On The Road Again

 Here we go, heading south. Both of us need a break from building retaining walls. We worked in a light drizzle on Wednesday and finished all the cement work on the big wall, as HeWho likes to call it. All the rebar has been cut down to the last tier and the concrete is settling in.

While he fussed about with the grinder and the rebar, that required two trips to the hardware store, I eyed the the other pile of cinderblocks that I bought last year. These were a different style and had been the subject of many a sleepless night in my brain. Since they were a lot thinner than the ones we used on the big wall, I didn't want to mix them with the bigger ones. There was yet another style of different thickness and tere are only four that will remain food for thought when insomnia is my bedfellow.

There was yet another style that I used to replace the block holding the rock back by the carport, allowing me to use them for the big wall. But the skinniest ones stared back at me, daring me to use them. I had counted them when I so carefully stacked them last year. That pile had been hit when HeWho drives backed his truck up and tapped the pile with his bumper. I couldn't remember the count, so I sort of did a quick estimate and then looked at the area I wanted to retain. This was the parking place for my car. Everytime it rains, more gravel slides toward the yard. 

No time like the present, right? So I grabbed my favorite tools and dug in. The recent rains had softened the area I was digging and made work easy. These skinny blocks were lighter in weight, too. By the time HeWho fancies himself a wall builder returned from his first trip to the hardware store, I was deep into the first row. I leveled as I went. I was almost done with the first layer when I did a quick estimate of what was left and decided a second tier would be just right. I was finishing that second tier when he returned from the second trip to the hardware store. I was pretty tired after shoveling the pile of gravel back behind the wall, but I finished and had 1 block left!

This makes me a genius estimator! My back is out of whack, but a few days lounging around the pool should make everything better. Tonight we will be in Perry with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Saturday we will make our way a little further south to see my nephew and his family. The babies are walking! I will overdose on baby love, then we will head to Florida, to my baby girl's house. I will meet our newest canine family member, Birdie, the Boston Terrier. I hope she still has puppy breath!