Billie's Folly

I really had no idea what stone I'd finally end up with.  Below is the photo I've shown everyone from the beginning, of the look I wanted.  I wanted smooth--worn from ages of wind and weather--gray stone, with heavy mortar (called German smear) in a slightly warmer color.  Skip, the builder, got samples of several stones.  They were all what I'd call 'typical'--rough, more white or tan than gray.  Since that seemed to be the closest I was going to come to my vision, I settled on one. Then one day stone arrived, and it was very different from what I thought I'd agreed to.  It was huge slabs of limestone--some eight feet long--quarried in Indiana.  Evidently my lack of enthusiasm had shown through, and Skip was determined to come closer to what I had in mind.  But I couldn't imagine what they'd do with these slabs.  This is just one of many loads.   I was told that Victor (a short, but solid Ukrainian) was the genius of loc...

I wouldn't normally like crooked trees, but with two that line up like this, it's different. The pump house for our neighborhood wells--seen from the back of the cottage. The footing for the greenhouse. Hieroglyphics from the site--is that supposed to be Sadie and me? Patio chimney. Slate roof. Stairway skylight--will have a lens at the crossbars.   A stand-in box to determine what size the chandelier should be.