We went to look at our progress, to see how far we got last night. It looked good.
After chores and Bible reading, Phil headed up to fix the tiller. This was just as well: I had fallen woefully behind in the dishes. So while Phil made a repair to his machine, then tilled the future garlic bed, I simply washed the dishes that will be dirty again soon.
When Phil finished that task, he headed up to load the mortar supplies on the tractor. As he drove down, we received our order of peastone from the sand company.
Peastone is smaller than gravel, usually rounded and no larger than 3/8" (hence, like peas). Ours is a bit more angular than normal, but that should be fine. While the larger aggregate (the gravel) is used in concrete, peastone is used in grout, the concrete-like mix that goes into the cells of concrete block to add extra strength.
Should we not use it all, the extra will go around our trees (some orchardists recommend a nice ring of a foot or so around each trunk. This keeps moisture at the tree's roots and dissuades rodents from nibbling: they make an easy target if they rush over the rock. Maybe when the daffodils bloom next year, I'll have a better sense of how much peastone I can use.
The driver emptied his truck a little further downhill than we hoped for. Due to the rain we got during Sandy, the truck tires filled and he was completely stuck. Phil got the truck and pulled him out.
"We can see who has the better truck!" the driver joked. We like that man!
Now that all the extra tasks were taken care of, and Phil ate a quick lunch, it was after 1:30. We debated whether to use a full bag, and finally opted to do so: if we didn't quite finish before dark, we could turn on the floodlights.
Physically, today didn't feel as awful. I didn't have to haul as much: the 50 blocks per pallet weigh too much for the tractor forks to lift, but we have freed a pallet now. After I brought some blocks over the ramp, I stacked 20 blocks on an empty pallet. That's the 1000 pound tractor limit, but if the tractor moves the pallet, that's ten trips I don't have to take.
Phil had no tricky corners to do today, and so settled in to the slow and steady block placement. Six hours later, we had placed 56 blocks, as many as we can do on the first level with the ramp yet in place. An average of nine per hour isn't fast, but it felt manageable. Sort of like last November, when we planted 10,000 daffodil bulbs. That, too, wasn't fast, and it wasn't as fun as a party, but it was meaningful and progressed daily.
Before we started work, I took photos of our tools. We pour part of each batch of mortar into the black container. We push it along the ground and we work. I use the little triangle trowel to put the mortar down in parallel lines for the blocks to rest on. (The large trowels, fully loaded, weighs too much—my poor forearms!) Phil uses the large trowels to butter the blocks, which means to put mortar on the side that faces the block already in place. The small rectangular trowel I use to fish out excess mortar from within the blocks: for this part of the project, we are lavishly spreading the mortar: on the remaining parts we will be more frugal.
Phil's buttering makes the vertical mortar joints, and my railroads make the horizontal connection with the foundation.
The level ensures the blocks are the same height. In order to ensure they are the same from front to back, we use a string line. This is really clever. We place a little L-shaped block with grooves for string at the two corners and pull it tight. The blocks should come right up to the line but not touch it. Who thought of this little device? Brilliant, I tell you.
And have you ever wondered about those lovely little U-shaped grooves between bricks or blocks? Like someone put their finger in the wet mortar and smoothed it out? Wonder no more! That's called "tooling." I take the specially designed tool and run it along the joints.
This creates a smooth surface for better water proofing, a better connection between blocks, and, if you like smooth little runs instead of shaggy mortar joints, a pleasing appearance.
One additional comment. I know that concrete is caustic. I know that it's prudent to wear chemical gloves when handling it. Yesterday night, though, weary from the day's labor, I went to finish cleaning the various trowels while Phil cleaned out the mixer. Phil had already rinsed the tools, and my black container was filled with watery mortar. I rationalized that it was diluted sufficiently. Besides, the gloves were probably 50 yards away, and that seemed 50 yards to much. So I rinsed the tools bare handed, then washed my hands well and prepared dinner.
So I was surprised to see that, after doing dishes today, my fingers had begun to peel. Thankfully they aren't painful, but it taught me respect for the mortar with cement and lime. I'll be more cognizant of the threat in the future.
Good day!
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