Tuesday, January 12, 2010





In my travels I am always looking out for historic examples of dry stone walls. In the summer of 2008 I was working on a dry stone wall for a customer near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I drove the same route almost everyday on my way to the site.
It wasn't until one day a woman stopped by and asked some questions about the wall I was working on . We got to talking and she asked me if I knew about the wall down the road. The lunch bell rang (hahaha) and I grabbed my tools and headed down the road to see if I could find this old wall. I must have driven up and down that road for about a 1/2 an hour and then finally pulled into this small park entrance to have my lunch. My eyes followed the line of the driveway and I was amazed to see this dry stone wall. It is about 1000ft in length and approx. 3 to 4 ft in height. I guess you never know whats just around the corner.

Monday, January 11, 2010

As I walk up the driveway to my current project I think to myself. "What the heck am I doing building a dry stone wall in this type of weather." As I continue to walk I realize that this is one of the only types of masonry that can be done in minus degree weather. I open the tent and look at the pile of clean stone in front of me. I take of my fogged up glasses and turn on my heater so my hands don't freeze as I pickup the very cold stone. The dial on my radio still not light up because it is still so cold. I have to say I am just glad I am not working with mortar. I am glad to be a dry stone waller!!!