Mr. Barker makes a sidewalk.

He demolished the old sidewalk, hacked roots away, hauled off debris, and did his homework.  Assuming the properties of concrete had not undergone any major changes in the past 40 years, he used Darrell Huff's "How to Work with Concrete and Masonry" (1978) as one of his guides.

        Wherein Mr. Huff advises, "If there's no neighbor to lend a hand, a reasonably sturdy wife will serve" (p. 30) .  The sentiment in that sentence is uncomfortable on many levels.  But, I'll have to side with Mr. Huff on one point:  Mrs. Barker is as sturdy as they get.