Pura Vida

Logo and business card for Pura Vida Pilates.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

What's more green than making your own gifts. I learned to crochet a week before the holidays...hehe. Below are my crochet earring creations. I love handmade things, I think they're kinda retro and the monotone colors add a touch of elegance. To go the extra mile you could also try unraveling an old ugly sweater and upcycling the yarn! Now...what to get the boys, crochet ties?



SHARK ATTACK!
A Scarf I made for my 6 year old 1st cousin. He requested there be a shark on it.

Strawberry hat for my 4y old cousin

Earthship Texas Week 4

Quick watercolor sketch sitting at lake Ratcliff at sunset and a morning photo above.

Nov 15-20
This was the last week of the build until January when the crew will come back to finish the interior of the house. This week the gutters were placed on the roof and the greywater system was buried in place under the greenhouse. The interior walls were finished with cement, the cement floors were poured, final wiring was put in, finished doors and decorative bottle bricks were placed.

Overview Main Systems
Water
water is all supplied by rain channeled by the roof into cisterns that are sized appropriately to the climate of the area. The cisterns here are buried behind the north wall of the house under the dirt. The water then flows to a WOM (Water Organizing Module) that filters it. Water is efficiently used four times:

1. water used in sinks and showers.
2. greywater system flows through the greenhouse, waters plants and excess is filtered by rocks, roots and moss
3. then it flows to toilets
4. black water is treated in septic system then flows to outside gardens.

Electricity
Power is supplied by photovoltaic panels on the south sloping roof. A POM (Power Organizing Module) distributes the electricity that is stored in batteries in a box on the roof

Earthship house 2 bedroom global model

Week 4- not much change on the outside of the house mainly interior changes

Systems
water
Rain flows from the roof through the gutter to these rock beds that filter silt and debris before it is contained in the cisterns.

The cistern caps are visible but the water is buried below the dirt behind the houseFrom the cistern it travels by gravity to the WOM to be filtered and sent to the showers and sinks.

After use in the showers and sinks the greywater is sent to the greenhouse where it is filtered underneath. This slanted ditch will be filled with rocks and peat moss to filter the water.
Jimmy at the end of the ditch where the filtered water will go into the pipes and to the toilets. After the toilets the black water goes to a two chamber (cement can walls) plastic septic tank buried outside that then flows to water outdoor beds.The final layer of soil is placed over the ditch ready for plants to growThe POM directs electricity form the solar panels stored in the battery through the house.

Bottle Brick ArtMain bedroom Interior - I love the cubbyholesmain bedroom closet
Interior floors of the kitchen and living room being installedFlagstone in the entrywayDan needs a medal for doing this with a broken leg. He is setting up some electrical lines he also has an awesome blog hereBrian being studly.

Jimmy being adorable.

Seth being cuddly.
Paul being reporter man.
Sprocket being SprocketGroup Pyramid...this took a few tries.Canadian Steve catching a fish!
The whole crew out to eat for the last night!Blake, Rebecca and IMike and I are homies now

THE END!

Videos of the nearly completed house

Earthship Texas Week 3

Nov 9-14
A pretty cool thing this week is that Mike told me I won the t-shirt contest! He said he picked it before he knew it was mine and it was great for him to be able to tell me in person while I was at the build. I am glad to be spreading the word through my design.

It was a pretty eventful week, the house went from bones to a fully covered and insulated cozy home. The main functioning systems of the house like the greenhouse, greywater containment system and solar power are near completion.

Over the weekend we had an awesome boar BBQ and Micheal told me about his next big plan to create a village learning center in the heart of the Galapagos. He wants to call it G.I.V.E. Galapagos Institute of Village Ecologies. It will be a place for people from all over the word to learn hands how to create a sustainable lifestyle within a community. I couldn't imagine a better place for this project than the origin of evolutionary insight whose lush forests inspire the utmost reverence for natural biological systems.

Below are week 3 pictures

Earthship house 2 bedroom global model
beginning of week 3

mid-week

end of week 3
Windows
Brian puts the glue for the inside windows in with MikeI am drilling the frames for the outside windows
Entryway
Rebecca sets bottle bricks for a sparkling entry wayRebecca and Tiffany smooth the final layer of cement over the entryway.
Mike drills a layer of insulation onto the roof.
The solar panels are going up!

Steve and I drilling the metal panels on the outside. These will be the final protective layer of the house.The roof is complete, now rain can drain into the cistern.Fun Time!
Lunch -the best time of day and Chris makes bomb lunches.

After a night at the amazing Shang Hai circus in the exciting town of Crockett Texas we decide to have our own outsidefun at the campsite mid-week