Masonry is Interesting

Back in May my father and I made a trip down to Home Depot, as we often have throughout my life. My dad is good at making things and I am good at breaking them. On this particular adventure, he decided he was going to build a ramp up to the shed so that he could drive the tractor inside so it would be protected from the Winter weather here in the East Tennessee mountains. To say I was less than thrilled to drive 600 pounds of concrete mix and several concrete blocks home is a gross understatement. I was pissed. He should have just hired someone to do his little project and it would have been completed months ago.

Now in mid-October, the concrete mix and blocks were still sitting untouched where I had unloaded them the first time. The tractor is sitting in the area where I want to build my chicken coup. Insert selfish motivation here<-. I have been researching chickens; the breeds, the best egg layers, which ones can stand the cold and heat, and I discovered you can buy day old chicks and have them shipped right to your door. All of this excites me, as does the idea of knowing where my eggs come from and the idea of hatching my own baby chicks like I did as a kid. I found an incubator at the Tractor Supply store and I am so tempted to buy it!

In order to be able to build a coup, I needed to find a new home for the tractor. The knowledge I have of mixing and pouring cement comes from walking by someone as they pull the lever and it comes out of the machine and is spread like icing and then allowed to cure or bake as I prefer to see it as. It can't be that hard, right? Well, I was in over my head. The concrete blocks that were to be used to cut down on the amount of cement needed weighed at least 50 pounds each. They had to be arranged just right, and that was a huge project in itself. I had planned on waiting for one of my gentleman friends to come visit before I started this but my dad had other ideas. Next thing you know, I was throwing around 60 pound bags of Sakrete like I had been doing it all my life. Two days into this project I have mixed 1200 pounds of concrete by hand and am almost done with this ramp building project. I went back to Home Depot and purchased the necessary items for finishing the project which included lots more Sakrete, several more half blocks of concrete and, 150 pounds of play sand. I definitely took some time out to build a castle and write someone a note.

I overheard my father on the phone this morning, relaying the story of how he couldn't believe that his little princess who doesn't even like to vacuum was out there building this concrete ramp. It made me laugh. I really, really want these chickens, so as it stands I am 240 pounds of concrete away from being able to start my chicken coup. Tonight I will have a glass of wine and a long bubble bath. I love knowing I really can do anything, and my daddy is proud of me.