The Beginning

I have started this blog mainly for selfish reason - I'm organized, but only if I can hyperlink and organize electronically.  I also feel that by putting the process, from the beginning, into the blog will both serve as encouragement when this task seems overwhelming - and as the nagging mother - "why haven't you gotten anything done yet, what's taking so long, are you even trying" .. and the nags go on.

The first issue I've been running in to when it comes to starting a cob construction is simply deciding what I want to go for.  Do you go with an earthship design or something more traditional?  Larger or smaller?  living or charming whimsical roofing? How many rooms, how will the rooms impact heating or air circulation?  How can I incorporate a greenhouse in to the design?  Am I insane for wanting to do this in the great frozen north?  Do you aim for completely off the grid, semi-self-sufficient, or embrace the griddy goodness in its entirety?

First things first, the thing I like most about cob construction is the fact that there are round corners.  Literally, this is what sold me on the idea.  I live in a new city in a new part of the country.  New cities have mile after mile of cookie-cutter people shelves in varying shades of taupe.  I can't stand it.

I love the idea of being able to sculpt your walls by hand building bookcases and "frames" around windows and doors as you go - the only limit being your imagination.  I have been toying the last few weeks with a crescent shaped house plan, single storey, so that as the sun moves through the sky your life moves along with it.  Bedrooms catching the first light of day from the east, kitchen, dining, living rooms catching midday to evening sun.  I also want to build a greenhouse (the conservatory) in to my design for container gardening in the winter months - this is going to be tricky to say the least as it could easily making heating the space much more difficult.

I require a library, thankfully that is rather simple to build in to a space, and somehow I want to be able to move my living space outdoors, or bring the outdoors in, during the summer months... we get so little summer here that one has to truly savour every humid sticky moment of it.

Those are my established paramaters.. and I am leaning towards the living roof option but it still requires investigation before a final decision can be etched in cyberstone.