Dug Outs.

  This is a small applique art quilt of a place that we visited in New Mexico.  This is a house that is dug out of the desert sand near Socoro, New Mexico.  My husband was interview for a job at the NRAO, when we went to look at these dwellings.  We had been in contact with one of  the builders of these little earth shelters for 2 years, so we were very excited about getting a tour.

    The dwellings are about 16 ft. across.  They used standard dimensions that boards are cut in to make the construction easy.  They are dug out about 4 feet deep and lined with plastic barrels filled with the dirt.  Those barrels were the stability for the inside walls.  Then the ceiling is a made of beams and boards and earth on top of that.  The idea is to stay cool in the summer and to stay warmer in the winter.  There was a wood stove for heat.
    If you wanted a larger house you could connect a few pods together with hall ways.
    This was a very interesting and alternative way to live.  The people in this community had built their own houses...on land that they bought for almost nothing.  But the real kicker for living here is that you have to haul all your own water from a community well.  That became a little discouraging for me.  Also it was to far away from work for DH to come home for lunch...I guess I am spoiled but I really like to have my husband come home in the middle of the day.
    I like to collect places to live but this was one that wasn't meant to be.  Still I wish to persever the memory of it in this little quilt.
    I will talk more about the little dug outs in more post as I work on this little art quilt.