The following weekend I did some cosmetic work on the wall by filling in the gaps and cracks with mortar.

Now that the top elevation of the raised barrier had been established, I formed and poured the first section of a combination retaining wall and stepped pathway between the end of the new wall and the end of the taller existing wall.

In the middle of the month, we took a week off and gathered with my siblings and their spouses at the North Rim of Grand Canyon.

Upon returning from the real world, I picked up where I had left off and continued contouring the east yard behind our new wall. I established a line along which the newly placed slope would end. I stretched a string from the top of the new wall to a point at one end of the line. This gave me a guide to work to as I moved and spread the dirt that my sister and brother-in-law had given us (see June 2009). Bricks under each end of the string served as spacers and allowed me to rake beneath the guide. I worked from one end of the line to the other, moving the guide string along the line in a radial pattern.

The steps that traversed the terrace walls were built uneven. No two, save the bottom few, were the same height or length and the tops, while relatively flat, were not smooth. The whole process of ascending or descending was precarious at best. Rebuilding them went on the list early, but had not yet been done. In the interim, I took an idea from North Rim Lodge at Grand Canyon.

I painted the edge of each step to give it definition. I thought it looked cool, but my wife said the big ‘CAUTION’ was too much! It’s been a long time since I got in trouble for writing on something other than paper.

Almost a year earlier, we found a remnant of indoor/outdoor carpet on clearance at a local home improvement store. It was just the right size for the upstairs deck. We bought it and stored it.

At the end of the month, our middle child and our brother-in-law came and helped us remove the old vinyl and install the carpet. We rented a carpet stretcher which made the job much easier and the finished product much more satisfying.

On the 29th I formed and poured the bottom step of the passageway through the new retaining wall. I placed a few stepping stones in the yard. We set a plant on the corner to avoid hitting the wall with the car. Other than nurturing grass in the area, this project was finished.