I Scream You Scream We All Scream for …………….Mortar?

Saturday 10/17: This morning the winter coats were brought out from the closet and the hot water and coffee were utilized by more than just the usual coffee drinkers. Today we poured the concrete walls over the top of the oven. Deb & Steve where manning the cement mixer and they couldn’t keep up with the skillful cement workers.  It seemed like we would just get the cement mixed and in the buckets and the call for more mortar would come. We started the day with a truck bed full of buckets of mortar to be mixed and we used all but one. The correct recipe of water and mortar seemed to elude us at times but trial and error helped us get it correct by the end. In the pictures it looks like Tracy might be blessing the oven but she is actually dampening the mortar as Jeff & Charles smooth out the top layer. All hands that weren’t working with cement where utilized to pound on the wooden forms to help to get the air bubble out of the mortar as the next layer was added. We worked a longer day on the 10/17 so we took a lunch break with food that was supplied by Sandy, Norma, Bob & Tracy. We were all grateful for the meal and the fellowship that we shared. At the end of the day we had the 6 inches of concrete around the oven chamber.