How to Build a Stone Wall

We had some time on our hands yesterday after dropping Sarah off, so I thought it would be fun to drive by the old family farm in Guilford.  That farm has been bought and sold a number of times and is no longer owned by any family members, sad to say.  But I wanted to drive by it and see how it looks.  The good news is that the hay barn is being completely repaired and already has a new roof, which is wonderful to see.  I stopped down the road just a bit from the house to photograph this stone wall, covered with lichen.  I believe that this stone wall was built by my grandfather.  It runs along the edge of the farm by the road.  Building a stone wall that will last is a complicated process, believe it or not.  You can't just pile the stones on any which way.  You have to carefully stack them, the larger ones and the smaller ones, if you want the wall to survive freezing and thawing weather for a hundred years.  This is such a beautiful thing to see, to me how all these stones are arranged.  They may look random, but they are not.

Here is a close up of just part of the wall, so you can see the incredible detail of the way the lichen clings to the surface of the rocks.  It is really beautiful and the color is so subtle.