Six truckloads of stone

Aug. 17

For once it was beneficial to have a weak back. Sam had to unload the six truckloads of stone and all I needed to do was to direct traffic. What he doesn’t know yet is the many hours that will be needed to cut the large bars…mostly 4x8x40 inches, to suitable sizes and angles for the quoins that will be needed for the doors, windows and corners. Particularly difficult will be the angles we will need where the walls meet each other. The sharp angles needed will be both fragile until laid and quite difficult to chip to shape with chisels and a six pound hammer. Sam may wish he only had a truck or two to unload instead of all the stone cutting! The nice part of having the stone here before we need it is that we can now work on a wet or muddy day as the stone are located on a hard surface where wet conditions won’t affect the work. No days off for bad weather anymore until freeze-up! We are also at the mercy right now of the construction company that promised us some fill from a nearby jobsite. We need to get that in place before we can move any further along with the block or stone as the height of the wall will get in the way of placing the fill if we build any higher. Tom says that we will be first on his list when he is back on the worksite in town but that might not be until next week. We just have to be patient. The long-range fall forecast is for a mild but maybe wet fall….so much to do and so little time! Jim.