What a great idea.I would love to see a picture.As a mere child I had a secret life with frogs.I hated "baby dolls".I use to put Barbie doll clothes on them The black and white strapless bathing suit that the original Barbies came with was quite fetching on a frog. My mom hated seeing them hop around in the kitchen wearing nothing but a Barbie poodle skirt.We all have our obsessions,I suppose.

Lisa, I don't think your priorities are skewed. I think they're right where they belong...in the mudhole. ribbit!

Deb

I love making grots. Next I will try the toad abode. By the way, is the correct pronunciation grot (like in boat) or grot (like in pot). Thanks

I think it is grot like boat-derivative of "grotesque", as in gargoyles and such.

Sarah, We must share that frog gene. I remember, as a 4 year old,
being jealous of my friend Kenny, because he had a big black dog ( a
German Shepherd, as I recall) that he used to lead around the block on
a leash. Because my mom was mean, and wouldn't let me have a dog of
my own, I did the next best thing and caught a great big bull frog,
tied a string around its leg and dragged that poor sucker around the
block trying to keep up with Kenny and his dog.

Poor frog had a permanent case of belly burn on his(her)...((I'm
assuming there is such a thing as a female bullfrog...with bull in the
name, it makes me think of just males...but without girl bullfrogs
how would there ever be pollywogs?)) stomach from being incessently
dragged along the cement sidewalk. What an innocent little torturer I
was. Your Barbie poodle skirt (or bathing suit) would have saved him
(her) some torment, if only I had thought of it.
(Now I'm in the process-more than 40 years later- of designing a giant
(6 feet tall) frog as an outdoor, wood-fired bake oven to be made with
a clay/sand/straw material called cob. The frog's wide open mouth
will be the oven's open door into which you insert your pizzas, loaves
of bread, etc. to bake.) I guess some obsessions never die! I'm glad
you share it, that helps me feel maybe not quite so odd.
Thanks....lisa-devon

Wow Lisa, Would love to see a pic of of that. Peg

Heck! I wanna see a picture of the frog in a barbie poodle skirt!

Jo

So,"cob" is a combination of straw and clay.Could you use like...any clay? I live in an area that has alot of clay in the soil. We call it "Gumbo".In the summer months it is next to impossible to dig in.Would this type of clay work?It would be $$$$ I suppose to make anything substantial if you had to buy the clay for,like an out door oven,fireplace thing...???In the new "Sunset secret gardens"magazine they have a wall in the garden that is made out of cob.It looks like adobe.Have worked with it before, Lisa?

Sarah- When you posted this message I responded, but now I realize it was just a personal email I sent to you, not a posting on this site. Sorry, this technology stuff confuses me with regularity.

I wish I knew more about cob building; I've done lots of research but never actually made anything with it...not yet, anyway. If I were to pursue the subject of cob, is this the proper forum?? I was thinking maybe landscape design would be more appropriate, but I don't know...any suggestions?

The best book I've found is by Kiko Denzer. It's full of lots of practical, hands-on information. He has conducted many workshops, with adults and children. It seems like a fantastic building medium, requiring only clay soil, sand, straw and water, well mixed and made into an even mudpie consistency by kneading it with your feet, and then applied one mudball at a time.

Sarah, you asked about using your gumbo clay. Yes, I think you could, as long as you choose a time of year you can actually dig it up. From what I've read, you just have to adjust the amount of sand and staw to make an appropriately gooey, sticky mixture. The Denzer book would be a good resource to check out.

If there's anyone out there who has already done this, let me know and please direct me to a more appropriate forum if you know of any. Thanks so much. lisa_devon

Hey Lisa!I ordered the book you suggested,Geez Louise!There are some cool ovens in there.Thanks for recommending it.I have to wait till I move to Louisiann this summer before I try it out. I am looking forward to baking in one.I remember reading a post about not using cement/tufa for outdoor ovens.In the book they use "urbanite", recycled concrete as the base for some of the ovens.I wonder if they have had any adverse reactions?

The cob recipe sounds an awful lot like the old-fashioned adobe I grew up with--mix clay (or caliche), straw, and water, mash it up with your feet, stomp it into wooden molds and let the sun dry it out. Nearly as hard as brick, though of course it eroded in rain.

Do you fire the clay so you can cook in the ovens? How does that work?

Must get at my toad abode. Last evening I found a large toad in a geranium pot.
Lisa, Do you place the hotel in a special area and do you ever loosen the soil under it? I know the toads bury themselves under the soil but would they do the same in the hotel or will the roof be enough protection.
Is the garden better than the flower bed? Shade or sun?

DYAS,From what I have read ,the ovens need some sort of shlter.In the book the pictures show some under patio roofs or their own roof.Some of them look as though they are out in the open. Maybe they cover them when not in use?The book says that the rain will dissolve them.After all of that stomping and buliding it would be awful to see it wash away.

Shirley-I think the grot's mouth is enough shelter wherever you put it, garden or flower bed, sun or shade. And no, I don't think you need to loosen up the dirt unless you think your toads would like a softer bed.

Sara and Dyas- I'm learning about this cob process so don't want to pretend to have all the answers. From what I read, it is equivalent to an adobe making recipe, and yes, to make them last in rainy climates a roof or other protection is helpful. (In Wales, where cob houses have survived for centuries they are protected by thatched roofs.)

There is no need to "fire" the cob oven before it can be baked in, and I think any material for a footing to support the oven is fine, i.e. stones, rubble, urbanite, broken bricks, etc., as long as it goes below the frost line and provides a sturdy base.

Good luck to all of you making toad abodes and cob ovens. Let me know how it goes for you, and I'll do the same. lisa_devon

rofl... grot? never thought I'd hear THAT term outside my weekly Warhammer sessions! there, it means the larger of the Orc minions, formally known as a Gretchin. the littlest ones are called 'snotlings' and the insane mass of them is referred to as 'snots and grots'...

:) now, I want hyper-grots in MY garden- oh, my husband would have such a wonderful time with that!

A friend made the grits for me about 15 years ago while vacationing in Florida .Just like a "Toad in a hole"