2008 Seedling addition
In winter 2007 I built the 5 x 24′ addition on the south side of the house / garage. Couldn’t make it any wider because we have 5′ property setbacks on the sides and didn’t own the adjoining lot yet.
Due to the weight of the adobe bricks I put OSB with fiberglass insulation over the sliding glass door windows. The cob would get washed off every few years.
In February 2019 I applied this cob fortified with Portland cement and it held up very well, even on top of the parapets that were finished with elastomeric. I attached some stucco metal and we stapled chicken wire on the OSB.
So far so good.
Finishing with regular cob is next.
And eventually, I’d like to apply earth-colored lime on the stucco.
2008 Seedling addition
The 2014 meditation building
It needs a roof. Probably have to go to Flagstaff for longer untreated poles — no chemicals!
Have a metal cover for the middle of the roof so we can have a fire inside or just do hot rocks for a sweat lodge.
And since we don’t have wood like the New Mexico latillas here, I’m thinking of a canvas.
The two bricks over the door were just set last year when helpers wanted to see how it works. The rest of the structure never even got a rough coat, but it’s about time.
Still need to frame the lower vents for mosquito screens and install mosquito screens on all openings. Hasn’t been a priority since there’s no roof.
Eventually, we need pillows for all vents / windows so we can block the hot or cold air as needed and in summer take them out at night for cooling.
The structure is far from the house and it’s quiet there. Behind it is the little pond for the animals and it’s a great place to meditate.
For a while, it was a gym when a helper brought equipment, and sometimes helpers set up a tent. Despite the many vents it is excellent wind protection and keeps the tent a little cooler in summer.
Meditation building started in 2014
Just saw this pic on HelpX:
2014: Christof and Romina from Germany made many bricks!
The future chicken coop
This building has a rough coat, definitely needs a finish coat.
Can’t get chickens until we’ve used the dirt on the left for adobe, or moved it out since that’s my ONLY good source of suitable dirt.
The chicken run requires a very strong fence, maybe a chainlink fence (not pretty) and it needs to be covered so the prey birds, bobcats, coyotes etc. can’t kill the chickens.
I will stop eating chicken once I have my forever pets. I don’t care if they don’t lay eggs anymore, as long as they poop, they’re even still productive. We need nitrogen!
Future chicken coop started in 2015
One reason the buildings aren’t finished is that I want some art, decoration, color, shapes.Glass, rocks, pebbles. A friend has old cherry wood chairs I’m thinking of cutting into smaller pieces to use.
