Retaining walls - part 1

Okay, so it has been a while. I can't remember when they first delivered the rock. And I didn't see any photo-worthy progress last weekend. But now…

Greg Wheeler moving one of the rocks.

The retaining walls are finally in the works! Brent and I met Greg Wheeler at the farm Saturday. He and his boys were setting the rocks on the east side for the tallest retaining wall.

Here are some photos of their progress:

Greg and Brent near the cistern at around 11:00.

Here's the way it looked when we left an hour or so later.

This is where they left it. We are short of some needed fill dirt.

Since this is a side job for Greg, our rock guy, he only has the weekends and evenings available to work. His day-job has kept him super-busy and our nicely spaced rains have kept him from being able to start when he did finally have time. We will need to have some dirt brought it and additional rock to help keep things moving on these walls.

We are just happy to see them taking shape. The East side of the house has the highest and most complex retaining wall. It will form the walkway out of the Summer Kitchen. It also brings the ground up to the deck that runs along the East side and wraps to the kitchen and desk area on the South side.

With any luck Brent will build us an arbor for grapes, akebia or kiwi that can grow from a spot on top of that retaining wall. We will need something to shade that kitchen window in the summer.

In addition to the retaining walls, the cedar awnings were started last week. They will add a lot of interest to the house. Rick and Dave are building them and they started with the structure over the garage doors on the North side. It looks great. I can't wait to see the others. Brent and I will finish them off with corrugate steel for a barn roof look.

We continue to see more and more signs that the electrical and plumbing are getting their final touches prior to sheet rock. I am most excited about the gray water system that Grabil plumbing and Rick helped us design. I will love salvaging some good water for irrigating gardens on both the East and West sides of the house.

On the not-so-glamourous side, I pulled a TON of poison ivy up today. I was so nervous and it was so hot wearing 3 layers of stuff to avoid the noxious oil. But I think I got it all. I'll let you know next week if I successfully avoided contamination :-)