I didn't realise when I set out to complete this task that it was worth 125 points. I just knew that it had been in my list for a very long time. If everything had gone to plan the first time around, I might have felt guilty taking 125 points for this project. However, I think the amount of work, effort and frustration that went into a (relatively disappointing) final product earned me those points.

I knew from the start that I couldn't compete with the existing high-scoring praxis for this task. So when building my cathedral, I went in a different direction. I was trying, as far as possible, to make the cathedral from natural materials found in my garden. This meant the frame would be made from sticks, which luckily we have a lot of.


My original plan was to create a structure planted in the ground. However, with the soil being quite dry and the sticks not very sharp, all that happened was that the sticks fell over, or at least didn't stand vertically.


Plan B was to cut several sticks to the same length, and make skeleton walls by tying them together. In order to cut the sticks to length, specialist tools were required:


After a bit of cutting, I ended up with my building materials. I decided to try assembling the front face first, which was to have a steeple tower. I tried grass at first, but it kept snapping and wouldn't work as string. So I had to abandon the quest to make the entire thing using natural materials. As I had no string available, I tried pipe cleaners. This didn't really work. I then used sticky-backed plastic, which held the front face together well.


I constucted a back face in a similar fashion. The next time I came to work on the cathedral, I had found some string, so I tried to join the front and back together with a beam held on with string. This was rather awkward, but seemed to work to some degree.


Then it rained, and after that I was away on a trip for a few days. At home, it carried on raining. When I came back, I found that the sticky-backed plastic on the back face had come unstuck. But now I had string, so I was not put off. After a bit of knotting, I had a back face contruction again.


My original plan had been to constuct a framework along these lines, with vertical struts all the way around and a square steeple at the front:


After a couple of minutes working with sticks and string, it became clear to me that this was not going to happen. I had successfully made the front and back faces, but attaching them together with sides was difficult. Sure, I could tie a stick in roughly the right place, but then placing a second side without the whole thing collapsing was almost impossible. After a couple of hours of pure frustration, it was possible to carefully balance the structure in a vaguely upright position.


However, one touch and it would wobble and fall over sideways. I left the tangled mess of sticks and string on the table, to come back to another day.


Approaching the problem with a fresh mind, I realised that if I placed some diagonal beams across the middle of the structure it would probably stand up. I spent some time getting this right, but eventually it seemed to work.


A bit wonky, yes, but it was good enough for me. I figured that perfect angles and parallel edges were not necessary on what was supposed to be a mainly natural temple. Besides, it would have been impossible. I moved the cathedral to its location at the back of the garden. I know from experience that various types of bug live in this part of the garden; I once made an ark for them. I gave the cathedral a paper carpet, which would allow me to easily see any congregating worshippers.


Now the framework was on site, I could start work on the decoration. I did the front face first, giving the cathedral walls of dead bamboo leaves, which weaved nicely between the sticks of the frame. I covered the steeple in grass (each blade individually picked and tied around the tower - you see, I care about my insects).


Before taking a break, I placed some bait in the cathedral to bring in the worshippers. This consisted of dropping in a couple of pieces of apple and sprinkling the cathedral floor with sugar.


Later I continued with the decoration, giving the back and sides of the cathedral bamboo walls to match the front. The thing ended up being a wonky mess of sticks, string and leaves, but hopefully the insects would appreciate it.


On the first day after construction, there were no worshippers to be seen in the cathedral. On the second day, I had better luck. When I went over to it, it looked rather disheveled, and even more lopsided than it had been before. Bamboo leaves had fallen off the sides.


Maybe this was all due to the wind, or maybe some small creature had walked into it. I don't know. Either way, it now had insects visiting it. I found a couple on flies happily resting on the front wall, and a few ants crawling around one of the apple pieces.


While this was a good start, I wanted a larger congregation. I came up with a cunning plan. My new insect-luring tactic was to mix up a sugar solution and sprinkle it over the entire cathedral. Not just the floor, but the walls and beams as well.


I also added a few sugar letters to one of the beams.


I then once again left the cathedral, hoping for a larger congregation when I next visited.
Over the next couple of days, there was nothing much to report, unfortunately. I decided that the insects in my garden must all be atheists, but I had one more trick up my sleeve before giving up. An even more sugary bait, itself made by insects. Honey.


Then it rained all afternoon. Insects don't like rain.
Next morning, I went outside to see if the honey had done the trick. The first thing I saw was a moth, very close to my cathedral, but not actually in it.


When I turned over a few of the stones and bits of apple I had put inside the cathedral, a group of 20 or so ants scattered too quickly for me to photograph them. There were quite a few ants crawling around the cathedral, but not in groups. You may spot them in some of the photos that follow, even if they are not the main subject.


I then found a snail on the front of the cathedral, climbing up the wall.


Soon after this, a couple of my least favourite insects made an appearance. Wasps. Now if there's any phobia I have, it's spheksophobia (yes, I had to look that up). However, unusually, these wasps seemed to leave me alone, so I made myself get close enough to take a couple of photos. I suppose when there's some tasty honey around, the wasps can put off chasing people around until later.


The last visitor I documented before heading indoors I first took to be another wasp. However, at closer inspection it turned out to be a bee. I think it may even have been a honey bee, attracted to the honey and probably a bit annoyed that we humans keep stealing it.


I will keep the cathedral up in my garden for as long as it stands (it looks more dilapidated every time I see it), and go out to observe it every now and then. If I find anything particularly interesting or different from what I've already seen, I'll post something in the comments. However, I think this may be all I get from my cathedral. The insects of my garden seem, for the most part, to be uninterested in congregating to worship.

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