Going Up

Have you ever read the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? Well, if you give a man a steep driveway, then he will probably want a 4x4 truck. We had been planning to purchase one eventually, knowing we would have many items to haul, but this one came available and we hated to pass it up. It is a '98 Toyota Tacoma with only one owner and low mileage. We know we'll get lots of use out of it. We have now officially driven up to the top of the driveway!
We also hauled our hardwood home the other night. It has a new home in our garage. It actually fit better than I expected. It was worth it for the deal we got.
Now...if we could just get a foundation. Don't even ask...we'll keep you posted.

Slow as Molasses

I know. The entries have come to a grinding halt. Forward progress can be difficult sometimes. Ever since we fired our builder, he has been a much more productive person. There isn't a lot of tangible progress, but we have been quietly working behind the scenes.

• We hired a plumber. He met with our excavator and had him dig for the basement plumbing.
• We hired an electrician and the temporary electric should be up soon. Power tools will come in handy at some point.
• Larry and Becky finished off the work on our culvert and the waterline.
• We found a great deal on wide plank oak hardwood flooring, so we scooped up the whole pallete. Now we just need a place to store it (ha).

We still don't have concrete. The weather is our enemy right now, but I am hoping for some unseasonably warm and dry forecasts. We'll see...

The Apprentice

Have you ever watched that show? If so, you know Donald Trump's famous last words.... Well, John went Trump on our builder today. We finally lost patience and said a few choice words to him. I guess he got the point because he left a message that he would be up to pour concrete next week. Not being ones to trust him, we already found our own concrete sub. He was recommended to us by our excavators and we feel good about moving forward on our own. Becky and Larry also recommended another seasoned builder and we have talked to him as well. We are just not willing to listen to excuses and tolerate inaction. This should be interesting as we continue on the journey.
On a positive note, Becky was out earlier this week digging the water line down the front of the property. In an earlier post, I mistakenly called the septic line, the water line. Well, I got it right this time.
Stayed tune...you never know what will happen next!

More Digging

Well, the fall weather has been wonderful. We have been having October temperatures in November. However, our progress has been slower than we expected. We are getting practice in how to be flexible. The one positive accomplishment is that Becky dug out our footer. It is now ready for concrete, which will be a big step forward. As you can tell, I got my camera back. These photos show the completed lagoon and views of the footer (one from the rear and one from the front). The closer picture really gives you a sense of the layout of the house. The deep holes are for support posts. Becky finally hit some larger rock on this dig, but not enough to give us trouble.

Hopefully, I will have a post soon with pictures of concrete!!

The Green Light

Sorry we haven't posted for a few days, and even sorrier that there are no pictures this post. Emily left the camera at a friend's house on Halloween and we have yet to retrieve it. I promise new pics soon. The other thing is that there hasn't been anything to really take pictures of.... the last time we were on site, things were drier and all the holes were filled in, but nothing too drastically different. However, it was a bit easier to see the lay of the land and visualize the finished area (I am already plotting my fire pit area, garden, bird feeders, etc.. :) ).

The most exciting thing this week is that we officially have a building permit! Terry picked it up today, so we are definitely able to move forward. We have the green light to pour the footer. The last we heard, Becky was coming out to dig the footer tomorrow or Friday (originally Terry planned to just put up forms for the concrete, but code requires it be dug below the frost line). After the dig, Terry will be able to pour the concrete. I am anxious for some heavy concrete trucks to come up so my gravel will get packed down so I can use my driveway!

Hopefully, I will have some new things to report soon. Stay tuned!

More Mud!

The rain keeps coming and so does the mud. The weather held us up for a few days,but Larry was back in action today. He is pretty much finished with his part of the job. The basement excavation is essentially finished. The septic tanks are in and they just finished laying out the water line, despite being chased around by a black snake. The driveway now has gravel, but we need a few heavy trucks to drive on it before it is ready for the van. He has a bit of finish work to complete on the culvert, but soon I will be cruising up my very own driveway!

The family is still enjoying exploring the site, especially the hounds. Check out Jack in the dozer. The other photo is Becky (Larry's wife) working the backhoe. She jumps right in and works with him, which is pretty funny (can't you just see me ?). They have been an excellent team. I would recommend them to anyone.

Cross your fingers and we may have a footer poured by next week!

Basement

They are making progress on the basement. Larry has dug about 5 of the 8 feet down that is needed. Jack loves it because it is his own personal rock wall. He loves to go to the property and climb. What could be more fun for an 8 year old boy than being surrounded by rocks and dirt? Chloe, the basset, also got in the action by literally jumping off the top edge which is almost 6 ft high. She had to have flown 10 feet out before landing and rolling. She came out without even a scrape. That dog is wild. The long rectangular hole is the finished product for the septic tanks. The other photo is the view from what will be our front porch.

Mud Wrestling

The rain came, but that didn't hold up Larry too much. The pile of #2 gravel was delivered and is ready to be spread. He started digging out the basement (dozer photo) and the hole to drop the septic tank (see backhoe photo) . There is mud EVERYWHERE. The good news is that there is not very much rock coming up (yet:) ). The weather will be clearing tomorrow, so things should continue to move along. On a non-digging note, we dropped off the picture of the pileated woodpecker to the local wood artisan today, so he can start our first 'commissioned' piece.

Movin' Earth

Larry has been busy these last few days. We now have a driveway cut with minimal tree loss. Gravel is on the way. We're not able to drive up it yet, but at least we can walk to the top of the property without hiking gear. The lagoon pit is much larger than I expected, but the driveway is a lot less steep than I feared. When we pulled up the entrance this evening, our friend the doe was standing in the driveway waiting for us. Guess she knows our floor plan is called the 'Doe Run'.

Let the Games Begin!

We are ready to get started! Today we met with our builder, Terry Wise and the excavator, Larry Caudill to stake out the house and plan for the driveway, basement, and lagoon. These pictures show the property 'pre-dozer', with views from the road, the top of the ridge looking out (where the house will sit), and toward the back. It is beautiful land, but I admit I will be happy to see some piles of dirt soon.