Day Twenty Six

Working on the wall presents the challenges of
1. comfortably fitting and nipping pieces to fit niches in the layout and
2. handling the cement without getting overly messy.
     I haven't quite figured out the ideal thickness of the layer of cement I need to spread. If I spread it too thin the tile barely adheres and might drop off if I bump into it accidentally, and if I spread it too thick, when I press on the tile, the cement oozes up around the edges and I have to wipe it away. The grout has to have a groove to set into. I don't want bits of glue exposed. Also, although I tried to buy tiles of relatively uniform thickness, the variability is undeniable. A millimeter more or less makes a difference with the glue. The ideal is to have a little ledge ooze around the tile back into the gap, to create a mini-ledge, but not to have it ooze beyond the surface. Fat chance. I have taken to dabbing with my damp towel to remove the excess ooze and smoothing out blobs with my fingers. Once the tiles have set an hour or so, I go back and wipe a bit more. The cement is still able to be wiped off, but the tiles don't shift much. I hope in a day or two I will have the cement spreading perfected!

     The nipping now is working fine after an uncomfortable hour with the ladder set up too high and my crouching in awkward postures that made me feel old and put my feet to sleep. I readjusted our special ladder (a Milos purchase from years ago) that can be locked into a few different configurations, and I procured boards from Milos to lay across the supports. I was able to set my cutting box on one ledge and I can sit on the opposite side or stand on the boards, stand on the steps or wherever I need to be to reach the area I am working on. The set-up blocks the entrance and I have to squeeze around to maneuver in and out of the room, but once I am ensconced, I am very happy. I like the way I created the square motifs today with the red glass circles. I also finished setting in the light green and gray rays in the white banding. I had the windows open and the air smelled of lilac and honeysuckle. I listened to the radio, but soon tired of the trials and tribulations of economic and environmental degradation. I put in a tape from the Chatham Library - witty English garden stories.
    I wanted to lay strips of bright green, but found the cutting too painstaking and difficult without hand tile cutters - this necessary tool has yet to arrive by UPS.