Working on the, um, necessities

December 21st: I thought we were about ready for a slab. But the Critical Path dictates everything in its essential order. So, before we could set forms for the slab, there remained a bit more digging and pipe work. Let those who read this be assured that we will have all necessary facilities in this new shop. Enter the fine crew of Socia Septic who helped make this a reality:

I am sad that I didn't catch the name of this man running the back hoe. Not only was he an expert at the task at hand, but he was a real prince to a little helper at the end of the day. (More on that in a minute.)  So what's going in this hole? These:

And after a bit, we were at this point:

And after some plumbing work, it was back to the trenches, digging a trough for the 8" gravel-less pipe. I was happy that these folks took care between our trees, and were concerned about our property.

And then, when the job was winding down, we had the great fortune to be visited by my favorite little construction worker, Ransom Wilson:

Ransom is intrigued by machinery, and the bigger the better. What was his delight, when asked by the back hoe opperator if he would like to help drive the tractor up to its trailer? You betcha, buddy!

And at the end of the day, not only were the Mayans proved wrong--the world did not end--but Keith Socia was proved right: they could do all this in a day. Thanks, Keith--great job.

As you can see, all that remains is a little mound of excess dirt. We'll find a use for that...or perhaps Ransom can?

Site Prep

With the trees down, what remains to be done is leveling the site for a slab.
Of course, that meant dirt...7 loads in all:

Then, it got spread out with this old Massey Ferguson:

Johnny was a real artist with this beat up tractor. Before long we were shooting grade and making only the slightest of changes:

Then, after the toe slopes were dressed a bit, the shop site looked like this:

Hopefully before long, there will be some form work for the future slab.
Thanks again Johnny for a job well done!

Pine Loss Blues

As we worked on our shop site, we kept looking back at this tall pine right at the corner of the garage. If left standing, it would also be quite close to the corner of the new shop. Reluctantly, we decided to take it down since this is the easiest time to do so.

 

 

 

Still, it was fairly exciting cutting this big guy down. One broken rope and it could fall backward into the garage. Fortunately, the tree cooperated. What Johnny is doing on his tractor is tugging a rope that runs through a pulley system which is applying force in the direction away from our house.

 

 



And it all worked beautifully. It's a bit painful to look at the stump and remember that fine old tree, but we still have a few more! And perhaps the maples can start filling in now. Here's the view with that pine tree down:

Dirt work can now commence!