Walls Part Two

On Sunday we raised the rest of the front wall, and as you can see from the previous photo of the corner, this section was twice as long. I didn't think the three of us would be able to lift it, but we were miraculously strong all of a sudden, and up it went. Holy moly, it was hard though.

And then we got super motivated and built the first section of the side wall and raised it. It was a great day for busting our butts. We forgot the camera, so pictures will be forthcoming with this week's additional work, which may be be in a couple of days because the weather turned cold, really cold with the potential for inches of snow. So far, we've had report of maybe three inches there. I hope the Montmorency cherry trees I planted on Friday make it through with their leaves intact.

Building walls

The corner here is the living room fireplace wall and the front windows. I had no idea how heavy the wall was going to be, but Tom, Charlie, and I got it up. It was heavy but do-able. I was shaking from the effort of trying to hold it up and in place, thinking it might topple over the edge of the front wall onto the ground or fall back on us and squash us to death. Of course the guys helped me realize that it would stand on its own weight. But it still took me a while to stop shaking after it was nailed down and braced. 

What's for dinner?

We are slowly getting some work done. The foundation contractor sent a guy to grade the yard around the house and spread topsoil. It looks a lot better. This shot is at the beginning when the back is being sloped toward the drainage swale on the left.

Tim creating the swale to drain the spring water coming out of the hill to the pond beyond the house.

And here's the wall we've been working on. It too is in the early stages in these photos.

This view is from inside the garage (swinging) door. The house is beyond the end and to the right.

We finished with the backfill today. We filled the bed with a load of composted manure and some great topsoil and peat moss. Fascinating, I know.

At the end of the day.

Here we are relaxing after working on the stone wall. When I step on the dock, the bluegill come over and start looking up at me. If they could make sounds ( that we could hear) they'd be begging cries.

These catfish are huge. But, they're our pets: Spot, Scarface, Bushy, and Barry