During my first 55 years living in the city, working in an office, raising two hockey playing sons and one karate daughter, I had very little requirement for the knowledge or strength required for cement making. I had lots of talent for booking flights to Jakarta and baking chocolate chip banana cookies but very little experience in pouring concrete.
E spent his time before he lived here running drills on the ice and putting numbers in columns.
The plan was to get an early start on today’s project to be finished before the heat of the day. I am useless in the heat of the day…
E and I were going to pour concrete for the twelve footings we might need if we should ever decide to build a bunkie. Everything was set up and ready to go last night,
We started at 7:30. Later than expected, but a city girl, living off grid still has to drink her coffee.
We started with six bags of cement and a left over pile of navvy jack from the house reno. Our neighbours lent us their cement mixer. We finished with still extra navvy jack and two bags of cement. There is always a use for these items on the island and they will not go to waste.
3.5 hours later, we were finished and everything was tidied and put away..
Not bad for a city girl and an accountant
Off the Grid Islander 
Not bad at all! In fact, very good, just like all the other things you have accomplished and learned how to do since living “off the grid”!
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We’ve only needed cement to make a new anchor for the log boom that protects our float cabin. Fortunately there is a sandy beach (with nice sized pebbles mixed in) nearby so we used our cedar log float, a 55-gallong plastic barrel and lots of cement and sand hand mixed in a plastic tub. An old boom chain set inside gave us a perfect anchor point to attach our heavy duty rope. Fortunately we have a good friend to help us out. Wayne and I were also cityfolk without a lot of the skills needed to live out here. – Margy
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There is no deader weight than concrete weight. We HATE concrete and concrete hates us. But, you can’t live out here and not have to hand-mix and shovel-place the damn stuff every now and then. Bad guests and concrete – in a class by themselves.
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