Strawbale Studios

Yesterday was a TON OF FUN! I did forget my camera, though. You'll just have to wait until next time for me to post photos from our group.

Deanne is wonderful! What a kind and generous spirit. We managed to make a little progress on the children's cabin. We shaved wood, drilled holes, installed bolts, raised rafters, and took a walk.

Deanne had a cool discovery to show us. First she passed around a paper bag filled with something for us to see if we could guess what it contained. A few of us were right. It was a giant mushroom of sorts. A chicken mushroom to be exact. It was so cool! We viewed a short video on her computer in regard to the chicken mushroom, then we headed to the woods.

On our journey we learned about St. John's Wort as we passed it on the trail. It has small yellow flowers that turn your skin red when you rub them between your fingers. St. John's Wort has many uses such as fighting depression, eliminating varicose veins, steeping for tea, and so on.

A a certain spot she asked us to stop and see if we could spot the chicken mushroom. It grows on trees. So we looked, and were we amazed! It was huge, and I was SO regretting not bringing my camera. What a wonderful photo op!

We harvested two grocery bags full of the chicken mushroom by cutting it off the tree with a knife. While some cut the mushroom off the tree, others of us enjoyed picking and eating black raspberries from the surrounding area. YUMMY!

After we returned, Adrian gave me a tour of the Strawbale Studio. It is SO gorgeous, and I could easily call such a place home. It reminded me of a hobbit house or something from medieval times. It was so earthy.

We did a little more building, and actually went over a little so that we could get one of the supports on the top of the children's cabin. Progress at last!