Finishing touches

So, I realize I’ve failed dismally at blogging, apparently since October 21st. I attribute this to my surrender to the internet vacuum that is Oberá. And also, we’ve pretty much just been building non-stop. We had quite a few workshops at the end of things we taught each other. But for the most part, our main focus was on the building. Here are some things I took away from the process (yeah, I’m beyond the technical blogs): -Readjustment of plans and goals is critical. That’s why we added columns, for example. The wall was “wonky” and wobbly, so adding the columns added stability. -Adding glass bottles for beauty. After laying the bricks around them, you carve out space for more light to filter through them. -We finished laying all the bricks, I believe. Line after line after line, we finally made it up to the roof. -Plaster layer one. It’s already cracked nicely and is waiting for the other layers. -“Meatballing” – the process of adding tons of fiber (tensile strength) to the plaster mix and shoving the wads into places that need stability but are too small to put bricks in. -Natural painting. We used lime and iron oxide and painted 2.5 walls of our cabin. -Making shelving and niches. -And much, much more! We didn't finish the house. Not by a long shot. In a way, that was a bummer, but when I look at how much we accomplished and hear about how long a project like this normally takes, I feel just fine. Ultimately K & M will finish all the layers of plaster, add artsy things like tree sculptures/niches/shelving, they'll put in sinks/counters/composting toilets. They'll cover the floor, probably with a tinted cement mix with wax over top. They'll put in doors and windows. And they'll put on the roof. And after breathing for a while, maybe a long while, they'll add two additional rooms on the side. Rock on. Basically, natural building is crazy. In many ways, you can make it simple or complicated and you can do that now or later. But the nice thing is that if you stick to basic stability principles, if you eff up, you can fix it or make adjustments. I learned that my personal style is to do more measuring/leveling now and hopefully have fewer adjustments later, but I also learned ways to build more freely knowing that we could readjust. Hopefully I can rummage around for a project and start melding what I know already with new learning about what works in non-jungle settings.