tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90390171976623049332024-09-22T14:39:57.915-06:00Puerto Viejo to Big Bend BlogAlaine and I spend 9 months a year in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica and 3 months in the Big Bend region of Texas.Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07228622941051638379noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-64368942463090289092012-07-05T17:14:00.000-06:002012-07-05T17:14:00.719-06:00Help us decide on which exerior lighting to choose Help us decide on which exerior lighting to choose...  Lamp #1  Lamp #2  Lamp #3  Lamp #4 Lamb Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-67825242962816819572012-05-20T08:53:00.002-06:002012-05-20T08:53:46.582-06:00Benefit Concert for Recycling in Marathon at Eve's Garden I know it doesn't have much to do with our building, but we gotta let you know. . . On Saturday May 26th,  our buddies with the Austin-All-Girl-Doo-Wop-Folk-and Roll Band GUY TOWN will be preforming here at Eve's Garden in Marathon! I went to the Marathon Chamber of commerce meeting last week and we were discussing how much it'll take to get recycling going for this little communityAlainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-18419104656049976552012-04-04T21:11:00.001-06:002012-04-04T21:11:47.580-06:00Lighting Issues Our living room's four walls are arches that meet in each of the four corners. Noble has wired in light bulbs in each corner where the arches meet to creat this cool light effect. I am trying to design sconces cover up the CFL bulbs and shed colorful light. The last of these four photos shows a piece of recycled glass I was trying to design as a sconce. Our buddy Willy gave us a glass melting Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-61137509156578415332012-02-10T08:30:00.000-06:002012-02-10T08:30:01.793-06:00South Exterior Wall PLASTERED Yay Team! Just a quick six days and poof, plastered wall. Day 1 Prep: 5 hours Alaine Day 2: 2.5 hours Aliane Day 3: 7.5 + 3 hours Noble Day 4: 8.5 + 4 hours Noble Day 5: (today) 7 hours + 5 hours Noble Day 6: 8.5 + 2 hours Noble Total: 60 hours!Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-17384136788196208692012-02-09T10:30:00.000-06:002012-02-09T10:30:01.808-06:00Thirty Some Feet in the Air!  I got the middle section, arched part, plastered, didn't get the in-between picture though. Spent 8.5 hours doing that. Then, a calm windless day, we hooked up a saftey built and Noble belayed me. We were really high tech. He looked up how to wrap a big rope rope around me (not so comfy) and then found a carabiner and hooked it to a long extension cord. Luckily, no problems. and LUCKLY Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-44568671974972717232012-02-07T03:00:00.000-06:002012-02-07T03:00:05.584-06:002nd Day Plastering the Exterior South Wall Gotta make sure it's not a windy day when one is plastering twenty some feet in the air on a not-very-stable platform. Day 1: 5 hours Alaine prep Day 2: 2.5 hours Alaine Day 3: 7.5 + 3 hours Noble Subtotal: 18 hours. Any other guesses for total hours to plaster this whole side?Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-6105842924621687082012-02-06T13:00:00.000-06:002012-02-06T13:00:02.410-06:00 Can you see the difference? Just plastered the lower left section. So far, about 5 hours in preping the wall ... using my chipping hammer to knock off buldges, and make sure the platform is safe. and 2.5 hours to haul the plaster up and around to this the second floor and plaster that lower left part. Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-74519066750971357912012-02-05T11:00:00.000-06:002012-02-05T11:00:00.802-06:00How Many Days do you Think It'll Take Us to Plaster the South Wall?  Here's where we started, our exterior south wall is about 45-50 feet across. The right side is more than 30 feet in the air? What do you think? How many days or hours will it take us to get the whole surface done?? Remember, there will be a few hours of prep time... Looking forward to guesses...Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-59334281414943835992012-02-04T07:40:00.000-06:002012-02-04T07:40:00.678-06:00Goal Reached! Pheewww. Got the ceiling plastered in three days, the four arched walls finished in the four days we planned. So, we'd planned eight days to plaster and wire the whole living room, and we got 'er done with one day to spare! Of course I have No Idea How Long the mosaic job on the east wall will take and we have to schedule out PAINTING! Did you see how perfect those crystal nichos are Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-11837816900282190612012-02-03T09:03:00.000-06:002012-02-03T09:03:00.440-06:00Before Pre-Plaster Final, South Living Room Wall I tried to get you people to drink more jagermeister for the arch over this the south French door. But the arch turned out super! Wait'll you see it all plastered out! Did I tell you Noble has the whole living room wired! Notice these nichos on each side of the French doors, they are crystals! The open square below the right nicho is where the A/C will go. Papercrete is very insulating, R40 Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-60650161504006765552012-02-02T16:11:00.000-06:002012-02-02T16:11:00.132-06:00After Plaster Plastered! The east wall in the living room. 1651 hours completed = 103.2 working days for the two of us. I'm Still in need of broken mirros and ceramics. Breaking a mirror used to mean bad luck, now it means Good luck for me. Bring me broken mirros and we'll give you a discount at the B & B www.evesgarden.org I'm wearing the awesome rubber boots that friend Dawn got me at the Alpine Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-22809580543121044572012-02-01T04:30:00.000-06:002012-02-01T04:30:00.855-06:00Papercrete Plastering the Triple Arch Bottle Wall Above the before shot of the east arch in the living room.  I had to chop out a bunch of the bad plaster above the bottles, it looked pregnant. I want to make it a level smooth surface because after we get everything plastered I want to mosaic the big surface above the bottles and below the arch. IF YOU HAVE BROKEN MIRRORS OR TILES OR CERAMIC COFFEE CUPS, LET ME KNOW I CAN USE THEM ALL! Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-49650136851231520312012-01-31T10:15:00.000-06:002012-01-31T10:15:00.245-06:00Half Done with Arch Plastering 1,627 hours later, the north wall of the living room is done. Note the bottle light on the right ride maintains its swallow's nest. And we've got some fancy furnishings. At the end of each work day, noble and I sit and admire our work over Lone Stars and plan for the next day's work. Sorry for my Poor Photo stiching job.Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-6966105611937949442012-01-30T03:00:00.000-06:002012-01-30T03:00:05.138-06:00Before, Way Before... Trying to find a "before" picture of the north wall in our living room. Forgot to take one before I plastered this wall, so I post this one from our 11th day of work.(Above) and below around the 7th day. Tomorrow will be the 101st day. The french doors are in, this level of the house is all closed in, elecrity in...wait till you see the progress... Of course, I look just the same as I did back Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-44521069934969049782012-01-29T12:10:00.000-06:002012-01-29T12:10:00.514-06:00Making Papercrete Plaster Pre-Step One: Make a deal with the local recycling center or bank or school to take their shredded paper off their hands. Step One: Weigh out 35 pounds of shredded paper. Step Two: Toss the paper in your big ole mixer (save the plastic bags for reuse). Some people say a toe mixer will work fine for making papercrete, we found that it doesn't mix up everything well enough. We use a Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-76862718603494570842012-01-28T13:41:00.000-06:002012-01-28T13:41:00.784-06:00100th "Day" of Working on the World's Tallest House of Paper Yippeee! 100 Days! It did take Noble and I ALL Day to get this arch plastered. SO GORGEOUS! Can't wait to see the next arch plastered! Above shot the west wall of the living room, entering the kitchen and the front door. Below, the other side of that same arch. It's a double arch, I only did the lower arch. It ended up taking a LOT of Plaster to try to smooth out this arch. Maybe tomorrow Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-54229566117303569892012-01-27T14:31:00.000-06:002012-01-27T14:31:00.197-06:001,593.5 Hours of Work on our House! OK, today pre-loaded the mixer so we can plaster the first of the four arches in our soon to be living room! After loading the mixer, I cuddled up with my computer by the fire with all my old records to update my time log. Since we started building our castle in 2008, I've been logging how many hours it's taken to get to where we are today. I knew it would take the course of Years, but Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-73660595994239495552012-01-26T07:30:00.000-06:002012-01-26T07:30:00.146-06:00A Ceiling as Smooth as... Well, a ceiling as smooth as a rhinoceros' back side! It's as smooth as the smoothest papercrete ever! Three weeks from now we can start painting! In the end it did take three days to plaster the ceiling. Working from first light to dark, slow process, but now, again, I can say the hardest part it done. We figured out we'll need 18 light fixtures on this floor! For example, just in the living Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-44339620135118461032012-01-24T09:30:00.000-06:002012-01-24T14:18:48.249-06:00Covered in Productivity See there on the scaffold at my feet is the contraption that is connected to the air compressor, I load the hopper up with papercrete plaster, hold it up over my head, and spray on the ceiling, then trowel it into a perfectly smooth finish.  http://www.mortarsprayer.com/stucco-tools/ Stucco Tools--donated this stucco sprayer to us, it's a great tool for building with papercrete or I'd Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-3624517520280380712012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:002012-01-23T07:00:00.425-06:00He's Electric! You'll have to turn your computer on it's side to see these pictures correctly I guess. I can't even figure out how to use the camera, let alone the complicatedness of  wiring the electricity for 100000 lights and outlets and switches. Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-74173059597356197952012-01-22T17:14:00.001-06:002012-01-22T17:14:18.854-06:00Working on a Room to LIVE In! We're working our way through wiring and plastering the interior of the house. The above picture is where we start. I plan to get the living room plastered in eight days! (Really I plan seven, but underpromise!) We'll set up a scaffold and I'll plaster the four foot mini-vaults in the living room. Harumpff, more plastering over my head! At least it's not on the stairway! I love plastering! Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-15213996811286458622012-01-19T06:30:00.000-06:002012-01-19T06:30:01.259-06:00Insert Your Own Cliche Title about Celestial Stairways Here. WOW!! WOWW! You gotta come walk up my AWESOME New Stairway! Just three easy days, and Poof , gorgeous plastered stairway!!! Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-61737151057002918752012-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:002012-01-18T07:00:02.513-06:00Second Outa Three Days Papercrete Plaster   I'm tooo Tired to type. A bicycle, two unicycles, one big double wheeled wheelbarrow.  TWO tired! Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-14907404591738121082012-01-17T08:30:00.000-06:002012-01-17T08:30:00.931-06:00Oooffdahhh!  Started at the top of the stairs and working down. Thought I could do it all in two days, but will probably take three. I have a cake decorating tool I use plaster around these small spaces, it's only about an inch across, Clyde (father and law and our papercrete gooo-rooo) thinks I'm crazy for such detail, I can't help myself. Plastering all this over my head! Eight Alainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9039017197662304933.post-73390243435429555262012-01-16T15:41:00.000-06:002012-01-16T15:41:00.123-06:00Papercreting the Stairway Oh, I did have some pictures of what's getting plastered, this week. TOMORROW shots of progress! Below is a pretty pictures of a finished plaster job, it was taken by our friend Alexa Walker (http://3heartsranch.com/photographs/index.html) and I put it here just to make sure that people know that Eve's Garden Organic B & B is up and running, and has been for around 10 years. We haveAlainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08608450546282698540noreply@blogger.com0