We haven't worked on our long-drop toilet in a long time... but here's what it looks like at the moment, in case you were wondering!
The days are starting to blend together. We haven’t had a sit-down-and-learn session in a while, so I feel like I don’t have new information to share. We are still working on mudding Kim and Marcelo’s house, and also on building the stem wall underneath it. The cobb mixture we make for their walls has a good bit of fresh cow poop in it (I heard it took a lot more work to break up the dry chunks when Jon was here!) so it’s kindof stinky to work with, and a little gross… but also kindof cool because it’s just life. Kim and Marcelo tell us that in India this is all they use to cover their buildings- just cow poop. It dries hard and smooth, and contains lots of fiber naturally so it weaves together and is durable over time (and in India aren’t cows sacred?)…Jo, pouring water into our lovely volcano of a cobb mix...
We discovered today that the first part of our wall had been laid too thick, and wasn't smooshed onto the wall with the palms of our hands, so the whole thing is peeling off. We spent time re-doing what wasn't sticking, and re-distributing what needed to be thinner so it dried better.
The top of one of the simple little butterflies that are around all the time... but nearly always closed.
The beautiful wild ginger blossoms that grow by the river- they are so fragrant that it's almost like perfume!
You can see the stem wall below the house here. We're working on mudding the second side of the house today!
We’ve been swimming in the river a ton. The one that our swimming hole is part of is still flowing well, but the other one, the one the driveway goes over, is nearly completely dried up. Yesterday it had algae in it, and today there are a few puddles and not much else. Mostly mud. It’s strange to remember that it was so full the day we arrived, rushing so hard, that Marcelo wasn’t sure he would be able to cross it in the car. Now it has been about two weeks without rain, and the whole river is virtually nonexistent. Apparently this happens every year. It comes back when the rain returns.
We discovered today that the first part of our wall had been laid too thick, and wasn't smooshed onto the wall with the palms of our hands, so the whole thing is peeling off. We spent time re-doing what wasn't sticking, and re-distributing what needed to be thinner so it dried better.
The top of one of the simple little butterflies that are around all the time... but nearly always closed.
The beautiful wild ginger blossoms that grow by the river- they are so fragrant that it's almost like perfume!
You can see the stem wall below the house here. We're working on mudding the second side of the house today!
We’ve been swimming in the river a ton. The one that our swimming hole is part of is still flowing well, but the other one, the one the driveway goes over, is nearly completely dried up. Yesterday it had algae in it, and today there are a few puddles and not much else. Mostly mud. It’s strange to remember that it was so full the day we arrived, rushing so hard, that Marcelo wasn’t sure he would be able to cross it in the car. Now it has been about two weeks without rain, and the whole river is virtually nonexistent. Apparently this happens every year. It comes back when the rain returns. Here's Marcelo's fix for the broken wheel axel on our wheelbarrow. I love it! (We're down one hammer though.)
And look who is blooming already! It's the blissful wife beans!!!
And look who is blooming already! It's the blissful wife beans!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment