Reflection, windows and awe

I can't believe I have been away for so long, but it was very much needed. Blogging has actually been a big part of my life for a long time and having some time out felt good and bad. Some where along the way I had begun feeling maybe I should endorse all the branded stuff that others do?, or set up a shop and try and make a job out of this social media malarkey but I am not the most confident and to be honest I wouldn't know where to start... the pressure just mounted and I lost my passion.

I started a couple of new projects, one of which was finally starting my training to become a counsellor, and I both needed it and intensly love it! There is a lot of personal reflection involved, which is throwing up some intense personal feelings and memories (which I am the queen of bottling up) but I can see myself changing , becoming more self aware and analytical (although as an anxious type this can sometimes be destructive, I am learning to challenge my inner demons by staring them in the face). I feel I may have finally at 38 found my direction.... like whoa!

Anyway I am back....... I am not sure I will stick around for long and I am not putting any pressure on myself to perform......in my absence however I have collected some beautiful pictures.

This little collection represent the awe of nature that can be seen from an armchair or whilst just pottering in the morning on a lazy Sunday morning.

Dome in the Desert......

Dome in the Desert, Joshua Tree

Dome in the Desert: Meditation Loft

Dome in the Desert

I first read about the 'Dome in the Desert' back in January on Aquarian Soul blog. Kitted out with Kilims, ottomans, sheepskins and a selection of desert friendly houseplants, it is such a cool holiday hideout, perfectly kitted out for a chilled out out, Whiskey, smoke and good company kinda holiday!

The dome, situated in Joshua Tree, is owned by L.A residents Kathrin and Brian and is available to rent via Airbnb here, although having recently been used for a Free People shoot and soon to be featured n Justina Blakneys upcoming book I can see this place being booked up quickly.

The Glass House..... A Handmade Cabin made of Windows

The Glass House.... A handmade Cabin built for $500 in West Virgnia. The front of the home is made of recycled vintage windows

This beautiful cabin is the handmade home of Photographer Nick Olsen and Clothes maker Lilah Horwitz, set in the West Virginia Countryside. The couple quit their jobs to build and live in this gorgeous Recycled window fronted home that they built for the minuscule sum of $500!!!

Small but beautifully crafted, the homes main feature is a full wall of glass, made from found and scavenged vintage windows.....

To see a short film and a full interview visit the Original article here!!

Houseboat: Retts Woods London Home Photographed by Todd Selby

Retts Wood on her houseboat home in London

I have always had a bit of a thing about houseboats. When I was 10 I joined the Sea Cadets and loved knot tying, rowing and Canoeing and spent a couple of awesome holidays on Canal boats. At 15 and listening to a lot of Portishead and Massive Attack, having quit sea cadets because I thought myself to cool, I dreamt about moving to Bristol (home of Massive Attack, Portishead and Banksy), being an Artist and living on a houseboat that I could just float away on when I wanted.

 1 out of 3 isn't bad... I moved to Bristol....

However, as I currently own a house with noisy neighbors the idea of owning a home that you could simply move to a different spot if you were moored next to a inconsiderate knobhead, is becoming even more tempting, and having a look at these affordable homes, the dream is actually not really that unobtainable..

This particular houseboat is owned by British Photographer Retts Wood and is moored in London. The images are all by Todd Selby and many more of this beautiful home can be found on his site here. Being tall, having a 6'3 fella and currently thinking about starting a family this one would be too small ( I am thinking more Dutch Barge), but these images are so inspirational.....

expect plenty of Houseboat posts to come :)

Help save this beautiful handmade roundhouse

Charlie Hague and Megan Williams hand built this beautiful timber-framed roundhouse house, with straw bale walls, an earth floor, and a living roof, in Glandwr, North Pembrokeshire last summer for £15,000. It was built on the plot of land owned by Charlies parents that the couple had been living in a damp caravan on for the last 4 years and with the news that Megan was pregnant Charlie decided to build their own home.

Sadly now the home may have to be demolished as the couple did not have planning permisson for the property and the council feel the

" benefits of the development did not outweigh the harm to the character 

and appearance of the countryside"

The home is actually situated next door to the Lammas Eco-village!!!! How their home can impact negatively on an eco-village is beyond me

So Moon to Moon readers I urge you to sign this petition to grant retrospective planning permission to Charlie and Megs roundhouse. With over 22,000 signatures already they only needed 2961 more signatures at the time this post was published. All that is needed is your name and where you live...

Thank you Kath for drawing my attention to this story xxx

The Pheonix Earthship.....

Phoenix Earth ship

Phoenix Earthship Kitchen

Earthship sitting room : my absolute dream room

Phoenix Earthship

Isn't his place wonderful? Not only is it stunning but this earthship is made from natural and recycled materials such as glass bottles.

There are a few earthships popping up,This one, is the Pheonix Earthship near Taos and not only is this place available for nightly rentals but is also for sale for a meager $1,500,000..... Sadly way out of my price range but with a jungle kitchen, indoor pond and generally just covered with plants this place is my dream home so maybe I should just get saving!!

Beautiful, Natural, British Homes....

Simon Dale's web famous Hobbit Home

Prickly Nut Wood

Beautiful British Cob House by Kevin McCabe Ltd

Hand made home :Nature Sanctuary at Findhorn eco-village

The wonderfully named "Tinkers Bubble" a hand made home here in the good ole West country

Handmade home: Cob and Straw roundhouse in Norfolk - I love that door

All these stunning handmade natural homes have their own links to the artists, but are all collected from the wonderful, wonderful Natural Homes Site.... enjoy xxx

The Long Road

Rolling homes

Rolling Homes

Rolling homes

rolling homes

rolling homes

rolling homes

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The thing I love about blogging is finding so many like minded souls. I get comments and emails from so many people with wonderfully inspiring blogs and I think it is about time I highlight a few.  So I would like to start by drawing your attention to two such blogs, run by my favourite male bloggers Keith and Lloyd.

The first is the lovely Keith with his blog the flying tortoise, I thoroughly recommend putting some time aside to brew a coffee, sit back and scroll through his blog. The post above is inspired by Keiths post on the same book Rolling homes by Jane lidz (1979).

The second is a blog owed by Lloyd Kahn (the editor-in-chief of Shelter publications). Lloyds blog is marvellous and has always got some interesting handmade houses/boats/caravans etc... and again is well worth investing some time to have a good scroll.

I have named the post after one of my all time favourite songs, see below.