the wall

Since we moved in we've been talking about making the wall in our back yard taller. It opens onto a dirty, graffiti filled alley, hence the need for a bit more privacy and security. Plus, it is just hideously ugly, don't you think? Except for Sophie and Mark's chalk drawings, of course.

And so the process goes. I call a few guys to get bids, they scratch their heads, look very doubtful, scratch their heads again and give me a huge bid or alternately, they seem so sketchy that I don't want them anywhere near my house or my daughter.

It seems it always works this way. When I started landscaping the front yard, I met so many naysayers. "You need to get a backhoe in here to move all this dirt and your old lawn." "You need to regrade the whole lot." "it'll be $1000 just for the dumping costs, not including labor."

So I arrive at the idea of doing it myself (with a little help from Mark.)

I head to Home Depot. I'm surveying the cinder blocks and someone walks me to a counter to speak to the coolest guy. "Do you have a driver's license and a high school diploma? he jokes. "Then, you can do this." I feel like hugging the guy. Where has he been all my life?

So, I fill the back of my SUV with blocks and return home so we can begin...the wall.


Mark did an amazing job and don't tell anyone, but he actually enjoyed it!

p.s. the dirt issue in the front yard was resolved slowly but surely, day after day, digging out the lawn (with weekend, arm twisting, help from Mark) putting it in the green bin and sometimes the black and then one day, months later, it was gone and a gorgeous tropical garden has sprung up in it's place!

(btw, I spent the $1000's we saved on plants, which is how it should be.)