Natural Cottage Project, Burton Ohio,

Phoenix and I have managed to meet up with our friend and natural building instructor Uncle Mud a couple of times this year. We recently were able to make it to his project in Ohio with co-Natural Cottage Project instructors Christina Ott and Deanne Bednar.

NATURAL COTTAGE INTENSIVE

2 Week Cottage Build
July 10-24 2015

It is always a pleasure to see this crew. Chis' (Uncle Mud) family has a way of drawing everyone together to feel like a big family. After the build, my 8-year-old, Phoenix put together this inspiring video of her experience:

I chose not to edit because I liked it how it was ;) Great job Phoenix

More tile & progress pictures

My focus lately has been to make the environment in the house more relaxing & create an atmosphere that is inspired/ing & peaceful.

Soon the outside will be the focus again. For now it is the kitchen.

Progress pictures:

Next step: more biochar lime plaster

Collaborative structure & Agile format

I had a quandary at moonCat for a while about projects. Working with people, but allowing for structure & creativity equally, was difficult without having someone in charge & telling others what to do.  How to provide structure & learning without being so structured there is no room for creativity? Also, there's that whole moving away from hierarchy thing . . . empowering others

When Phoenix & I were working & playing at The Farm School Solar Campus in Tennessee we co-taught a class on technology, and I taught a few other classes.  I loved how the staff worked flexibly with each other to provide an empowered educational experience. It is clearly something Peter Kindfield (the principal) has  lot of experience with. 

It was at The Farm School that I was introduced to agile learning.  On Fridays we experimented with agile fridays, using a white board and columns of possible, ready, doing, & done. I loved how this kept everyone engaged and seemed to level the playing field of students & teacher into one collaborative group. 

Our work days at moonCat have been so much more relaxed & successful since I learned this approach to organizing a group. I also feel that using the agile framework, I have more of a chance to pull in the skills of others, rather than just standing at the front, teaching, and supervising. 

I watched a TED talk by Bruce Feiler a while back on pulling the agile framework in to the family. I decided to try it. 

This is Phoenix', my 8-year-old's agile board from today. It is fun to see how she uses it and changes the format creating her own codes.  I asked her to start keeping track of time so we can look back at the end of the day and talk about what she has done. 

I would really rather she not sit around playing games all day, but I have made a compromise to allow a lot of game time in exchange for her being motivated to keep her eye patch on for her lazy eye exercises.  Now I can dig in to finish my tiling project on the bathroom/kitchen floor (losing myself, as I always do in my building projects) and still know what is going on. She feels empowered & we have a way of evaluating if her needs are getting met while I'm instilling values other than "do your thing & I will do mine".

Happier Phoenix, happier mom, happier dad. Working together. whew

book find! Group Dynamics

While in Cleveland recently I visited a small bookstore that my friend works at. It was $1 book day so I browsed & picked up a few fun finds to read and share.

One such find is: The Family as Patient, the origin, structure, and therapy of marital & family conflicts. Always curious on the best way to resolve interpersonal conflict, I asked if my husband might listen while I read a bit during coffee together.

So far it is pretty interesting. While the book seems to be for a professional, discussing the psychoanalytic approach (Freud based) I really enjoy the group dynamic approach.

So far, what I understand is:
Individual therapy to reframe one's view can be very helpful, and help a person to move past obstacles that can limit interaction with others & reaching goals.
However, individual therapy can sometimes turn into adjustment therapy for individuals to learn how to accept an unhealthy dynamic.
Sometimes an individual may clear personal obstacles, but because of the larger dynamic, that just clears space for another to step into that same role.

In a group, when one person is acting unhealthy everyone in the group needs to be considered, the structure, dynamic, and paradigm.
How can the social and physical structure change to support fully alive, happy people?

I am thinking about conflicts I have seen in groups I have worked with in the last year. As I think back it is interesting to consider that sometimes I felt conflict mediation & nonviolent communication were limited. Perhaps a change in social structure was needed beyond the immediate interpersonal responsibility to work through one's stuff.

After having read this excerpt this morning I had a conversation with someone at a previous work place. And now my new thought is, when is someone becoming a scape-goat & how can the group support him/her instead of assuming problems will be solved when the person is gone? What dynamic allowed, even created the unhealthy behaviors? How do we keep from labeling the person? When is it time to just say, maybe this is just a personal thing someone needs to work through?

Is it about syncing paradigms?

So much to learn.
I am thinking  a lot lately about creating therapeutic spaces that nurture people & create positive social dynamics. Anyone want to come experiment with me?

Biochar Gypsum Plaster

A while back I spoke with my friend Uncle Mud about plasters. Somehow gypsum plaster came up. I enjoy using natural materials and know that the environmental impact is much lower when I take a shovel out to harvest my own materials from the land. Sometimes, a project really just needs to get done. So I began to test myself to discover what my building values were at the time. The curious monkey with a limited timeline won out.

I went out and bought some gypsum plaster (joint compound). The ingredients are still pretty natural, however I'm sure the processing has a higher impact. My other best option for this project was biochar lime plaster.  

Because I buy the sand from a local quarry and mix the plaster myself this cuts down on impact for lime plaster manufacture, but also requires a lot more time on my part. I am still unsure what the differences in impact are for processing of the hydrated lime versus the gypsum plaster are, but I haven't yet marked on my calendar some time to look into this ;)

The short story is, I feel I'm cheating a bit, compromising, but I'm also thankful to save some time and curious about the finished product. 

Biochar gypsum plaster instead of biochar lime plaster

If you have never worked with lime plaster before, then you should know it requires a little babying. The gypsum plaster really does not require babying, it is very user-friendly. 

I took my biochar and ground it in the blender until it was very fine, then mixed it with the gypsum plaster. It was easy and quick. After troweling it on I went back over to play with the texture and check out the thickness. 

In my first attempt I tried my friend's suggestion to add temepra paint for a beautiful color.  I added 2 cups to a small bucket. The color turned out a baby blue when dry. I decided it looked a little too artificial for me and went back over with one more time with just the plaster mixed with biochar.  Of course I love the tint that biochar gives. When damp the plaster is bluish, and it is speckled with larger black pieces if not ground too uniformly. 

Biochar is said to reduce humidity.  From my experience so far it does make a big impact.  Our house is in-ground. We have had to be careful of mold during certain seasons. So far, the rooms with biochar plaster on the walls have not had a problem with mold this year, though on a particularly rainy week we did find some mold in rooms that have previously been much less humid.  Now I want to plaster every wall with biochar.  Biochar can block certain waves and frequencies, though, so I am being selective to not block my wifi signal. 

On tinting with tempra:

I have seen some beautiful plaster tinted with tempra. From what I have read, a richer color may be reached by starting with a coat of plaster, then watering the plaster down to a paint consistency and adding the paint to this. The color then is painted on over, almost fresco style. I have yet to try this, and may soon do this with natural pigments. 

This is two coats over cinderblock. The lighting is a little strange in this picture, but the color of the plaster is uniform. I went for a bit of a scratched rugged texture, because I like my walls to make me feel like I am in a cave. The picture does not show a lot of detail, perhaps I will add a better one later. 

Lime plaster is much more durable, but definitely something I would recommend learning hands-on from someone who knows what they are doing. If you live in a warm, humid climate however lime plater becomes much easier. I found with my lime plaster that it is very important to keep it moist for a period of time, and ensure it is kept warm, with limited temperature changes to make sure it does not crack.  With the gypsum plaster, however, very cold temperatures will still cause cracking. 

This pre-made joint compound is a no brainer. Adding the biochar gives great benefits to air quality and humidity regulation, as well as adding a bit of carbon sequestering you can feel good about a small step to help with climate change. 

I like this mix. It was easy and I personally like the look. The biochar helped reduce humidity in the bathroom. When I want to work quickly I will use it again.  Still, I prefer the stone-like quality of lime plaster when I have the energy and time. 

Next time I may try a top coat of painted-on natural pigments mixed with plaster. 

connections, possibilities, worlds, relationships

I have lived in a few intentional communities as well as cities and small towns. Still I seem to be trying to find my version of this idyllic group of people who can work together sharing values to create a more beautiful, conscious way of life.

Sometimes the visual I have is something like what I experienced on bodywork retreats like therapeutic contact improvisation, or acroyoga. We care for our bodies and have a connection high. Nonverbals are clear and each person is clearly responsible for his/her own outcome.  Other times it is what I have glimpsed with building groups united in a goal to support others basic needs and care for the earth.  I have experienced it watching the TV show Eureka where people take pride in their work and work hard to create new solutions with science and technology. I have experienced glimpses of my ideal community in many ways.

It reminds me of a book I read a very long time ago. I think it was called Pilgrim's Regress. A man glimpses this beautiful island and seeks everywhere for it. Different cities hold different names and themes (like Eat, Pray, Love) that create different experiences. After all the searching, it is found inside. True. But what is it that creates this experience inside of us?
A feeling of safety, security, and purpose for the future? Different settings match up with our internal unconscious programming, or is there more?

Last night I had all of these dreams that all that I work for, have worked for doesn't matter. People keep turning away because we would rather continue feeding our programmed responses. Dream after dream I say something and am ignored as people drift away. Values don't match up? Perhaps I just don't feel heard right now.

Maybe I can go find happiness in the forest, or in meditation, but I want it to be shared.
So I turn inside and I look and I wonder and ask myself, what is good that I want to share?
Connections, interconnections, friendships, family. How do I again come across this perfect match of action, being, connection, purpose, presence, experiencing?

Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, New Mexico, Dominica, North Carolina . . .
Nature, education, building, food, health, play, technology . . .

As the vision changes conflict occurs as a new path is decided. I pull away to build my heart back up with things that are good, gentle. Then to dive back in, to new connections, new purpose, new direction.

Staring at my blanket, the light and the dark, the connections, and interweaving, thinking about community and the web of life, possibility

Sometimes I find that I have to stop trying to force my heart and my eyes open and just watch and wait. Surround myself with good things and quiet.  What will come next?

Biochar plaster

I fell in love with earthen plasters during my cob course. It is nice to have a building material that you can wash out on the ground right next to your garden. It is nice to know what is in your home is not toxic to anyone, and the production of it is not creating any toxins elsewhere in the world.

It is nice to be able to source materials locally, to dig up my materials from the ground. This is much more affordable as well.

I have worked with clay based plasters and lime based plasters, and recently was introduced to biochar plaster. At the Ecovillage Training Center at The Farm in TN, Albert is the biochar man. I have to admit a little skepticism when first introduced to the concept of biochar, but there are so many people who report amazing results that I am sold. 

Recently the permaculture apprentices at the Ecovillage Training Center applied some clay based biochar plaster in The Prancing Poet (event space).  Albert mentioned that the biochar blocks electromagnetic radiation such as those that come from computers, microwaves etc. I was curious so I looked around and found a very interesting article on biochar plaster. 

Biochar as Building Material for Optimal Indoor Climate

by Hans-Peter Schmidt

The article mentions that biochar plaster is being used to restore old wine cellars. It regulates humidity for the wine, helps stabilize the temperature, and filters the air. 

I had yet to complete a final plaster coat on the cob bench around our woodburning stove, so I decided to do my own experiment.

I chose to use a 50/50 lime and masonry sand mix. with at least 20% biochar. The biochar was beautiful when wet, bluish-black. As lime plaster does, the biochar mix still smoothed into a nice finish after burnishing, looking almost like stone. 

I did have to baby the plaster a bit because humidity was low in the cold air, and I wanted to keep the cob at an ideal temperature for lime plaster curing so that I did not get large cracks (the last lime plaster I did was in ideal humidity and temperature and did not require water spritzing regularly as this mix did).

The plaster turned out great. I head to leave and come back to the Ecovillage Training Center, so I asked my husband to continue to spritz it for a week and keep an eye on it, then slowly decrease frequency of spritzing while it cured the our cold temperature with the stove running. I am very curious of the effect of the humidity regulating biochar on the lime plaster, but would need to try the plaster in different conditions to know that the change was related to the biochar in particular. 

I hear it is doing great and am looking forward to further biochar plaster on the walls. I will be keeping an eye on summer humidity in our home. I am looking forward to some changes in this!

Next time: More fibers, try a natural tint, do this plaster when it is warmer out!