Since our straw bale shed has been upgraded to the “Winter Palace,” it is time to plaster the structure and to fossilize our work for future archeological findings. We put on our clay covered uniforms and head out to work. Our main sources of power for mixing the sand, straw and clay are our hands and feet. And to prove that there really is straw under all those layers of plaster, we built a truth window.
The Truth Window
Filmed in September 2008, edited some time later by Lily G, and myself. Please enjoy, “Frame by Frame” the framing of our straw bale cottage. This short film is a moving after school special about some folk who engage on a journey of building a stick frame only to find themselves doing just that.
Next to come: Winter Palace Pt 5- Stacking Straw Bricks and Goofing Around, a thrilling drama showing the real life context around the building of straw bale walls.
[vimeo 3583444]
This a flashback to one of thirty-one days in August. It would have been like any other day, except it wasn’t, because on that day the Concrete Man came to visit the dacha. Watch to learn what to expect from such a man, and see how our foundation was poured.
We present to you Concrete Day, a human interest story, about pouring a cement foundation.
-Lea LSF
[vimeo vimeo.com/2469545]
Presently, the Winter Palace is buttoned up for the season. On occasion there are even people sleeping in it. There is a makeshift shower, Bernise-the wood stove, couches and shelves! To see it in its current state check out the post before this one. The building is almost done, though we decided to put off the plastering until next spring, on account of it being winter and all.
videos to come- cinder blocking, frame this fame, roof roof roof, and straw balin’ smooth sailin’
Here is pt 2, just like I promised. Please enjoy, it took a second to edit. More on the way in future. Perhaps as it gets so cold in Ithaca that I can’t go outside, I will pump these out faster. For now we are still building, taking classes, making friends and being mad busy. This week we’re putting up the roof. Hoorah!
Love Lea
[vimeo vimeo.com/1914918]
This is pt 1 of our tool shed building adventure, shot way back in August, when the tool shed still aspired to be a tool shed. Eventually, we over built so that we began to feel bad about calling it a tool shed, and started referring to it as a palace.
Being the Russians that some of us are, and having a dear friend Mr. Winter, whose hard work has been so helpful, we decided to call it the Winter Palace. One day, I hope we will use it as an art studio, or a guest cottage, or something else entirely.
Today, more than two months have passed since Lily shot this, and in reality we are up to part 6 or 7. All the footage will eventually be imported, edited, exported, uploaded and embedded, even if it takes all winter.
Thanks for everyone’s support, please enjoy pt 1 and pt 2 soon to come.
[vimeo vimeo.com/1914345]
above: The search for where to build brought us to many places this past summer.
Big news from the six members of what was formerly known only as House Project: We have a name-Green Nettle Dacha, likely to be renamed at anytime to Green Flags, or The Something Garden. We’re not fickle, we simply know that the season will come for us to shed our first skin, when the land of our dreams speaks to us its true name. Green Nettle Dacha is good for now, as we rile up strangers at bars and e-mail Bill Gates and Oprah for money (give give). More
