As the World Turns -Or- Look Before You Leap

You know the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? I cut these bushes back last summer to reveal this situation and the image was burned in my mind. The thousand words I first thought concerned worry, doubt and insecurity. This is the front wall around the porch and I exposed it for all the world and Becky to see. The folks who restored the house did great work overall and they took a stab at tuck pointing this. The smudged bricks at the top are the dead give away. There is other work like this around the house.
During my years as a masonry laborer it didn't take me long to figure out that the laborer who took an active interest and learned to mix the mud to the masons' liking got the job of mixing mud. I quickly became that person thereby gaining exemption from much of the heavy lifting, toting block and setting scaffold. One year, on a hotel job in Florida, I mixed so much mud I thought a large beach had been moved with my shovel. I mixed mud for brick masons and watched them at their craft for five years.
Even armed with this great experience I must confess my thoughts have been centered on defeat. Maybe that's why this situation persists today? I began to find peace by accepting and acknowledging, not so much the ugly situation but, that my thoughts issued in unbelief. I turned my thoughts from the dead past to positive impulses of the life I desire. Then the world turned and now I see the real good in this. It is a demand to be met profitably; a perfect example of typical problems found in brick work on wonderful, old homes. Lack of faith is the central problem blocking restoration. Restoration, of a life or a building, ever begins with an intolerable situation. An idea comes and gives birth to pure, positive thoughts of life anew with fresh, young purpose. Wonderful!
Confidence is gained through study. I call attention to the National Parks Service "Preservation Briefs" link I have placed conveniently to the left. The preservation briefs are the beginning point, the best foundational resource for all restoration work. There is so much golden treasure in the preservation briefs that I feel it is my duty as an American to urge you to sift this eternal, national wisdom carefully and absorb it's import and history. For this topic look under repair of masonry.
Before the world turned I made excuses. Now is the time to make plans. An inventory of my tools reveals that I have somehow acquired all the equipment I need. I guess my sub conscience has been at work. I seem to recall a job of pouring a foundation and building a block retaining wall. I recall pouring concrete flooring tile in the basement and this gives me hope. I had to acquire specialized masonry tools for these jobs. Turning to the subject of materials I have learned there is a great old line masonry dealer not three blocks from my house. It's where I got my mud pan and trowel. The supply house, Martin Borchet Company, possibly supplied materials in 1928 when this house was constructed. So I have tools and materials covered.
Now, to devise a sound plan, I need to look at my project through the eyes and hearts and minds of the architect and engineer to plan on paper in clear detail. One rule in restoration is that there are no rules; you never know what you're getting into. Said another way, "Look before you leap".