8.11.2016

Whew...It was a hot day today!  For the first time I remember since we've been here, there is a heat advisory out until tomorrow evening.  Typically, we don't get a lot of real humid days but this is certainly the exception.  The heat index was over 100 degrees today!  The heat advisory said that elderly people and people who work in the sun should take precautions - yikes!  That's us - we're old and work in the sun - ha!

The day didn't start out so great - Jim drove his other 4Runner home last night and the battery was dead this morning.  This is the same battery that Sears said was just fine when I took it in last fall.  I had to take Jim to the property and then come back and make lunch before heading back out.  Heading back to Sears will be on my to do list in the morning!

Jim had a lot of prep work to do - we're now turning the corner on the carriage house!  Jim had to power wash this area and then do the marking.

Jim cut some of the block in half to use underneath the overhang area.  Plus he cut a lot more of the stubby bricks for the last rows.



Stairs are looking amazing - unfortunately, Jim needs to get more lumber for the treads.  He has to get it from the lumber yard - we may just make do to get the landing poured.

Before lunch, we moved all the trim boards from outside and restacked them inside the shop.  These are heavy pieces so we could only take a few at a time.  We were drenched with sweat by the time we were done with this job!

 

During lunch, we took the box truck out again to go and pick up Jim's steel order from the cold-formed steel place.

Then it was time to get ready for mortar!

We started in the front - this is the last row of full bricks in this area!

Last full brick!

Putting up the first half block...

Since we're turning the corner, we had to cut some membrane pieces just to keep mortar from falling behind the dimple board.  (Note the ever-present bottle of water!)

Turning the corner with the first brick on this side...

 

Working around the side.  You would think working on the ground would be easier, but it was actually kind of tough.  Everything was awkward plus Jim practically had to stand on his head to make sure things were level!

Last full brick on this area!

Then we started back with the last row of stubby bricks...

Jointing...

Cleaning up...

A few end-of-the-day pictures...

Jim even got some grass cut at the end of the day.  A lot accomplished on such a draining day.  We were glad to get home...even though it's a balmy 86 degrees in the apartment!

 

High 91/Low 70