Heading out again

Well have been home for a couple of weeks and am getting antsy to get back to the project adobe. I am going to build in the rest of the counter space, install a small propane stove and refrigerator. I will build in the bed frames and plan a table for the main room. My wife is making rag rugs and my daughters are gearing up to compete for wall space decorations. We all want to make the place unique but there is only so much space. I have an idea for a main room lighting fixture that I think will blend in well. Some guys from Houston ( David and Gregg) are building a straw bale house near me that is turning out real well. I think I will add some pictures of their place to show yet another method that works well in the desert. My wife has made bedspreads from silk remnants spun in Nepal. There will be splashes of color all around. Check back in a few weeks to see the new pix. Seeya.........R

To answer a question from Aaron about the adobe's, I bought them! I intended to make the adobe blocks at first, but found that the adobe dirt is down on the flats like at John's area. I bought the bricks from Rainbow adobe in Alpine. Steve Belardo builds adobe homes and has perfected a recipe that includes two kinds of cement and lime that stabilizes them. In the end I was glad I went that way because the amount of work that followed was almost too much for me! The floor was made from adobe dirt that I dug up down off the mesa , mixed with water, layered in 2 in. at a time to make a four to five in. thick floor. I did not try to keep the floor from cracking the way you are supposed to, except to keep it covered with a tarp for as long as possible. After it dried I filled the cracks and coated the floor with linseed oil. 100% then cut it 25% 50% and finally 75%. I have not sealed it with wax yet. I am going to try and find some early pix and add them to the blog. Hope this helps. Sorry it takes so long to update. Rusty