It has slowed, hasn't it? Most of the action is going on at the Hypertufa Yahoo group right now.

.. I'm still here as I just starting making the hypertufas last year and need all the help I can get.... LOL...

How do you get to the Yahoo group anyway??

Luvherbz

I just typed yahoo groups and searched in google' I got it and joined but if I understand right it takes 7 days before you are a member . So hope it works....

With the weather turning colder alot of people go "uderground" until things warm up. Me I work in my basement all year round. Time to try making molds.
Paws

Most of the people who really know a lot about tufa and concrete have bailed out of GW, due to the overwhelming presence of Mr. Know-It-All (who doesn't really know jack).

Sue

Sue hit it on the nail with her comment. The forum is not as much fun as it used to be. I used to be very active and now just come and lurk a bit.I hope things will get back the way they were,,, sigh.
Cindy

I guess I'm too lazy to move on!All the good people are still around,contributing their expertise.I've been at it for a few years.I've been around for other controversies,but the site still survives.I don't always agree with some(my nature to be stubborn!)and I CERTAINLY didn't agree with the ban on L&L-but,I'm still here.Recent good works by others pushes me anew to "keep on chooglin'".
My 2 cents CDN worth.
Cheers from here

Claire-

There is almost always a slow down in activity on the forum when the temps get low, but it never completely dies. There are always folks who discover the site during the winter months and their curiosity seems to re-energize those who check in regularly.

I've applied for membership in the Hypertufa_Art group at Yahoo and noticed there was a Hypertufa Craft group that seems to have dried up in the last month or so. Anyone know the difference between the groups other than activity?

This will continue to be my primary hypertufa source, but it never hurts to check out the new neighbors. If the group is too contentious or just doesn't interest me, I can always just stop checking in...

Tah!

I joined the YAHOO GROUP but unsubscribed because I was getting everyones messages and answers in my email. I don't know if I clicked on the wrong thing when I joined but I found it very annoying to get all those emails which the same ones come back all the time. If anyone knows how not to get those messages please let me know.

Thank you all for replying to let me know there are still people here. I haven't been here long enough to know who are the experts here. Is there anyone here who can help with hypertufa problems?

Hi Clairdo2,

When you join a Yahoo Group, you can choose how you want group email messages handled. I didn't know this until I joined my first group, and was inundated with group emails, so you're not alone! LOL!

On the 'Join This Group' page, or your member page, if you've not deleted it, scroll down to 'Message Delivery'. There are 4 or 5 choices, but it defaults to the one that fills your mailbox with all the messages! UGH! Click on 'Special Notices' or 'No Email' and your problem will be solved!

I just got the message that my membership to Hypertufa Art was approved, so perhaps I'll be seeing you there!

It is amazing how personalities rise above principles in online groups - certainly it is a phenomenon that occurs often! Feelings get hurt, toes get stepped upon, and suddenly the warm fuzzy stuff gets cold and scratchy. Egos get in the way of so much.

I haven't had any problems w/ YKW - but I know that others have. It is interesting to note, however, that the spinoff groups eventually run into their own difficulties which have NOTHING to do w/ YKW. I don't have any answers, and I have no advice. In fact, if you want people to notice your faults, start giving advice......this is according to my TFTD calendar for today. How appropriate!

best wishes

Vicki

Wow, I thought I was the only one that noticed the differences :-), I still drop in to see the accomplishments on this forum. I'm not much on giving advice, but I used to visit here for advice.
bonnie

Fall semester starts in August for me. I'm in the Fine Arts Program. Some of the people here have gotten caught in the hurricanes. Others are returning to school or getting their kids off to school and school activities.
I still think it's curious that it slows down every year at this time because it's still warm enough to work outside for many areas. I work in my basement through the Winter. Billie

Claire-

I have the e-mail option on my Freecycle group, so I can be notified of stuff as soon as it's posted (the early bird syndrome) but have elected to view e-mails on the tufa group rather than have individual or e-mail digests sent to my usual e-mail addy. I get enough traffic there as it is.

I haven't seen anything there that I haven't seen here, except for folks talking about folks here. Such is life in an open society.

Tah!

I second Billies statement.There's no need to slow down for winter-we're not bears!As long as you can stay safe,keep on doing it inside.I do most of my work there,with some outside stuff(acids,paints).
Cheers from here

I sure would love to keep on doing tufa over the winter but how do you clean your tools? the hose is put away for the winter so it would be a bit of a pain to take a bucket of water outside 2 or 3 times to get everything clean.....

Just came back from central Ontario on Monday.Forgot how nice the colours were.Sigh....But,as you say,you gotta put the hose away because(chortle!)you guys get freezing temps(quiet laughter!)and you get(laugh out loud!)SNOW!!!
You can still do it though.Just use your imagination,hot water for cleanups and quick dashes outside to dispose of the washup.
BTW,I grew up in Barrie,so I know what you face.
Cheers from here!

clairdo2, I use a 5 gallon pail for wash up. I wipe off my tools and oil them. I usually don't have any leftover mortar or hypertufa. I'm not working on large projects so it's mainly wiping up pans and tools. I'm not a messy worker and I like things neat. When I'm finished I dump whatever water is in the wash up pail on my lawn. Probably about 2.5 gallons of water. Billie

I too use 5 gallon buckets to wash up with even in the Summer time. I fill it about half full with water and brush off my tools. The 5 gallon bucket I use to mix in gets the water from the wash up bucket poured in it before I wash the tools, brush it out, swirl it around and then pour it back in the bucket. The crete/tufa settles to the bottom, when that gets half full I dump it in our driveway(gravel drive).
Paws

Thank you all for cleanup ideas. Sounds good.

I mix all my hypertufa/cement in the standard black mason tub. I measure all the ingredients with a childs sand box pail. And I mix everthing with my gloved hands. I dont use too many tools when I am working with wet cement or hypertufa. And I use my gloved handsto get the stuff onto the leaf or into the forms. I didnt like all the waste going onto my lawns. I dont think the grass minds it but the tree roots probably dont like it. So I use up whatever I mix in some way or other and then take paper towels and wipe down the tub into a garbage pail. Then I wipe down my gloves a bit into the garbage and any other tools I might use. If there is significant residue I then rinse a bit. But if the gloves still have stuff on them I can wait until they dry and brush them together and the dry stuff flakes off.

So most of the cement debri goes into the garbage and not out in my yard and clean up is quite easy. Since I dont use a lot of water to clean I have done this inside a few times and think I could do it easy during the winter months as well. Using the tub I am limited by the amount I can mix but if I have to I just mix several batches.