Bellingham Bread Oven Brick Oven Photos Discuss Bellingham Bread Oven in the Good Background Information forums; Maver, I have not been doing anything for the last few weeks except trying to keep my head above water. ...

[janprimus]

Maver, I have not been doing anything for the last few weeks except trying to keep my head above water. I was just in Arizona for the last several days and it is still too damn hot there. I also missed my one chance to go to Pizzzeria Bianco. Oh well, next time...

[maver]

I'm also finding it tough to find time, but I've been in town, just getting squeezed with work. I'm slowly completing my scratch coat of stucco and have my counter in place, although it needs to be leveled and set on mortar. Then it needs to be sealed.

I had a go at making mozzerella for the first time last night but my starter (buttermilk) did not really take off and it became too sour before I could get a clean break - more on that in another post later.

[Royal Fe]

Chad, How's the project coming along?
Duke

[jengineer]

Chad has probably been driven indoors until spring. The tempertures this week, if you can believe the data I got, says the daytime highs have been a brisk 38 F and there is a slight chance of rain.

[maver]

I'm in roughly the same climate as Chad, although he is a bit more north and probably a tad colder. It has not been good weather for masonry. We've had an unusually cold winter in the northwest (for us) - just the past few days has it has reached the low 40's during the day. I've not done any masonry for about 2 months. But who's complaining - the skiing has been great!

[janprimus]

I have been hiding out. My apologies for no news, but things are just fine. I have not done much of anything since october. Who wants to mix mud in the rain anyway? I did get out this last weekend and filled the spaces between the top of the walls and the counters. I also did some acid washing to get rid of haze and drips that were dirtying up the surface of my wall. The longer you let it sit, the harder even the haze gets. I was in for a lot of scrubbing, but it looks great. The few places I found with spots that did not want to "wash" off I used another brick to give it a bit of a scratch and that took the offending bits here and there right off. I will post pics soon.
Chad

[maver]

Hey Chad, glad to hear from you again. The way the weather has been I'm guessing I'm still about a month away from mixing mortar again. Once you get going I'm interested to see your progress, particularly what you've worked out for your chimney.

Marc

[janprimus]

I actually mixed mortar last Saturday and did some more rock work on the dome. It is pretty slow going as the smaller stones require a lot of joint raking and such. It is actually very cool because I get to work on a more artistic level and work on a look that is appealing to me at least. Spring is here, the lilacs are blooming, as have the camellias and the trees are leafing out all over the place. It is a beautiful time of year in Bellingham. The rains are still kind of iffy, but life moves on inexorably! You can almost hear the grass grow. It is rather frightening really... ;-)
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Waterfall_maybe.jpg
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Swimming.jpg
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/chad/Round%20back.jpg
This is all I got accomplished Saturday afternoon . I started late and finished fairly early though so...

[maver]

Great to have you back on the forum. I continue to admire your design. The weather has been ready (no longer as cold at night) for us for a few weeks, but my schedule has not cooperated to allow me to finish my exterior brick work yet.

[janprimus]

Originally Posted by maver

Great to have you back on the forum. I continue to admire your design. The weather has been ready (no longer as cold at night) for us for a few weeks, but my schedule has not cooperated to allow me to finish my exterior brick work yet.

Maver, I get a giggle when you talk about my design, it is really more a lack of design that makes it fun for me although I do get the beauty in order, straight lines and all. My buddy Todd commented that it looked like there wasn't a straight line in the whole thing. I informed him that the foundation and counters are absolutely level. That being said, there is nothing even remotely straight about the rest of it. I was a carpenter for many years and certainly have the ability to make things as tight and ordered as can be, but it is not required here so I am being a bad boy... Hence the Devil.