Aaargh Update: The First Seven Years

We spent the weekend working on good ol' Aaargh again.  The weather was just perfect; October's bright, blue skies were out in full force. 

Early Saturday morning, perfect weather for stonework

 On Saturday morning, we realized we were out of mortar, so a trip to Home Depot was in order.  On the way to town, we took a few backroads and some photos of other round buildings that have been an inspiration:

Should Aaargh have a roof like this?

I took this picture out of the car window haphazardly in a big hurry as we were in traffic, so that's why it's crooked.  This house was built in the 1970's.  Carl and I were married and built our humble abode in 1978.   We were both 20 years old and had no idea what sort of home to build, but I do remember this stone entrance/staircase was high on our list of dreams.  We couldn't afford to build anything so fancy, but 34 years later, this structure remains a favorite with us both.  We drive by this home quite often and never tire of looking at the field stone masonry tower with the copper roof.

A little farther down the road, a housing development was built a few years ago.  Check out the lovely little stone structures in the entrances:

Entrance to subdivision

Not sure what purpose these stone towers serve, other than to look amazing.

Every time we drive by these towers, I admire them, they are just gorgeous.  And ironically, they're actually newer than Aaargh is, ahem. 

 Beautiful masonry.

Interesting roof lines, the upper windows must let in a lot of light.

 There are a few more round or octagonal buildings in the neighborhood; I just thought I'd take a few pictures since we're really not sure how Aaargh's roof will eventually look.  (Yes, I know, most people would have all the construction details figured out, but we are not most people.  Sigh.) 

Look at the size of this tower, makes Aaargh look like a speed bump.

This is another structure in the subdivision,  the stonework is gorgeous.

In a nearby neighborhood, we found our dream home. 

I had to have Carl back up the car so I could get the whole 'house' in the picture.  Now that's a Castle!

Check out the details on this stonework:

No Trespassing signs kept me from getting closeup pictures (and arrested)...this is the south part of the house.

There's the midsection with a castle tower. 

And:

And there's the other end complete with another castle tower.  All this could be yours for just under $3 Million

This place was built around three to five years ago, but the realtor's listing states it is not finished, so I'm assuming no one has lived here yet.  I don't know if this was a spec-home (built in hopes of a buyer) or someone's dream home, but what other description can you give than 'Wow'. 

Carl and I sat in our aging sedan and took in the view for awhile.  Then we simultaneously said the same thing, "That's a LOT of stonework." 

We've been together for way too long.
  

"It's for sale," I said.

"Yes, I see," Carl said.

"Can you imagine living there?  All the upkeep, just look at the size of that roof; why, we'd be up there forever putting new shingles on when those go bad, and as the years go by, all the stonework will need tuck-pointing," I said.  "Of course, it is a new house, so I guess we wouldn't have to worry about the stonework needing attention until we're long gone." 

"Yes, that's true, being new, what problems could there be?  But as the years pass, the upkeep would be a never-ending thing," Carl ventured.

"And who is going to clean it?  You'd need a fleet of maids.  Heck, I can't keep up with our little hut."

"I hear you."

"Oh but that masonry is fantastic, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

With that, we slowly drove away from our Dream Castle and back to our mess here with the Never-ending Castle Aaargh.  Right after lunch, Carl popped the trunk and hauled out the two seventy pound sacks of mortar and we were back to work on our dream gone bad.

Walls rising ever so slowly.

The 'Golden Raindrops' crabapples are just starting to turn.

I was looking at some of the old pictures of when we started back in 2005 (yes, it's been THAT long.)

There's Ann and Ron, seven years ago, in the thick of the action, shoveling wet cement into place while Carl and Joel run the 'screed' board to level off the pour.

L-R,  our youngest son, David, 15 at the time, Jessie, Ann's daughter, 11 years old, Ann, 35 years old and Joel, on the other end of the board, 19.  How time flies!

There's the floor after we were done.  The hosta leaves were put on the cement when it was wet to put imprints in the floor.

You can see the board we balanced on to put the leaves on the cement.

Oh, how the trees have grown....look at those teensy cedars

We've gone so slowly on the construction phase and all because we had other stone work to finish on the Quarry itself and other 'things' that came up; garden walks, tours, weeding, you know what I mean.  Stuff. 

But look how much the trees have grown; in the picture below, the little 'George Peabody' cedars are less than two feet tall and the spruce are very young; the white fence posts were supporting the three 'Golden Raindrops' crabapple trees:

September 2005: Joel, Dave, Carl and a friend during the first courses of stone.

One year ago, October 2011, me (standing around yakking) and Ann, working on Aaargh.

Six years later, in 2011, the cedars and spruce had grown a few feet.  And the crabapple trees just don't quit growing, supposedly reaching a height of 20' with a 15' spread.  I hope they like being pruned.

This Monday night: Castle Aaargh, October 22, 2012

So, there's the update and the flashback all at once.  It took us seven long years to get this far. 

We coulda/shoulda/woulda worked on this project much more diligently than we have been, but life keeps getting in the way, and the weather.  Carl works full-time and though I don't work, it seems I'm always busy.  Can't mix mortar when it's freezing cold and snowing out, and in the summer the garden has a mind of its own and we have to tend to the planting and weeding chores.  About the only time we can find to work consistently is late summer/early fall and alas, this fall is getting long in the tooth already, too. 

On Sunday afternoon, we were taking stock of what we've accomplished this year on Aaargh.

Carl optimistically said, "We've gone up another foot or so in some places."

"How far do we have to go before we're done?" I asked.

"Another seven feet, give or take a few inches," Carl said. 

"Oh, brother......at our current rate, we won't be done for ANOTHER seven years!" I blurted out.

That was, unfortunately, not the most encouraging thing I could have said to a tired man.

We've both been working as fast as we can.

 Oh heck, if it does take another seven years, let's see, we started this project when we were 47, so by 2019, God willing, we'll be 61. 

October 2011

If anything is falling apart on the old mortar by then, we'll just whip up a new batch and fix it.  (I'm not sure what we'll do about any random parts that are falling off of us by then, though.)

 All we can do is hope for the best 

And

Rock On.