bed joints, head joints, tuckpointing, and, well, you know....

last july, i gave an update on our outside projects. somehow, i don't feel like this list has gotten any shorter, but we have made some progress:

wash the porch rip out rhododendron rip out plants and ivy on side of house (or prune?)
fix mortar in cracks till front yard to even-out crappy work by the city and replant grass
till sides of house and regrade landscape front of house
fill cracks in porch steps
paint porch steps so they don't look like poop paint porch railing paint ugly board above door (or better yet, replace with a door that FITS!!!)
paint the house...bye bye red!
flash chimney relocate family of squirrels living in our soffit  :-)

the brickwork on the side of the porch steps was in really bad shape (i.e., the wall was falling over).  once we tore the ivy out, we realized it had completely pulverized most of the mortar. the wall pretty much needed rebuilt.

problem: that's about the last thing we want to spend money paying someone to do.

luckily, i am just dumb enough to think that watching a few youtube videos makes you an expert...and my husband is dumb smart enough to go along with me.

enter: joanna, the mason. :-)  i knew more lingo than the guys at lowes.

so, today, my first official day of summer break, i learned how to mix mortar and lay brick. i'm tickled pink with how it turned out (for $70!!!), even though i finished my joints differently than the existing joints and got the mortar color wrong in a few places.  i have already taken some advil before bed. i am not the young pup i once was!


before...yikes!...

during...always the ugliest part....

 

boo helped...she barked when creepy dudes were watching me... 

AFTER....