Whew, now at the very bottom of the first wall! Yes, one wall. I can't work for long each day due to yard/house work (have to save some strength for that), heat/humidity, and potential exhaustion of patience and body. I worked today until there was so much rubble on the floor that I could not get my footing to continue.
As I have progressed down the wall, things have gotten easier. It could be a learning curve or because more moisture on the lower half has weakened the mud. At the bottom 6" there was definitely a lot of moisture getting all the way through; the metal mesh backing is rusted and fragile.
Cleaning is slowing me down. Filling small moving boxes with rubble and tossing them in the garbage bin, I am picking up and moving more debris than I would have imagined.
NOTES about the picture: again, taken with crappy phone and adjusted once on the computer.
(1) Drywall to the left is very soft, that piece will be replaced even if the rest is not.
(2) Far left beam is not a structural beam and is perpendicular to the other beams. This has been VERY annoying because it is no good for leverage with the pry bar, just bends. Will replace this with a correctly placed beam or two.
(3) This picture was taken AFTER cleaning up a box full of rubble.