Before
After
I stood back after a day's effort lugging rocks yesterday and realised these two walls didn't exist until this year. Strangely, it seems like they've always been there now. But it was really the flood earlier this year, which prompted a new design. A lack of funds meant we had to scavenge rocks to build a drystone retaining wall, instead of our usual prefab concrete blocks.
David has been dutifully collecting materials when he's off work, and with days like yesterday, when the sun is shining and too nice to stay inside, I found myself pottering around the wall - moving rocks and basically getting blisters.
I don't mind blisters when they're for a good cause, yet progress on our wall seems to take us forever. Sometimes it's in the stepping back and realising where you were (prior to this point) however, where any distinction is made.
Wall anatomy
When you look at the above perspective...day in and day out, it starts to look like a lot of work! There's quite a bit of rubble in there and each piece is moved strategically by hand. But when you step back and remember nothing existed until you collected your first rock, it seems amazing you've gotten this far!
I do want to have this finished before summer storm season arrives, but even if we don't, we took whatever time we had available to make progress.
Is there any projects in your life that seems to take forever, and what are your personal pep-talks to get yourself through it?
I love what you are doing here! There's a huge differance in the two photos to my eyes. Great work.
ReplyDeleteHmm....my whole life seems to be about the rehab of this house. Not enough time or money despite desiring to reuse, scavenge or upcyle things from salvage yards. I am hoping to design our bathroom with reclaimed materials but nothing has sparked my imagintion yet. My positive talk is " everything has it's time", meaning that it's okay to wait. It will happen in due time as long as we don't neglect things.
I like that - everything has it's time.
ReplyDeleteCertainly this wall won't go anywhere without a bit of patience woven in. Like you waiting for your herb garden to emerge after winter.
I think I can have a touch of impatience sometimes, LOL.
If that isn't patience on your part, I don't know what is! LOL!
ReplyDeleteSeriously this is a sort of project that takes some zen like thinking. I don't see it being tossed together. Its like a jigsaw puzzle only artsy and architectural so I can imagine just choosing the right pieces would take time.
Garry is an experienced mason and this sort of project took time. Of course he was faster than you might be from experience but its still a meditative thing-masonry is-to him.
So that is how I deal with longterm projects-moment by moment. It will get done. One stone at a time. Thats the nature of such a project to me.
LOL, I think that's more stubbornness on our part, than patience. But I take your point and thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Garry was more apt with a hammer, taking off necessary parts to make them all fit together. We just squeezed them all in and that's often what took the most time. I was known to walk around the yard, looking for that perfect rock we hadn't collected - but I just knew I could find it if I looked hard enough, LOL.
Tenacious and yet easily distracted - that's me! Isn't it funny how gardens can happen from the least likely of people? ;)