Slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y, s...l.....o......

This job is the slowest-moving tile work I’ve ever done. I am not using the standard thin-set mortar to stick the tiles down, but rather a slow-setting mastic. It can take a day and a half for this stuff to finally get hard enough that you can walk normally on the tiles without shifting them. So, the project started with the large tiles, then the tiny border tiles, then the inner green glass tiles, then the outer ring of glass tiles. Finally, this morning’s contribution was the outermost rectangular tiles.

Why did I put the very small tiles down before the inner ring of green glass tiles? Well, in order to make things come out square and lined up correctly, I just had to do it that way. It took LOTS of measuring and cross-checking to get them placed accurately. Especially since the innermost tiles, the big ones, weren’t laid exactly square! Dang! It’s been awhile since I laid tile and I was rusty already. Oh well, it’s going to look just fine (and anyone coming up the walkway with a framing square hidden behind their back will be sent away without supper).

Tomorrow we will go back to Creative Tile in Fresno (the best tile store on this little planet!) and get tiles to surround this central pattern. We haven’t decided yet what the color will be, just that they will be darker in color.

To the right of the picture, you can see the bat excluder plugged into the power outlet. Reader Susan in Australia suggested that I get this kind of bat repeller. I got it a couple of days after ordering from Amazon, plugged it in, and said farewell to bats! It works great! (Greatly?) Thank you Susan!