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Another small nibble.

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My poor run of health continues. I tried to do what I could today, digging the grass layer off the inside of the foundation. I didn't last very long. If I keep nibbling at it like that though it will get done.

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Well, it wasn’t much but it was a return to work on the shack today. I’ve been bad sick for a week and a half so have been taking it easy. I felt the powers start to return today. I chipped away the concrete that leaked into my ventilation holes, and also reassembled the sheep yards that I’d destroyed earlier for boxing.

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I could see the rain coming but it did not deter me
The cotton shirt became a part of my skin,

cold and gross as a paua.

I’m up to a total of 50 of the concrete bricks. They are so good, they feel so solid and waterproof. I’ve got enough for a whole bottom layer, and I’ll put the rest on the southern sides.

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Mostly this post is just an excuse to put up a clip and an image extracted from a clip from Saturday.

I bought a door and the best gross window you'll see for a total of $20. I also started having thoughts about pink batts and a floor.

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Taking the boxing off was neither fun nor easy. I think I got a bit hungry too, trying to reclaim the low boxing rather than just leaving it be. I really want to be finished inside 2 months, and I’m going to try and work to that now.

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20 concrete bricks. I just might have enough!

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You’ll be surprised. And I was.

We were all done by 10:41. Awesome. With a big crowd at it, we ripped out the filling of the foundation real fast. The boxing held – sort of. There was one point where things went a bit ashtray, and we made some hasty repairs.

At one point I looked around at the people who were helping and knew that they all were very careful people, who would make things to exact specifications. I made the call “I’m the only person here who would be happy with the quality of this foundation.” Paul Peterson claimed he’d be happy with it too. This made me feel better.

To be honest, I’m not really happy with it – but it will do. I expect that it will perform perfectly adequately, but it is not flush. In order to make a better job of it I would have needed to make the boxing much tighter. And that would have cost money – I used the materials I had on hand, but they weren’t great. The stakes weren’t great, and some of the boxing was buckled. It will do.

I really enjoyed it today, having heaps of people round, in good spirits, working on a common task. Thanks for coming guys, I appreciate it. Mum bought some tea and pikelets out near the end which were appreciated.

I made one brick with the tover concrete, and it looks real good. There is a bit of aggregate tover, and a bag and a half of cement. I reckon I might make this into bricks. Hopefully there will be enough for 40 odd, cause then I will use them to make a layer of bricks at the bottom of the structure, touching the foundation. Concrete bricks will be waterproof, and I reckon that will be a good feature. If there is moisture inside the structure, it will pool down on the foundation before leaking out between a gap in the bricks. Hence if this part was waterproof, it would be better.

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Dave came around early and we assembled the reinforcing. Later on, at Dave's instruction, I smacked a few more stakes in. I also fitted 4 pipes for ventilation - I hope you're happy now Justin.

I had planned to make a few bricks too, but it started to rain. I don't know whether the rain will have an effect on our concrete laying tomorrow, if it continues.

Dave and I made a small mistake fixing the stirrups to the reinforcing rods. I think I enjoyed it more than he did.

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The foundation has been boxed. Leighton stopped by and dropped off some more boxing, and some stakes. I got a couple of pieces of boxing up by myself early on but it was tough going, and I soon became frustrated. Dave stopped by, and with two of us at it it was much easier. When Dave left I banged the bracing stakes back in (we’d pulled them out because they were in the way) and pulled the boxing into line.

If you fire a nail gun and the wood splits, the nail will travel further than it would otherwise. It your finger is there, the nail will cut it.

Dave regularly tripping over the reasonably visible fence wires provided some entertainment today.