WINDOWS AND RAIN

 

The studio door has been secured in place. I am so happy with the work of the talented blacksmith.

The windows were also finished yesterday. The glass is reflective from the outside, and the studio is looking better all the time.

43 mm of rain over the past couple of days has taken its toll, though. We have been unable to find workers to install the ceramic tile on the roof, and places of our interior walls in both buildings show the effects of heavy rain on unprotected adobe.

OURIKA ROCKS

This past week got off to an exciting start with the arrival of the team that came to install the stone cladding on the studio walls. The stone mason was an incredible craftsman and it was pure joy to watch him work. In the photo, you can see the progression of the tasks. First, a red chalkline is snapped to fix the correct height of the cladding. Next, thick boards are placed on top of rocks and rubble to fix the level bottom of the cladding and provide temporary support until the mortar has dried. Finally, a stone or two is mortared to the wall on both ends of the wall. A string is secured in front of-and touching-the anchor stones to keep the wall the same thickness. As the stones have a variety of thicknesses, this is challenging.

 

In the meantime, the quest for the right shade of mud continues.

And the winter rains have arrived. We have had 17 mm of 

precipitation over the past two weeks, and the immediate forecast is for rain. Fingers crossed it does not bypass the garden home!

MUD

While I am still trying to find the color I want for the building exteriors, I took the opportunity to play around with the mud mix. It consists of three pigments (yellow, red and black) white dirt and white cement. I tried it on solid red bricks, stones, wire mesh, and pieces of tajines. 
 

And just to make it fun, I added some pieces of the Essaouira tile shards I collected during the summer of 2024. The crew finished the walls inside the studio and they look good, although it remains to be seen how much the color will lighten when it has dried.