a density of patterns

Let's see, when last we saw our plucky heroine, ten days ago, she was almost as sick as a dog... much improvement since then. I managed to complete five-plus days work in two, with the strong motivation of the possibility of spending a good chunk of the week up visiting G. That was a treat indeed, and we did not return south till midnight-thirty on Thursday this week.

A day later, my oldest friend Sharon came down here from Olympia, to participate in various cob-building activities that are happening as part of this years Village Building Convergence. She is hoping to eventually build some cob structures on her land, and getting hands-on experience before would be very helpful. We tootled around Portland and visited some of the cob structures that I know of that are relatively local to Acorn Cottage...

The entrance to the Re-Building Center here in Portland is an astonishingly beautiful cob-built structure, surmounted with welded metal branches and leaves...

as you walk along Mississippi Avenue, this delightful alcove beckons...


drawing you in towards a lovely front door;


the leaf is over two foot tall, and curves at the edge to form the door handles


the columnar cob trunks are rooted in the raised benches that edge the entryway


Look up! - branches and leaves echo the green outdoors,
and stretch towards the transparent roof above

Tucked in among the welded leaves and blossoms are all kinds of other woodland denizens. All the metalwork is created from recycled material of various sorts, and local folks were encouraged to contribute objects to be included