Foundation.

Song of the day: “Foundations” by Kate Nash. Very appropriate in reference to today’s activities I think. Besides, it’s a happy song so maybe we can say I was in a cheerful mood, hah.

The alarm goes off as usual and I start on the morning rituals, stiff and slightly sore from yesterday’s sand hauling. Once the morning’s chores are over and done with, breakfast had, big brother and I settle down for a working session like yesterday too. It goes rather well, this fact checking kind, and it is rather necessary, considering we made so many changes during the rewrite edit.

We steadily work our way through three different scenes before it’s time to head out into the cool afternoon. What with the preparations done already, little sister can start making cement immediately while I head to the old terrace below the house and prepare the section where we’re going to need to build the fortification wall. Though big brother had intended to start working on a new set of stairs, it soon becomes clear that I’m going to need some help to get the foundation in.

In the next few hours, we dig, hose dirt away and then start laying the foundation of the new wall.
Big loads of concrete and rocks get hauled in, piled together until we end up with a solid wall that is one foot high, two and half wide and solid enough to hold a house, should such a thing be necessary.

Today’s cement and rocks put in, we spend about half an hour cleaning up the mess we made, before big brother and I haul two wheelbarrows each down for tomorrow’s building session. By then the sky is fully overcast, and rather than spend some time on minor chores, big brother and I decide to head out to get the batch of wood we’d intended to get last week, but didn’t get around to.

The trip goes well, and when we arrive, the wood is waiting for loading. Within half an hour, we have the cab filled to full capacity. Once I’ve shut the door…it didn’t go all that easy, but I managed in the end…we start back on our way home. Grandpa is thrilled when we return, especially since the batch will replenish his supplies considerably. By now, we should have enough to actually build a new gate for the property. Yay.

A very late dinner follows when we get home, and the temperatures have dropped to such a point that it is actually too cold for a dip in the pool, darn it. Well, that about sums today up, I guess. Hopefully there’ll be another proofread check, but if not, I’ll be happy to turn in for the night.