I've had a lot going on in the last few weeks, and not a lot of it has been house-building. 50-hour work weeks seem to put everything else on the back burner... finally getting back to it.

Here's a shot from a couple of weeks back. Sorted out the shape of the top of the concrete knee-walls after a bit of trial and not-so-happy-with-it... The wedge-shaped piece at the upper-right served as the template for the rest of the walls once I was happy with the shape. 

I like the composition of this photo... and I think I'll like it even more when this is buried in concrete. A weird feeling is developing that the pour and form-stripping is going to feel like turning all of my work, for many weeks, inside out. I'm starting to get a little nervous about what I'm going to see... I guess there's nothing to do at this point but hold my breath and jump!

Our property is brimming with life and beauty. Flowers abound in the spring, and mushrooms are absolutely ridiculous in the fall... never a dull moment. Wild irises have just passed, foxglove is still going strong, elderberries are starting to set and ripen, and the salmon-berries are taking off...

I'm taking long-enough with this phase that the insects and arachnids are claiming some of it as home. I found this little garden-spider absolutely charming, and posed him for a photo before relocating him to a safer spot... it's not as good a home (for you) as it seems!

The first phase of this weekend's work. Finally... finished the low walls to the point where they're ready to accept concrete... 

I seem to have an affinity for perspective and extreme-depth-of-field... the same theme I'm working for in the finished concrete seems to keep showing up in my forms and photography. This is the end of the tall retaining wall that will eventually abut the house. Finally closed in. This last 10% seems to be taking a good 50% of the effort... seems about right based on just about every single project I've ever worked on. I have no reason to think that this one should be different just because it's mine.

I took a walk up the hill after finishing my work on Saturday. It had been a while since I've seen the project from up here, and it gave me a sense of progress when I was feeling stalled-out. Seeing this all in beautiful, gray, concrete will be a very welcome sight.

I took a vertical panorama to try to capture the scale of the site, but as usual the panorama loses all sense of scale... I hope this gives some idea of how much natural beauty we're surrounded by. This is a good place to call home.

This is part of last summer's work... leveling a pad, pulling a 2500-gallon water tank a couple-hundred feet up the hill, setting up the plumbing, and filling it with water from the creek. 

After using the water to control some burn piles and then an un-detected slow leak for a couple of months, I have about 500 gallons left. This should be enough to get me through the concrete work, but it wouldn't hurt to fire up the pump and re-fill if I can find the time. The brown color in this photo is creek-sediment that settled to the bottom after I filled the tank; the water on top is nice and clear (not potable, but not disgusting either.)

I seem to remember thinking I was done with all of these little boards. Well... no. I realized that the last part of the forms to close in was the most visible part of the concrete work. It would be a shame to lose steam now and regret something I see every day. So... I spent all day on getting this part right. This is the retaining wall next to the garage, extending past it and giving a transition for the soil to follow instead of ending abruptly at the corner of the garage.

The first lift. Keep in mind that this is seen in negative. The big pieces will be big recesses that form a ledge that defines this step in the wall... if that isn't clear, it probably will be when this shows up in concrete!

After struggling with the first portion of the wall, I decided to pre-assemble the steps before setting them in place. This turned out to make the form I wanted possible, but not easy. 

Here I am, tacking that last assembly in place... I'm glad I decided to pre-assemble... this would have been impossible piece-by-piece! (I'm definitely learning a LOT from this project!)

Another pre-assembled step... I LOVE the way these look. I hope I love it this much when they are turned inside-out!

End of the day. This is the end-wall facing the driveway. One of the most visible parts of the project, and one that I was tempted to abbreviate because I'm anxious to pour concrete. I'm glad I decided to take a deep breath and slow down. I spent all day Sunday working on this part... but I got it right, and I will be happy that I took that much time every time I look at this wall. 

Time spent building is well-invested when you're building things meant to last forever.

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I still have some bracing to do, but I'm hoping to pour concrete within a week. I need to track down some help and finish bracing the forms... I can do this!