aefenglommung (aefenglommung) wrote,
aefenglommung
aefenglommung

A beautiful day in the woods

I don't normally like to miss church, but today was my only window for a dry day at Wilderstead, so I was out the door by 6:00 a.m. heading for the holler. It was cold and clammy, with an overcast sky all morning, but at least the rain held off.

I spent three hours slapping mortar and shooting lasers. The good news is, the piers are finished. the bad news is, one of the piers is really off. Maybe I got the mortar too thick on the lower courses, but if I had added the last course of block, I would be substantially too high (like, an inch and a quarter). I thought about trying to find or make a pair of squat blocks. But I think I'll just make some sections out of 4" x 6" lumber and call them the Mother of All Shims.

All this means we are ready to start contemplating a sill plate, and then . . . beams and joists. It has taken so long to get to this point! I have learned that foundations are time-consuming and crazifying. Of course, foundations are also critically important. But I'm overjoyed that within a definable amount of time, I will start banging nails instead of dealing with mortar and concrete. I mean, I know how to bang nails; I stink at it, but I know how to do it.

CIMG7302 (2)

Soon.
I promise you that both the pier and the wall are plumb. It's a trick of perspective (and the way the land slopes) that makes them look like drunks leaning in opposite directions.

After cleaning up my tools, I went into Lonceberg and returned some drainage pipe for a refund. The earth-movin' guy told me what to buy, but Orscheln sold me inadequate stuff, so he didn't use it. Of course, I kept my receipt! It was thirty dollars and some, but thirty bucks is thirty bucks and I'm no Diamond Jim Brady, ya know. Grabbed some lunch on my way back to the holler.

The weather finally began to warm up, though the sky remained overcast. It was sort of backlit. I spent the afternoon mowing trails and public areas. After that, I got out my sickle and removed some thorny vines where they were poised to grab people going down said trails. And then it was time to go home.

I'm pooped. But I got everything done that was on my plate today. So, it's on to dealing with Cub-o-ree stuff the rest of this week.
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