plastered wall, simple or complicated systems. The roof/ceiling(last built) & floors can be different materails, even changed/remodeled as they wear-out & age.

COB gossip tells of the women COBers in Africa may plaster. mud or paint their COB house yearly. Whatever it takes with minimal energy & more enjoyment cheaply. Mud-straw walls are built-up gradually by teamwork, on top of low rock or cement foundations. We may use lava, stained glass, old windows, mirrors, carvings, etc, worked into mud walls. Its easy to gather local resources for COBS. that become a pemanent structures, even lasting longer than a family or culture does. We can also include our kids in COBing family spaces we use together, with stone masonry, pottery & gardening cooperating with nature energy.