Now for the brown paper skin

Here's a life lesson: when you make wheat flour paste, don't store it in a Tupperware bowl for two or three days. That is, unless you want sourdough. When we opened the tub yesterday, the odor and the bubbles let us know we were fermentin'. The stink stayed on my hands for about 24 hours, even with washing and taking a shower.

But we got the kraft paper skin on all three sections. The middle photo shows a view of one section lying on its back so the skin can dry. We found that the kraft paper ("kraft" is a German word meaning "strong") was much easier to work with than newspaper: it doesn't shred. Maybe we were hastened by the smell, but we got the brown skins on in record time. Now it is time to paint. (Actually, we have already started the painting process, but the rechargeable batteries in my camera have begun to fail. I bought new batteries and have charged them up. Maybe I can take pictures tomorrow.)

I did have one problem when trying to move around the dried sections. These things are fairly light-weight, but extremely clumsy for one person to move around (no wheels on the bottom). While moving one section, I accidentally dropped it on its side and the skin popped off--all in one, molded piece. OK, no problem. In fact it was easier to paint lying flat on the ground. Then we stapled it back in place.

As you can see, the volcano is tall. By the time we get the top on it, the overall height will be about twelve feet. Makes the piano look small, huh? I'm thinking that post-VBS we can just keep it in the chapel as a representation of Mt. Sinai. Glue a little plastic Moses to the side with two little tablets under his arm. The preacher could flip the switch to start an eruption when congregants start nodding off. It'd be cool.