Pouring the Forms

(Actually Sunday) 68 degrees, cooler with times of spitting rain.  Mosquito count down to almost zero per cubic yard.

The weather forecast at first looked good for Sunday but it turned out to be difficult to work in even though I was protected from some of the rain with the trees above.  The first order of business was to get the stone packed around the large roots of the tree and then to use pieces of wood from one of the pallets to build a foundation form.  Then I poured the concrete into the form and let it set until Lauren came by and decided to write her name and her sister's name with a small stick.

Form completed and filled with concrete.

Cute

I then worked on the back wall and the side of the foundation that faces the brick pad.  This completes the height of the foundation for three of the sides and I was also able to put in two more anchor bolts before finishing today.  I used two bags of mortar and three bags of concrete cement and one additional bag of stone and it turned out to be a productive day despite the drizzle.

Photographer - Lauren with umbrella.

My god, stand up strait.

Good enough.

Mortar was used to fill in the joints and to set the block.

Oh, and the best part of the day was when Lauren surprised me by bringing me a hot tea with cream and sugar when I was really getting cold and tired.  I can't believe that we had temperatures in the 90's recently and now it is in the upper 50's and lower 60's.

Warm tea and the sun was coming out!!!

By the way - I'm using an old book from the 70's that I believe was a Christmas gift to me that describes how to build a house.  That book along with what Mr. Briggs and Mr. Bowen taught me in high school woodworking, drafting and architecture classes and the Internet should provide me with the little knowledge that I need to put this project together.  I found a great source on the FineHomeBuilding website that is a series of videos on YouTube that does a great job explaining how to frame a house - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqM7ekLfSmA. I'm sure I will be calling my father-in-law soon to discuss some of the finer points of framing as the foundation nears completion.