I am blessed with a wonderful, hard working crew. Our days are filled with lots of laughs and joking. Simply put, the crew cares for each other and it shows the whole day through. Tasks are shared, jobs sometimes switched to make sure everyone does the less liked duties. They do it without even being asked.
Today, we had some big goals to accomplish. Despite the cool temperatures this morning they suited up and worked hard to attach the diamond lath to the structure. It's a tough job with warm hands, miserable when it is cold. Before we broke for lunch we had realized our first goal and it was time to lift the lighthouse mountain into the trailer. After a safety talk on heavy lifts everyone donned their hard hats and the exciting job of lifting the piece onto the trailer began.
After lunch we had another safety meeting about operating our concrete paddle mixer. Then it was fired up and the mudding began. Today's second goal was to apply and carve the tree and rocks. It was ambitious. I had to leave for a little more than an hour in the mid afternoon to set the post bases in the freshly poured concrete up at the work site.
When I got back from my task up at the lake the crew had made great progress. Together we worked on each portion. Jenessa did an awesome job with the carving of the tree while everyone else worked on the many rocks and also carved the wood grain into the massive timbers on the big sign face.
The sun was quickly setting and our normal quitting time rolled by. Each of the crew stayed on for a little overtime, peeling off as they needed to. TJ and I stayed the longest to make sure the rocks were smooth and the cleanup done. The giant piece seemed to grow even larger as it slowly morphed from see-through mesh to a solid form.
Tomorrow we'll finish off the concrete and then apply the needed texture. Friday morning the huge piece is to be transported up to the lake and installed. It will be a landmark day!
Stay tuned...
-grampa dan