I spent the better part of Saturday hauling bricks up from the backyard, stacking them, and backfilling with pea gravel.

So the wall is mostly done.  Except…  I still need to make the back corner look nice, which will likely involve renting a masonry saw from Home Depot to custom cut some blocks to fit.  We’re also thinking of topping the wall with a course of capstones.

With the stump hacked back, I was able to get the trench dug out and get the first course of blocks put in.  It took all day… slow progress because it takes a lot of time to level the dirt, compact it, add the gravel base, compact it, and double check that it’s level and the right height. 

 

Now my back hurts but I’m feeling better because I’m eating sushi with Sarah, Caroline, Brady, and Megan!
 

Digging out back to the property line.

Actually digging only took about an hour.  Most of yesterday was spent trying to remove this huge stump!