Ventanas, ventanas, ventanas!

We have windows!

I'm very happy with our choice of windows. This is one area we decided to spend more money on this time around because we know what a difference quality windows can make in the long-term comfort and efficiency of a home. The last time we got medium grade windows from a salvage yard. Returns from building projects around Tucson-they were all new windows but somewhat mismatched though I doubt many people ever knew. Our current residence has a south facing patio window and in the summer if you get within 8 ft of that window, you can feel the heat. These are Jeld-Wen windows (the front door is Pella) in a Prairie style and I think they add more character to the house.

This is a light fixture I picked up at the HabiStore because it goes so well with the windows! Yes, that's the price tag-$25!

Those are storm clouds you see in the house photos. The monsoon has arrived in full force and are we ever glad the roof is finished. It has rained for about 16 of the last 24 hours here, which is a bit unusual, even during this time of year. We're not complaining because all of the West needs the rain. When we were harvesting water, the rain was always exciting because I knew the culverts were filling. I hope the rain is helping with the fires and potential for fire that is so great in the summer. Rick used to fight forest fires in Ohio and during fire season, I never knew when he would be home (this was pre-cell phone). I can't imagine fighting a fire for hours on end in 100+ degree heat.

I've included a picture of our sodden backyard with overflowing bird bath and the wash behind our house running bank-to-bank! Our backyard was xeriscaped to keep much of the rainwater on the property for the plants. It is quite lush right now, even though we cut all the shrubs back completely in late winter. We have lantana, verbena, Mexican Bird of Paradise, 2 types of mesquite, sweet acacia, rabbitbrush, Texas Ranger, Texas sage, Mexican honeysuckle and cat claw vine. This backyard is probably the #1 reason we bought this house.

Rain is the main topic of conversation at this time of year. "Did you get any last night?" means RAIN! "What time did it start at your housee?" "Did you hear that thunder?" "Yeah, lightening woke me up about 2am!" "It was dry as a bone at my house." The discussion of the amount of rain, the force of the wind, the loudness of the thunder goes on and on until the end of August. I guess we get so little "Weather" we have to make the most of it because it's "Forecast: Sunny and Dry" the rest of the year.

This was supposed to be with the following post.

More roof pictures.
I know you probably think I've gone dotty over this roof-and I have. I think it's just beautiful. And I've wanted this roof for a long time. Hmmmm a diamond would have been cheaper but would have given me no more pleasure that looking at this roof.

And here's another with Monkey Boy climbing on the gable end doing all the meticulous finish work. He's so good at those detail things; comes from years of intense LEGO interaction, I'm sure. He's always been able to take a pile of LEGOs and turn them into something fantastic or just to bring order to any chaos. We were camping in Colorado 5-6 years ago just outside Pagosa at a little campground that had a laundry room and lounge with a TV. We were in the 2nd week of a 3 week all camping trip and the TV was very popular with the boys. The lounge also had a big magazine rack similar to what you see in stores. People would bring in magazines and leave them for others to read. Well, that rack was a mess-so Sam, then 11, organized it for them. All the National Geographics together chronologically, all the Time, all the Trailer Life, etc. He had such a great time doing that. And to think when we decided to homeschool people were worried about the boys learning their ABCs.

And how often do you need to recite the ABCs as an adult? It wasn't on any college entrance exam and it has never been on a job application nor have I been requested to recite them in a job interview. I've never understood "learning the ABCs" as an important gateway to future learning. Aren't the things we are expected to learn in the artificial world of "school" derived from the real world? And wouldn't it follow that those things could be learned from the real world when it becomes important to advance to the next stage of our development. And by being forced to learn prescribed things that may or may not have relevance to us at that point in time what things are we not learning that would be much more beneficial? Simply put, I believe we learn what we need to learn when we need to learn it. The most important concept is to be active and interested in many things. Learning never happens without the spark of interest.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a wonderful book and in it there is a passage in which Miss Brodie, a teacher at an all-girls school in Scotland in the 1930s, compares her view of education with that of another teacher at the school:

"To me education is a leading out of what is already there
in the pupil's soul. To Miss Mackay it is a putting in of something that is not
there, and that is not what I call education. I call it intrusion. "

I have no bumper stickers on my car and think it interesting that people seemingly sum up their whole philosophy of life, political ideology, sexual habits and/or religious dogma in a 9" x 3" space on the back of their car. That being said, I do love to collect quotes, so here is one from Thoreau who seemingly has a quote for everything:

"What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch
of a free, meandering brook."

Henry would have been the Bumper Sticker King of his time.
And one last quote, then it's back to building:

"What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant,
competent, confident, resourceful, persistent - in the broadest and best sense,
intelligent- is not having access to more and more learning places, resources,
and specialists, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of
interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill,
and judgment, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives
of people around them."
~John Holt~ Teach Your Own

It's a Roof! And a beautiful one, it is.

Let the rains come-however, now that the roof is on, we will probably get no rain. We have had a couple of good gully washers, but nothing the past few days. Some people asked if the rain was a problem for the bales-the short answer, Can Be. Rain that lasts for hours for several days in high humidity areas would be very damaging. The water then has time to penetrate deep into the bales and does not have a chance to evaporate. Here in southern AZ where the summer high temperatures are consistently in the 100s and the humidity low, bales will dry out quickly. One (of many) reason we've chosen earthen plasters is to allow the bales to "breathe". Many old adobe buildings (unstabilized) have failed after having portland cement stucco and elastomeric paints applied. The Mission San Xavier del Bac has undergone extensive restoration, part of which included removing cement stucco and reapplying the traditional earthen plaster.

Those of you familiar with building know that no matter the wall material, housebuilding is pretty much... housebuilding. It follows a sequence, site work, foundation, walls, roof, windows doors, then we move inside. The doors and windows have arrived so we can get that started. Things are going well, we're pleased. It will be nice for the guys to get out of the sun and work inside. We are still trying to find a source of clay but have a few leads. We'll find the right people.

One cool thing I found-Tucson now has a HabiStore where they sell construction leftovers and salvage! It's a wonderland of possibilities. We used to have a ReStore in town but not quite sure what happened to that. We bought several things for the previous house there.

I'll leave you with more pictures.

Here's the roof with the paper on and some of the metal on the fascia. A few of the panels are up on the north side. Progress! Cutting those triangular pieces for the corners is proving to be a pain-as we knew it would and that's one of the reasons Rick didn't want to do this type of roof. But, when it's finished it will be worth it. 

It's getting closer to the roof!

Starting Monday it should be ON the roof. Then we can breathe a sigh of relief. The next "drying in" step will be getting the plaster on the outside.
















This is the view from the kitchen window.
Haven't used this company before. Will let you know.








View fron the dining room window. 

Dia de San Juan is coming-get the roof on.

It rained last evening. Not just a sprinkle but a pretty significant downpour. Enough to have the wash run for a couple of hours. And it cooled everything down. That's one of the reasons we so enjoy the coming of the rain. Just when youthink youcan't stand another degree of heat, the clouds roll in, the heavens open up and it drops 20 degrees in a matter of minutes. Then the whole cycle repeats the next day. The boys and I took Gen for a walk along the wash. He loves running through the water. We enjoy the rain but it does signal the beginning of the monsoon. Luckily the roof material was delivered on Monday evening so that will be the next big project. Hopefully the arrival of the doors and windows will be next.

Happy Father's Day 2006!

Don't let the salmon burn!


Studying the pizza situation.










He builds houses, cooks and is a great dad to his sons!

All we need are some rocking chairs...

This is the porch on the north side. Eventually it will have a flagstone floor. This opens on to the pedestrian walkway and will have a bit of a view of the Catalina Mtns. This will be a great place to be on hot summer evenings.


Same subject taken from the walkway.











 

Guess they did publish, finally!

I thought the blogger issues were resolved but I guess not-created a post with several pictures which would not publish nor save so is lost. Will try again later.

Finally, more pictures....

Apparently Blogger was having serious issues.

Right-that's the shower between the 2 "throne" rooms! The whole room will be "wet". I plan to use a product called Milestone and create some mosaics on the walls. Part of the floor will be a pebble mosaic.

Below-The hallway. At the end will be a small "office" with a window to provide cross ventilation.

Center-the lav will go in the alcove under the window and we will suspend a mirror in front of the window.

Bottom Right-The Master BR. All windows are operable, again for cross ventilation. The space under the large window (which is North) will have a window seat with built in storage under.

Today the front porch is being built-that should change the look of the north side and provide a space for a favorite Tucson summer activity-thunderstorm watching.

Still awaiting clay, windows and doors...

Barn's burnt down
Now I can see the moon~Masahide

Update

Wow, it's been awhile since I last posted. Lots going on but much of it behind the scenes work. Finding a source for clay in Tucson has proven more difficult than we thought. Previously, we obtained our clay from the Pascua Yaqui Adobe Company which has since gone out of business. That's too bad because we found the company to be great to deal with. We have another adobe company that we are waiting for a delivery from but that seems to be a problem for them at the moment. We know we only need what is a relatively small amount but an order is an order and a customer is a customer. I suggested we could go to the wash and dig our own but Rick didn't think that was such a good idea. Stick in the Clay!!

The metal roofing is still to be delivered-that'll be a hot job as the temps are now reaching 100 degrees daily. We need to have the roof on by beginning to mid July, as that is when the monsoon should start. But now that we seem to be creating our own climate in southern Arizona, who knows.

And we are still awaiting delivery of windows and doors. All thing in their own time.

Here are some pictures:



South Elevation












Interior looking south,
this is the living room.













Kitchen window and front door.

The Most Beautiful Roof in the Entire World Passed Inspection!

Even the inspector thought it was beautiful. Now on to paper and metal. We ordered windows and the front door this week. CHA-ching! I need to start cobbing the voids in the walls. Straw bales, being imperfect, when brought together need some "make-up" to fill in the imperfections. It's messy (like mudpies) and somewhat tedious but one can get a lot of thinking done.

I'm a Registered Nurse and like many RNs have a love-hate relationship with the profession (don't worry, the source of the negative feelings is usually NOT the patient). However, last week was Nurse's Week (another Hallmark moment) and Friday was Florence Nightingale's birthday. Instead of taking part in the "festivities" that were sponsored by the powers that be in nursing, a few of us had our own celebration. We went to Javalina's for coffee, conversation and great music. Amber Norgaard was the musician, and she is great. If you get a chance to see her, do. The coincidental thing is that Amber used to make her living as an RN and we could tell that as she was belting out a tune she was longing for the good old nursing days. NOT! We got into an interesting discussion about what it takes to leave something "safe" and strike out on your own. How many of us beat back our passions and are pulled along by the siren song of safety? It was a great Tucson evening.

I've been led to another gifted artist, Amy Steinberg by an unschooling family blog. (If you've read the Intro to this blog, you know we are an unschooling family and I'll probably write more about that at some point.) The song Exactly is amazing. Really listen to it.

And on to the next project.

Getting the roof just right...
takes a lot of work. The style of this roof was mostly my idea. I lost the coin toss (I wanted a Dutch hip) and our previous house had a 3 in 12 gable roof. Serviceable and relatively easy to build, but plain. The roof on this house is 5 in 12, with mini-roofs to help protect the east and west walls and space to provide some attic storage. And it just looks cool. The roof will be galvalume (nonpainted metal panels) with gutters to catch the rain. The gables will also be clad with galvalume. To the right is the picture of the north elevation which I promised. It was taken from the common area between houses which includes a pedestrian walkway.


(l) This is the west side again with it's "mini-roof". (Does anyone have an official name for this?)


(below) And the east side with a close-up of the mini-roof. This has been a lot of work. Look at it closely, give it the respect it deserves. I will be paying for this for the rest of my life.

Now we have to begin the second phase of digging, boooring...but it has to be done.

Until next time...

It's a HOUSE! (well, sort of...)

The decking is complete. It appears unfinished because we like the look of the rafter tails against metal roofing. Again, this is the south face and that large opening is not the garage. That will be a wall of windows which will be shaded by a patio roof. On the gable ends will be overhangs something like this. Next time I'll get some photos of the north side.

We begin to see the silhouette of the house and I love the compactness of it. I think my fascination with living in small spaces goes back to childhood, but then, doesn't everything? I grew up in a very "Leave It to Beaver" neighborhood in southcentral Ohio, where the Scioto River joins the Ohio on its journey to the Mississippi, "Where Southern Hospitality Begins" in the foothills of Appalachia. These were golden years for the Portsmouth (widely pronounced Porchmith) area as Detroit Steel was in high production and Goodyear Atomic (A-plant) had put a lot of people to work after the war. The mighty N&W was still mighty, hauling coal from West Virginia mines to the river along with passengers and other freight. Portsmouth even had a great Art Deco train station. Many people were making the Rt 23 trek to jobs in the North but many were still able to be employed in the area. In just over a decade, Detroit Steel would become a miles long skeleton forever emitting the smell of steel being made and the coming years would see the Goodyear plant change hands and missions and take years to clean up. N&W would become N&S, the passenger lines closed and the beautiful station eventually demolished to build a jail. But the fact that jobs were available in the 60s helped make my childhood what it was. In my little neighborhood of Coles Park most Dads went to work (at the A-plant, the steel mill or N&W) and most Moms stayed home. There were no fences, everyone knew everyone and in the summer and after school all the kids just traveled from yard to yard playing baseball, kickball, tag, tetherball. Around 5 pm you could hear Moms calling children home to dinner. After dinner we would all rush outside accompanied by the admonition "You be in before dark!" I'm not sure why because those who had parents working at the A-plant probably glowed.

The family who lived behind us had 2 girls about my age and we were great friends, spending lots of time together. They had a playhouse. It was the greatest thing I had ever seen. Probably about 6x8, it had a front door, a window and a gable roof. Even then I would think of ways to "fix it up"; put curtains in the window, a little paint, just the right light fixture, plant a few flowers. I would imagine myself living there. Growing up in a big rangy house, with 2 parents, 3 brothers and one bathroom I was probably craving peace and quiet and privacy. The object of my desire sat on the lot line between our houses under a big old sycamore tree, a perfect setting and far enough from their house and my house that it seemed private. Yes, I think that must be when I became so fascinated with small spaces and have been attracted to them since.

"It's the friends you can call at 4 am that matter." Marlena Dietrich

Robin, Me, Olga, Amy

These wonderful women are in that group! (With Amy it wouldn't matter, she'd sleep through the call). On the day of the wall-raising they presented me with "blessings" to squirrel away in the walls of the house. Charms, a small edition of Shakespeare, a cross and lots of good thoughts. It's the little things that make a house a home. Thanks for being a part of this.

Building Stage:

Finish interior framing, fix a bump in the roof and work on the gable ends. The windows are ordered. And then we have to find the utilities. Sounds like a lot of digging.

Until next time...

Truss Day (in more ways than one)

And the trusses go up!

After much shifting, sweating, coaxing, pounding, cursing, grunting, groaning, straining and just plain hard work, the RBA was squarelevelplumb and the trusses made their debut. Wow, what a difference that makes! You can also see from this picture that much of the interior framing is completed. Now I can actually get a "feel" for the rooms-and it feels great. We like to say it's "simple, efficient and elegant." No starter castle here. Maybe it should be called the SEE house-SEE you don't need 3000 sq ft and a 3 bay garage to live a happy life.

This house is going to exceed our expectations due to the skill and dedication of Gumbatti Construction. Chris and Nick have worked their behinds off and lent great advice and vision to the project. And now for something really different: They return calls and show up when they say they will!!!

Chris (L)

The Flying Gumbatis

You need something built in Tucson, call these guys!

Gumbati Construction 520.907.0099

Nick (R)

Rick (L)

Master of All He Surveys and Honorary Gumbati

Get to work, Rick!

It couldn't have gone this fast without the continued help and support of Sam and Bill who came and sweated with the guys on truss day! Thanks!

Gumbatis in action-illustrating why construction is a young man's job.

Building Stage: Next it's the roof decking and then on to some clean-up details, window ordering, finishing interior framing, etc. It feels great!

Until next time, Judy

Getting a good hat.
Before RBA

One of the most important aspects of building any home but especially straw bale is the integrity of the roof. If the roof leaks and the straw gets wet it can be bad news. But then a leaky roof is bad news no matter. And getting that roof right means getting the roof bearing assembly or tip plate right. That starts by getting the walls square, then the RBA square, then the trusses go on and you have a much better chance of having a good roof. Here are a few shots of the almost completed RBA. Interior framing starts today and then the trusses go up tomorrow. Wow, I could move in!
NOT!








Roof bearing assembly almost completed.

I had mistakenly turned comments off, that function is back on.

I can be changed by what happens to me but I refuse to be reduced by it~Maya Angelou

Seeing this house take shape has been exciting but brings back memories of our first strawbale home. Because it's been so much on my mind of late, I thought I'd write a little about that experience, maybe exorcise some ghosts.

About 10 years ago we bought an acre of beautiful desert just east of Tucson in an area known as Vail. Our acre was in the middle of a plat of land which had been subdivided in the 60's but because there were no utilities only a few hardy souls had built on their lots. We studied the possiblities. We knew we could do solar and solve the water problem, the C,C&Rs were reasonable and so we jumped at the opportunity and purchsed the land. We started planning our home and soon started building. We lived in a 5th wheel with 2 little boys (about 5 and 8 when we started) for 14 months while we built and then for about 5 years, lived a great life.



We built a strawbale studio and helped other friends with their strawbale houses.

The boys had the run of over100 acres of desert, named all the washes and brought home a never ending supply of treasures. We were visited by rattlesnakes, javelina and illegals searching for water. We were completely "beyond the sidewalks"-off-grid and had water hauled, living with the land not trying to bend it to our will. We harvested water from the roof for landscaping needs and learned to conserve. For many it would have been "living without". But we gained so much: great friends, silence, stars, long walks, watching the summer rains approach from all directions, the smell of creosote, the delight of driving to the Roadrunner Market for ice cream (ice cream is a big deal when you only have a small propane refrig/freezer). Life was good.

Then it happened (cue foreboding music: dummm-de-dum-dum). The BIG BAD DEVELOPER ,ITC Homes, Ron Amiran, Moshe Gedalia, came into town and began buying up property around us. Then came the blading and grading, changing washes and destroying protected Pima pineapple cactus. McMansions sprung up around us, the kind that take 2 air-conditioners to cool. Black asphalt roads and driveways, grass lawns, swimming pools. It was painful to watch. It wasn't that we thought all that land was ours or that no one should ever build there it was the fact that the BBD came in, changed the rules under which we had purchased and then wanted to charge us for the privilege of continuing to live on our land and assess us 10s of thousands of dollars for the "amenities" he brought to us. And was rude, nasty and condescending . We told him we didn't need his amenities, he responded that he didn't care if we "used candles for lighting and had no heat, we would pay anyway". He now has the audacity to claim his homes are energy efficient but doesn't state on what planet. But, it is what it is. This was a dark time for us but eventually we decided that we needed to leave there and so we did. Arizona is a developer friendly state, they (developers) get what they want. We sought legal counsel, spent money, went to the newspaper and could have continued to spend money and fight but were not willing to bet everything we had on winning, not in Arizona. This was not the life we had planned.

And so another chapter opened. Our friend/realtor (but always friend first) Casey knew of some lots becoming available in Civano. We thought and thought and thought. Would we build again? Could we build again? What about all those Civano rules? Did we have the stuff to pour our hearts and souls into another project? Finally, we decided that yes, this was what we wanted to do. We had much more experience now, the boys were older, we would build smaller, more efficient. And so it began.

The First Little Pig

Despite some early disorganization, we now have walls. (Note to self, next time designate someone, other than us, to project manage.) That's usually my job but due to my other commitments over the last couple of months, I hadn't been as involved in the planning for this event and it it much more than one person can do. Thanks to some very organized friends who also have bale experience (Karen, Cheryl, Robin, we love you guys), and Terri our Custom Bale Crew Chief, and the help of many more friends and some volunteers, it happened. Some people who just stopped by to "Check it out" got into the act! We got started a little after 0800 and were finished by 1130-amazing!

We can't say enough about the response of our Civano neighbors. People brought cold drinks and fresh-baked cookies. Our neighbors, the Simms, gave up their drive-way and the cool shade of their house to a bunch of straw-covered strangers. Jeff hoisted bales and stuffed window boxes all morning. And many just came by to lend encouragement. There's a core of people within Civano who are building community, people who are going that extra step to be a part of something bigger than themselves. We definitely felt that yesterday and hope to be able to return the kindness in the near future. There was a group of about 8-10 school-aged kids who toured by a couple of times-now they have seen a different kind of house building.

That's Casey, our friend and realtor and soon to be neighbor (in the bibs). Without her we wouldn't have known about this great lot.

The Last Bale!

Rick and Cheryl lay in the last bale. Monumental occasion.


.
That's Bill (Southwest Solar) on the phone selling another energy efficient evaporative cooler from atop our strawbale wall.

All work finished in time for a delicious lunch supplied by Rick's Mom, Betty and our long-time friends Connie, Charlie and Lori. What a treat!

Thanks to Bill and Lucy for staying late and helping with the clean-up. What a help that was.

Building Stage:

Now comes the completion of the roof bearing assembly which affixes to the all-thread and attaches the roof to the foundation. Pretty important piece. The trusses are scheduled to arrive on 4/13 from L&L Truss.