I showed up at the site at 7 am and the crew were already there madly preparing for the arrival of the first concrete mixer of the day.  Today they will pour the lower grade beams and some of the mid grade beams.  We again see Number 1 (also known as Jeff) holding the concrete hose.

Some close ups of the concrete "flowing" into the grade beam channels, completely surrounding the rebar cages.

We all remember the concrete pouring heirarchy that was explained before, I am sure.  Number 1 is on the concrete hose (seen again above), Number 2 is on the hose upstream, and Numbers 3 and 4 are on the vibrator and vibrator power supply, respectively.  As we come to pouring concrete that is at or above grade, there is a need for finishing the surfaces.  This brings us to the Numbers 5-??? men (or women, but we didn't have any on site).  These are the guys (or gals) with the trowels whose backbreaking job it is to trowel the wet concrete to create the required surface. 

And of course, some pictures of the concrete being poured into the stair foundation.

Above, you can get a very good idea of how backbreaking the troweling work is.

I stayed at the site and watched three mixers of concrete poured into the grade beams.  Jeff estimates that they will need four more today (for a total of 7 cement mixers!!!) for the pours they plan on completing today.  There is going to be a ton of concrete in this place!

But even as we start to see the form of our new house taking shape, we are reminded of the old as I come across a piece of a handle of our old mugs that just wouldn't be buried.

Later that day, as the mists settled on the park behind the house site,

the concrete poured this day sat curing in the test cylinders (another required special inspection)

and in the grade beams (including the stair grade beams (circular)).

While many of the concrete crew were on duty to help support the concrete pour (many as trowelers), some of the concrete crew spent the day putting in rebar to prepare more of the mid grade beams which will support some of the living room, the guest room, and the entryway.

There was a lot of work accomplished today and we are starting to really feel like the house is taking shape!