Walls and holes: pinker and deeper, respectively

So, the walls in the basement keep getting pinker, and the hole in the yard keeps getting deeper.

First up, the walls, the walls, the hideous walls!




Our more observant readers (hah!) might notice that the red tape looks a little different than it did in the first few shots of the Dread Wall of Pink. That's because a "friend" pointed out that we weren't using Tuck Tape (tm) but rather the cheap-ass Canadian Tire equivalent. Not good enough, says our "friend". Apparently, the inspectors have been known to insist on Tuck Tape (tm), and force users of the non-name stuff to CHANGE IT. Bastards! So, yes, I replaced ALL of the tape with Tuck Tape (tm). (Thanks, Heidi. That's just great.)

I'm starting to like the walls, actually. I wonder if Amy would let me paint the whole room this color when it's done. I think our supervisor kitty approves, too:



(We were going to make him foreman, but we couldn't find a hard hat in his size. But truth be told, I think he shows more interest in the work than I do, sometimes.)

As for the hole, it's hard to tell we've done ANYTHING just by looking at it, but we've actually made good progress. We've laid bare the weeping tile all the way from the edge of the gravel to the corner... now we have to move the gravel so we can dig underneath it. To give you an idea of why this prospect does not exactly fill me with glee, here's a cross-section of what we're digging through:



The hardest part of getting through that isn't the clay, surprisingly enough - though the clay tends to generate a fair amount of swearing on its own, I assure you. It's the thrice-cursed river rock at the bottom: it's impossible to push a shovel into it, so you wind up with these piss-ant little half-scoops all the time, and it takes FOREVER to move it out of the hole.

Anyway, we're taking a night off to go see Pirates! Arr! (Which is EXACTLY the sound I make getting off the couch after digging all day. Go figure.)