21st August FONTE DOS CLERIGOS

Today we started out cementing.

Today the temperature reached 42°C!!!!!

We spent the morning organising ourselves; clearing out and sweeping the building (to be bedroom, bathroom and larder). Organising water close to the cement mixer; we had to attach a big hose pipe to the spout filling the top tank from the water pump, and pump water uphill to a couple of barrels; it worked but there was seeping water around the base of the spout at the water tank which was rather worrying – we’ll probably do it manually next time, and carry buckets of water to fill the barrels.

We started mixing concrete at 12 noon and worked for two hours; I have to admit I only mixed three lots of concrete but I was absolutely shattered and so, so hot. The mix was two buckets of chippings, one bucket of sand and ½ bucket of cement – I couldn’t physically lift the buckets of chippings or sand, so I had to measure then split the contents between two buckets (it was still bloody heavy). 

First job was constructing a concrete ridge down the centre of the room and levelling it; tomorrow we will fill in one side of the ridge, to the wall, so we should have half a floor (next day we fill in the other side). As this only took two mixes of concrete Brett thought, rather than waste all the setting up, he would start on the studio floor; he wheeled four mixes of concrete, 250 metres (from house to studio), in a wheelbarrow (I couldn’t even push it).

I spent the afternoon trying to cool down! I didn’t feel normal until about 8.00 when it had started to cool down a bit.

We invited Pam and Mark to dinner; they have been so busy organising their place, today they have ordered the plasterboard for their walls and insulation for their ceilings – they are determined to be living in their building by the time winter arrives.

Mark thinks the ‘wasp’ and spider, from yesterday, were a Tarantula wasp and a Tarantula (spider)!!!!!! Scary.

It was a beautiful evening; there was a crescent moon and so many stars – we could only name the Plough and the Milky Way.