And From the Highways and the Byways....

Helen S is perfecting the art of grouting.

That's my foot there trying to keep a little ahead of Helen.

We're collecting helpers from passers-by.

This is Danny.

And this is Destiny from Chicago.

And this family was just passing by.

They live in Israel and see a lot of mosaics but the dad said,

"I've never seen anyone actually working on one!"

He took some photos and we put them to work for the

short time they had.

They filled in a little gap with a fish!

 

The cardboard with the patterns on them

are piling up as we install the artwork.

And once again, it was a good day in the Rain Garden.

A Special Kind of Yoga....

The new yoga positions...

 

 

We do take a lunch break,

 and rest a little.

And Sarah brought her massage chair this day to help relieve the aches.

Here's some of what we accomplished this day:

The grout is called "Truffle".

It's pretty dark but it pops the colors and blends others.

One wave panel is grouted.

It was a good day in the Rain Garden.

 

Progress!

The leftover thin set from the day before hardened in the big pail

and was nearly impossible to get out.

So Pastor Luisa jumped on it to get it to drop out...

...and it worked!!!

Now we can mix up a new batch of thin set using

Nolans electric drill and the mixer bit from Dennis.

That drill mixer bit sure made the job easier! Thanks Nolan! Thanks Dennis!

We "buttered" the backs of the artwork to adhere to the

"buttered" concrete.

This is Pastor Patrick working away.

As Pr. Patrick worked,

the rest of the crew were hunching, squatting and bending to

attach and clean each piece.

We had a great group Tuesday.

Workers HARD at work.

We ultimately completed waaay more than we expected.

Here's the piece still in the rough - no grout yet.

 A little closer look:

Stepping down from the cistern...

Mallards landing and floating...

 Water, water everywhere!

 

 What a great day in the Rain Garden!

 

Aaaaaaand We're Off!!!!!!!!!!

The day was crisp, bright and WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Cow - we were hanging on to everything,

holding stuff down with rocks

 

Got our nice clean gloves,

 ....100 pounds of thin set,

 .....sponges, tile floaters, scissors, nippers and such.

 Nolan power washed, Cloroxed and power washed again the cement box at the top.
Jay put on his work gloves and helped to move rocks out of the concrete box.

 The extra boxes worked perfectly for ground cover and also table cover.
 Pastor Patrick Cabello Hansel and Pastor Luisa Cabello Hansel
worked along-side Pam and Helen - alternating between them and Ann and me.

 

Pastor Luisa and Helen laid the first tile on the concrete.

 

We caught Ann lying down on the job

 

Luisa and Ann are in a huddle at the top of the trough.

 

We even got Joy N. to "stand on her head" for the cause.

Dental tools are used to clean out the thin set that has oozed through the back.

Helen found a moment to chat on the phone.

 We did some major work today. Helen wisely wore her knee pads. Smart gal.

The final four.

 

It was a great day in the Rain Garden.

Finished Up And Ready To Install

It looks so empty in the Mosaic Studio

And the glue pots are used up.

We glued the last piece in a couple of Fridays ago

and took a whole week off.

The panels are stacked up and ready to install this coming week.

Here are the water waves:

 

And here are the flower gardens:

 

Holy Cow! We are sooooo ready to install.

I think this Monday and Tuesday are going to be sunny and dry.

Come and check on us.

Bring some rubber gloves and join in the fun if you like.

 

It's been a good year in the Mosaic Studio.

Another Sarah Quilt

Once again the flying quilter fingers of Sarah produced this beautiful quilt.

This one went to Randy who has been enjoying the Mosaic Studio

 and making fish and ducks.

We really miss him in the studio since his bicycle accident,

 so Sarah made this for him.

The rest of us helped to tie the layers together so we can say we had a hand in it.

 

Looks kinda mosaic-ey, doesn't it?

 

There's another one Sarah made for Ann when her mom died.

It's really pretty too - but I forgot to take a photo of it.

I'll show you later when I take the photo. 

 

The mosaic studio is stocked with talented folk

and it's always a good week in the Mosaic Studio.

Finishing Up.

Ann's mallard duck panel is FINISHED!!! Look how beautiful it is.

Ann's masterpiece is the mallard on the left.

Helen's masterpiece is the floating mallard with the chicks.

Sarah finished the duck Randy was working on. It's a beautiful duck.

There are two areas that we're thinking need a little tweaking but I'm not going to tell you where.

You can see if you know the difference when it's installed.

I know - I love games.

 

Betsy and I worked on this one.

It's going to be the step down from the concrete box at the top of the trough.

 

Lucky us! We had a visit from Isabel, Sarah's niece. And boy did she work on the mosaic for us.

Below is her lovely flower burst - we might have to let her take that one home since the

Children's Flower Garden is finished - and all other flower gardens as well.

 I think it's a direct copy of Isabel's beautiful, happy face.

Here's a closer look:

Then she made a fish for the Community of fish.

And then another!!!!

And then ANOTHER!!!

We didn't have a spot for this one - the C of F was filled.

So. She can take this sunset one home too!

That helped us finish up the spaces in Cori's panel.

Isabel did a really lovely job. Glad she came...all the way from Iowa.

 

Here is Cori's panel of the Community of Fish.

Can you find your fish if you made one?

  It's been a good week in the Mosaic Studio.