The Final Layer： Protecting Our Earthbag Dome Plaster with Lime Wash

Oh, all right. So we are about to get back at it. What are we doing today? We are doing more lime wash. Did I put you on the spot with that one? You had to think about that. I know what we're doing, but we've been doing what we've been doing. So we got half of it done. We're about to get that other half done. How are you feeling? You ready to get to it? I'm ready. I'm ready. All right. I'm ready too. Let's do it. All right. One order of lime wash coming up. It's a little too thick. It Like it looks like cottage cheese. We're looking for a different type of dairy consistency. Which is what? Full fat, whole milk. Of course, we had that storm roll through last night. We didn't get much rain out of that. Barely got the gauge wet. But we do have to try and hurry up today because again, we could be getting more rain right around noon. So as much as we can, we're gonna try and get done today. And just as raring to go, I could tell you that much right now. All right so I am now in the greenhouse and as you could tell we got a lot growing on in here. I don't know if we want any of it necessarily it's all just kind of growing on its own so I'm going to get in here and I got to do something about this because it's getting out of hand. Look at this it's all it's piled up it's taller than me not that that's much of a challenge but it's crazy. Over here too we got a bunch growing over here I took out some already because before you couldn't even barely walk in without weed scraping against your leg. Just what do you think you ready for this area to get cleared up over here? You're gonna clear the jungle? I'm gonna clear the jungle baby. I mean not only just the greenhouse but I gotta get over here too. I mean the pathway, going to the shed. This is all getting overgrown. I gotta clear this out. You know it's just getting wild out here with the monsoon rains. Everything is growing like weeds out here. All the weeds are growing like weeds. Even here I cleared all this out before. All this was all cleared and now it's all it's all back. I'm embarrassing her. I'm sorry I'm embarrassing you. I can't help it. Yeah. All right, another beautiful day. What do you think about how wet it is out here? It's not super wet. It's not super wet. Do you know how much rain we got? No. We got an eighth of an inch. Storm was rolling in hot and heavy again. That's how it's been, right? Like, you're seeing these dark, heavy storm clouds rolling in, lots of thunder, lightning. It seemed like it was, like, all around, and it was closing in on us. And our weather apps were saying, like, it was going to be this massive storm. At one point, I was like, we could get over two inches of rain. We didn't get that. We got an eighth of an inch. Now, I'm not complaining. I feel like that's perfect for us. You know, if we get, like... an eighth of an inch to like a half an inch of rain you know we're still getting water and you know it's not heavy enough where it's going to cause any damage up there and in fact that little water will probably rain down on there soak into the lime and make everything stronger. So I'm really grateful. And you can't ask for better weather. Like it's cloudy, it's cool. I think the high is only supposed to be like 82, 83 degrees. Absolutely perfect working weather. So with the rains come the cool air. And it is so amazing to be able to get some work done in this type of environment. Yeah, it makes it a lot easier. Oh, yeah. The question is... Do I need to bring my hat up there? You know what? Just go as you are and if you need your hat, I will come, I will bring it to you. Okay. All right, you ready to do it? All right, let's get it done. Oh goodness. This is it, folks. You did it. Oh. Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Pound it out. You are a-mazing. All right, we did it. Oh. Oh! All the power to this lady. Fantastic job. Of course I did promise her that we would get some ice cream if she finished and maybe that was sufficient motivation. Well I promised this lady a sweet treat so we're gonna head into town and get a sweet treat from a sweetie. So the greenhouse is looking real nice and all those weeds are out there before. All gone over here too. We got this area cleared out. It's nice to be able to see the greenhouse area again. Now that I got that done, I want to hit this area and just get a nice Got a clear walking path over to the shed. All right, look at this, look at this. Got that area all cleared up. Well, maybe it's not all cleared up, but a nice little walking path over to the shed. Everything's looking real nice. Got that greenhouse all set. Got that walking area. Yeah, I gotta hit that north side of the house, but we got time for that. So everything's looking real good around here. The weeds are a never ending battle for sure. We got some rain really early this morning. Probably around 3:30 in the morning. Maybe lasted for about a half hour, 45 minutes, something like that. A little bit of rain, not a lot. It was coming down as I was doing my morning workout. So that was kind of a pleasant experience. So everything is nice and wet. You know, wet the top of the dome. That'll probably be helpful for that lime wash we put on. Yeah, I don't think we got a lot. Let's check here. Oh, oh, oh, butter. About an eighth of an inch. That's not bad. That's something measurable amount of rain. I took UV on a walk this morning and my shoes are soaked and covered in plant matter, but that's kind of how these walks have been going each of these mornings. So very exciting. We're going to begin up at the top of the dome in a little bit here, and we're going to start the second coat of the lime wash. So I'm really excited. and we're gonna have to be careful obviously working today because things are a little wet probably a little slippery so but uh yeah and we might have to dodge the rain a little bit so It's a... hopefully we'll be able to get a decent amount done. All right I said we were going to be at the top of the dome and here we are. Ready to start a new day? What are we doing today? We're getting started on the second coat of lime wash. So I picked these up for Jess a little while back or I ordered them a little while back. They just got here today. So what are they and why are you wearing them? I'm not quite sure what they are. It's some kind of sports padding. But it's like for your knees, for your shins. Yeah. I bruise relatively easy, being up on the ladder here, I've been getting a lot of bruises on my legs. Just from leaning up against the ladder. So I was kind of wishing I could have some kind of padding on there. So Jim ordered these for me. I think it's supposed to go like over your kneecap and shin. It is. It is. I kind of have it on the side because that's where I've been getting the bruises. Nice. All right. Well, we'll see how it performs up on the ladder. Just like yesterday, I think today is absolutely going to be a perfect day to work. Cool temperatures, it's warm, it's not cold, but it shouldn't get too hot. Nice and cloudy. Oh, I don't think you can ask for a better day. So Jess is working hard on painting the second layer. And a couple of questions in my mind, like, is this layer going to go quicker? Is she going to be able to get more coverage out of just one bucket of mix? All right, well, already I can tell this is going a lot quicker. And the last time she did this in just a few minutes, whereas it might've taken like 20 minutes to a half hour before this one strip. So, and she still has quite a bit of mix left. Jess said she wants me to take the cinder block down from the roof and I'll do just that. We're gonna send it down the quick way. When Jess wants something, I gotta get it done like that. As you wish, madam. Plus it was fun. You can tell these pads are already getting put to work. All right, look at this. We are about halfway through the second whitewash. That's crazy. So how are you feeling? Good. Yeah, I was afraid that every coat would take as long as the first coat did, and the first coat took us quite a while, but this is going pretty quick. Yeah, yeah. We'll get done with this today for sure. And uh how are the pads performing? It's good. I don't know if I have bruises yet but it doesn't feel like it. It feels okay. Good, good, good. So uh working up there uh is it tough working up there with the sun reflecting off the uh lime wash? Is it like glaring into your eyes? Yeah even with the clouds like it's still kind of reflecting the light into my eyes. That is it. That is it. Oh coat number two is done. Well with that kind of progress I think we can get out tomorrow and just get the last coat on. What do you think? We'll have the top of the top completely done tomorrow. That is wild. All right. All right. Very cool. We're getting some rain. Very unexpected. We weren't supposed to get any rain today but that's just seems how it's been like uh we're not supposed to get rain we get rain we're supposed to get rain nothing so uh but very welcome we got done with that second layer so that's all done now we're getting a little bit of rain and that's gonna soak into that layer make everything nicer stronger and we'll see if we get a lot of rain or if it's just gonna be this light drizzle i don't know of course UV's hiding away from the rain comfy down there Man, that rain came down pretty hard, pretty fast. Let's see what we got. Yeah, yeah Jeez, look at this, it's spreading everywhere. Look at this, this is wild. Got an invasion going on over here. Whoa, just over a half an inch of rain, that is wild. Wild. Again, that came literally out of nowhere. Nothing on the apps about that, it's wild. Yeah, I just, you can't. You always have to stay prepared because that rain could come down any time. Now I think technically the rainy season is over. That's the wild part. But I'm wondering if we're going right from the monsoon pattern to the El Nino pattern because that's supposed to get wild as well. So I don't know. Jess, did you hear anything about that? Jess didn't hear anything about that. She's running away. She's getting her hoodie. It's too cold for her. Look at this. Yubi's excited. She thought we were going for a walk. We are. We're going for a walk. We're going for a walk, but she's got to stop at the salad bar first. How are you feeling not going for this walk on this nice, cloudy, rainy day? It's okay. Okay. Yeah, it is okay. It's nice. Someone might be a little more enthusiastic about this day than you are. Wow. Wow. Yubi, you got energies? I smartened up, and instead of using my loafers to walk through this mess, I'm using some mud boots. No more wet feet for me today. Oh my goodness. What is going on? What'd you give this dog for, uh, for dinner? Well, her name means rain. Maybe it's giving her rain energies or something. I don't think so. This is her element. Yeah. This has been a fun adventure. Well, it's more fun when you got nice mud boots on. All right. Good morning. we're about to head up on to the top of the dome again and finish off this final lime wash layer and it doesn't look like we got any more rain still like just above a half inch so So. very exciting we'll take it uh i guess the area around phoenix some of these areas got like over three inches of rain that's pretty wild this has been a pretty wild monsoon this year So I think things are looking pretty good. We're going to head up top and get this final layer on. I'm so excited. Then we can start the bottom half of the top. Just as concerned about that metal ladder scraping against the plaster we have up there. So I thought I'd try this. This is just some pipe insulation. I'm going to put this on the ladder and we'll see if that helps. Yeah, I think that'll work. I think she's going to like that, but we'll see. We'll see what she thinks when she gets up here. Final day, we're gonna make our big push to finish off the top of the top of the dome. I can't believe we're in this position. We're about to put the final layer on. How do things look? How do, you know, after we got that rain, how does it look like it held up? I don't see any kind of damage. Yeah. We did it. Number three is done. Oh my goodness. Well I'm excited and we're ready to do the bottom part of the top. I think you need to take a break because that was a lot of work. Good job!