http://kitsandmortar.com writing our home into existence Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:30:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We love sheds here at Kits and Mortar, although until someone invents a levitating shed that we can install outside our 2nd floor flat, we're going to have to make do with the lovely sheds over at Shedworking. Who, incidentally, emailed me today to remind me that you have until ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/07/02/shed-of-the-year-awards-vote-now/ I've been voraciously devouring every self-build magazine I can lay my hands on since starting Kits and Mortar and have gathered quite a little collection. I thought that it'd be a good idea to review the magazines that I've got, and to do issue summaries too. The latter will allow ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/07/01/magazine-review-homebuilding-renovating/ Spreading the gospel of the garden shed - Gardening, House & Home - The Independent Alex Johnson of Shedworking makes it into The Independent ahead of National Shed Week (tags: alexjohnson shedworking sheds nationalshedweek homeworking telecommuting) FT.com / Mergermarket - Taylor Wimpey plans £660m write-down The technical jargon is a bit beyond me, but ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/07/01/links-for-2008-07-01/ The Culture Artist What is Cob? A tutorial for building with cob, including fun time-lapse video (tags: video cob building tutorial education sustainability buildyourown green howto self-build selfbuild) http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/30/links-for-2008-06-30/ Whilst Kevin and I were in the US a few weeks ago, I became rather obsessed with the houses that we saw as we drove around. It was my second trip to Poplar Grove, Illinois, so I was curious to see how much the development that I saw last September ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/30/a-little-detailing-goes-a-long-way/ If you're an avid Grand Designs fan, you've probably seen the work of Carpenter Oak and Carpenter Oak & Woodland, who built the Argyll timber-framed house. I met Carpenter Oak at Grand Designs Live, and was delighted to later discover that their sister company, Carpenter Oak & Woodland (yes, I ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/29/blog-review-carpenter-oak-and-woodland/ http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/25/what-does-project-managing-a-self-build-have-to-do-with-cats/ I have spent a fair amount of time over the last few days searching for expertise online about cat psychology and behaviour, and have been frustrated by the lack of decent blogs on the subject. Many of the sites I saw were 'splogs', or spam blogs, that have taken content ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/24/blogs-books-and-ethics/ How to nap - Boston.com Naps are important, so any future home office of mine will hopefully have a suitable couch for napping too, so that I can easily grab 40 winks. (tags: naps napping sleep powernap catnap health productivity homeoffice) http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/21/links-for-2008-06-21/ Kev and I went over to Illinois a few weeks ago for our American wedding reception - a party at his parents' house. The weather was pretty atrocious. A stationary front sat across middle America, spewing out violent thunderstorms and tornados. We missed one tornado by 12 miles, and there ... http://kitsandmortar.com/2008/06/20/whats-the-deal-with-basements/