Before laying any block today, Phil and the boys put up the new scaffolding. Happily, it stacks, so we now have a double-high place to work. Phil climbed up first and stayed low: "This is really high."
The rule is, if anyone is on the top, no one else can be on at all. (Except if Phil and I are working together.) The boys all took a turn going up: Joe didn't go all the way (I was just as glad), and I spotted Abraham, who did well. Isaiah loved to climb to the top just because he liked the risk, and Jadon went up a few times to help. It's our personal climbing wall!
Abraham came up with an idea for a teeter-totter. Phil helped him put the pieces together. Then he and Joe had a great time for a little while. (I wouldn't really recommend this entertainment device: one child lost part of a fingernail, and another child got a foot-long shallow scratch down the leg, and very torn shorts. But for a little while, this was quite the popular amusement.)
Phil worked on the southwest corner today. The forecast called for rain in the evening, and as the rainclouds moved overhead, we were hoping we wouldn't get soaked.
Well, Phil did finish 42 more blocks (six half-highs initially, 28 blocks to finish the corner, then eight more full-sized at the end to finish off the mortar ("Oh, it goes so much faster when it's not a corner!"). I pulled plastic over today's work, as lime-based mortar should not get wet for 24 hours after being put down. And then the rains came!
Phil needed my help a bit less today. Jadon became his Johnny-on-the-spot, even carrying a block from the sand pile all the way down to the work space. It probably weighs more than half his weight!
He made us cookies, changed the lecture, charged batteries, found tools, even tried his hand at mortar. After the light began to fail, he snapped a picture of Phil and I in action: Phil had climbed up to the top of the scaffold and fitted the block over the rebar. I grabbed it before it hit the mortar, then Phil climbed down as fast as he could and fitted it in place. (His yellow sleeve is just visible behind the corner.) I'm watching to see if the joint will settle too much.
When not assisting, I started to make garlic beds for next year. I made two 3' wide beds, about 10' long, with 3' of walk space in between. I've tried 1' aisles the last few years, but I've read about the benefits of lots of space to move, so I'm going to try that. I'm not hurting for space, so I might as well try something new. I got about 300 bulbs in the ground; hundreds more to go.
How high will the corners have to go? Are they about as high as they will need to be? Also, I'm confused as to why the floor has to be so raised above the foundation...what's the rationale? It is amazing to see your progress!
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, the corners are built to half high. So we'll have one more round of raising corners up six blocks and then we'll be at the top.
ReplyDeleteThe floor is high to give a crawl space. I forget why we have a crawl space. Maybe because we didn't want to pay someone to put in a slab on grade (a big concrete pad right on the ground)? Maybe.