Stone

Funny, the title of this blog is "Stones and words and words and stones" and I can not remember ever writing about stone.
So, today I was headed out to dabble in my favorite hobby, my other creative outlet, and realized I had no cement. I had sand, it's been riding around in the truck for weeks, but the half bag of portland was still in the garage where I hastily shoved it when it began to rain a week or three ago. This means a trip to the Depot, where I grabbed a bag of masonry cement, a new mixing tub (my old one has holes and is on another job), and a new tool box saw 'cause I needed it.
To the job, which is a mix of wonderfulness. An Eagle Scout project on a 150 year old wall at a church! I arrive, grab the iPod, and head to the back of the truck to mix mortar. Three to one, if anyone ever needs to mix mortar, three sand to one cement, no matter the type, and you will be fine. If you want stronger, less sand. Masonry cements have lime premixed, so it is much more workable than portland and sand. For laying stone, use concrete sand, especially on old wall repairs.
Mortar mixed I head to the passenger side of the truck to grab my tool bag. #$&U#@. Wrong bag. No masonry tools...tools for paver patios and sidewalks (a brick hammer), and a bunch of 12 inch spikes, but no trowels or pointing tools. This is a problem.
Then I realized that all those tools might not have been used when this particular wall was originally built, so I winged it! Digging in my truck I found a short ice scraper, which I used as a trowel and a clean wooden paint stirrer that worked fine as a flat slicker.
It all worked out well,  but I sure need to get my head around the things I need to take with me in the morning!