Nov 13, 2023: Sere, Desiccant, Parched and Depleted

Strawbale and adobe houses need special finishes both inside and out in order to avoid moisture build-up in the straw or clay material. That leads to mold and disaster. Our house was finished inside with a homemade lime plaster, using materials from the property, with mica from a nearby quarry added to make it sparkle. It must have looked great when they did it, but 20+ years later, the walls had become dingy, and the sparkle was gone. Because there was so much clean-up when we arrived, including cat pee, we made the decision to cover the interior walls with Killz paint: which is certainly NOT breathable. We chose it, knowing there was risk in doing so, because the building codes now require a non-breathable paint on inside walls of adobe or strawbale homes but also to cover any lingering smells (there weren’t any, we cleaned it out super carefully, but just to be sure….).

That has worked out well. We are very happy with the interior walls. There has been no sign of moisture or mold anywhere. That left the exterior finish. This was initially done with an unpainted 2-coat stucco having an orange-ish color. After all these years, it, too, has become dull with many small repairs, including the new windows. Now that we’re done with the stucco work, we plan to paint the entire outside next spring. But this time, the paint MUST be breathable, so any moisture has a way to escape, and that is the issue I’ve dealt with over the past few weeks. Finding truly breathable paint is hard and expensive. Paint stores will tell you their “Elastomeric” paint is breathable, but when you look at the stats, it’s not. Another store will say that all their latex exterior paints are breathable, but they’re not.

I found a solution in Milk Paint, (https://www.realmilkpaint.com/) and we just received some samples. This paint comes in a powder form, is completely non-toxic and easy to apply and amazingly affordable. For exterior use it gets sealed with a special oil sealant made from Tung Oil, Pine Oil and zinc. Highly breathable.

In the photo below, you can see the patched and funky original color. The 2 squares of paint are the 2 samples of Milk Paint we tried. We have decided on the light yellow color – Yellow Rose. Can’t wait to get this done next year! (The parallel scratches toward the bottom were made by a bear many years ago.)

I have not written in a while because for the most part, Alan and I have been simply plugging away at the usual chores and projects. The continued drought is quite depressing. (and makes all the worry about moisture in the walls seem ludicrous). We have not seen a drop of rain in months, and the land is in extreme drought. With cold weather returning, the fire danger has lessened, but the dust is terrible. On a positive note, the creek is still running and the well hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Many wells in this area have gone dry this year.

In other news, however, after 2 years of no problems, our graywater drain line has clogged somewhere 6o’ from the house. It’s been one of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” things that’s now broke. Remember, gray water is not sewage: it’s the water from our shower and sinks. It could be used to water plants, but the builders put in a “dry well”, an underground pit likely filled with gravel, and it has worked great for over 20 years. But they forgot to install any way to clean it out! The pic below shows the workaround Alan created to allow us to run a snake and a sump pump. It’s a very temporary solution as we wait for Joe to come with his backhoe and dig up the pipe. We’ll see what’s down there, and put in some clean-outs for the future. In the meantime, we can use the sinks and shower without problem.

Today, taking a break to enjoy the beautiful sunny day, Alan and I and the pups went on an 8-mile hike on the Rio Chama Trail near Tierra Amarilla (T.A. to locals). It was a lovely new find for us. There was no one there on such a stunning Monday. We will be back to explore more.

We’ve been doing a lot of hiking in our canyon, and recently I’ve been especially enjoying these cattails, which make a great sound in a breeze that you can’t quite catch in this video. Behind them is a small spring that never dries up, with a pond that’s maybe 15′ across. Zane loves to jump in, but Clair avoids getting her little wootsies wet. She might deign to take a sip.

November (starting on Oct. 29th, actually) is the month of BIRTHDAY celebrations in our world, so I want to take this moment to send our Birthday wishes to all of you Scorpios out there.