Searching the Forest

This is a late post of the previous weekend. I headed out early Saturday, and arrived around 8 o' clock the ground and fields were covered by morning frost, which provided a nice contrast to the clear blue sky.

Tired from driving, I headed out into the forest to search for possible building materials. The little stream going past our house leads up into to the forest, and on its banks I found a patch of strong bamboo poles growing. I went deeper into forest, and checked out the earth on the steeper river banks. At one place I spotted some slightly red coloured earth. After scratching off the top layer of decaying leaves, insects and other organic matter, I grabbed a handful of slightly moist dirt, an shaped it into a ball. It had excellent cohesive properties, which led me to believe that the soil has a high clay content.

When walking here you have to be careful, and better stay on the path. Farmers have marked off some areas with plastic ribbons, where they cultivate mushrooms (matsutake or something like that). They won't be happy if heavy boots would crush their crop.

Near the path I found some kind of grass that looked long and solid enough to be used , for example inside walls, as insulating infill or to provide a lattice for mud and plaster to stick on. I cut a few stalks as sample and took them with me to dry them out in the sun. Later I found out they were actually kind of baby bamboo sticks.



Later I went back and picked up another sample of earth from a different place. It didn't look quite as suitable as the previous one, but I tried out a mix all the same.

Taifun and Earthquake

We went one more time to inspect the house on Sunday. What a day! A powerful Typhoon hit Honshu and inundated the country with massive rain falls. A lot of rain, but still the Shinkansen securely carried me to Ueda on time.

Tomo brought his family, as well as an intern. While both of us discussed necessary jobs and rebuilding measures, the intern was busy taking accurate measurements of the interior.

Despite massive rainfall, we were glad to see that the interior of the house remained absolutely dry!

A signing date was agreed with the agent, so that we can soon complete the transaction.

On the next day though, another disaster: Earthquake level 6+ in Niigata. Another test? Again the building withstood the tremors - it is a sturdy little house!