whew, tons of dirt (literally) and 7000 pounds of crushed gravel later. man, who would have known what a task this was going to be. i actually got a little "tennis elbow" from all the pick-axing but as always when you're done you forget how hard it was. a little green around the edges and it'll be very nice.
unfortunately not the Alex Haley kind! i was looking forward to grading the "lawn" for the Japanese rock garden i'm putting in but had to replace the drainage pipe instead 'cause it had 40 years of root infiltration! put the sconces in as well, they look great!! they were particularly hard to find. you can still see them on period apartments in the area but more difficult to actually purchase.
was digging up the old bricks and prepping the ground for the new concrete pad when i came across the main waterline to the house. well, if i'm going to cover it with concrete i better replace it first. 40 year old galvanized is bound to fail soon. mixed and poured 2500 lbs. of concrete by hand. you'd think it'd make more of an impression wouldn't 'ya.