This summer I've been doing some work on the adobe, which doesn't give much to show for it in photos for the blog. However, now there are at least 2 coats of adobe on all the inside walls.
One thing I've learned is that lots of straw is good. I wish I had used more straw on the earlier coats. The adobe with lots of straw is much more stable and makes a much stronger wall. On one wall I've made my own style of stucco/adobe, using mud and a fair bit of mortar mix, and brushed it on the north wall. On another wall, I just put a 3rd coat of adobe with lots of straw on the wall, to see if it dries smooth enough to not have to put stucco on it. As of this posting, the adobe walls weren't quite dry, but it looks encouraging.
The stucco is dry and Valeta shows the 'finished' look.
The back wall has an extra coat of straw-heavy adobe on it and seems to be drying pretty evenly without the big cracks of earlier coats.
A close-up of the adobe/stucco wall. It looks like I'll be able to even paint this.
Vaughn admires the final coat on the outside buttress.
Valeta helps fill the bird feeders. Watching the birds is a side benefit of being out at the cabin!
We plant a couple bushes to enhance the yard.
