This Spring will have me trying my hand at some stonework. I’ve been reading up, but of course nothing will instill real lessons like giving it a shot. Last July we had record rainfall and the brook that runs by the house flooded a bit. The running water got itself up and behind an old stone retaining wall, carved out a nice notch, and took out some of the lower stones leading to a leaning and not-so-intact wall. As triage I hauled up a ton (probably more) of stones from the lower brook and filled in behind the wall and in front to serve as riprap on the house-side of the brook, to absorb energy from any future flood. Good enough for now, but not as aesthetically pleasing as what once was. So I will rebuild as best I can, and hopefully it doesn’t come out too ugly.