Masonry musings

I love to watch a great mason at work. There is something that is purely art about this particular building skill, and (for anyone who has ever tried to repoint their own bricks) it's like magic to watch someone with actual talent put bricks or stones together.

Lloyd is interviewing masons. We are trying to make a masonry fireplace that a) doesn't cause the heat to fly up the chimney, b) looks old fashioned but works new fashioned, and c) doesn't cost the moon. This is more tricky than you'd think. Not least, we'd like a two flue chimney so we can have a small fireplace on the east porch. It's one of our extravagances, like having two sinks in the girls' bathroom, that we would prefer not to lose to our always-tightening budget. So far, Lloyd has met one. He has another mason meeting tomorrow. Then, the decision will need to be made. And it will be hard for us, again, to make a choice that means someone won't get a job that they may need.