We have done almost no work on this house for six weeks. Yes, we were a bit preoccupied with other matters. We also spent every last dime on this court case ($25,000). That leads to having to work for pay more, which leads to exhaustion, which leads to no work being done on the house. A downward spiral.
We are stymied.
We haven't figured out a way to frame out one of the sixteen foot walls. We have to figure out how to put in two doors (and frame them). We need to put in a wood stove, or a Cob stove (Joni wants to build one, but we have so much cobbing to do that I think this is nearly an impossibility). How do I put that thing in without burning down the house or fumigating us with carbon monoxide? Now is the time for "Norm" the master carpenter to appear on the scene. We also could use "Oak" the electrician and "Smokey" the wood burner expert.
How does one finish a project with no money? How does one finish a project with no expertise? How does one finish a job without a twenty foot extension ladder? How does one finish a project with a fear of heights?
Then there is all the mud work left to do. Cob walls to finish. Mud for the entire exterior walls. Mud for the interior walls. The half million kids at Woodstock didn't make as much mud as we have left to make.
And did I mention the wiring we need to do? And about 1,000 watts of solar panels to add (which we cannot afford right now). And what about the hot water tower I want to build?
Then there is the problem of the Adobe floor. Mixing that by the wheelbarrow full. Hundreds and hundreds of them. With a month to dry. When is that gonna happen?
We are two to three months away from the rainy season. Will we have more livable space available to us before we are marooned by four to five months of torrential rains? Will we have the walls done and plastered so that the bales don't get wet?
And when we are done, will it look like a bunch of Hobbits on Mushrooms built this place? (Most assuredly the answer is "yes".)
Stay tuned. We have lots of problems to solve. Right now, it looks like we will be roughing it for a bit longer. Maybe another season. Or year. Or decade.
As the AA folks say: "One day at a time"... Time for a beer.
2 comments:
wow. Call Extreme Makeover; see if they'll do "your" version - it'd be a good experience for them! They just did a green house in rural Wisconsin outside of superior!!
I think Hobbits have nice, snug, comfortable houses. So I think it will come out well if it looks like it's built by Hobbits.
Good luck. I will be thinking of you!
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