Who needs artificial Halloween decor?

 

When the real thing is right outside your doorway?

Believe it or not, the brick guys have not disturbed my local spider!

Yes, they are here on Wednesday, too.  I ran off to the pharmacy to get my flu shot, and enquired about the Covid shots.  The pharmacist recommended waiting a week or two before scheduling the Covid one (for me, anyway).  They are currently booked up for all the doses they had.  She said "keep checking the website" to find one when it opens up.

I snuck out to get the mail while the "men at work" became "men gone to lunch" and also snapped photos of the second column, now re-capped, more of the tuck-point work, and the scaffold now on the north side of the house where he's been grinding out the mortar that needs replacing.  They have not yet done the capstone bricks over the front porch.

I woke up stuffy on Thursday... weather front?  Arm's a bit sore from the flu shot on Wednesday, so could be a factor.  What I ate on Wednesday?  Possibly.  Allergens?  Between pollen count and the brick work generated dust?  Possible.  Isn't the "every morning as an old-er person" inner dialog crazy?  When we were kids we had little patience for what those old folks were talking about with their aches and pains and coping mechanisms.  Nowadays, I'm one of those old folks!

I was dreaming right before I woke up, and I've had this dream a few times over the years:  I'm doing a triathlon, but totally unprepared.  I don't have my bike ready, I get the swim done (last, like always) but then can't find my bib for the bike/run and realize I never picked them up.  I recognize that this is just a normal "anxiety" dream, like the one when you show up at school or work half dressed, or having forgotten that you were taking a class and it's finals week.  But the triathlon ones and the ones where I'm late to the starting line of a half marathon... they showed up after I started participating in these things, and even though I'm not "eventing" any more, this is the form mine seem to take.

Whatever, it's a lather-rinse-repeat day on the morning front... get the car out of the garage before the brick dudes show up, hopefully get the nasal stuff cleared out before they get here and it's time to go work out.

Thursday morning they got to the capstone.  As I was headed out to the trainer session, I took a "all I want for Christmas" snapshot of it.  The mason tells me that he found a couple of wooden shivs stuff in there, and there had not been enough mortar.

They did more grinding today, rang the bell to let me know that they are taking the afternoon off and will be back in the morning, leaving a prop in place.  Guess I won't be using the front door until they finish.

I can easily see why this is a good stopping point.  They are going to need to mix up a batch of mortar both to fill the ground out spots (tuck-point work), and to repair that capstone arch.

The lanterns are back and wired to light again, Thursday morning.

Onward!

Life is good.  Spark on!