Main Level Compressed Earth Block

We Finally Started Laying Block in June 2022- Each block is 55 pounds - 16 inches x 10 inches x 4 inches. We had a fantastic crew of CC students and recent graduates and we had a blast inside of life throwing us some very serious curve balls. In the span of a week - the 3 of us visited the emrgency room for hand injuries- Scott dropped a grinder that was running as he was sawing off bolts inside of the mixer we used to make our blocks- he caught it with his hands, stiches… I learned a valuable lesson about lime- you can protect yourself with long sleeve shirts and pants but dont splash water on yourself to cool down even in the hottest day in July- it activates lime- I burnt my wrists where my glove met my shirt and my butt and knee, my wrists look like I tried to commit suicide - Walker burnt his hands with boiling water making ramen… Our dog got vertigo that week and threw up until we got her on anti naseua medication- Our cat was mauled by a bobcat- and then Bob, my father in law fell. That turned out to be the worst of all of it- turned out he had a brain tumor- 2 months later he was dead. In the interium, we snuck kiltlifter beer and rye whiskey into Penrose hospital to say goodbye. He watched the weather change as pilot that he always was called to give up updates on weather. The night he died with Ryan and Scott by his side- was a perfect pilot night- the planets were in alignment and there was a full moon and an eclipse.

We cast the sills for the windows and built the forms for the sills and laid block and cut block and mixed mortar and every day the wall got a little higher. My last memory of him at our site was sitting on the sills. We built bucks for the windows and tied rebar. Then we found a master mason and his son and they worked hard and got the walls done before it got cold. The winter was full of grief. It was long and grinding. Scott missed Bob, we persevered. Spring came. and we formed up the next level of our home.