A Small Update

I just wanted to post a few more pictures after yesterday, showing what we got done today. Things look a little better now, after finishing the lime-washed siding. Here is the final product.

I also forgot to mention the installment of the chimney flue. Bear spent a lot of time on it and it is finally completely water proof and looks cool too. This is a view up through the middle of it (from the loft).

Today Owen and I did the first coat of lime plaster around the clearstory windows. We can finally take the tarps down, which makes it look so much better.

Cool picture of the outside of a mortise and tenon joint.

Fall Is Here!

Siding, Light-Clay Straw, & Plaster. The 3 things that have occupied most of my time.

This is one of the completed light-clay straw walls in the loft. We essentially mix a bunch of loose straw with a water-mud mix and cram it in the stud cavities. The forms keep it in place until it dries and then it is hard enough to plaster over. It can be rather time consuming, but peaceful at the same time because it doesn't use power tools or require any other loud noises.

The siding on the loft is acting as the permanent for on the backs of the walls. Here you see the lime washed boards we installed today. Some of the boards have not had the lime wash rubbed in/off, so they are still white. Eventually, the whole wall will look like the darker shaded boards, which will be the same color as the lime plaster on the rest of the house.

Bear and I installing siding on the south facing wall of the loft.

Mark and Ali plastering. Yesterday we spent the morning helping Mark at his house. He is doing an earthen plaster on his straw bale barn. He spent a lot of time getting the walls to be completely flat, and it looks amazing.

Mark's dry fit rocket stove. In preparation for moving into the barn this winter, Mark and his interns have started to build the rocket stove that will keep his family warm.

Cole staying warm (and looking cute) on a breezy autumn morning.

I've been thinking about doing some kind of relief artwork in the final coat of the plaster. Some cool artwork around the village has been my inspiration. This is Bella Ciao, a house right next to the Timber Frame.

I know Alex will like this. This is the first of the four manufactured post that will support the lookout tower. Hopefully these will be done soon.
We finished the oak siding on the east wall of the loft. What a beautiful wood it is.
The insulation guys came today with their blown in cellulose (recycled newspaper) and finished all the ceilings in only a few hours. We have almost completely sealed the whole building.
We started putting on the fascia. They are oak too, finished with linseed oil.

Busy!

We have been so busy. I feel like I have not had time to update the blog in the longest time. A lot has change since the last post. Alex has gone back home to London and will start classes soon in South Wales. We will miss him greatly and he was amazing in helping with the Timber Frame addition. He gave us a concert a few weeks ago of all the songs he had written both here and before he arrived. We made a amphitheater out of straw bales and he performed in the Timber Frame.

It was nice to have six people working on the site for a few weeks, which made thing go incredibly fast. Last week we started and completed the first layer of lime plaster, mixing several batches a day. Led by me, and thanks to help of BJ and some visitors, the crew managed to do a great job, with strikingly quick speed. I am the self proclaimed plaster guru of the crew.

I have started putting on the window frames I've been making. We have also done a few courses of light clay/straw.

This is the siding on the loft that we started putting up today. It is oak that was locally harvested and milled right here in Scotland County, Mo. We spent 2 days routing and finishing the boards to better waterproof them.

Here you see a batch of some experimental bricks that I have been making on weekends. I think they will be used somewhere in the house, but I don't know exactly where yet.

This is the view from the roof of the addition. The wild flowers are in full bloom right now. It is so beautiful.

Some flowers in front of Jennifer's front door.

Wild flowers on the path to the ultimate frisbee field.