Rough Plaster on the Sunny Garden Shed
Work party this weekend, not as many people showed up as at the last one. Partly due to the rain threat. It didn't really rain much over the weekend though, it was cloudy and not hot, great working weather. On Saturday I dug at the housesite, both holes for footings and some of the beginning of the drainage trench around the outside of where it will be. Then in the afternoon I worked with two women here for the work party pulling up thistles. But I didn't take photos.
Today I did cob and earth plaster work on the sunny garden shed. And I did take photos for you all. On Saturday a group of people had moved dirt from behind the building to in front to increase the flat space in front and to make more space in back too. This morning I helped mix up a batch of cob, using my feet to mix together the clay, sand, and straw. Two of us smooshed it together on top of a tarp then when it got pushed out flat we picked up a side of the tarp and pulled it up and toward the middle so the mixture at the edge fell onto the part in the middle. (I didn't get pictures of this, sorry.) We mixed and added ingredients until it was the right consistency. Then I took some of the cob and used it to add to a bit under the bench on the outside of the building, I was trying to make a part which wasn't built up as much match the rest of the bench. To get the wet cob to attach to the dry I hammered in old used nails so they stuck out a bit for the cob to cling to, I also wet down the old dry cob. Then I mashed the wet cob into the space and pushed it, both with my fingers pushing it and with the heel of my hand smoothing it to the edges. You should be able to see the place I added to, it is darker since it is wet, and under the middle of the bench, near the bucket (which had the wet cob in it).
In the afternoon I finished working on the bit under the bench then helped with the rough plaster, which is a very similar mix of ingredients but wetter and goes on the outside of the original cob to smooth it out some. There is normally a finish plaster on top of the rough plaster with finely sifted ingredients to get a really smooth wall. I helped with some of the rough plaster on the walls but mostly sculpted a low relief half sunflower on the back of a smaller bench under the window arch inside the building. This is mimicking the half sunflower on the back of the bench I had been working on. In the afternoon I was working mainly with three of the other work traders here. Diana was working on getting the shape of the arch window perfected, Bill and Anastasia were mainly putting the rough plaster on the flatter bits of wall, and mixing the plaster in the wheelbarrow.
I got quite muddy, one my feet, my hands, my cloths, even in my hair when Diana was plastering above me. It reminded me of when I was young and we had a really muddy place in the creek that we called the mucky mud bakery and made mud pies and the like. Then before dinner I took a nice shower and washed it all off.
I will take pictures of the bench back I sculpted soon. By the time we were done, what with the cloudy sky, the inside of the shed didn't have great lighting.
Today I did cob and earth plaster work on the sunny garden shed. And I did take photos for you all. On Saturday a group of people had moved dirt from behind the building to in front to increase the flat space in front and to make more space in back too. This morning I helped mix up a batch of cob, using my feet to mix together the clay, sand, and straw. Two of us smooshed it together on top of a tarp then when it got pushed out flat we picked up a side of the tarp and pulled it up and toward the middle so the mixture at the edge fell onto the part in the middle. (I didn't get pictures of this, sorry.) We mixed and added ingredients until it was the right consistency. Then I took some of the cob and used it to add to a bit under the bench on the outside of the building, I was trying to make a part which wasn't built up as much match the rest of the bench. To get the wet cob to attach to the dry I hammered in old used nails so they stuck out a bit for the cob to cling to, I also wet down the old dry cob. Then I mashed the wet cob into the space and pushed it, both with my fingers pushing it and with the heel of my hand smoothing it to the edges. You should be able to see the place I added to, it is darker since it is wet, and under the middle of the bench, near the bucket (which had the wet cob in it).
In the afternoon I finished working on the bit under the bench then helped with the rough plaster, which is a very similar mix of ingredients but wetter and goes on the outside of the original cob to smooth it out some. There is normally a finish plaster on top of the rough plaster with finely sifted ingredients to get a really smooth wall. I helped with some of the rough plaster on the walls but mostly sculpted a low relief half sunflower on the back of a smaller bench under the window arch inside the building. This is mimicking the half sunflower on the back of the bench I had been working on. In the afternoon I was working mainly with three of the other work traders here. Diana was working on getting the shape of the arch window perfected, Bill and Anastasia were mainly putting the rough plaster on the flatter bits of wall, and mixing the plaster in the wheelbarrow.
I got quite muddy, one my feet, my hands, my cloths, even in my hair when Diana was plastering above me. It reminded me of when I was young and we had a really muddy place in the creek that we called the mucky mud bakery and made mud pies and the like. Then before dinner I took a nice shower and washed it all off.
I will take pictures of the bench back I sculpted soon. By the time we were done, what with the cloudy sky, the inside of the shed didn't have great lighting.
posted by jade at 8:18 PM
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