“I AM ALWAYS DOING THAT WHICH I CANNOT DO IN ORDER THAT I MAY LEARN HOW TO DO IT.”
— PABLO PICASSO


La Ducha


When you build your own house you do have certain leeway in making on the fly changes-and I am the Queen of Change. Step back, take a look--"Hmmmm-that's not it. Let's try something else." Now, I haven't quite figured out if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I know it drives the other member of the team a bit crazy but, that goes both ways.

The shower had its share of changes, at least that's how it appears but in my mind, it looks just the way I envisioned it. You see, I compromised early on what I wanted for floor tile and was afraid of the lime plaster. After I decided to go for it on the lime and got the tile I wanted, it all worked but I had to make a few mistakes first.


This is the lime before polishing and staining. I loved the way it looked at this stage. So smooth and level and white.

The next step was polishing with a small steel trowel (it's all about the trowel) and polishing....and polishing...and polishing. This is not a process to start late in the day. You have to be there to trowel at the right stage and for the right amount of time. You just don't know beforehand when that time will be. Working with these old techniques really gives a view into the life of artisans and craftspeople of years gone by.




This is the before tile on the right and the after on the left. The rock tile just fits the rustic look of the shower walls and the colors are perfect.



This (right)then is the finished shower. We use it everyday and so far so good. The only problem we have is the lack of slope on the whole shower floor. A miscommunication or lack of communication with the slab crew. But, we have a longhandled squeegee that we use on the floor after every shower.

It's all good.

We got our landscape plan and are pleased with it. Scott is making a few changes and should have it to us tomorrow so we can submit to the "Design Review Committee". I don't foresee a problem. The concept of the design is a more wild or natural look around the perimeter of the lot with the area on the south side that will be walled in more linear and formal, which suits the style of the house.

The most exciting part is the wall design. I had agonized over this for a long time, going from cob to block to cob to bamboo to... Nothing caught. When Scott was here for the initial meeting we talked about gabions and possibly using the large number of rocks left on the lot in some way. The planets lined up and as he was driving in a neighborhood in central Tucson, he found this:Awesome, just what I wanted!

Scott's doing an interesting experiment this summer. Going without air conditioning and evaporative cooling. Got my goat because we buckled early on turning on the air, so now I'm back at it. Our biggest problem is the blast oven heat produced by the sons and their computers! Sizzlin! So I just close their doors and give a hearty "Good luck with that!" Right now at 4:20 pm it's 95.2 outside and 82.6 inside. Not bad. Just have to do most of the cooking outside, which we do anyway, watch the lighting (no incandescent or halogen) and don't leave windows and doors open. We'll see what happens. I once tried to eat only foods produced within 100 miles of Tucson-not an easy task. I lasted about 10 days. My inspiration was Coming Home to Eat a fascinating look at food and why we eat what we eat.

So, I'm off to check to solar oven-Blueberry Crumble.

And lest we forget-All gave some, Some gave all. Memorial Day 2007

Midnight at the Oasis

The hall bath. This is where we started, a decidedly minimalist look. Pretty bleak.

Then we progressed to this. This is the plywood stained rosewood-nope, that's not it.


And now we are here. Not sure of the style, funky, eclectic, flea market-whatever, I like it. I painted the wood with a Chocolate Raisin (or something, who comes up with these names anyway?) and then dry brushed black over it. The back splash is hardiboard painted and stenciled. The bottom shelf has baskets to hold whatever supplies need to be there.


The color of the border and ceiling-awaiting me to get up on a ladder and stencil. The difficulty in this room is it has a very tall ceiling and is very narrow with a toilet at one end and the vanity at the other making placing a ladder near impossible. But, I will do it someday when I'm feeling really rested and adventurous. And I'd better love the outcome because it may never get painted again.


So, that's Bathroom Number 1. Next installment: The Shower.

More kitchen photos...

Here's the beauty of the pantry by Rev-a-Shelf. It holds a lot of stuff and moves in and out easily. Right now it has some items which will go into the yet to be built baking island. In the Rita Ranch house we had a pantry closet that was always full but we were never quite sure with what. It had those deep shelves that allow items to hide. It also had a really high shelf and the floor-where things went to die. This is much more convenient and you can see everything.

This, of course, is the spice rack.
We opted for the drawer and door hardware with Blumotion-that means they close silently when you give them a firm push. I thought it was a bit over the top but the spice cabinet doesn't have that feature and we miss it. Spoiled already.
The dish rack. People find this fascinating, I guess because all of our dishes fit on this rack.
Our LG fridge, which is a big improvement over a side-by-side. Again, things don't get lost on the lower shelves.

And the stained concrete floor in the kitchen. I used the same combination of colors on all the floor just varied the proportion. The kitchen has a bit more green.

So, that's the kitchen.

House For Sale

The minute we moved into the Civano house we started working on the Rita Ranch house to get it ready for sale. After much painting, floor installation, new sink and counter tops, it is listed for sale and can be seen here. Know anyone who needs an great house in SE Tucson in a good neighborhood with EXCELLENT neighbors? This is the house.

And what else have we been up to? Well, way back at the end of March (???!!)we had a great dinner with fellow HouseBloggers from This Old Crack House
Really, Gary's not as bad as everyone says.... and who else would listen to my stories of mixing paint with powdered milk, lime and pigment and not glaze over and run for the door? We had a great time and it was good to connect with o-Hi-ns.

Then we moved-y'all know what that's like-grueling.

We also took time out for a couple of days in Puerto Penasco-fabulous-as we cross the border (S to N) I always have to ask, "We are going back because....?" We ate shrimp, read, beachcombed, napped, read, beachcombed and ate shrimp. What could be better? Thank you, Kathy and Tom. This picture is the essence of the trip.

Now we can work on finish details at this place. Finish, you say! What could possibly be left as you've moved in? Plenty, I say, plenty. Trim details, landscaping, garage or as we like to call it-Disaster Area! All in good time, all in good time The Civano house is performing well, it stays about 5 degrees less than the ambient external temperature without air conditioning. It hit 100 Saturday and we turned on the air; with the thermostat set at 82 it keeps the place comfortable.

Rick and I went camping on Mt. Lemmon last week. Just an overnighter to check out our "new-to-us" Starcraft pop-up truck camper. No pictures as I forgot the camera. It was a cool, green respite at the beginning of a long hot summer.

Now for house pictures. I'm starting with the kitchen because it got the most questions at the Nosy Neighbors home tour. I'm also going to give things a Do-Again Scale, 1 wouldn't even think of doing it again and 10, in a heartbeat.


This is just after the lime paint had been applied and the kitchen sink is in its CoA mode.

And this is Nick, mid-cabinetinstall.
And the completed (well, the handles aren't on yet) kitchen. To the left, under the stovetop is a spice rack. Didn't think I'd like it and I don't--I LOVE it! Holds much more than I imagined it could. Drawers directly under stovetop hold pots, pans and lids and right now the silverware as the island which will hold the utensils is not completed. Under the sink is the garbage and recycling with a little curtain. I find that much easier than a door for places that get accessed frequently. then it's my Craigslist dw which works beautifully; quiet and actually cleans dishes. Amazing! Placement of the dw allows things to be put away when clean without moving much at all. The only difficulty, and it's a function of space not design, is the lack of space to the left of the dw. You can also see the built-in cutting board on the counter above the dw. Very handy.

The wall oven with a cabinet above which holds the microwave and cookbooks. Below are 2 huge drawers for crockpot, small appliances, plastic storage container and various miscellaneous articles. To the left the crowning jewel, costing a king's ransom, the pull-out pantry. I agonized over this purchase but it was definitely worth it.

Do Again Scale on the kitchen-10. Anything I'd change? I would have measured the diameter of my glasses so they would fit more easily on the shelves of the dishrack. I might have had a bin type door on the front of the undersink-but maybe not. I would have come up with a viable idea for the backsplash sooner. Sooner than, I still don't have one... The lime paint is fragile and not easliy cleaned, so I may just put a coat of latex on it, just not sure yet.

Really, once we get the island built this will be just what we need.

Oh my gosh, it's been over a month since I last updated this blog. Nothing bad happened, we're all OK but we did MOVE! and move...and move... Even though we got rid of a bunch of "stuff" we still have alot. And it just seemed to grow. But, we are in now and even were part of a Nosy Neighbors tour here in our neighborhood of Civano. We must have had 100 people through checking out the house that many of the visitors had watched evolve. I will post some pictures at a later date but wanted to share this with you. If you remember, last October I went to a workshop at the Canelo Project for a week to learn more about earthen plasters and other finishes. I got an email from Bill and Athena Steen with a link to a film made while there as part of Nora Naranjo-Morse's sculpture project for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Always Becoming Two films are on this page-I'm seen briefly in the second one (No autographs, please!) (Warning-the films would not work from Mozilla Firefox but did fine from IE).

Before and After

Not everything you do when building is good. This might be a surprise but I'm here to tell you, feces occurs.

Here are some examples:Shower floor-not bad looking but would never have drained the way it should. Thanks to Chris (one of the Gumbatis) who bailed me out, we now have this:
...a beautiful riverstone that is complementary to the walls and concrete floor. And, it's what I originally wanted-which just goes to show-go with your gut. The book Blink explores the mysterious, complex thinking process that occurs in the first 2 seconds after we encounter something new. Looking back, decisions made "in the Blink of an eye" have probably been my best decisions.

Cabinets-kinda, sorta... This is Nick working on the cabinets. The photo is blurry because he's moving so fast, all the time.
I haven't been to the house since last Saturday as I've been working (I do have a J-O-B) and packing. But I understand that the cabinet drawers are finished and the pantry is in and it all looks wonderful. The countertop will be poured tomorrow. I'll take a field trip later today to check progress.

I really dislike moving but it does give me chance to look at things and ask:
"Do I love you enough to go to the time, trouble and expense to move you?" Funny how many things don't pass that test. I've found that as I get older, I need less and less "stuff" cluttering my space. I want to really enjoy what I really love and not have to be burdened with things "just because". It's interesting how many people will try to talk you into having more stuff. I have really whittled down the kitchen and people are amazed but we only keep things we use-and we cook everyday sometimes twice a day. All I can say is, less stuff feels good.

Anyway-here's my progress-this is probably 50% of what needs to be packed, minus clothes:

The photo reminds me-that chair has got to go!

We're still at it

but so busy I haven't taken time to post.

• Cabinets-50% finished.
• Floor-sealed but don't like the sealer-really strong odor and left unsealed spots.
• Shower floor-done and beautiful.
• Office-painted.
• Sam's window-finished and trimmed.
• Our bath-cabinet built, stained and countertop surface done.
• Our BR window seat-built and stained.
• Wood stove-in the house, not fully installed but it's in the 90s now, installation not a priority.
  
• Exterior-cracks repaired and paint color chosen (for cement stucco skirt and garage).

I'll post pictures tonight. As I have no new pictures-here's a link to The Small House Society
Enjoy their pictures.

And, Site Meter is Back!! Now I can learn more geography-I'm off now to look up Wollongong, NSW...

Feeling a little Sisyphean



Everytime we leave the house at night we have six more things to finish. EVERY NIGHT! That means these details are replicating.

I know that we will never be "Finished" (with a capital F) but it would be nice to be finished.

Progress was made on the landscape front (and back). We met with Scott Calhoun from Zona Gardens (and also a neighbor) who will be doing the design. We read his book, A Yard Full of Sun and attended a reading he did awhile back, so were pretty sure of our choice. Meeting him only made us more sure of our decision. Our first priority will be to get a wall on the south side and then we will work on the other elements over time.

Back to pushing that rock...

Oh no!

My SiteMeter isn't working. How disappointing! Part of the fun of keeping this blog is checking the stats. I've had visitors from Australia, Bulgaria, Russia, Morocco, Korea, South Africa, Portugal-quite the geography refresher course. Anyway it feels lonely not seeing those numbers increase.

I checked the SiteMeter weblog and they are indeed having problems-...upgraded server...working to correct...aware of delays...no data being lost... yadda, yadda, yadda.

Hope the problem is solved soon, they're killing my stats!

It's all in the details...



The south windows trimmed with leftover bamboo flooring.











Transom above hall bath door.
Door into shower.
Color in hall bath.


Light fixture, hall bath.














Window reveal in MBR-reed mat with lime plaster washed back then frescoed with ochre pigment.

Serendipity

Need I say more? I found the Gypsy Girl's Guide through a comment on My Marrakesh (ahhhh Rumi). I was feeling like the proverbial bridesmaid, not getting something that I didn't even know I wanted. But, life is truly awe-inspring at times. Those moments when the universe speaks make me happy to be alive.

Those who came of age in the 70's will surely remember Desiderata
The line that comes to mind now: No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

I leave you with this by Rumi,

Two Kinds of Intelligence

There are two kinds of intelligence: One acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.

With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in regard to your competence in retaining
information. You stroll with this intelligence
in and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.

There is another kind of tablet, one
already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It's fluid,
and it doesn't move from outside to inside
through the conduits of plumbing-learning.

This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.

Mathnawi IV:1960-1968
photo by tinou bao

Here's looking at you, kid.


I'll keep the commentary brief, lots of pics to post.







NaNan (Rick's mom) cleaning...and cleaning...and cleaning. She's a whirlwind and such attention to detail. Can't thank her enough because at this stage neither of us have the gusto for cleaning.





Final (for now)clay paint on the hearth wall. This is Lincoln Fireclay (thank you MarJon Ceramics, nice, nice people). Recipe 1.5 parts clay 1.5 parts 60 grit silica sand mixed with 1 sm pkg wheat paste in 1 gallon water (approx). Mix and add just enough powdered milk to get the consistency you want. Go slow-the reaction is amazingly fast.






This is the corner of our bedroom. The wall to the left is the bale wall with final clay paint (2 coats) over earthen plaster. The clay is Lincoln Fireclay with some yellow ochre pigment. You MUST experiment to get what you want as there are no absolutes. The wall on the right is EPK (same recipe, no pigment); more of a gray. This is over dry wall. If you have a ceramic shop nearby call and see if they have broken bags they will sell. However, we spent less than $20 on 100# of clay and about $8 on 100# of sand. Wheat paste can be really inexpensive if you make your own but we opted to buy (arrrgh the guilt). Still, the total is less than a gallon of "good" paint.


I plastered the window seats in the living room with an earthen/lime and they looked great but cracked like crazy. I think 2 factors came into play-I didn't wet the substrate before applying the plaster and they dried too quickly. Lime is weird. I like the way they look but will have to redo.












Transom (fixed) above the hall bath. This bath has a SolarTube so will have lots of daylighting. The transoms are Plexiglass painted with frosted glass spray paint with a tape stencil and have yet to be trimmed out. They will help to share light in these small interior rooms. This idea came to me after we had framed and I saw those very regular openings above the doors. Hmmmmm.....

This is the door from our bedroom into the WC. Pocket doors allow more light sharing and easy access for a wheel
chair if ever needed in the future.

Tiled shower floor.

Poor Woman's Tadelakt

Now I in no way do I think this is authentic tadelakt; my lime didn't come from Marrakech, far from it. But it has the "stone" look I wanted and it's not bad for a beginner. These are the shower walls, a mixture of type S lime putty with 60 grit sand (1:1) laid on in 2 layers and then polished and polished and polished then stained. Next will comemore burnishing with black soap to make it waterproof. You can see the sheen in the photos-it is quite smooth. This is a very tactile finish that just begs to be touched. I believe I read somewhere that the word tadelakt means to "massage".


For my Canelo workshop buddies-remember the first night when we all said what we came to learn-this was it for me. Now to go to one of those tadelakt workshops in Marrakech or Provence or Italy.

Maryam in Marrakesh has a beautiful blog for those who have ever yearned to travel to exotic locales. I so wanted to be a 1930's foreign correspondant, with the Ingrid Bergman look in the airport scene in Casablanca.

Her blog is filled with photos and snippets of her life in Marrakesh.





















A lot accomplished again this week. Just a bathroom vanity to build and trim work to complete. Fussy stuff. The patios to build. I can see the light!



Sweeping cobwebs from the edges of my mind
Had to get away to see what we could find
Hope the days that lie ahead
Bring us back to where they've led
Listen up to what's been said to you

They're taking me to Marrakesh


~Graham Nash