Well, I didn’t see that coming…we lost two full days to weather, and yet the West saw the placement of the first few blocks of the 31st course. Though the other main walls have a long way to go to catch up, seeing one wall attain this height makes for a real sense of progress. But to get there, first the scaffolding had to go up.
Last week we saw the scaffolding lying in the grass:
By the end of Monday, here were the remains:
Everything else went up to make a third level all around:
And inside:
And the other side:
And then…nothing for two days.
Fortunately the weather broke our way Thursday and Friday, and here is the result of those two days of work, inside:
and outside:
Here’s more of an overview:
Now that we’ve reached the bottom course of the windows, we need some special blocks to frame the windows. A mason brings these special blocks one at a time from the field:
And now the block, one polished face/two polished ends, is put into place:
In the above you can see two things: (1) the masons measuring carefully to ensure that the blocks defining the window frame are properly placed, and (2) the fact that the windows are at the approximate eye-level of a person standing on the porch of the house. This means it will be possible to see through the clerestory windows, giving the Music Room an air of transparency, despite its massively thick walls. I can’t wait to see that effect!
The block, in its final position:
Let’s hope that the forecast of good weather next week holds and that a second wall can rise up to this level (or at least get a good running start)…