today we are masons

Today we felt like starting the oven, so we did. We scooped a friend's cement mixer and got going. The oven was going to be rectangular, but we decided circles are nicer, so we built a round wall for the base. The gap in the front is where the fire box will be built. The cinder blocks sitting in seemingly random places within the walls are to support the wonder board which will in turn support the zonolite insulation layer which will be below the layer of insulating bricks. I think the photo shows it pretty well. Hey! There's a block missing in the top row! Oh, just a second, thats where the heated air goes out and up to the chimney.

As I said before, if that was clear as mud, you'll just have to check back tomorrow to see how it goes. Actually, hopefully tomorrow we will be helping mill the peeled logs. Our construction crew may even be back on Monday to start putting up the posts, purlins (did you remember this word from yesterday?), beams, and roof!

A quick tip for budding masons: Paul discovered that you can get really smooth joints if you lick them.

A tip for all - you can view the photos larger if you click on them. After checking out a large picture, click "back" to come back to the blog.