My husband, otherwise known as Sisyphus

It is just
pouring down today, and has been
for most of the weekend, with some parts of yorkshire flooding for the third time this month. This means that my husband has a day off due to the weather--lucky, since he works for himself - as not everyone can sit out the rain. So today I felt like sharing a bit about him, the stonemason.

He calls himself a stonemason, and he is a damn good drystonewaller. But the truth is he can build anything, and is also an artist. The fact that he is an artist means he approaches his work with creativity and it is very personal to him.. he's doesn't just build, he creates. He's hoping to one day build our dream home. These photos by the way, are all his creations. The thing that I admire and wonder at the most, is that most of the time he works single-handedly, that is, Alone. I wouldn't know where to start.

I enjoy decorating and tearing down, renovating-- which we have done on several occasions, but I don't know building up. My son is eagerly awaiting his chance to help build.. he had a small opportunity recently, and after moving a couple of small stones, decided on watching a video instead. But the idea is there! The thing is, my D.H.'s body is slowly breaking down [don't know if he'll appreciate me sharing this], from the sometimes very literal back-breaking work. We are desperate to get on with our own home-buying renovating, which may prove a little easier than hauling big stones about. The walls may look wonderful, but they are 'labour intensive' as well as very time consuming.

I've heard that there are enough drystone walls in the Peak District of England to circle the globe twice! Many of the walls are hundreds of years old and still standing. It is a dying art to build a solid wall completely by shape and size of stone alone, with no mortar involved. The wall in the first pic was 6 feet tall..and very long!!!