Moving in ... without mortar

First, the 'around South Carolina' pics.  The first one is a gator.  This one is happily wallowing in a swamp.  Occasionally you'll see them on a road, in a swimming pool, or on your back porch.

And, this is downtown Columbia. 

Moving day.  Woohoo.  Well, the reality was more of a huge ugh.  I was sick.  I was sick in bed.  P loaded the entire truck.  In the rain.  We packed the cats into carriers and tucked them in the truck.  We loaded Lia in the truck, and Chompers, Brianna, and Bobo in the car with me.  At midnight.  Than, we drove the 75 miles to our new home.  The cats were ... angry.  Very, very, angry.  The dogs were at first excited, and than confused.  Bobo and Lia were a lot more confused than their buddies, because Chompers and Brianna had been here several times.  They already knew all about doggy prison.  So, at around 2 am ... ish, we tucked the pups into their new digs.  Than we crawled into bed. 

At around 3 am ... ish ... we awoke to furious snarls and yelps.  Sigh.  So much for Bobo and Lia playing nicely together in their new digs.  We brought Bobo into the tin teepee and went back to sleep.  First thing in the morning Bobo and Lia got a divider wall.  Their new digs got smaller, but there wouldn't be any more of those late night spats. 

And, we began unloading the truck.  P got the furniture off, and the friends who keep bringing trailer loads of wood helped.  But, we didn't get the truck back that day.  The next morning I loaded the dolly over and over with the boxes.  And P stacked them all on a tarp outside of the tin teepee.  I'm still confused when I look at this pic.

 

Several years ago I began tossing 'stuff' and in many cases just giving it away.  Why do I still have all this 'stuff'?  Does it breed up in the attic?  In any case, it took until late that night to get most of it stowed away in the storage areas.

                                      

It was good to sit in front of the fire, eat some hotdogs, and feel the sore beginning to creep into our muscles.

The next project was to create a cordwood wall ~ sans mortar ~ across the front of the tin teepee.  Why?  Cold was on it's way, and we wanted a windbreak.  P already knew how cold the wind could get just blowing in, so we decided to at least deflect it a little.  Cordwood walls go up like this ...

Unfortunately, if you aren't tucking mortar in between those logs, and waiting for it to set up, this happens.

If you are lucky, no one is in the way when it all tumbles down!  Plan B (seems to me we've resorted to that plan before ... )

Once again, it's good to sit in front of the fire and ... well, this night P was sort of wallowing in waves of pain.  He pretty much broke himself with this day's work.

The final job for this week was to cover up the dirt floor in the fine dining area.  There were bricks all over from previous landscaping and they found a new home. 

It needs to be swept, but we were both pretty beat.  But, we're sort of ready for the cold.