Warning! If you build a house with dirt, you’re bound to get dirty!
This is Eva after a morning of shifting newly-pressed blocks off of the block machine. All of us brick-movers were covered with fine grit. Two good things about being so dirty: your teeth and eyes look very bright, and showering makes you feel especially great.
After we set up and poured a reinforced concrete bond beam around the top of our well house, Jerry, Bobby, and Alex spent an afternoon in the hot, hot sun making its roof. We were all very proud of our accomplishment.
But did you notice that the mud plaster is artfully flaking off of the building? We learned from experience that our particular dirt plus water alone do not make good plaster. Eva, my sister-in-law Kathy, and I chipped the rest of the mud plaster away to prepare for a layer of lime plaster. I liked the crunch of mud plaster under my feet. We’ll recycle the dirt.
We worked on the inner earthen wall of the house until it was 9 feet and 4 inches tall (2.85 meters). It will join to the outer wall with an arch. But since the outer wall isn’t ready yet, we built as much of the inner wall as we could, which is why the bricks step back.
We’re going to start building the outer walls next, so Eva, Kathy, and I prepped the stem walls with primer and rubbery roof mastic. It forms a vapor barrier between the foundation and the earthen blocks. Here’s Firewheel making sure I don’t miss any spots.
What has Ella been doing all this time? She spends a lot of time at Oma and Granddad’s house. And she has started baking. She reads the recipe, preheats the oven, measures, and mixes all on her own. I’m allowed to get ingredients from high shelves and place items in the oven.
“Mom, did you ever make muffins and stuff?” she asked.
“I started baking stuff when I was about….” I had to think a minute. “About nine or ten years old,” I finished.
Ella smiled big. “Yes!!” she said. She’s only seven.
