An Open Sexual Relationship

I imagine that I started playing with blocks when I was just a toddler. Wooden blocks were and are amazing toys; you can build anything with them. I have built fortresses, castles, walls to crash cars into, towers that just cry out to be knocked down, robots that are bent on taking over the world and once I build a bridge from one blanket to another. I had hours and hours of fun playing with my wooden blocks.

 

I had blocks for my kids and I have blocks for my grandkids. I don’t know what they build with them, that’s for them to write about someday, I just gave them the opportunity to play. I do know that both Hurricane and Tornado love to knock down towers that I would build. They would patiently wait until it was high enough and would either kick it or smash it with their tiny fists. It is loads of fun for everyone. It is a little frustrating for me perhaps, but fun none the less. Tsunami seems to have a penchant for destruction as well, but I haven’t had enough blocks to test out her full destructive capabilities. Should be fun when I do.

 

A few years ago, I bought set of clay building bricks made by Gerbitz-Steinbaukasten at the second hand store. These are bricks made to scale and I suppose that you could build a tiny house with them. Me? I built fortresses, castles, walls to crash cars into, towers that just cry out to be knocked down, robots that are bent on taking over the world and once I build a bridge from one blanket to another with them. I haven’t let the grandkids play with them yet, but I will in the future. Perhaps when they are fifty or so.

 

This past weekend I was thinking about what to do that would avoid any real work but would be somewhat productive. I needed to make a container for some rubber stamps that I have and while I was using the saw I figured I should cut a couple of hundred wooden bricks. They will have lots of uses, like…ummmm…ahhh…well. I finally decided that they would make a pretty cool bird house. Now I will grant you that the birds seem reluctant to use the other two bird houses I built, but this one would be made of bricks!

It turns out that bricks have pretty specific dimensions. They are used in construction and need to fit properly or else the house will fall down. That would make the grandkids happy, but not so much the construction companies. In England, bricks are 8 5/8 X 4 1/8 X 2 5/8 which when you add the mortar give the brick a 9 X 4 1/2 X 3 inch overall size. The size can vary and the larger the brick the less time it takes to build a wall and saves the developer money. It seems that a smaller brick is more pleasing to the eye for some reason.

Bricks have a fascinating history and you should take a few minutes to read the information Wikipedia has to offer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick

I haven’t done much to build the bird houses, but that’s because I am trying to find a good mortar to hold the wooden bricks together. Surprisingly, mortar is pretty much useless. Glue will hold it together but won’t have appealing mortar lines. Nails won’t work, the wood bricks will split.  I think I am going to go with a coloured silicone caulking. It was Louise’s idea from the beginning and having tried everything else, it turns out that she is right again. What a pain in the ass!

Tomorrow, God willing, I will pick up some greyish looking silicone and start building a house of bricks that even the three little pigs would be proud of. They wouldn’t fit, but three little birds can make it their home. I don’t particularly care if the birds living in my wood and silicone house have an open sexual relationship. That is entirely up to them.