Stig Johansson's poem ( in Larvik)  sounds translated like this: 

all these days came and went , I did not know that they were life

Another week, and it feels we have been living in the quarry forever. We have been working relentlessly , and now head for a short break to recover, rest and catch up with business in London and Berlin respectively.

The sea near Stavern

 

 This is how the work has progressed in recent weeks, and we passed an important milestone, as the last part of bulk material was removed on this side.

A regular visitor to our little huts is our "diamond dealer" Sjur, of Diamond Board. We use large quantities  of granite diamond blades and drills, and he not only supplies us with he equipment, but also gives us tips and tricks, and is generally a good egg to "chew the fat with..."

This week, I also inserted the stainless steel sockets into the base ( here drilling the hole with a diamond core drill)

Raphael worked "the channel" , another one of those hard as nail jobs, and sometimes, one has to be inventive to reach the far corners of this sculpture, and it worked a treat..

To get a sense of scale of the work, notice the Toyota Landcruiser next to it...

The summer has finally arrived here in the fjord, and this is us enjoying the  late evening sunshine Friday night.

Work has progressed incredibly well, come the weekend, "there is nothing left in the tank".

Raphael Beil managed to cut the large flowing form out in a single cutting session over 2 days, using a small 5inch angle grinder.  What looks like just some messy work is decades of cutting experience, and in my view is on par with brain surgery, it is really that difficult to do.

This side has 2 large cut outs, and it is very difficult to reach the deeper parts with any kind of tools.
I call it valley of pain and dirt...

Wind and rain has given way to wind and sun, and most of the week we were working under an incredible sky. We are , in a way, back to square one, as we are back to the hard and heavy work, mainly removing large lumps of granite. But  evidently, we have learned from the previous side, and are much more effective as well as dividing the work in what suits us both best.

Raphael Beil, with his long arms, has great reach and works on the large flows from the outside, whereas I refer to myself as the "Welsh miner", sitting on top of the block digging trenches...
It works a treat, and we are making good progress, under an umbrella of blue sky and, at times, almost comical clouds.