We correspond with a lot of folks from as far away as California (Hi Dusty) to Trinidad (Hi Steve) interested in building their own houses. Pat and Janeth from Dallas drop in for an onsite inspection and to share the joy of lugging concrete blocks. One of the unexpected pleasures of building this house has been the people we have met during the process.
One of the lizards who live on-site visits us to say "I skink, therefore I am." We like these guys since they eat large amounts of insects and tend to stay out of the way unless they feel the need to supervise, like this character.
One of the small, ongoing improvements is getting a proper work area set up. You'll notice that a couple of pallets of blocks make for a fine workbench, the cement bags are stacked next to the mixer and, in general, we've reduced the number of steps we take to manage materials. Project management holds a brief meeting and decides we don't have quite enough dog food to guarantee job efficiency.
These blocks turned sideways in the wall are pictured from the courtyard. These will eventually become a series of small waterfalls cascading into a koi pond in the courtyard itself. The ease of working with dry stack blocks helps in making interesting architectural details. The projecting blocks on the other side of the wall will become lighting sconces.
In response to numerous requests for a closeup of Melinda's wonderful detailing work with the leaded glass windows, here is a photo of one of them going in. Personally, I find the beauty of the window pales next to that of my charming spouse, but it still manages to look pretty good.
Want to see the floor plan? Want to e-mail us?
Next week's installment: Seven Weeks In And Getting Closer Click HERE

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