“Remember to look up at the stars, and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exists. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”
– Stephen Hawking
With Michael here, we have a couple of projects on the go. One of which is to build a wall around a well, which according to law should be 80cm high, which means four layers of bricks. The bricks (or cement blocks to be more precise) were delivered next to it, but the sand close to the house, as it is more than we need for the well wall. Instead of carting all the material and cement mixer to the building site, Michael mixes up a wheelbarrow of mortar at a time, which he then has to push roughly 400 metres to the well.
Our first task was to shovel and brush away all the dirt covering the top layer of stones forming the inside walls of the well. With that done, the next step was to mark out the height in a way that we could start the levelling process.
My job, as the unskilled labourer, was official stone collector and washer, as a lot of the stones we had to use came out of the soil when Tim, who does our cleaning work on the quinta for us, removed a while ago, when he levelled the land between sections close to the well. Michael, being the technical mind of all our hair brain schemes and projects, had the more difficult task of making sure we created a level platform from which to work.
As the spring days turned hot, we were grateful for a bit of morning shade. It was backbreaking work, but gave us the opportunity to talk, while working together on the same project. Once we more or less had a level, it was time to start on the first layer of bricks.
Instead of struggling with strings and levels, Michael decided to make use of his laser level. So we waited for the sun to inch close to the horizon before we set out with all the relevant paraphernalia to see what we could do. Unlike in South Africa or the UAE the transition between day and night is a slow process in which the light lingers in a band on the horizon long after the sun has dipped behind it. Not taking that into account, I was underdressed for the cold that settles around sunset, so while Michael was waiting for the laser beam to become visible, I headed back to the house.
A while later Michael came rushing back, telling me the laser level is working so well, he is going to mix up a batch of cement and lay the first bricks. An hour and a bit later he came back feeling happy with laying half the first layer of bricks, and so, we headed back out last night around 9pm to finish the bottom layer. This time I dressed warm, as I love having a reason to be outside at night, while he appreciated the company.
So while Michael did some night time building, I stared up at the night sky, searching for shooting stars. I only spotted one and pinned a wish on it, before I got distracted by a string of lights gliding through the sky like some sort of alien gloworm. Turns out it is part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX programme, called Starlink. I was mesmerised for what felt like at least two minutes, as a scene, straight out of a science fiction movie, played out in the night sky. It got me thinking about how life has moved us online with all it’s pros and cons . . .
Notes:
# If the above post makes no sense it is because I’ve been writing it with various glasses of wine, while Michael is busy putting together bits of the irrigation system we are installing. It is Sunday after all, so we are trying to combine pleasure with work.
Portuguese Words:
areia – sand
blocos – cement blocks
argamassa – mortar
noite – night
construir – build
Written by: Jolandi
Everything makes perfect sense. This laser levelling looks wicked, as the Musk thing in the sky must have looked too. Haven’t seen it yet. As above, so below. As over there, so over here. Cin cin! 🙂
Cin cin, Manja. I hope life will feel a bit normal in Italy in time for summer. I am definitely looking forward to a bit more freedom. Fingers crossed. – Jolandi
What a hard work! But I guess it’s all worth it and it’s for the future. Regards.
We trust it will be all worth it in the end, Evelyn. Our days are so full that I have time for none of my usual tasks at the moment. Take care. – Jolandi
I love the way you are using beer bottles to check the level, LOL
I love that you’ve spotted those, Gwen.
Trust a writer to have a sharp eye like that.
Best way ever to check the level. 🙂 – Jolandi
What a fabulous post, Jolandi! I love that you and Michael decided to work in the cool of the evening – laser levels are so useful and quick (unless you are in bright sunlight, as you discovered!) I’ve seen that trail of lights crossing the sky, too and I also get notification from NASA when the space station passes over which is equally fascinating. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/signup.cfm
I love the long twilight evenings in the summer and the early dawn.
Take care xx
Thank you, Clare. And thank you for that link too.
Michael loves his laser level, and it was a lot of fun to be out at night. The next row we should be able to do during the day, but we plan to do some night time building again for the third level. We are currently busy with our other big job, putting irrigation in for a planned orchard. I will write about that soon.
I’ve changed your subscription email, so please just let me know if you don’t get the post notifications.
Big hug. – Jolandi
The laser is so cool, and looks to make work easier for Michael. Your post makes perfect sense and how awesome to see Elon Musk’s Starlink. What a beautiful night to be outside. I can only imagine how happy you are to have Michael there for several weeks. Enjoy your time.
Take care,
Terri
Good luck getting it done!
Thank you, Tanja. Michael and a friend managed to finish it yesterday. What a relief to have that done. – Jolandi
Cool. Love the mix of old and new – water well + laser level! looking up at the stars + Elon Musk’s space craft! and the classic wine + writing! xxoo 😉
Like you say, Lani, a good mix of things. The well got finished through some day building, but I guess the night building was much more interesting and exciting. – Jolandi
I’m curious about the steps you took. You mentioned using stones from the land. Were they used to create the first level layer, to do the rest of the work on top of? Did you mortar the cleaned stones to the old stones, then top it with a flat layer of cement, to accommodate the bricks? That’s how it appears in the photos. I worked for a little while on a medieval castella, in Provence, and we used the medieval methods to rebuild the historic site. We were taught “dry wall” construction, which is how to build a permanent wall using only the strategy of placing stones in the right way, and then “wet wall” construction, which uses mortar. Ever since, of course, I have been interested in walls. Anyway, how cool to have a well like this on your land. It seems very romantic, compared to my well, which is invisible except for the pump and tank above it. I’m going to use Clare’s link and try to spot the space station and Starlink this summer. ~Crystal
I want a laser level! I have the old school kind, but the light in my apartment is so bad, I can’t see the “bubble” or read the darn tiny numbers on the measuring edge. As a result all of the pictures on my walls are comically crooked, like I hung them after downing a bottle of wine.
(And here’s to writing after a bout of drinking! The great American novelists of the 1920s and 30s were supposedly two-fisted drinkers, though I could never figure out how they got anything down on paper after a couple of whiskies. I once had to write a story on deadline after having a couple of glasses of Irish coffee with my photographer, and I could not stay focused. I finally banged out a six-paragraph story in four hours—it was midnight when I finally got off work. I decided not long after that newspaper writing was not for me, but I’m glad I can drink at home AND write when I feel like it!)
You will love a laser level, Hangaku! Michael thinks it is one of those things that he never knew he needed, until he bought one. He uses it for so many things, which also makes these jobs much easier than the old fashioned way of doing things.
I love your story about drinking and writing – made me giggle. When I was still a teacher, I used to tell my final year high school students that sometimes there test papers were so bad that I had to drink wine while marking them, otherwise they would all have failed. They never knew if they was supposed to believe me or not, but it always made them giggle. 😉 – Jolandi
I see one other reader has noted the two bottles of beer on the wall! I saw those immediately and thought what a relaxing way to build a wall in the cool of the evening. You two really are so resourceful! The well and its wall look great! By the way, I love all the vocabulary words you include at the end of your posts; it’s fun for me to compare them to Spanish and other languages.
I’m glad you like the vocabulary section, Lex. It is something I’ve seen years ago used on another blog, and I thought it was such an interesting idea that I decided it would be perfect for this blog.
Living here on the land is definitely forcing us to be resourceful, especially as there are so many people here selling themselves as builders, etc. but in reality have no clue. Better sometimes to do it ourselves, because if we muck up we only have ourselves to blame.
I love that you’ve also spotted the beer bottles. Best way to find that work-life balance. 😉 – Jolandi