Here's a great link and pictures that Lloyd Kahn recently posted on his blog. I go there every few days to renew/respark my dream of building a strawbale house. One of the things that I want to incorporate is cob and clay in a variety of places. This is a really inspiring website. Check it out.
http://www.verticalclay.com/gallery/
Also here's another plug for Lloyd Kahns books and blog. He is the most amazing creative spirit .
His books Shelter, Homework and Builders of the Pacific Coast have inspired countless numbers (millions perhaps nowdays with the internet helping) of folks all over the world.
check out his blog by clicking on the link to the right in my Favorite blogs list.

Check out my other blog at
www.anniebsiemer.blogspot.com

Lloyd Kahn again!!!!

Check out lloyd's latest blogs. http://www.lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/
He really never ceases to amaze me.
There is a cool new coffee label inspired by him there and a really
nice link to a Natural Building book.

manifest my dream please

Here is a "houseplan doodle" I did years ago. I have been sketching various versions of my possibilities for the shape and feel of the shelter/sanctuary/studio that I wish to build for some years now. If you know a benevolent soul with an acre of land to spare/rent to me to manifest this dream...please contact me at annie.siemer@gmail.com

Bill and Athena Steen

The first books that taught me THOROUGHLY what it is to
build a sustainable Strawbale Structure that I found more than
10 years ago were written by Bill and Athena Steen.

They head the "Canelo Project" and have done the most( in my opinion) to dispel myths (fire, climate etc) about Strawbale Structures and spread the idea that anyone can build their own house up from the ground. They also finish what they start and do most of the work needed to complete their structures themselves.

Check out their books :
The Straw Bale House
The Beauty of Straw Bale HomesBuilt by Hand:Vernacular Buildings Around the World
Small Strawbale: Natural Homes, Projects & Designs
The HandCrafted Life of Don Juan Morales
and their website is also very inspiring: http://www.caneloproject.com/

More Inspiration from Lloyd Kahn's Blog

Click on this for some cool pictures of a Dome Building Company in Vancouver, B.C. http://www.cwdg.ca

If you wanna build it, I will come.....

Some much appreciated positive reinforcement in the form of the Blue Rock Station
e-newsletter came through this week from Annie Warmke of BRS:
"Annie B., our June intern, returned to Columbus last week – a paying job is calling to her, she just hasn’t found it yet. She surely did an amazing job of earth plastering. We’ve never had anyone that had such a gift for it, except maybe a couple of early students. She left her mark everywhere with art and nature. We really appreciate her contributions".
WIth this experience combined with 15 years of hardcore research about Strawbale Buildings of all shapes and sizes and years of experiences building a plethora of decks, walls, fences and other assorted structures with my Carpenter Father, I am fairly certain I can design and build your shed, garage or small house. Send me an email and I'll grab my mud clothes.