nice job photo journal.

here is a link to a good thread involving diy rammed earth.   from byohome builders forum . www.byohouse.com

actually, if you follow that thread, its a bit incredible.

ever more

okay, I've got to start sharing some of this stuff.  I'm researching like a mad man and coming up with a lot of good stuff.

how to

right on.  the two above came from how to whatever for dummies.  here

Yer a hand rammer.   The above illustration came from a thorough technical manual.  here

and this one.

Amazing treehouse-like house

yeah, look at those apples.

more here >>>>>>>  go

surthrival

Hello everyone.  I have been away for a bit.  I would love to keep this on a regular basis eventually.  I've been uber busy.  My wife Brianna and the baby girl inside her are almost ready to do the dance and get her out into our lives on a new level.   Birth that is.  :)  
So Brianna is obsessing with getting everything just so.  She is amazing.  The birthing is actually going to be somewhat of a choreographed dance in a sense.  The midwife is going to be out of town for a couple days before the due date.  One of our best friends is driving from about 5 hrs. away to photograph the event.  Brianna's mom and dad are coming to help watch the girls.  There are a couple other variables that need to sync up, so Bri feels a bit like she's got to thread a needle or have the baby at just the right time which is less than ideal.  Everything will fall into place just fine.  I'm excited for the event to take place.  It is as of now, up in the air, so to speak.

In the mean time, ladies and gentleman, I have been continuing my obsession with home building, designing, site development, community living fundamentals and practicalities, perma-culture, agriculture,  ect.

 I am interested in mud and the hue of wine bottles as they apply to homebuilding applications.  :)

Here is a juicy morsel.


I really go back and forth between the stylization of the modern aesthetic and the master hobbit home.  Ultimately, at this stage of my life,  I'm going with the hobbit home.

Yes my friends,  I have a dream, to hand craft my house, using my bare hands.  That is the dream.  To build a master hobbit home will take approximately a year.  Why rush something a home that could last a thousand years?

 Could tasty tiddles found thegreenchildren.org 
go there.  If you like these picts.

alright i'm feeling better

ish.  I don't think its lymes, but who knows.  I guy I know just went to the hospital.  He got rocky mt fever or something like that.  caused by a tick bite.  good times.  meanwhile, I am obsessed with designing my home.  The responsibility is great.  Design and build a cozy home for my wife and two (very soon to be three) daughters.
I was playing around with sketch up for a couple days.  It's an okay program.  It does pretty much everything you would need, and it's free.
I decided then to download Revit.  If google sketch up is mariocart,  Revit is a porshe.  Its a little intense at first.   I've got a class on the program starting in a few weeks so starting early is a good idea.  Its a little like sitting down and trying to fly a plane if you've never done so.  
Oh it's not that bad.

Check this out though.  three year free dl for students.   Holla.  Otherwise the program is like 100000$ .  Not really, but probably like 2000 at least.  Sorry I'm talking like a dope today.  got lots on the mind.

alright. f this

so.  My family and I have an amazing opportunity.  There is some land available to us and there is plans for a couple other young like-minded families who wish to build on the same land.  We would be spread out enough I suppose and all that.  The idea is we could share ideas and laughs and it would benefit us all.  The ultimate goal (for me) would be to live off the grid and live as self-sustainable as possible.  That would mean growing are own food. ect.
But,
I've been feeling run down the past couple days.  Ache muscles, sore eyes sockets, sensitive skin.  There are a few factors I could blame that may have disrupted my system.  I lifted something way to heavy the other day and did something.  I'm going to my chiro tomorrow.  I was up last weekend for 40 hrs.   So whatever, maybe I got a summer flu.  Just for the fuck of it, I looked up the symptoms of lymes.   Check this;

• The Tick Bite (fewer than 50% recall a tick bite or get/see the rash)

1. Rash at site of bite
2. Rashes on other parts of your body
3. Rash basically circular, oval and spreading out (more generalized)
4. Raised rash, disappearing and recurring
• Head, Face, Neck
5. Unexplained hair loss
6. Headache, mild or severe, Seizures
7. Pressure in head, white matter lesions in brain (MRI)
8. Twitching of facial or other muscles
9. Facial paralysis (Bell's Palsy, Horner's syndrome)
10. Tingling of nose, (tip of) tongue, cheek or facial flushing
11. Stiff or painful neck
12. Jaw pain or stiffness
13. Dental problems (unexplained)
14. Sore throat, clearing throat a lot, phlegm ( flem ), hoarseness, runny nose
• Eyes/Vision
15. Double or blurry vision
16. Increased floating spots
17. Pain in eyes, or swelling around eyes
18. Oversensitivity to light
19. Flashing lights/Peripheral waves/phantom images in corner of eyes
• Ears/Hearing
20. Decreased hearing in one or both ears, plugged ears
21. Buzzing in ears
22. Pain in ears, oversensitivity to sounds
23. Ringing in one or both ears
• Digestive and Excretory Systems
24. Diarrhea
25. Constipation
26. Irritable bladder (trouble starting, stopping) or Interstitial cystitis
27. Upset stomach (nausea or pain) or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)
• Musculoskeletal System
28. Bone pain, joint pain or swelling, carpal tunnel syndrome
29. Stiffness of joints, back, neck, tennis elbow
30. Muscle pain or cramps, (Fibromyalgia)
• Respiratory and Circulatory Systems
31. Shortness of breath, can't get full/satisfying breath, cough
32. Chest pain or rib soreness
33. Night sweats or unexplained chills
34. Heart palpitations or extra beats
35. Endocarditis, Heart blockage
• Neurologic System
36. Tremors or unexplained shaking
37. Burning or stabbing sensations in the body
38. Fatigue, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Weakness, peripheral neuropathy or partial paralysis
39. Pressure in the head
40. Numbness in body, tingling, pinpricks
41. Poor balance, dizziness, difficulty walking
42. Increased motion sickness
43. Lightheadedness, wooziness
• Psychological well-being
44. Mood swings, irritability, bi-polar disorder
45. Unusual depression
46. Disorientation (getting or feeling lost)
47. Feeling as if you are losing your mind
48. Over-emotional reactions, crying easily
49. Too much sleep, or insomnia
50. Difficulty falling or staying asleep
51. Narcolepsy, sleep apnea
52. Panic attacks, anxiety
• Mental Capability
53. Memory loss (short or long term)
54. Confusion, difficulty in thinking
55. Difficulty with concentration or reading
56. Going to the wrong place
57. Speech difficulty (slurred or slow)
58. Stammering speech
59. Forgetting how to perform simple tasks
• Reproduction and Sexuality
60. Loss of sex drive
61. Sexual dysfunction
62. Unexplained menstral pain, irregularity
63. Unexplained breast pain, discharge
64. Testicular or pelvic pain
• General Well-being
65. Phantom smells
66. Unexplained weight gain, loss
67. Extreme fatigue
68. Swollen glands/lymph nodes
69. Unexplained fevers (high or low grade)
70. Continual infections (sinus, kidney, eye, etc.)
71. Symptoms seem to change, come and go
72. Pain migrates (moves) to different body parts
73. Early on, experienced a "flu-like" illness, after which you have not since felt well.
74. Low body temperature
    
75. Allergies/Chemical sensitivities
    
76. Increased effect from alcohol and possible worse hangover
    

OH, hell no.   really, hell no.  no.  no.     NO.  
From what I hear almost everybody who lives in this area, particularly the are I was interested in has or has had lymes.   
I'm just not going to do it.   
Maybe I'm just having a moment, but I feel sick today.  I can't imagine moving somewhere where the likely hood of getting any of the above symptoms is increased.