Mulched Wall

The Pillaging Crew in Newport Yesterday
When I'm Forced to Go I usually End up in Irish Pub in Background

I’m a victim of my own success when it comes to retaining walls. My wife decided she wanted a small one in the front yard to protect her newly expanded garden empire. This may have something to do with some of the top soil ending up on the front walkway after a recent thunderstorm. She must think these things appear by magic because she blithely informed me of the requirement as if it was no big thing. The magic part may come from my technique of trying to do the work when she’s not around so she returns to find the wall in place as if by arcane arts. She has a hard time avoiding her supervisory nature despite the fact she has never laid a brick in her life; it’s a wife thing.

Future Gymnast

The visiting Panamanian’s shopping/pillaging tour headed south to Newport, Rhode Island yesterday so I was offered an opportunity of an unsupervised evening following work. The only limitation was the much smaller car I drive as opposed to my Favorite Panamanian. I often drive by guys with overloaded cars barely avoiding scraping the pavement and comment on their idiocy. Last night that was me. Twenty bags of mulch and a hefty load of bricks has a tendency to strain the struts of a Camry but against all odds I made it home without leaving important parts of the undercarriage strewn in my wake. I’m sure there were a number of my surrogates who passed me on I-190 commenting on my intellectual shortcomings.

Cat Finally Lets Her Get Close

While I complain here about the work, in reality I find it almost therapeutic. Well everything except lugging those damned retaining wall blocks around. I got the first third of the wall done and most of the mulch distributed, exhausting the Camry-load supply of material. I did learn the important difference in working the front yard which has me in the full sun as opposed to the shade blessed back yard. The therapy came in handy when I learned I would be denied my nightly FaceTime call with the First Blog Reader. It seems her parents feel the need to have lives as well and their schedules didn’t permit one last night.

I addressed the loneliness with calls to Keene Friend whom I accidentally “butt dialed” returning my cell phone to a pocket after a SITREP from the pillaging crew. We coordinated operations for tomorrow’s wedding of Keene Friend 2, mostly to insure an uninterrupted beer supply. Later my Favorite Son and the ABFA caught me up on their preparations for our visit this weekend after the wedding. Riggins was called upon to contribute but he was exhausted from another day squiring his day care girlfriend around. Pictures tomorrow of the front wall progress, pay no attention to that overloaded (again) Camry on I-190 tonight.

I got some updated photos from the condo construction down in Panama - color me psyched!

Pools

Looking Towards Common Area

Common Area Party Place and Firepit

And a Hot Tub!

But the Beach is What's Important