Here is today's progress on the wall, one guy working alone.



The brown is dirt that will get washed off. Most of the steps are just roughed in, they will end up looking like the bottom-most step, fairly solid from side to side.

The gray color doesn't go great with the moss rock veneer on the house there, but will probably look better over time. Or not. There wasn't much choice of colors. When I'm looking at it, the gray wall really pulls my attention, so I don't compare it to what is on the house.

We still have the problem of the yellow/tan small blocks that I don't like, but today he acknowledged it's not right, and he is going to get some better matching stone next Wednesday when he goes to the stone yard.



I gave the guy some deer antlers he wanted so maybe he'll be more motivated to make sure it looks right. It also helps that he is taking more pride in the project now that he sees it is coming along nicely. He wants to use it to show prospective customers; fine by me if that is going to ensure a good job.

In other news, the annual Scottish Highland Festival is this week in Estes Park, and the weather obligingly turned cooler with rain storms, like Scotland. I covered my tomatoes tonight just in case there will be a nip of frost in the air. Last year I was caught unawares and missed out on weeks of growing time when it warmed up again after that initial frost.



The grass along the river is starting to get brown. The river level has been low, at what the Bureau of Reclamation calls 'native level' meaning this is what would flow naturally if our water level was not controlled by a dam. They divert water in excess of native to reservoirs via tunnels, but they are doing some maintenance, so the water level is going to double. Raising and lowering the water level disturbs the fish and makes them harder to catch, but more water is better if the days are hot because there is more oxygen in the water. It's always something, in't?