Miscellaneous Monday

With Tom gone for work, it was just Maisy and me packing up for another day at the property last Monday. It was a miscellaneous finish-up day as the crew had to move on to another job. They would get done what we needed now and then return after all the machinery from the cement layers and well driller had gone.

So, they dug the 6' deep trench from the (expected position of the) well into where the water will come up in the utility room of the house pad. Up here, the water lines have to be dug at least 6' deep to be below the frost line so as not to freeze in winter. Re-leveling the house pad followed.

The far southwest corner of the garage pad is quite high and we were worried about erosion, so they hauled in more large rock to create a retaining wall just like we did around the house pad.

Then, we needed top fill placed around the cement posts where the solar panels bunk will go. Tom and I figured that we would just have them dump the dirt and then we would shovel and level it, but seeing how much top fill and delicate work it took with the backhoe . . . it would have taken us FOREVER to do it! We also had the area directly behind the solar panels packed and leveled. This is where we'll have the LP (propane) tank placed for our gas. Then we'll run and bury gas lines to the house, garage, and Central Boiler (outdoor wood burner with propane backup).

We also combined and buried the remaining burn piles into one pile which we'll finish burning up this winter. More fill was dumped and smoothed onto the end of the spur drive where we'll park the extra vehicles, etc. and also onto the spur driveway itself.

After doing some filling back in of the pond (which had previously been our huge excavation hole) we decided to let it sit one calendar year before trying to line it. Because the soil there is gravel and sand, it won't hold water unless we line it with local clay, commercial Bentonite, or a rubber liner. And, before we go to the expense of that, we want to make very sure that it has shifted and settled as nature would prefer. So, unfortunately, no ice skating this winter!

When the crew didn't need me to confirm or clarify this or that I was getting a lot of work done on the window, cabinet and cupboard choices and placement in the kitchen . . . all in preparation for getting them ordered. When the frame goes up in August (a VERY short time away!) we'll have to have all the windows and doors and SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels which will go on the walls and roof) ready to go, too.

Before finally heading out around 8:00 p.m. (after having arrived that morning around 7:00 a.m.) the crew started in on scraping what will be the south-facing chicken yard so that I can seed it with grass seed this summer yet.

When they loaded up all their machinery and trailers that had been dotting our long driveway and building site for over a week it felt very quiet. Maisy and I packed up, drove home, and dropped into bed.