Garden Pic

Home Sweet 78-square Foot Home

From Rick Gordon

Surf Art by Steve Andrew

Received earlier today:

Hi Lloyd,
Came across your blog a few months a go and it is really inspiring. I'm an artist from the UK …My main inspiration is waves and surfing but i could turn a photo into a painting for a different feel. Here are a few examples of my work and keep blogging :)
Many thanks,
Steve Andrew
http://www.surfersart.com/steve-andrew-surf-paintings/steve-andrew-recent-paintings-for-sale/

The Sultan's Elephant

Luc's Log Sauna Shipped from Quebec to Australia

Luc Beauparlant's saunas in British Columbia and Quebec were stop-the-press, last-minute additions in our 2008 book, Builders of the Pacific Coast. We did 4 full pages on these stunning structures (pp.164-67). Last week (3 years later), we got this email with photos from Luc:

Hi Lloyd.
I am sending you a photo of the last sweat lodge i installed in Australia last winter. It is actually the one that was in the studio here in La Minerve , the one in "Builders of the Pacific Coast" to which i ended up adding a roof and an exterior finish for a new above ground version.
The adventure/challenge started with having to take it all apart , label and number the hundreds of pieces, put them into crates and pallets. It practically filled a 40ft. container. I flew to Byron bay area to install it as it arrived there on the boat after 3 months journey on the ocean. ( And then, not the least through fumigation and customs.)

Butterfly/Sunflower

In garden yesterday. Butterflies and honey bees have been working the emerging sunflowers.

Recycled Wood "Parklet" at Trouble Coffee

Yesterday in San Francisco. Built in the last few weeks at Trouble Coffee on Judah Street by Ajax and crew. On the interior side are benches and plants.

Pic of Log Cabin in New York State

"Drove by this cute little log home and just had to stop and take a photo.  Always thinking about little houses and this one has to be a top ranking contender.   Love ya man, Bill"
-from Bill Castle, Pollywog Holler B&B, southwestern NY state

Elephant House NOT at Burning Man

Rob Murray just pointed out that this is in France, not Burning Man:
"This gigantic animal, 12-metre high by 8-metre wide, lives in the largest warehouse. When the majestic animal goes out for its walk, it is like architecture in motion departing a steel cathedral. The 49 passengers on board embark on an amazing journey on the Ile de Nantes. Each time the pachyderm goes out, it is a unique spectacle for everyone to enjoy.…"
http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/english/elephant.html

Elephant House at Burning Man

"…This elephant house at Burning Man is made from fully recycled material and weighs 45 tons.…"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=96735
Photo credit on SF Gate:: ContentInACottage

Skating In Golden Gate Park This Morning

I got filmed in the park this morning for KGO Channel 7 TV. Mike Shumann, ex-49er wide receiver, the nightly news sports anchor, is doing the story. Abe Mendoza was the cameraman. After we finished shooting, I got this little girl, Maya Rose Wayman, age 8, onto my skateboard for her first standup ride (holding on to my arm, me walking alongside). Her dad, Wayman Lew, took the photo. More on Sunday's adventures later.

Tiny Homes Book in Final Stages

Detritus of about a year's work as we start our 4th and final printout of all pages, this time on high-quality proofing paper. Rick has sent a selection of photos to our new Hong Kong printers (Paramount) to begin the process of insuring we get the colors right. In our usual seat-of-pants book production process, we'll now turn to working on a cover, and me to probably several more rewrites of the intro. (I'm still figuring out just what we've got here.) Each time I look at it I get more excited.

California Dreamin

First, the sun is out and it's morning. We've had two months of fog, maybe clearing in the afternoon. But now with the slightly harsher colors of fall in the air, it's a sunny morning and the blackberries are ripening. Second, the entire California coast is surf city right now. Big south swell. Third, bi-coastal exchange: we are actually getting theNew York Times delivered in our driveway on this dirt road. A miracle! What a relief from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Moon and Mountain

Here's Mt. Tamalpais with the 2-days-from-new moon from a parking lot near Sushi-Ko in Larkspur Wednesday night.

Killer Baja Off-Road 4x4 GMC Motorhome For Sale

$9000

http://is.gd/NyZZFx

From Lew Lewandowski

You're Gonna Miss Me- Lulu and the Lampshades

Sent us by Richard Jones

Recycled Living on 20 Remote Acres in Maine

Great article in today's New York Times by Joyce Wadler. Photos by Trent Bell.
"…Mr. Fleming and Ms. Wurst are a couple with a talent for living and for furnishing a home stylishly on a budget. Their annual income these days is about $17,000, now that Ms. Wurst has stopped teaching to spend more time with their son, and Mr. Fleming is concentrating on his artwork and home-furnishings business, Designs Adrift.
They decorated their home for just under $4,000, and the furnishings in their living room came to $828: that includes the priciest item, a $150 sofa from the Brimfield, Mass., antiques market, slipcovered in an antique linen sheet; mirrors created out of discounted glass remnants for which Mr. Fleming made driftwood frames; and the plant stand, the small grass rug, the ottoman and the shelves.
Ms. Wurst’s favorite shopping site: a parked trailer at the Phippsburg dump.…"
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/w/joyce_wadler/index.html?inline=nyt-per

Godzilla's Feeling Mellow

From yesterday's Bolinas Hearsay News. Original source unknown.

Traditional Woodworking With Hand Tools Only

This came in last week:

Hello-
I'm a longtime fan of your books (and more recently, your blog) and wanted to let you know about my current project, as you are partly to thank. Largely because of discovering Shelter in the early 90s, I've had a deep interest in traditional woodworking. Combined with with Eric Sloane and Roy Underhill, my appreciation for the older, time-tested styles has been maturing all this time. We moved out to Coastal Oregon a couple years ago, and I've been delighted to find some examples (few and far between as they are) of "Sheltery" structures, and have tried my hand at making some small ones (chicken coops and the like). I dream of building a small off-grid cabin on our house and spend hours late at night tinkering with the design... it started as a cluster of drydocked VW Vanagon campers, but as my woodworking skills improved, I am thinking more and more Gypsy Vardo. But I digress!
I wanted to let you know about a project I have going on, which I hope you will enjoy. I want to preface it by saying that I am NOT seeking backing or contributions (I have met my goal) so with that out of the way, let me tell you a little about it.

Andy Couturier reading from A Different Kind of Luxury in Pt. Reyes Station Sept. 8

Author and photographer Andy Couturier will discuss his new book profiling people living simple, sustainable, extraordinary lives in rural Japan, A Different Kind of Luxury: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance. This book lets readers feel the flavor and texture of the lives of farmers, artists, philosophers, and craftspeople who’ve chosen lives of reduced consumption and increased satisfaction. Andy will read from his book and show slides from these artists' ways of life.

Thursday, September 8 - 7:00pm, Point Reyes Presbyterian Church, Pt. Reyes Station, Calif.

Read more about Andy Couturier's book: http://adifferentkindofluxury.blogspot.com/