I got a nice chunk of work done today, but first... let's talk about the food. I prepped some dutch-oven ingredients before heading out to the property - potatoes, salt, pepper, fermented garlic, and bay leaf:

The day is off to a good start.

Next up, putting in some more time on the table saw. I'm getting a rhythm down, and this part of the process is going pretty quickly.

Upon arrival at the property, I started the coals warming up, set the generator to work filling up the air compressor, and took a walk to pick a couple of handfuls of wild onions. These, along with beef broth and ham-hocks, are the makings for a little bit of awesome. I'm loving the dutch oven; after I got the coals going in the chimney-starter and spread in layers below and on the lid, the thing basically took care of itself for a couple of hours. The only time it got my attention was when a bit of heavenly aroma collided with my olfactory nerve. Just about zero effort after starting it up. 

...and a couple of hours later it was lunchtime! It doesn't look like anything too special, but some serious magic happened over those couple of hours. This was amazing food!

Lots of drama in the sky today, but enough sun filtering through to put me at risk of getting a tan... perfect!

 

I love the way this pattern is developing now that it is wrapping around the corners. I am excited about seeing this in concrete.

Another view of the day's work. The bit to the left is what I posted on Thursday... here it is in context! These small parts, where I have to measure and cut each board to fit, are sucking up a lot of time. I'm just about through those parts, and I'm ready to rock and roll on the finish work for the big retaining wall tomorrow.

I left some daylight on the table to take my daughter roller-skating. Somehow, this building project is infusing confidence into the rest of my life... I haven't had my feet strapped into anything that rolls or slides in over 20 years, but I thought, "sure, I'll just strap these things on and go for it!" And... I only landed on my ass once, and had an absolute blast with Coral. Life is good.