a fat old man should know better

I don't know what exactly prompted me to believe that I was still young enough and strong enough and capable enough to : 1st -mix several bags of concrete in a wheelbarrow , 2nd - get that concrete into my slightly misshapen form , 3rd - put a decent finish on all that mud.
Well - it is what it is and once I started it was too late to turn back . I'm not TOO disappointed in the finished product but neither am I satisfied with the way it turned out. It was just too much effort in too much heat for a fat old man who cannot get to things on the ground as well as he needs to for projects like this.
Learn to live with it. I plan to.
All that remains for this part of the yard is to remove the " form " and backfill around the concrete. As of this evening , none of the plants Twila and I put in have withered or died ( as far as I can tell ) so at least that part seems to have gone reasonably well. I hope all that newspaper my daughter and I put down acts as effectively as weed control as it SHOULD. Finished product picture coming soon.
The wife and I are still discussing various different plans for the other side of the yard . I have nothing definite in mind . I thought about incorporating a STEELER logo in different colored rocks and was informed in several different firmly but nicely expressed ways " do you really think that's such a good idea ? " which was wife code for " oh HELL no . She has stated a preference for something free form and colorful using either red or black lava rock and the marble chips or perhaps large black rounded mexican beach pebbles and the marble or some other abstract but colorful formations. Best I can say right now is that the jury is still out and it remains to be seen what shall be.
My lovely daughter Hallie shown here with my awesome wife Twila says she was inspired by my project to

create something of her own. A coffee table made out of used produce crates surrounding a small rock garden :

This prompted Twila to search PINTEREST for projects involving the creation of things ranging from boardwalks to wine racks to bookcases and tables using wood from deconstructed used pallets. I sense a series of projects stretching into the future after we have completed all the yard and fence art projects currently either underway or being actively prepared for. 

While grappling with the frustration of trying to transfer pictures from my phone and Twila's phone into this blog I came across something I wanted to share. A meatloaf .But not just ANY meatloaf. This one used shredded potato instead of bread and was wrapped with bacon. And SMOKED.

Smoked , bacon wrapped , and absolutely , utterly delicious.