why rising earth?

The title of this blog draws from my time as an apprentice at the Cob Cottage Company in costal Oregon. If you spend time with natural building folk, you'll eventually find yourself around a fire, sing silly songs about cob and natural building. Folks usually refer to these oftentimes improvised tunes as "cobsongs". I often sang..."There is a house in old coquille, they call the rising earth, it's been the work of many hands, and you know what that's worth..."

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Springwood Manor




This spring signals a big transition, as Melissa and I begin our first year in Troy, NY.  We enjoyed a very sweet life in Durham, and I mostly built my building career there, but I've always wanted to return home to New York. We found the perfect spot for a new start on an old homestead in the upper hudson, a place called springwood manor, in Troy.

Here are a couple old Polaroids John found to help illustrate the beauty up here. We've found ourselves quickly at home, putting a wood stove in the house, cleaning up the barn, making garden beds. I'm looking forward to finding my niche in the ecological building community, and have a few little projects in the works.

We are lucky in spring to witness the burst of rebirth and luckier still if we have the sense to recognize out place in it and imbibe in a little of the seasons eternal optimism... Let's see what we can come up with this year.. :)