29th Febuary – Brick by Brick
The night was as cold as expected but rewarded us with spectacular views of the himalayan mountains during sunrise. While we were getting a better view from the local stupa the hospital/village dog joined us. He took he favourite place that he comes to in the morning and evening and gave us a quick yoga lesson, strechting and yawning into the morning air
Even before we got breakfast Dhan Dhoj was there and helped us with preparinig the counstruciton site. His eagerness carries on through the entire day. Three layers of refractory bricks before and four layers after lunch. Each one takes about one hour to lay. Since this piece is the heart of the entire project precision is key. The layers have to ensure a in all directions equidistant inner burning chamber as well as a level top. The joints can’t be too small nor too big. Each stone has to be set, the entire layer corrected and all joints stuffed with cement. It can take a while but will last longer.
In the early afternoon Norbert showed up with entourage of people. Two of them were an additional bricklayer and a welder. They will learn how implement a project of our kind with all consturctions and surrounding organization. Even though things got more komplex with 6 other people standing around the site, talking and asking questions we stayed focused and finished the day with a beautiful tenth layer using the last crumbs of mortar of the day. Our other bricks and metal did not arrive though…Without them consturction can not commence beyond the last two layers of our heart of bricks. Here goes for hoping!
Sunny greetings from Bolde,
Arne and Henning