Finished the base in between thunderstorms today. Took about 4x as long as I estimated. This should be no surprise - I always underestimate... I don't know if that's because I'm optimistic or naive. Probably the latter... Anyway, 4 busted drill bits,one busted rivet tool and two weekends and now I'm mostly done with the base.
Now on to getting those hyperboloid ribs bent. That's the last big thing on the "to do" list.
btw, the ravens have fledged. The three young ones and two adults sit in a snag overhead and advise me on how to proceed with their squarks. Yes, they must be my totems.
Here's a picture of the base. It's a bit shiny at the moment but half an hour on the playa will cure that!
Seamstress extraordinare Carla brought the outer petals by today and they all fit perfectly! Not close - perfectly!! Thanks, Carla!! and btw, the inner petals that are being reused were sewn by Carla for our 2009 project.
This is such a huge help, not only to have Carla's help on the actual sewing but it's a huge psychological lift too since I'm sagging a bit on the energy after spending most weekends and even most weekday evenings on the project for several months now. The good news is that the predictable energy sag is coming with plenty of time left (as opposed to August on past projects when I still had lots to do and little time left). I need a couple more good weekends to finish most of the remaining work. Things are really coming together and it finally feels like summer after a very wet and snowy, cold,windy spring.
