I've just finished three days of hard physical labour, and woe is me I'm KNACKERED!
I was so tired when I got back home earlier today (yesterday by the time this is scheduled for) that I ALMOST swapped 500 000 DEC rather than pooling it, and that would have been a somewhat sub-optimal end to an already brutal day.
I hadn't planned for this to happen BTW. Being almost 50 and not historically used to whole days of physical work I tend to limit myself to 4 hours, but I've done more than that the last couple of days, it's just the way it's turned out, but it's been good, honest!
Sunday - bootcamp and Cobb Flooring
Sunday I helped out laying a cob floor - lots of tramping, a bit of lugging and the kneeling and spreading cob too, and that was after a morning bootcamp circuit session which was harder than usual, my legs felt that the following day....
Monday - roofing part 1
I thought the guy doing my roof was going to turn up with an extra labourer, but he came solo, and so that extra labourer ended up being me!
My job for yesterday being to help strip the roof of all the tiles, which involved a lot of up and down scaffolding and then lugging them to stack.
That was after having to lug all the scaffolding and tools 100 meters up quite a steep slope as my alternative access path, or rather field had been ploughed recently and so was, well, more of a field, rather than an access track, but there you go!
We got the roof stripped and finished quite early, but it was still a good five hours!
Tuesday - roofing part 2
Now call me a big hairy wuss (however you spell that?!?) if you like but my job for today I found more knackering than yesterday...
It was to strip some plastic protective wrapping off of 7 bits of 6 metre long, metre wide chappas roofing (while the professional builder got on with prepping the roof supports, something I couldn't really help with) and this may not sound knackering, but trust, me FUCKING PLASTIC!
I managed 13 out of the 14 sides (yes it's on both sides) before I lost the will and called it a day.
Oh it was fine when it started off nicely and peeled off as a whole meter wide strip in one pull, which it did for about 2 of the sides, but the rest.... it just kept splitting and so my day was one of constantly stopping, leaning over, scratching off small bits of plastic and then pulling again.
Possibly today's exhaustion comes more from the fact that this task was so soul destroying rather than brutally physical, that was NOT FUN!
There was a bit more general lugging around of materials today too - you can't really avoid it on 2.5 HA of land when your access road is 100 metres away from your house!
Final thoughts - back in balance pacing myself...
I am exaggerating a little, I've probably done about 4-6 hours of actual work every day, but that's ENOUGH for my old bones which aren't used to it!
And it's actually been quite nice having a bit more balance to my life... getting out on the land(s) and working with the old hands and less time online.
I've been careful to put off other physical tasks - so I've held off chainsawing for example, and any major tidying, well except for a load of washing I now need to hang up....
Then it's an early night, tomorrow (or today as this is scheduled for the early hours of tomo!) is day four, and that's the heavy lifting day when (I hope) we finally get the chappas up on the roof.
Bring it on!
I love it. I've lived in a city for so long where there's not much opportunity for real outdoor labor. Certainly something I'm blessed to not HAVE TO do but its great to get a little in every now and then. In a few years I'd love to build a house on the beach in Mexico and I want to try to do most of it myself. At least the stuff I can't screw up too badly lol.
Best way to do it is employ a builder and work alongside them....
You'll make your money back for sure!
I admire your hard work and I wish that in the future I could maybe learn some tricks in matters of building, and contribute to the making of my own house. What a dream.
Take time also to rest properly and to stretch your body before and after working, so It won’t hurt that much after doing so much.
Regards!
Hey cheers, that's all good advice, and it's great learning new skills!
!PIZZA
Sounds like you got your hands full man, I'm glad to see that you're going through with that plan of yours you mentioned months (or maybe a year?) ago. Looking forward to the updates!
Hey good to hear from you - it's taken a while that's for sure, but I'm back on it!
!PIZZA
Uuu cob! Cob houses are pretty awesome, you did quite a lot of work, I can imagine that your are just done done done hahah. You should reward yourself with a day at a spa or with something super relaxing
'done, done, done' is about right, after a day of heavy lifting.
It was quite gratifying that the pro builder was also tired at the end of the day, but then again he did do a lot more than me.
I had a bath after, that's my spa!
Hahaha! A bath and not a shower? Now this is a real treat in the fast era that we are living. You know, I actually enjoy a bath too instead of a quick shower . There is so much silence and time for thinking while you soak.
A bath is one of my favourite things!
NB I do like a spa, I used to be a member of this swanky health club - steam, sauna, pool, outdoor and indoor lounging areas, I could kill 2 hours in there no problem!
Showers too, yes!
Hot water in general, big fan, and don't even get me started on natural hot springs!
Natural hot springs.....Aaaaaa.....Remember how Homer used to react when he thought about beer?
Replace the mug with a hot spring and bubbles ....
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