These are some very awesome women. Their names are Lily, (left), and Barbara. They both are members of the Church, and I love them dearly. They have been wanting to help me on the house for quite some time, but I kept worrying that it might be too much for them. Well, shame on me! I have a hard time keeping up with them! How is that for a blow to the ego? LOL Friends, never doubt the ability of a child of God! They are strong, determined, loving, supportive, and more. They are keeping me going when I am wondering if I will ever finish. God bless them! Until next week, have a blessed rest of the week and weekend. Ozarkmoma

I would just about bet money that some of you thought I had quit  since it has been so long since I  posted a  blog? Well, life has a way of getting in the way of what we really want to get done. I had some time off for the holidays, and as usual something had to happen to keep me from working on the house,
and there is only one person to blame, and that would be me. I cut my thumb, and not just a little bit either, so, I was not able to use it very much, otherwise it would open back up because I used a butterfly to close it instead of going to the doctor and getting stitches. I am such a woos, I can't stand going to the doctor and getting shots! DUH

Anyway, yesterday I put the scaffold up where I wanted to work today. I have been cleaning my living room, and rearranging, in fact, that is why I cut my finger to begin with, I was going to pick up a piece of  ceramic tile that was broken and grabbed it just right, the rest is history. So, back to the house, as you can see I am learning to notch out the logs, and this is one of the ones I put up today.

I have been dreading going out there to try and put the logs on top of the posts,  I didn't think I would be able to do it by myself, well, I did, but in all honesty, I don't think I ever am truly doing this by myself, I am not smart enough to figure out how to get things done, so I honestly believe that the Almighty is helping me in one way or the other. Anyway, back to it, I stood the logs up and then lifted them up to the platform, then stood them up on the platform and put it up one end at a time. Easy, no problem. Thank you Father God! I must say though, I got the first one up and then couldn't quit laughing, and then thanked God for making me so different, because if I was normal, I wouldn't be out there doing all of this weird and crazy stuff, now would I? :-D

OH, and y'all can put this in one of your hill billy engineering emails if you want. I have to pull the scaffold because I don't have any wheels on it, and it doesn't work very well at all. So, you might be a hillbilly if? Laugh if you want, but it works a lot better than the metal posts of the scaffold digging into the ground. 

First log up, I need a lot more practice on my notching.

Pulled the scaffold to the next position.

Second log up, and this doesn't take very long, so, when I get back out there, I should be able to get them all up in one afternoon. Then I will put the rest of the posts in the ground that I need, or maybe I will do that Sunday. So, if the Almighty God is willing, I will have a good day out there Sunday, until then, may you have a blessed day. Ozarkmoma

 Quick blog tonight. I managed to put up three more logs for posts today, even though it was raining off and on.

                                 I loaded the truck with logs, these are for posts like the others.

           And these are long slim logs for trusses, if they will work over the out side kitchen and courtyard if there is enough. I have lots more trees to use for building, but I was wanting to use them for a future project. If the Almighty is willing I will put another three posts up in the morning and then pour the concrete around them. Until next time, may God bless you all. Ozarkmoma

 Well, happy day! I was able to get three more posts standing today, before I left the house, and I brought back the quickrete I need to finish after I have them all in place.

This is a closer view of the post that will be next to the rock, I was hoping to get it closer to the wall and rock, I thought that once it was finished it would look better, but hopefully it will turn out OK. I am hoping to get them all up tomorrow, and pour the quickrete, but, that may be hoping for more than this old fat woman can do. Until tomorrow. God bless. Ozarkmoma

Hello everybody!

  I hope all is going well for you all. We have had some rain, so this blog is not about the house, but the pond that I dug back in early summer. I wanted to share a picture of the pond now. It is awesome, of course it isn't holding water, but, I pray it will someday when it is packed down real well. If worse comes to worse, I suppose I will have to add something that will seal it. Anyway. I haven't worked on the house this week so far, and I know I won't today because I have to make arrangements for my plants, it is supposed to cool down tonight, and chances are it will freeze. So far the plants have all fared well, but eventually they will have to have shelter, so I plan on working on getting one for them today. Have a blessed day. Ozarkmoma

Happy dirt day to all! Well, it never ceases to amaze me, I start making fairly good progress on the house, and something comes up. I have been sick with some type of crud going around, and unable to work on the house. My sister had planned on coming here a couple of weeks ago, but she was sick, this week she came and I was too sick to work. She did however bring the oven template for the adobe oven and firebrick, thanks sis! I want to get it built so that when she comes she will be happy cooking in my oven. *_* She actually made a comment about missing her oven the last time she was here, and I like the idea of her cooking for me as well, she is so good, and it helps that she loves doing it. She also misses her big dog Tank I think she may bring him next time. So, week before last I was helping Anna move, and really didn't have time to work on the house, but, Madison came and pushed dirt up around the pantry and laundry room pods, he did such a wonderful job, and I meant to take his picture standing in front of it, but of course I forgot, I can't imagine me forgetting anything. So, I took a picture without him in it, but the wheel barrow was on top of what I call the dirt bridge, but you really can't see the height of it, so Lou stood in front of it for me yesterday am. The expression, ' a picture doesn't do it justice' comes to mind, but you can see, that you can't see, the pantry pod anymore. He also made me a pile of dirt on top of the hill so I can get to it easier for the pods, so when I get a good day, and am not sick, I should be able to really get a lot done. Before he came though, I was trying to move the dirt with my favorite tools, the shovel, pick, and garden rake, the way I figured it, it would have taken me about two years to get it done, but like I always tell everyone, I am too, 'determined' to give up.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Before I get started with this blog, I would like to say hi to my old friend from the cnc shop! Hope you and yours are well, and it is great to hear from you. So far this week, I have managed to work on the buttress outside the dome exterior door, and laid the bags on the section of the dome that is between that door and the pantry door. I also put in another stair, and, it is the next to last stair before I need to put the big log across the dome that will support the rafters for the loft. It has begun to rain this am so I may not get to work on the house today. If I do, I will be consolidating what is left of the lime plaster into one barrel and getting it ready to keep from freezing during the really cold weather. Then I will start on the next section of the dome wall that is between the laundry pod and pantry pod. After this row is finished on the dome, I will finish the row on the pods and then it will be time to go to the greenhouse room again. I should post again by next Thursday night. Until then, may God bless you and keep you. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 08-05-2010

Dip me in dirt and hello! Well, just a quick blog this am. Yesterday I managed to finish the fourth row above the stem wall on the other end of the greenhouse room. The rock I put in the wall is going to turn out a lot better than I had expected, so I will have to find more and do it in other areas, this is all for this week, and next week I may not work on the house because of other responsibilities that have come up. Just one more thing, I am hoping to plaster next week at the very least, as you can see I have a bag that has disintegrated. Until I blog again, I hope God blesses you. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 7-29-10

Dip me in dirt and hello~Had a great dirt day yesterday, 7-29-10. I managed to lay the first and second rows above the stem wall bags on the other end of the green house room. I used the normal gusseted bags for the first row, then I switched to a small bag, they are actually a 'sand bag' I thought they would be too small, but they are great, and there is a ledge to do cob on which will work out well for making built in shelves and stuff. I just want to say, I couldn't have done this without the help of God, I know that sounds a little far fetched to some of you, but just think about this, I am almost 53 now, and the temps are in the upper 90's , and the sun was beating down on me, but I got that much done anyway, because I asked God for help. The same thing at my real job, I run a big laser machine that cuts metal parts, this machine is really hard to keep running right, but I ask God to guide my hands that I may give the company a fair amount of work for the time they pay me for. They think I can run it by myself, but I have told several of them that I ask for help from God, and it isn't me running the machine, He is guiding my hands. So, that is all for this week, I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 7-28-10

Dip me in dirt and hello. I forgot that I had to build the forms for the door and windows before I started laying the bags on the other side of the greenhouse room, so that is what I have done the last two days, and then of course went to my part time job. Today, I may try to lay some bags, but most likely I will try to move stuff around and get it out of the way of the back hoe, not sure when I will get it, but at least I will be ready. I will try to post tomorrow late afternoon. Until then I hope God blesses you and you have a great day. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 7-20-10

Just a quick blog today, God gave me the strength to work on the house today, I promise you that, without Him, nothing would get done of course, but today I was just plum tuckered out. I managed to finish the fourth row and ran the weed eater around the outside a little bit, almost filled all of the buckets back up, but got too hot and had to stop, there just isn't any shade down there and that makes it really hard to work when the temps start rising. I did manage to mow a little bit again today, but I don't think I will ever get caught back up on the yard now unless we have a drought, and I would rather just keep mowing small sections, than that. Thank God for the rain we have had lately it is awesome. So, I am going to see my sister and mother tomorrow, I am hoping to work on the house Thursday, but have to work at my part time job tomorrow night and it will be really late before I get into bed, and I am already exceedingly tired, I know whine baby whine.!!! So, if I don't post again, let me just say, dip me in dirt and I hope that God gives you a blessed rest of the week.Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 7-15-2010

Well, just dip me in dirt and hello. I know I said I would post a blog on Tuesday? but, I had to work at my part time job all day, I thought it was Wednesday that I was supposed to do that, DUH. Anyway, I managed and speaking of which, gotta get ready to go there now. So, I finished laying the third row and started the fourth, and finished that row between the two front windows, and between the left window and the door opening. Next week I will finish the fourth row between the dome and the south facing window and the corner and start the other side of the greenhouse room, but I think after the second row of that side I am going to a smaller bag, these big bags are really hard for me to handle on these straight walls, I am also planning on going to smaller bags once I reach the loft area. That will make it go faster I hope since I will be able to handle the smaller bags, and since I will be so high up that will be a good thing. So, until next week, God bless you all. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 7-5-2010

Dip me in dirt, and hello. Hope you all had a happy Independence Day. I had a wonderful dirt day and managed to accomplish a lot. I was blessed with a cloudy day, had it not been for the clouds I would not have managed to work on the house all day. Thank you Lord for the awesome day. I got out there a little bit late, and I had two goals, number one, move enough dirt and level it out as well as possible so I could put the swimming tub there for the grandchildren, and number two, put the entire row of bags on the laundry room pod. Thank God, it all got finished. I had to roll the swimming tub up the hill, it was by the mobile mansion, then slide it down the side of the hill to get it there. I thought it would be very difficult, but it actually worked out very well.There is not much else to say, I am uploading the pictures to flickr, some of them, and I am putting one here. I hope you all have a blessed week, I will probably post again tomorrow. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 6-29-10

Dip me in dirt and hello. Today was the only day that I was going to have to work on the house for a few days, but I got up to rain, not that I am complaining, thank God for the rain as we need it in the worst way. In fact it must have stormed because the shade tent was blown over, I was able to stand it back up, it is broken and bent, but will still do it's job. Sort of like me. I was however able to work out there for a little while, and in all actuality, that was enough, I am so out of shape and practice it isn't even funny. I was telling a friend the other day, if I am such a woos right now, how will I take it when I am in my 70s ? I don't know. I hope Jesus comes back before then, I know, really selfish isn't it? Anyway, back to the house, I laid enough bags to get to the barrel, and by the way, the barrel, I am hoping, will be like a cooler someday, where I can keep stuff reasonably cool, it will be covered with dirt, I am not sure what I will use for a door just yet, I can not get the end of it back in, so I am going to have to think on it. I got the idea of the cooler from a man by the name of Mike Ohler? he wrote a book that I bought, " The 500 dollar house " or something like that, you can Google him and it will come up. He dug a hole in the ground and kept his milk and stuff like that in there. Very interesting. Also would like to mention that if my sister were here, she would not be able to see out of the pantry now, over this row that is when it is finished. So, gotta go for today, I hope God blesses you all. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 6-23-2010

Not much to say today, another hot and sweaty dirty day. I finished the last section of the dome, and then uncovered the pods, and put the barb wire on them so that when I have the time to work on the house again, which will be sometime next week, I can just get out there and start laying the bags on the pods. I have to say, I had forgotten how much fun it is to work with barb wire!!! Only one cut though, and all things considered, that wasn't bad at all. So, until next week, may God bless you all, Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 6-14-10

Dip me in dirt y'all! I did the one load of plaster today as I said I would. I also put the straw, wood chips, and rice hulls on the tarp and soaked it all with water so they can simmer overnight tonight. Don't know if that will help it mix any better or not, but always need to try new ways to find the best way. I reckon! So, Lord willing I will finish the plaster in the laundry room pod tomorrow and move on the the outside of the dome, what is left of it that isn't covered, and of course, Lord willing I will finish the plaster this week, course, I may be setting my sights to big, I do that a lot. So until tomorrow, hope God blesses you all. Ozarkmoma.

Dirt Day 5-24-2010

    Well, dip me in dirt, I managed to completely miss another week last week didn't I!!!! I could list off a bunch of excuses, but what would be the point? Below you can see what is left of the clay that was in the blue tub, not much~ it only took a few good thunderstorms to wash it away, the before picture is on flickr, you can click on the flickr link to go there, if interested.

   I can't believe I missed doing any work on the house last week, and now it is so hot I am sure I will not be able to get much done, but I can't give up, and I won't give up, but this am I worked on trying to put the swing set together and that didn't go too well. I finally quit on that, and was going to plaster, but the mixer needs some new parts, I am sure I won't be able to order them, so will have to get some help to take it apart and go to that bolt and screw company in Russellville to see if they could fix me up with some bushing or something that would work, but I could end up replacing the whole assembly, so, have to mix plaster by hand until all of that happens, and that is bad, really bad, took me hours to mix a small load, the sun was just beating down on me and sucking my energy right out of me, it is really hard getting old, I remember only two years ago I could hold up to it a lot better, but, being inactive last summer is probably what did me in, I am a firm believer in keeping your old bones moving, I am sure if you don't you will loose your muscle and strength, and I now have proof... DUH. I can't tell you how many times I have told my friends to keep moving their bodies, I am so bad about not following my own advice! DOUBLE DUH! So, today I put on a small load of plaster around the inside of the pantry door, tomorrow I will do better, and that will be the last day this week I will be able to work on the house, dag-nab-it. So, God bless you all, and will blog again tomorrow. Ozarkmoma

Dirt Day 5-13-2010

Dip me in dirt! I thank God for helping me get the work done today and keeping the skies dry~! I made lots of room for the mixer, and after I was finished with laying the bags and tamping them, I took a short break and went back out and covered the house back up, I hate doing that but it is necessary until it is either plastered better, or in the dry or both?!*? But at least I am making some good progress, at least I think I am. After that I took care of the animals, and cooked for the weekend. OH! I hung the mixer belt on the steering wheel of the car, wonder if I will remember it? We shall see!*! Until next week, God bless you all. Ozarkmoma    PS: Next week I may try using that fancy butane torch thingy whacker my sister bought me!!! Maybe I will do a video, it could be interesting and educational!

Dirt Day 5/11/2010

Well, dip me in dirt y'all!!! I just wanted to do a short blog, I want to show you all this chunk of clay dirt that I dumped out of a tub today while I was trying to clean around the house area. It is awesome!!! Let's see how long it takes for the rain to wash it away ok? I bet it takes a while because it is hard as a rock, I tried kicking it and was only able to knock a little off of the edges. Anyway, I continued to move dirt away from the pile so I could move the mixer and the screening area, so I put the dirt into bags of course. I made more mush too, and tomorrow I would like to possibly plaster a pod, I also moved the blue tubs that had lime in them, Lou, I know you will really like it. It is looking much better now, and I will be able to see where I am putting the swing set. God bless you all. Ozarkmoma