TILES AND STRAW

The branches of the olive trees are so loaded down with fruit that 

most of the branches are pointing straight down to the ground.

Tiles for the studio rooftop terrace. This is a traditional Moroccan design and I chose these tiles not because they were my favorite but because they will deflect some of that awful summer sun.

The jury is still out on the finished stucco color but one thing is sure, I am having the guys put a lot of straw in all of the future batches. There are too many cracks in the one on the left, and I love the texture of the mix with a lot of straw.

Only a few details to be cleaned up and the tataoui 

studio ceiling is finished!

 

THE COLOR OF MUD

Mixing the correct color for the mud stucco is proving to be challenging. When the first batch was mixed it looked perfect, but I knew the shade would lighten as it dried, and it dried way too light and a bit too yellow.  I asked the guys to try again, left for a while and when I next looked, the walls were a deep, brick red that I hated. Two days later it had lightened but it was still too red. I mixed up several batches myself, adding different amounts of yellow and black pigments to get the color I wanted, but now we have to wait for those sample patches to dry as well.

The window grates look perfect, I am so happy with them.

The highlight of today was finding that the studio door had been delivered. I think it is fantastic. Our talented blacksmith simplified my design without losing the Amazigh essence and I can't wait to see it installed.

As always, break time sitting underneath the shade of the loaded 

olive branches is a joy. Harvest time is quickly approaching.

OURIKA ROCKS AND MUD PLASTER

The variations in colors on these stone slabs are so beautiful.

In the foreground is the mud plaster before the red pigment was added.

Need a scaffold to apply the mud plaster? Do it Moroccan style-knock some holes in the border wall and some more in the mud brick wall, insert poles, nail together a ladder of scrap wood, throw some planks on top of the poles, and get to work.

I liked the hue of the mud plaster when it was wet, but knew it would dry a lighter shade. We had decided to do the back walls of the studio first, in case it ended up being too light. We will mix a darker batch for the front of the studio.

This was the second morning we woke up to snow in the High Atlas-the views from the rooftop terraces will be fabulous.

PROGRESS

 After our initial success growing potatoes last year, Kaoutar, Kareem and I built a potato tower a few weeks ago. Less than three weeks later, we have potatoes sprouting! Some of the slaoui gourd plants are dying now, but I harvested again today, and I think by the time we harvest olives, the plants will still be overtaking the tree.

After a frustrating 10 day period when we could not get the workers back, they finally reappeared today and began work on the mix of white dirt, straw, lime and a pigment that will be the "mud" that covers the walls, inside and out. Here, they came, dug through my spare wood pile and constructed this screen to sift the white dirt.

When all of the dry ingredients except the pigment were mixed in a big pile on the front porch, the guys formed a basin in the middle and started filling it with water. I learned that the "dough" had to have a rising time.

View of the great room from the east porch.The kitchen will be off to the left of the doorway in the background, a dining area near the wheelbarrow, then an office nook and living area in the foreground. The second half of the building is to the left and will also include storage and bathroom areas, and the bedroom.

TATOUI CEILINGS, STONES AND WINDOW GRATES

 

This past week, Kareem has been concentrating on building the bamboo panels for the tatoui ceilings. The blacksmith delivered most of the grates for the windows and they look great.

We also got the first load of the flat stone slabs we will use 

for the facade of the bottom meter of the walls around 

the perimeter of the house and studio.

The colors of the stone slabs are a mix of warm earth tones and gray, which tie in perfectly the mud walls and gray river rocks in the garden.

Chris and Lin and their driver picked me and came to the garden. 

It was nice to have friends out for a couple of hours.