Samhitakasha (A Place of Unity)

Welcome to our new logo - for our house's official name and for the Organic B&B! Probably won't be much more happening on this blog for a while, but there will be at our official house website soon. Public open days will still be happning from time to time though not with much building on site any more! Contact us for more details, 021 788 6613.
Here's what it looks like outside, still some new things with the garden etc. to come.
And here's the north face of the house

Welcome to the Organic B&B...

Separate entrance...
The beautifully mosaiced mirror donated (and made) by our friends Nan and Daniel, thanks again guys!
And here are some inside views, though they've come out a little dull - there will be others soon on our new site for the B&B, www.cobhouse.co.za , coming soon...

Interiors

OK, a few views of what the house looks like these days. First, the wonderful hand-embroidered wall-hanging we won at the school raffle!
Then some more playing - this time Carey playing with oxides on the wall, above what we've left as a cob brick "throne"...and lastly the new bookshelf, decorated with wrapping paper on our daughter's birthday!

Short update

Sorry for being so quiet, we've had somewhat other priorities recently and are living comfortably in our house (despite the intensity of this summer). Cob workshops are temporarily on hold as we're waiting for some other bits and pieces of non-cob work before we can go further, hopefully will get going again after Easter. Our organic food B&B is fully (naturally) furnished and up and running with happy clients, but on a very low-key level at the moment hence no advertising yet (proper website to follow also after Easter....!)

Return of the cob workshop

After a lengthy break as we slowly acclimatise to the house, we are going to start workshops again: now on the second Saturday of each month, i.e. next month on December 13th, from 9am to 1pm, tea provided, R50 donation to building costs suggested (but we won't turn you away if you can't make that in these financially constricted times). The one after is on January 10th. For more info contact us on 021 788 6613.

Seagrass in the guest room

Brightfields have kindly sponsored us a natural fibre carpet - made from seagrass. This is one of several types they sell, and makes a welcome alternative to most carpets on the market.
The area carpeted is our guest bedroom of the B&B, which is (in a low-key kind of way)open for business, contact us if you want to know more for this summer season! The furnishing is quite a slow process as we seek the most organic options. More photos of the room coming soon!

Still a construction site, at a slower pace!

We got through this cold winter without much need for heaters but still we do want a proper fireplace for next year. Here'a view through the hole we've cut upstairs where the flue will go! Other planned constructions still to come are some internal strawbale/cob seats, and some more shelves cobbed in to some corners.
OK, so it's early days, but we've been playing inside too, with the first stages of creating an under-stair cupboard, hidden by adobe brick walls. These bricks were donated by Gary and Anthea (thanks guys!) as they had an excess and we had a bit of time constraint about getting our own strong enough and dry enough to use. As mentioned elsewhere, adobe is handy for thinner walls that go up quickly, if they're not as structurally essential. We're going to cob in some sleepers above the big cob counter you can see, which has wood storage holes, made with the help of a bit of chicken-wire framing. There's a small seat emerging to the left of the fireplace too.