I had a wonderful night last night. I actually slept on the roof of the Earthship. It’s flat, so I took my sleeping bag up there and enjoyed the immaculate view of the stars! I’m happy to be away from Sydney’s light pollution!
I woke up at 2am to a little rain, and helped the owners cover some of the recently done concreting with a tarp to prevent any water damage. Although I hadn’t been building for a long time, there was a fair bit of waterproofing done in my absence as the previous job had allowed a lot of water to enter into the hempcrete roof and dribble down into the walls. Fires were lit on the grounds in the two domes to help evaporate the trapped water.
I did some dishes this morning and watched an incredible sunrise.
A site tour
We were first introduced to the garden ๐ there’s a lot of permaculture concepts throughout the space, attempting to replicate some of natures systems, rather than just dosing the veggies with chemicals, matching plants that compliment each other so they can survive without much maintenance.
We started our walk through the house.
Space at the front, leading into the two rooms. You can really see how large it is.
Here you can see the top arch, you can see the hempcrete at the base of the dome, you can see the aluminium cans used to add space in the concrete,
Hempcrete has been used as it is easily grown, has great insulative properties, is anti mould, a fire retardant, and deters mice. A wonderful addition to the home and removes the need for putting insulation in the walls.
The empty space within the cans creates a “honeycomb matrix”‘ the shape of the structure that bees make, adding strength and saving money on unnecessary concrete.
Here’s another great shot of the hempcrete. You can also see the sky lights. They are PVC pipe inserted into the dome, and actually arranged to follow a constellation called the Phoenix ๐
Here is an image of the tyre wall ๐ the tyres were pounded with sledge hammers, and a large amount of dirt was inserted into each.
Tyres have a thick layer of rubber, which is insulative, and when pounded full of dirt, the dirt is very compact and also helps insulate the house. Inside the tyres is a steel band (inserted by the manufacturer) which helps the tyres keep their shape. Once the tyres are pounded, they weigh approximately100kg and are very tricky to move around. A lot of insulation ๐
Please read the “About the house” page to learn more about the previous build in January 2013 and some of the steps. (It isn’t completed yet, but will be soon).
Today we were divided into groups, and I decided to take it easy by making bottle bricks and chatting amongst the different members within my group ๐
We have a quota of about 2500 bottle bricks to make, and today we knocked over at least 500 bricks ๐
Some deep thoughts:
During bottle brick making, I met Sam E (on the left) an amazing guy I’ve taken a shining to. It all started when I saw a tattoo of his on his wrist. It was a tattoo of a wrist watch, and on the face was just the Japanese character ไป meaning “now”. I really liked the thought behind it, and it got us into a deep conversation about life between Japan and Australia, and “time” and other interesting topics.
I think this watch caught my attention because it’s so accurate. We do try to track the time of the day, and we do accurately, but in reality time gives us the opportunity to do things “later” by making the assumption that the future exists. Rather than doing things now, you do them later. I do believe that time is convenient, especially when I don’t want to wake up in the morning, but what is the cost?
Floundering. This is a word I have often used in the past to describe the way that I have been living my life. I feel like I am floundering right now after a few days of wonderfully present living.
What I have come to realise is that I will have an urge, a desire to do something, and it is my mental and logical mind that will tell me I shouldn’t do something, but in my heart, it is what I knew I wanted to do. My example is today I wanted to go for a 7km run to a beautiful beach, but I didn’t go because I thought it might be too cold, or I’d be home late for dinner… So, I floundered, procrastinated, avoided making a decision, and the decision was made for me. As a result I was in a bad mood for the following 6 hours because the opportunity was there and lost, and it was something I felt that I needed to do.
If I listen to my mind, and allow it to convince me not to do something, that is when the floundering starts. I wander around, not knowing what to do, because I’ve ignored what I really wanted to do, then the opportunity has gone, and because I haven’t been doing what my heart really wants I’m upset and unsure of what to do!
That is my floundering! And that is my autopilot!
This to me is actually a big discovery, because I’ve wondered what has caused this lack of attentiveness to the present moment for several years. Wondering, is it the food I’m eating? Is it a blood problem?
But remember Aaron, the things you truly desire in life are actually your life’s purpose. It’s God’s wonderful way of directing you to achieve your life’s purpose. We each have our dreams for a reason, and it is our responsibility to fulfil those dreams to fulfil our life’s purpose.
“When a person desires something, all the universe conspires to help that dream become a reality.” The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
