East Side Story

7:48AM: The goal today is to complete the east wall. That may be too ambitious for today...but, that's the goal. I have dropped Susan off at work, had a nice breakfast and now I am ready to rock...or brick.

The forecast calls for a high of 96 degrees today. Fortunately, I am working in the shade for most of the day. However, I will take steps to keep myself hydrated and cool.

8:59AM: You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning!

All my tools are gathered in the front yard and I am ready to go. Above is a picture of what I'm starting with. 

First objective, get my trench dug to the required depths.  I have four depths to dig. Ten inches at the start and end of the wall...next to the house. That will be two bricks high. 

The next depth is 14 inches, with a three brick stack and 18 inches which will be four bricks (16") high. The wall will be level with the bottom step on the front porch stairs.

10:22AM: I believe I am satisfied with my trench. I faced a brief but intense battle with another sizable root, but it was no match for the wrath of my sturdy, if not sharp, ax. 

It is now at the depths I want and mostly levelish. The leveling will come with the next step; the placement of the gravel.

I am starting at the lowest point of the wall, which in this case is in the front. I will lay the gravel in to the desired depth and then place a course of bricks through that entire level. Then I will lay in the gravel on the next level and line up my next course. 

I think it is going very well. Short of having enough bricks to build the wall, I could be done with this today.

11:04AM: I am ready to lay the first course of bricks. I'm very nervous but a wise wall builder once said the wall of one hundred and twenty-nine bricks begins with a single stone. Ooh! Awwwwww!

11:55AM: The first course of the lowest level is down. It's pretty close (within a half inch) to the level it is supposed to be and that is good enough for me. Moving on!

3:04PM: All the bricks I have are on the wall. I need 30 more to finish. I am off to "the Depot"!

4:04PM: I have just placed the last brick. I would be very happy to say I am done. Alas...nothing good comes after "Alas"...I am not finished. There are a couple of small things I want to take care of tomorrow. Plus, I still have a small pile of gravel and I'm going to use the excess to back fill the wall.

I will tell you this...I'm very close to finished, and that makes me happy. It also helps to remind me why I am so very very sore.

5:30PM: This time of year the hot tub gets turned down. It's currently sitting at 85 degrees and I have just emerged from it's depths. It was just right after a looooooooooong day in the shade, building a wall. 

I don't know what the high was for today yet but I can tell you it was in the warm region. If you were in the direct sunlight, it was a region or five warmer. 

The SuperStanWeatherCenter 5000 says that it is 109 degrees on the roof. It's an unshielded sensor so it is not to be trusted in direct sunlight, which it gets during the whole time that the sun is out.

I'm waiting for Susan to call at any moment and request my Taxi Service. Then I will be concentrating on some sort of dinner type of affair.

7:26PM: Susan is home, we've had a couple of beers to celebrate the end of the wall construction and now we are going out for some beer and high brow pizza at the Flying Goat.

Good day!