...and so begins the long process of dismantling the last month's work. I'm learning a lot in this process, about what I find aesthetically pleasing once it's turned inside out, and about how to set up this kind of formwork for easy disassembly and minimizing the spalled concrete. 

This one looks strangely like a chimney to me. I didn't expect that, but I still like it.

Here's another learning experience... the little funky spot at the top of the wall was where one of the cross-ties at the top didn't allow us to trowel it smooth. Next time, I'll be sure to set up for easy finishing at the top of the forms. It's really no as bad as it looks from this angle, easy to repair if it needs any repair at all.

Getting these pieces out was more work than I expected. That seems to be a common theme with concrete work in whatever form it takes (see what I did there?), and I should have come to expect that by now... (wait... wtf just happened? where are all of these puns coming from? ...oh yeah, this was a ton of work and I'm tired.)

Yeah... now we're getting somewhere. It's surreal seeing it from this side, and it's not exactly what I imagined, but if I take a deep breath and tilt my brain a little to the side, I think it's kind of awesome! 

That center pier looks a little less like a chimney when I see it in context. 

On another note, the pressure-washing-to-expose-some-aggregate idea didn't work out at all like I planned... this concrete gained strength FAST, and a 2700psi pressure washer wouldn't even scratch the surface after 24 hours. File it away for future reference: if you want to do exposed-aggregate concrete, you have to get after it with the pressure washer after eight hours or less. As it is, I'm going to shift my expectations and come to appreciate the look and feel of the regular 2x8 form lines on the exterior. I can do that without much effort at all, in fact, it's... done. 

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Bonus guest post: a view of the project through my wife's eyes:

Same wall through different eyes, another learning experience. I kind of like it better this way.

Taking a break from building to walk down to the covered bridge and appreciate our new neighborhood... and our new neighbors!

Nice texture shot!

Action-shot... this little bit of form stripping was a lot of work!

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PPS: here's the original inspiration for my wall texture...

I think I took inspiration from it but made it my own at the same time. I count that as a success.