Hey there crazy virtual divers and explorers, hope Life's been treating you well! As for me, I've been working mainly on keeping a steady rhythm for my existence, which means I am never very productive but at the same time I am never unproductive. My body keeps moving and my blood pumpin' so I feel like everything just goes at the right time.
What must be confessed is that I have a hard time focusing on any single project and so here we are, with many on their way but none finished hehe. Despite this I thought I'd share the different things I'm working on these days and perhaps get some useful feedback.
So first I'll be showing you the cob stove I'm working on. The view here is from the outside of the shelter where the spout will come out.
The stones are the base and in the center there is a layer of gravel I took from the side of the public road (what's a tiny pinch gonna do, right?) and a layer of sand, to prevent the ashes from reaching the roots of trees.
The view from inside the shelter. One this is ready it's going to be a huge upgrade because I'll be able to make a fire inside without getting filled with smoke. Besides, all that cob surrounding it will help keep the temperature stable.
I found this structure lying between the trees next to the shelter (the elves like to leave me gifts here and there) and it'll make an excellent exit route for the smoke once it's covered in cob.
Meanwhile, I must start making this get more real. The willow branches are there just to support the mud as it dries up, they shouldn't burn since they are only in the outer layer, but if they end up burning it won't really be a problem since everything will already be in place, and the cob will hold together.
Just a pic from the top of the same thing. To this day I've already progressed more but my phone had no battery and I've come back online today after a few days of no internet (hope to make a post on internet fasting any time soon).
Another thing I've been working on is placing dry grass between the branches which will help hold the cob in place, as well as isolate from the exterior temperature. It's amazing how just adding a little bit of grass increased the warmth inside at night.
It was a great feeling removing the plastic, tearing it away to see the grass in place. It was somewhat symbolic, something like a shout inside me saying "NATURE IS BACK, BITCHES!" (nothing against bitches, just giving it a cinematic feel to the event, haha).
That night I slept with that top part uncovered and with no covers. I froze my ass off but I don't know, I was too tired to tidy everything up so I chose the cold that night. Usually it's a ritual to prepare my bed for sleeping, it's what I do most days but sometimes I feel drunk even with no alcohol and let everything be.
Every once a month I have this consumerist ego appear and I'm usually wise enough not to listen, but hey... isn't this tapestry beautiful? I certainly adds flavor and a more welcoming feeling to the shelter. I'd like to have more but currently I'm having trouble with getting more light to enter the shelter so that's a priority.
Anyone remember the fungi playground experiment? Well, it's still not showing any fruiting bodies, though underneath the visible it's crawling with mycelium which is not surprising since organic matter + moisture + shade = fungi development.
What I wanted to show is that I added a layer of protection to keep the warmth and the moisture, so here is how it is starting to look:
I still haven't shown you much of my mini pond. I guess I'll do a special post on it at some point because it's an interesting experiment. I just wanted to have some water near the shelter so I dug a hole, put sand and gravy at the bottom, as well as some stones. Then I filled it with water.
The plastic isn't high quality so the water filters and it goes slowly emptying out, but it's ok. I like to use it as a sort of psycho-magical reminder of my emotions. If it's filled up to the top, I'm being aware and healthy towards my emotions, if it's low on water I have to bring my awareness to them. I go then to the creek, bring a bucket of water to the mini-pond, and during that walk I bring my attention to my emotional body.
The prunes are tasting great, despite many being still green they are already in their best moment to be eaten. I have eaten insane amounts of prunes these days and feel very grateful to get out of bed, walk barefooted to the tree and say: "breakfast is served". I've been playing tons with fermentation so I hope to have some posts on that soon as well.
Until then, stay super fuckin' amazingly and unapologetically blessed!!!
Cover image created with Canva