Adobe Dreams Part 3: Moving Upstairs

On my last post, I had found the stick for the adobe house canales, to my great delight and Robert's embarrassment, and the canales turned out just right, to my great satisfaction! The next step was to build an adobe wall around the house. The wall was fast and easy; I just glued styrofoam pieces onto the nails that had plagued me with injuries until it occurred to me to cover them for my protection. The wall, even unplastered, was a big improvement over the chunks of protective styrofoam that I'd lived with for months.   

The adobe wall and entrance have been built. Only a small portion of the house front remains to be stained, along with the wall, of course.

 Here is the bowl full of messy mud that I mixed up to use for the rooftop and the courtyard of the adobe house.

The rooftop mud has been spread on to dry; the courtyard will be next.

The horno, or outdoor oven, has been placed just outside the kitchen so that Ana Luisa has easy access to tend to her baking.

 Staining the adobe wall was another easy task - hardly any nooks or crannies to deal with. You can see that I've finished staining the horno as well.

I have finished all the staining and am putting the finishing touches on the courtyard. In addition to the "mud" that I applied on the courtyard and roof, I sprinkled on liberal amounts of loose sand to make it look windswept. But Ana Luisa resents the term windswept, because, as she likes to say, "The wind may blow, but the wind does not sweep!"

 

The adobe house is almost finished; time to move it from my basement work space to the upstairs dining room, its final resting place.

 I had a few things to finish up before the construction was complete, but I could not wait to start furnishing the interior of the adobe. So I just rushed right into it, ready or not!

 I needed two rustic benches for the courtyard, so I glued together some "planks" of balsa wood, painted them a traditional turquoise color, and glued the planks onto wood "stumps" for the base.

This is a rather blurry photo of one of the finished benches - a good spot to place a geranium and a rabbit hutch. That post in the foreground is part of my final bit of construction: an "eyebrow" that will provide shade for part of the upper courtyard.

 I used hand-hewn wooden dowels for the "eyebrow" frame, just as I did for the vigas  and the portale.

The frame of the "eyebrow" is ready for the latillas to provide a shady place to sit on a hot New Mexican summer's day.

The "eyebrow" is finished; the upper courtyard is complete. 

Actually, the entire house is complete! Now I have only to finish the furnishing of the interior - the BEST part! I wonder if other miniaturists feel the same way? As much as I do love the construction phase, the anticipation of the fun and satisfaction of making the "house into a home" is the driving force that keeps me diligently working.

Tune in (or check back) next week for Adobe Dreams Part 4 - the end of the adobe experience.