|
|
In addition to a few cases of empty beer bottles and unrecognizable, rusty metal, I did manage to find several beautiful mid-19th century bottles under the tumbled stone. Most likely they were tossed from a carriage by a civil war era litter bug. The Dr Cumming Vegetine was a popular patent medicine sold in the latter half of the 19th century. It was touted as a blood purifier useful for relief from ulcers, weak stomach, boils, heart palpitations, dropsy, pimples, blotches, and a host of other common complaints. Too bad the bottle was empty - my boils are a killin' me. The other bottle appears to these untrained eyes to be another medicine bottle, perhaps from a bit earlier as the glass is bubblier and the overall work a bit more primitive. |
I excavate the stones and use them to build the section of the wall just behind. Here just a few nicely lichen and moss-covered rocks are evident in the foreground and these will be placed atop the finished section in the background. There is quite a bit more stone under the leaves and soil and this I will use to construct the lower part of the next bit. I am no stone mason, but I actually like the sort of irregular, not-too-level look of the rough wall better than one laid out with line levels - at least here. There are enough small stones left under the old wall to act as a footing for the rebuilt sections. |