On the day before we left Wales for Dublin and the Nashville, Annie and Phil treated us to a visit to Felin Uchef, a center for traditional skills in an environmentally friendly context ( www.felinuchaf.org ). Jim was impressed with the structure of a new building going up with boat-like knees (cross-braces) and peg and slot construction combined with Tyvek, corrugated fiberglass, and concrete. He wanted to turn it up side down to see if it would float.
The signature conical thatched roofed teaching hall had equally inventive fenestration. Later Annie (inset) gave a lift to the cone covering the bread oven – we were curious how often it needed replacement. It turned out to be a rain cover to keep the mud dome from disappearing in the rain. Gail was delighted with their new composting toilet, here in it's thatch home, because it was exactly the kind we had learned about in southern India. There, it was being studied by the Kodaikanal Soroptimists as a solution to lack of adequate facilities - especially for women.
Annie and Phil had been extras in a Welsh language TV show shot in Aberdaron, the setting out port for Bardsey Island pilgrims for well over a thousand years (and particularly meaningful to Annie,
the ancient pilgrim chapel). After Felin Uchaf, we drove on to the little village, where wild life consisted of birds in the creek (a heron, right?) and a few pubs, catering to the summer tourist trade and winter TV crews, one of which, set right on the beach, provided us a lovely lunch. We enjoyed the surf crashing into the beach, blown back in wild horse spumes.
On the day before we left Wales for Dublin and the Nashville, Annie and Phil treated us to a visit to Felin Uchef, a center for traditional skills in an environmentally friendly context ( www.felinuchaf.org ). Jim was impressed with the structure of a new building going up with boat-like knees (cross-braces) and peg and slot construction combined with Tyvek, corrugated fiberglass, and concrete. He wanted to turn it up side down to see if it would float. 
The signature conical thatched roofed teaching hall had equally inventive fenestration. Later Annie (inset) gave a lift to the cone covering the bread oven – we were curious how often it needed replacement. It turned out to be a rain cover to keep the mud dome from disappearing in the rain. Gail was delighted with their new composting toilet, here in it's thatch home, because it was exactly the kind we had learned about in southern India. There, it was being studied by the Kodaikanal Soroptimists as a solution to lack of adequate facilities - especially for women. 
Annie and Phil had been extras in a Welsh language TV show shot in Aberdaron, the setting out port for Bardsey Island pilgrims for well over a thousand years (and particularly meaningful to Annie, 
the ancient pilgrim chapel). After Felin Uchaf, we drove on to the little village, where wild life consisted of birds in the creek (a heron, right?) and a few pubs, catering to the summer tourist trade and winter TV crews, one of which, set right on the beach, provided us a lovely lunch. We enjoyed the surf crashing into the beach, blown back in wild horse spumes. 
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