Sue has been so busy lately; she’s following in the footsteps of Leonardo Da Vinci and building Gabion Walls!  What are those, you ask? Well… (this is from Wikipedia) A gabion (from Italian gabbione meaning “big cage”; from Italian gabbia and Latin cavea meaning “cage”) is a cage, cylinder, or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping. For erosion control, caged riprap is used. For dams or in foundation construction, cylindrical metal structures are used. In a military context, earth- or sand-filled gabions are used to protect sappers, infantry, and artillerymen from enemy fire. Leonardo da Vinci designed a type of gabion called a Corbeille Leonard (“Leonard[o] basket”) for the foundations of the San Marco Castle in Milan.   We’re simply using them for hard-scape and, to a small extent, to help direct or block wind around the house.

The walls she’s currently working on are around the area that is going to be the outdoor kitchen.  Where Sue is standing in the photo above is a small area where we’ll put an earthen oven… you know for baking bread and pizzas.  Over the Thanksgiving holiday, she and my dad created a planter box for the top.  We’ll be planting herbs and other edibles there to have close at hand.  On the protected sides, we will plant Peonies for some showy color!  Here’s how the wall is shaping up with the top for the planter in. You can just see the second wall taking shape behind.  That wall was finished today, and the third is following close behind.  I can’t wait to see these in the spring… I think we’ll be really pleased with how great they look.  Go Sue!

Today’s weather: Another great day. It was 68° today and gorgeous! I uncovered everything so the plants could soak up the warm sun… then I covered everything as the sun sunk behind the mountain.  The wind is picking up and it’s supposed to get rather cold; 32° by 2am.  Tomorrow is forecast as a chilly 46°, but sunny.