A bit of Cosmetic Work

Today my dad gave me a bit of a hand to start building a retaining wall at the back of the oven. This will become a herb garden where I can grow basil for my margherita pizzas.

I used the left over mortar to tidy up the outside of the dome. Because I'm not that fussy about how I split the bricks when making the dome, there was a few divots that needed filling up. There was also one small gap in the dome that I noticed smoke escaping from when I fired the oven up again last night. A screed of mortar has fixed that up. Now I've got a reasonably smooth dome ready for the insulation to be laid over.

I've learnt abit about applying (and removing!) make up as part of my work this year. I recon today's job on the dome is probably like applying a layer of foundation. Get this layer right and the finish should be fine.