Small dome floor slab dry

     3 cement pour days total. 1 base layer and 2 halves top layer. The center of each half runs the Winter Solstice axis. There was a bit of a lip but I managed to sand it smooth(ish). With the concrete sealer I think it will be fine. This room will have a bed in it anyway. Raquel did excellent touch up work in the main dome, smoothing transitions between older surfaces and inconsistent applications. I like being able to see the progression of skill, up to a point. I want this place to feel good, and not look shoddy or unclean. But you can nit pick the stucco to death. One of the main concerns now is that the white color is not even. Some patches seem stained or just a bit "wetter" and we don't quite understand why it is inconsistent. Maybe that explains why there is even a white color additive you can mix in with this La Habra 100 stucco. Maybe without it, this is what happens. I guess I'll have to paint the inside. That will make the color even, and actually prevent stucco from crumbling. Of course I will run it by Cal-Earth Alumni, as they have solved most problems you could encounter, but if you manage to stump them, there is still a hashing it out process that usually takes place. The few times I hadn't gotten a clear answer in time, experience gave me the answer I saw seeking, with minimal heartache.

     Today's sky's were stormy and breezy, with the kind of magical light you only get in the afternoon on such windy overcast days. It sets off shadows and glows all around the mountains, plains and valleys of our corner of the Mojave. After several weeks measuring work by the wheelbarrow-full, it was nice to be mixing stucco by the pan-full which goes an extra long way when you spread the claylike mix thin and even! It was satisfying to stucco around the "marble stained-glass" window above the door, the last interior space yet to be covered.

    I saw a wild hare, (bunny wabbit) spring out from a bush as I walked the acreage to turn on the water to the hose. I didn't get a picture of this one, but I think I have photographed some in the past. He/she looked like them, grey and slender with darker ears, long and twitchy.

Looking south off Gilman Springs Rd was so green we had to detour.

Raquel wanted before and after pics, but she was too fast and this is before... most of it was fixed.

Another angle, before-ish

After major smoothing, row reconstruction. oops no before pic, go to last weeks pics for the before photo.

Holistically it is perfect, it's just when you look closer you realize it is just madness.

Super zoom on the Sand to Snow Monument. Thanks Obama!  

Zoomed back out, Sand to Snow. 

Flat Top Mesa and Three Sisters Peaks West

Future site of fruit cellar or EPIC hot tub/pool. TBD

Then the sky started doing stuff.  

The sun was like, "hey, see y'all tomorrow, but first lets get wild."

And across the valley the light was creating nice contrast. 

Raquel was taking advantage of her iPhone and the magic hour.

Checking fb or reviewing photos? :D  

What pretty ladies! XD 

Holy Bob Ross in Heaven! That sunset sure is purdy.

Aaahhh!

Just get rid of that black line and I think this shot is done.... 

The circle is the center of the dome, the line is the solstice axis.

Same note about the black line. Raquel is crushing it.

You don't want to know how sausage is made. Mandatory before pic.

Feeling pretty good about it!

I can't wait to scrape all that off the window.

I had to redo the wood area above the door, the original stucco was too thick and it separated from the wood. This new layer is very thin, less than a quarter inch thick. Also I scored the wood to help it receive the stucco and keep it stuck.

Form follows function, clearly!