I've found that a relaxing cup of coffee can get me into elaborate work situations. So I'm standing outside one morning thinking "You know, I could take a come-a-long and pull out those little trees and dig up all those saw briars and trumpet creepers, take big cunks of busted up concrete slabs and rocks and build a retaining wall, then face all of that by forming, mixing and carving a wall one section at a time in many different styles. And while I'm engaged in the process I could make little chambers and tunnels underneath it for the toads and salamanders to hibernate and for the skinks to lay eggs and get away from the cats. Whew! I wonder what else I might have done instead. Oh well, it's nice to sit on at sunset with the cats and have a relaxing cup of coffee.

A trench was dug so the first course of concrete chunks would be at grade level. The easy thing about working on site in this way is that the outside forms can be secured in place by driving stakes and braces into the ground. The inside forms are shallow since it is going to be backfilled, and just deep enough to finish the top cleanly. This was mid-summer so tarps for shade had to be strung on poles to keep the ground cool before pouring, as well as, keeping any spots of direct sunlight off the work even after it is finished until the next day. This helps prevent stressful temperature gradients from occuring.