I built the frame for the utility room window and got the blocks between the two window openings ready to glue tomorrow. It's all very exciting because we're getting close to having the blocks laid and ready for the roof trusses which arrive next week. My hope is that we'll be dried in by the end of July.
Here is a picture of an Irish cottage that has the feel of what we are trying to replicate (NOTE: no lawn)... our cottage will be approximately twice this big:
If you look closely you can see I'm holding the rebar that I dropped down this hole in the NW corner. The 3" hole I bored will eventually be filled with a loose concrete mix forming a concrete/steel post. These holes ("posts") are approximately every 4' in the AAC wall and get tied into the top bond beam. Now the problem is how do I get the rebar out of the hole until I'm finished laying block? I should have thought of that before I dropped it 8' down the hole 
This is the view out Alexis' "kitchen window" looking the 200' up our driveway to St Mary's Lane. Over to the right is the tin for our ceiling... I'll explain that in a later post.
My helper (Baxter) taking a break from guard duty... what a GREAT dog!:
This is a long shot of the west wall:
As you can see we've almost finished the east and the west walls. Remember our south wall will be a traditional "stick built" wall because of all the window and door openings. It will be much easier to put the windows in a 2" X 6" wooden wall than to struggle with the long (and heavy!) masonry lentils:
Obviously, my block laying has been slow going but the good part is I've continued to research alternative building methods and I've come up with something that will REALLY insure our home's energy efficiency. I'm going to put "foil-foam-foil" on the outside of the AAC block and screw metal lathe on top of it. We'll stucco over the lathe. This "foil-foam-foil" is rated at R-14.5 so it will act as a "thermal break" between the outside extremes summer & winter and my AAC block which will allow the block to not only insulate but also act as "thermal mass" for my "high thermal mass" design. The thermal break will allow the blocks to act like a battery in the winter and hold the heat produced by my passive solar design until nightfall when it will give off the heat absorbed during the day and make the interior VERY easy to heat. The reverse happens in the summer and tends to keep the house interior cooler.
This is Alexis' square foot garden area with 2 "earth boxes" (peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, strawberries & assorted herbs):
Here is a clever way to grow tomatoes that Alexis read about... grow your tomatoes by hanging them upside down in 5 gallon buckets... no need to worry about staking up the tomatoes... gravity takes over... "it's the law:"
I'm only two months late so I'm sure the Mennonite truss guy thought I was just blowing smoke about my order but I set a date certain yesterday for the roof trusses to be delivered (1 July 2008... YES... 2008!).
The 12th course will be glued tomorrow. Only the bond beam is left to do on this east wall... the bond beam will tie the wall to the footing with rebar and concrete. That's my helper and ever vigilant guard dog - Boone Hoone. 
Me... proudly sitting on my make-shift scaffolding with the 12th course waiting to be glued.
Baxter has relieved the quarterdeck watch (the first "dog watch"... you Navy guys will know what I mean):
Plumb:
Here's a long shot of the east wall... this angle gives me the feeling that I've accomplished something. The top course will be glued tomorrow. The 2' short wall at this end of this wall will be sawed off even & plumb when I finish with the next two courses. I have been using two colors of adhesive - gray & white - hence the two-tone wall.
This will be the view out of the French doors in the master bedroom and from the deck. Alexis wanted our Irish cottage to be in the woods... and that's where we are... Brigid's Wood:
Alexis for all intents and purposes finished painting the storage building today. This is the south side of the building which is mostly clear plastic. Hopefully, this part of the storage building will double as a mini greenhouse during the fall & winter.
Grandson Ethan looking in the mirror and realizing that he's the spitting image of his Granddaddy!
This is a long shot of the east wall (9th course in progress). Working on scaffolding is hard work... up and down... up and down. All I can do is keep plugging. It's going to be a very, very fine house. Alexis and her Mom spent the day painting what is left to paint on the storage building. Alexis was up and down a ladder all day too. I asked her mother if she had ever dreamed she'd be working construction at 86?
Re physical exam yesterday:
This shot shows both temporary wooden corners :
Tomorrow I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup and with a forecast of rain I probably won't get to work much when I get back.
Alexis almost got the storage building painted (some trim is yet to be finished but we wanted to get a coat of paint on the building because the siding is only primed).
Alexis is tuckered out at the end of the day sitting in the closet on the first bit of scaffolding:
A pitiful "Kilroy was here" impersonation:
Another angle of the same corner:
Not perfect... but close:
I also turned the corner and got started on this end of the north wall. The wall is not perfect but it's still going to be a "very, very fine house."
Here's an unashamedly gratuitous picture of my 6 month old grandson, Ethan... messy eater but REALLY cute, huh!?
