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Published: December 3rd 2013
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You know you are getting in to the Countryside when they become proud of Pumpkins. Hello you lot.
I do hope you are all well.
So...my time at the farm has come to an end. It wasn't the idle goat prodding I was expecting, instead I have spent the last two weeks building a house. Yes, a house.
And not just any old house, no, a Cob house. Cob, for those who don’t know is a very old building material made from a combination of clay mud, straw and a dribble of water. You mash it all up, make it in to big blocks and away you go. Very simples but very very hard work, especially for an office softened chap like me.
We started by making it by hand, using our feet to stomp the mix together, this was slow and hard We considered buying a cow to mash it up like in the ole days, but ended up using a digger. This saved time but it was still back breaking digging the stuff, making and moving the blocks.
I must say it is jolly impressive material. If you wake up on a Sunday morning and think “I
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Everyone was tagging so I tagged with the standard "John Wuz Yer". fancy building a new house from mud and straw” I have made some notes and observations below.
My time at the farm also gave me a chance to get to understand Turkish Culture in way that would have been hard as a normal tourist. Complicated place is Turkey.
I think with all the package tours we forget that Turkey is still a pretty conservative Muslim country. Well it is……..but it also has a young population with very liberal and secular views. But it is a Muslim country. And not in the way the England is a Christian country. In England would we tolerate Church bells being rung five times a day? Or an ID card that states our religion as “Christian” unless we can convince a bureaucrat in an office otherwise?
On the farm with a young chap who spent five weeks at the Taksim square protests and among other things there is real concern that the current Government is taking the country in a more religious direction. The PM has recently tried to introduce a law banning mixed sex university dorms. And a restriction on Alcohol sales…..
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You also know you are in the Countyside when you catch an old woman up a tree hacking away. Not quite sure what she was hacking it for....but she hacked with gusto. And if you are gay you cannot enter the Military, which poses a problem as they have National Service. So you need to convince the Army that you are gay by producing explicit pictures demonstrating so, to get the so called “Pink” exemption certificate. And in a country that is wanting to become part of the EU….
Whilst many of the population probably don’t mind others do. Wikipedia describes Turkey as “strictly secular parliamentary representative democratic republic”, I think some of the yoof are worried that the words “strictly secular” are being eroded.
I think having Iran as a neighbour probably influences opinions some what. We forget that in the 60’s Iran was a forward thinking country, girls running around in mini skirts, nightclubs.
Anyhoo, sorry, enough of the political stuff. I am no expert in such matters so if I have got any of the above wrong I am sorry.
Talking of Iran I am heading there tomorrow. Three to four day train ride depending on delays. It will be cold so there could be the wrong type of snow on the track. The Trans
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I got a lift from a lovely Turkish family and they stopped to look at these Roman ruins. I loved them because they were very accessible. No organized tours, no official audio guides, no crowds, just you and some old stuff. Very atmospheric. Asia express has got to be one of those great train journeys, really looking forward to it. And I am really looking forward to Iran, Iranians are notoriously hospitable.
My only really concern about Iran is the driving standards. Iran owns the proud record of having the most road deaths per year per head in the world. Road deaths are the single biggest killer in Iran. Oddly I get a bit annoyed when people try and kill me. I must bite my tongue. I must…….
Anyhoo.
All my love to you all.
Loves
John
PS The usual torrent of pictures to keep you entertained below.
PPS. Sorry some pictures are a bit rubbish, I lost my Camera for a while so had to use my phone.
An amateurs guide to building with Cob.
Foundations. You will need them, it is very heavy stuff.
Time. It is a slow process, allow plenty of time.
Labour. Rope in some pals to help out for a few weeks, you will need them.
Clay
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Just lying on the side of the road. Should be in a museum, but I guess you cant house all the things of interest in the world. soil. You need a heavy clay rich soil, top soil will not work.
Consistency. Tricky this one. It is very difficult to know when you have got the mix right. This sounds vague but you will just know when it is properly mixed.
Confidence. Have confidence in the material. You really can’t go that wrong. You will be surprised how strong the material becomes.
Mechanize. Unless you have a couple of spare cows bring in a digger to mix the material for you. It will save oodles of time but the mix will be harder to work with due to stones and the lack of the personal touch.
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