another big pour

This weekend the Palmer House team braved the hot and humid weather to complete the concrete pour for the second backyard planter. Like the first one, we are building a short curb to lay the bricks on top of. Ryan and his dad had spent a lot of time getting the form work built so the concrete will be nice and level.

We started prepping for the pour around 9am and after an hour we were already sweating buckets in the sun. It must have been around a 100-degree heat index. It was SO humid! Ryan and Ben finished prepping the form work and surface while Christina and Katherine constructed another one of their snazzy wheelbarrow ramps so we could access the far side of the planter.

By the time the concrete truck came around 1pm, we were ready to spring into action. (Literally, we sprang because they charge by the minute.) It was like a relay race! Here are some action shots:

 

It was so hot that the concrete started drying out while we were still working with it which made it a bit difficult to smooth out. But all in all it went pretty well, and we are happy to be done with it. This should be the last big task that involves getting outside help – the rest will all be done by ourselves at our own pace. Yay!

In addition to the pour, we also put up one more fence panel. Our goal is to get one panel up roughly every weekend. This one helps to cover up more of the unsightly view of the empty lot next door.

At this point we've stained and installed all of the wood we have, so next weekend we are going to have to get some more. This week Ben will also be working on building the gate. There's so much more to do, but we are definitely seeing the vision come together a little bit every week. We can't wait until we can finally post that we are done with everything! Some day...