Jeff started on the upper deck, chinking the narrow top joint at the roof line. Bob started on the joints at ground level. In this pic you can also see our pulley system Bob invented for lifting buckets of mortar.

Our staging area with 20 bags of Type S mortar mix. 20 was a conservative estimate, figuring one bag per joint along our 40ft. wall.

While the crew was chinking, Stephen and LouElla were playing in the mud puddles.

Lydia did a great job running the mixer and was quite consistent with her batches. We can only hope she's available for the next wall.

Bob pushes mortar into the lath with his fist. With the consistency similar to that of Play-Doh, the mortar held its shape well, and also cleaned up easily.

Later in the day, LouElla joined Jeff up top, following behind to patch over any exposed lath, smooth out the rough spots, and ensure the top and bottom edges of the chink line formed a tight seal against the logs.

Some of Bob's work at ground level.

This picture has it all - unchinked areas, freshly chinked areas and finished areas. To give the mortar a smooth finish and a concave profile, we simply used our hands.