25-26 Aug 2012

It's a scorcher...

I'm sorry if you're reading this in the uk with all the wind and rain you've had this summer - but we're desperate for rain and some respite from this heat. It's actually getting quite serious here with even the drought resistant plants sagging due to the extreme heat and lack of water. There have been forest and bush fires and lots of restrictions on water. So please, please send us rain. We'll send up the sun in return.

Despite the heat we've carried on working on the earthship even though I haven't posted anything for a few weeks. My computer cable died (from the heat) and I've been waiting for the new one to arrive, today at last it came so here's an update on progress so far...

Chomping walls

Dave is making a concerted effort to get all the inside walls finished, that is, vertical and 30cm from the tyres. He's been using the electric thumper because there's a lot to get through and some of the rocks are, well, rock hard.

Canning not caning

I've given up trying to cane the dome in this heat so have concentrated on building the can and bottle walls for the bathroom and utility room.

Next stage planning

We also spent some time working out how to do the front face windows and the entrance door. We're trying to use reclaimed doors for the entrance and have been bending our brains trying to work out how to get opening glazed doors, fly screens and security bars all working together. In the end we gave up and have decided to do a temporary installation of the glazed doors just so we can get the place sealed - a step closer to being able to move in - we'll work out the rest later.