I planted a Tabasco, cayenne and poblano pepper plant on our balcony back in June. They quickly got big and bushy and took over a good swath of the balcony. However, only recently have they started producing peppers. Good thing central Texas has such a late freeze date.

I've become a regular at the Community Table project. This Saturday I was able to rope in Jean and some friends to volunteer with me. We're close to wrapping up carving all the floor timbers which puts us close to 50% complete overall. Jean boring out a mortise on a floor sill plate. Currell and Regan cleaning up the sill plate. Chiseling out a lap joint in the sill plate.   

Wall plastered a week before Work goes on in the plastering department. Sifting out the bigger lumps makes a huge difference. The plaster applies well and looks good. When it dries it you can run your hand along the wall and nothing sloughs/dusts off like it did before plastering. However, some hairline cracks are still forming. Some possible causes and solutions I'm considering: 1) Wall sucks moister out of plaster Solution: As I work I constantly mist the wall before applying plaster. I don't think this is the issue. 2) Plaster drying too quickly Solution : Throughout the work day I'll return to recently completed sections and mist them. Perhaps I could cover the wall with a damp blanket overnight. I might get some help from the weather if it ever cools down. Cooler temperatures will slow down the drying process. Crack Detail 3) Not enough aggregate(sand) in the mix . The binder(clay) will swell when it absorbs water and then shrink back as it dries out...

October is a sweet spot for Texas camping. Cool nights, warm days and during football season means campfires are comfortable, swimming is comfortable and it's usually not too crowded (except for the ubiquitous boy scout troop that mysteriously appears in the middle of the night). We coordinated with some camping buddies for a weekend at Garner State Park. It was a great time replete with fire, cooking things with fire, playing a card game where you have to put the invention of fire into its chronologically correct time period, not playing any social deduction games, smores, pontificating, improvising a way to provide ambient light with an old car battery, sleeping in tents, sleeping in hammocks, tubing, swimming and hiking. Unfortunately, I failed to take any pictures of us camping. I only have these pictures from this hike up Old Baldy which, in this shot, kind of looks like a horrible uphill slog. It was only moderate. I swear. Continued slogging Summit of Mount Bal...

We took a kayak excursion down the San Marcos river with some friends of ours. The morning was cool and crisp but it soon warmed up for a pleasant day on the river. And apart from Currell and Regan shooting some rapids without their kayaks, no misadventures. Perhaps next time. On the river with Jean, Lashelle, Cameron, Bethel, Currell and Regan

I came across the volunteer opportunity in one of my natural building forums to build a pavillion that will serve as a meeting area and dining hall at the Community First! Village in east Austin. The village is a development of affordable micro/small homes. The structure will be timber frame mortise and tenon construction. That means, no nails and no screws. Another caveat is we're building with hand tools only. Demonstrating cutting out a joint on drop in floor joist.  Once the joint is cut to depth, you use a chisel to knock out the piece you don't want. Planing the joint to level. After getting the end of the drop in floor joist notched we have to cut in a curve. The curve helps distribute the weight and prevent the joist from cracking. For reference, the floor joist is currently upside down. Where he's cutting will eventually be facing down. Smoothing out the curve Lots of floor joists. Using a hand drill to notch out the sill ...