worth a shot

I don't really expect this to work but what the hell I'll take a shot.

Hi, I'm Greg, 59 yo male in central Missouri.  I have 120 acres of wooded land where I've cleared a couple acres and am still trying to get the house built to move into.  Wanted to build a straw home, but the high humidity and frequent rain storms led me to believe this would be difficult without a large crew to finish the home quickly.  Switched to wanting to build a cob home and ended up building a decent sized wellhouse/outbuilding/laundry out of earthbags to learn what not to do and learned I'm too old to be building anything larger out of dirt.  The joints just wouldn't take it.  Ended up building a concrete dome earth sheltered home.  Yea, I wasn't wild about the concrete either but I won't have to worry about tornados and the rocket mass heater I just finished should heat it no problem and it should remain cool all summer.  Still have a long way to go on the property but want to start an orchard, garden and a little livestock.  I'm not off the grid but I'm trying to reduce my footprint as much as possible and would like to work on alternative power for the property sometime in the future.  This could be solar, wind, biogas, or anything else I could come up with.

Enough about where I'm living and more about me.  I'm a classically trained chef with a degree in chemical engineering (worked as an automation engineer) and a long time dungeon master, the game type not the kinky kind.  I have more projects on my lists of things I want to build than I will ever be able to get around to so I just keep working on what's in front of me and don't worry about it.  Oh, I'm also a devout atheist who isn't interested in any conversion attempts and doesn't believe in non-science backed.... ahem.... stuff.  I'm open to new ideas and ways of doing things they just have to be based in reality.  I used to think I was a liberal until I lived in Seattle and realized I'm a moderate lefty.  My property is filled with deer and sometimes turkey and other game and I hope to someday fill my freezer but I just haven't made the effort yet.  I would never hunt anything I wasn't planning on eating and don't see the point of people hunting trophies.  I've always loved hiking and have visited most of the national parks in the western United States.  I've travelled a lot and moved around a lot but see that as mostly behind me and I hope to never move again.  I suppose I should mention that there will always be cats in the house but I wouldn't mind a dog or two in the yard.

Not sure what I'm looking for at this point other than intelligent companionship and help in the garden.  I'll do the cooking if you help with the dishes.

Welcome! It looks like you came to the right place. Paul's philosophy and the way this site is run align well with what you said. Politics and religion and the like aren't banned here, but there's a great forum called the Cider Press where those conversations take place. The people on here tend to be gentle, if you know what I mean. Kind even. With a few curmudgeons walking around who mostly keep to themselves but get a lot of stuff done behind the scenes.

Your property as shown in the photos looks very nice. I hope to see you around frequently.

Two quick hints on getting the most out of this site:

1. do the scavenger hunt on your profile page
2. learn what SKIP and badge bits are, and dig in.

j

Hey Greg im mezmerized by your Dragon bust can you please tell us what its made or a bit of the process?  Good luck on your search and nice work on your structures.

The dragon is mixed media, but mostly just paper mache.  The teeth and spikes are polymer clay, they eye I bought.  The process is long and tedious but the materials are pretty simple.  This guy was my inspiration and he sells a book on the process of creating these. papermacheblog

I wanted to do cob too, and spent a ton of time watching YouTube videos on cob. I also researched hempcrete. But ended up buying a wood gypsy caravan that has no cross ventilation. It's bloody hot right now, and I wish I could find someone to cut a hole for me so I can cross ventilate this oven

Good luck finding someone!! I'm looking too.

I love your carvings (says year of the dragon!)

Have you had any luck finding a partner?  

I was asked for an update on my journey.  Well since I last posted I'm pretty well settled in my earth sheltered home even though I still have a lot of work to do on it.  Still doing all the work myself so it's going pretty slowly, motivation seems to be my biggest obstacle right now.  Still living alone and hoping to find someone special to share my life with.  

Motivation / procrastination is a big issue for many.
Try a few free courses or reads it may help.
How big is the earth dome please?
Does it have windows etc?
Can you create opportunities to meet. play cards with people etc it helps a lot.

John,
The home is made of two 28' x 28' domes, plus a small cellar on the backside.  A little over 1600sqft total.  As you can see in the picture it has 5 big windows and a double glass door on the front that let in a lot of light.

John C Daley wrote:Motivation / procrastination is a big issue for many.

I've had that problem too.

Tell us what you have done, perhaps? Concentrate on the positive.
I've been working on my house for 20 years and I already had a shell.

Also, if you don't have livestock, this may be your chance to plan a vacation away

You could set yourself small milestones, plan a vacation, and when you've reached the milestones, make your final vacation plans

I like the idea of getting together with others: you could make a schedule perhaps? Add in your work on the house to it.

We're here for you, even if we are physically distanced :-)

Hi my name is Heather and I would be interested in speaking with you