A section of the second course

Wabi-sabi is moving slowly but surely towards completing our urbanite foundation for the kitchen. I’ve gotta say… stacking stone is one of the things I’d really love to learn well with an experienced builder. Granted, urbanite and stone are different animals (and stone comes in many shapes and forms itself), but I often stumble over what is “good enough” when it comes to stacking the material. I have a good handle on what is “acceptable” but still — there are so many cases when you sacrifice one thing for another if you just can’t make the perfect fit or find the exact right piece. How to balance that is something I’d love to learn more about…

Anyway, we’ve got 90% of the second course stacked and mortared with our sand/lime mix, and about half of the third course stacked and waiting for mortar. We have to go for yet another run to the yard to pick up more material — this will be the fourth trip with a truck and trailer to haul back a couple more tons of busted concrete. Yow! We’re really eating it up.

Third course awaiting mortar

I’ll be happy once the foundation is done. It’s not that we’ve spent a lot of time working on it, but we have an inconsistent schedule with all of the other projects each of us is working on. Usually we work on it one or two days a week, depending on the weather, as well.

Nice place to nap?

We made a small extension on the trench on the SE corner of the site. We dug out the trench two feet wider to build a sort of tiny east-facing vestibule (“eastibule”) — or an airlock, similar to the addition I am building on the house. It’s a space big enough for two doors to open opposite each other, where you can take off your shoes and hang coats in winter.

The "eastibule" foundation

Once we get our last load and put in a few more days on the foundation, I reckon it will be done… and then…. timberframing.