"In the end, we shall have had enough of cynicism, scepticism and humbug, and will want to live - more musically." This quote (Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo), came to me from a friend, just before Christmas, 2012, as I was finishing this gift book about how to make a gorgeous-sounding 3-stringed instrument from scrap wood and cardboard. Details and story in the book, so more people can make their own music with their own neighbors. There's an onscreen (pdf) version below, and a youtube video of Ray and Shirley playing for you. A $10, (full color!) paper version is also available from . . .
Bluegoat Restaurant Oven, w/insulation-in-a-basket
Here's a little video showing the construction of a super-insulated restaurant oven. The "basket" design seems to be a pretty inexpensive and effective way to insulate -- not necessary for every oven, but for ones that really get regular use, I think it's worth it... It's a pretty big oven, too, so I opted for hand-made mud bricks instead of mud over a sand-form. For more details about the technique (including brick-making, as well as photos of how well the insulation protects the bamboo), there's an extensive post and pix about the Gathering Together Farm Oven, which was similarly (re)built. . . .
Hug Hut at Muddy Creek School, Philomath
Muddy Creek charter school in Philomath commissioned this mud project as the initial step in creating an "outdoor classroom." All 60 kids, K-5, participated in 2 days of playdough brainstorming and design, and six days of mud. Parents and neighbors contributed random prunings of willow, fruitwood, and forsythia that we wove into a rough hut; the mud came up out of a hole in the ground, and we ended up making a lovely cob bench and this "hug hut." The hut was designed to "last" for just one winter, and then get torn down so new students could make their own -- instead of taking care of . . .