by Suzann Thompson | Oct 14, 2010 | Earthen House, Retro Blog Post
We were still putting away tools and straightening the building site after our Labor Day work session, when someone moved in to our new house. She made herself right at home, making a home in our new home! It’s fun to watch these bluish black wasps dig in the...
by Suzann Thompson | Oct 9, 2010 | Earthen House, Retro Blog Post
September and our northwest wall started about the same time. See the tab that sticks away from the wall, behind the small pallet of bricks? It is one side of a divider-wall that will join its larger counterpart over an arch later on. My brothers Eric and Van and...
by Suzann Thompson | Sep 18, 2010 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Ella built this entire earthen block castle in one morning. Not only that, she made a mud queen, mud guards, and a mud chicken to run around the castle grounds. Our house is progressing slightly slower. At the beginning of August, we started the second of our two...
by Suzann Thompson | Sep 3, 2010 | Earthen House, Retro Blog Post
“All right, guys,” said my cousin Jerry, “it’s time for a pie run.” “Yay!” said Eva, clapping her hands. “I love pie!” Poor girl. She soon found out that Jerry wanted them to pick up the cow patties from our dirt...
by Suzann Thompson | Aug 15, 2010 | Earthen House, Life, Uncategorized
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...
by Suzann Thompson | Jul 25, 2010 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
To practice our earthen brick-laying and plastering technique, we built a well-house. Our rock foundation, about 5 x 7 feet on the inside, rests on top of a concrete foundation that we dug by hand. The first layer of earthen block is always the hardest to lay, because...
