In response to numerous queries about the courtyard design, let's take a closer look at what we've got. Central to our use of this space is a Spanish innovation called a toldo, which is a manually operated retractable canvas awning which shades and shields the courtyard. In the photo, I've marked the location for one of the rails where the toldo's sliding support bars will go. Shading the core of the house during the hottest parts of the day means a cooler house and a pleasant outdoor family room.
A fountain for evaporative cooling of the cross breezes through the house works along with the toldo and the thermal chimney of the barrel vaulted arch up front for low-tech climate management. We may look at putting a chimneria or wood-burning patio hearth out here during colder weather along with pulling the toldo closed to keep our flowers and ornamental fruit trees safe.
Meanwhile, the tedious work of mudding the walls, which we've featured the previous two weeks, continues. This labor-intensive task uses only small amounts of Portland cement at any one time, so we've taken to mixing small batches of it in this modified water jug. Much easier to handle when precariously perched atop a ladder daubing at the walls.
Here's a good look at the roof drainage. We've borrowed the system of roofing parapets and built-in drainage conduits, called sepas, from the Spanish. Here, we've laid down a bed of sand-rich mortar mix which will underlay the roofing, in the angle leading down towards the sepa. The sepa is made from a regular block laid on it's side. This is another example of how flexible dry stack construction is for the DIY builder.
Part of what the cable TV shows and DIY building books never show you is the crucial importance of managing the cash flow that enables the construction to proceed, particularly if DIY describes your construction financing too. The Official Wife of the Gimme Shelter website is shown working her "fishes and loaves" miracle on the 1st of the month. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to play Ulysses to her Penelope and go cover myself in all that glory and cement dust....
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