hackin' back

 I'm fairly certain there is nothing quite as satisfying as clearing overgrowth. Another rainy start to our weekend, with clearing and cool, breezy weather on Sunday, which afforded me time to get back to the business of reclaiming pasture and track space. I finally managed to free the fence sections that were caught under the tangle of the fallen tree top, bittersweet, and brambles. 

 Three sections of fence are salvageable, one section is definitely headed to the scrap heap, and one I haven't quite decided if I can use it or not.

 The next steps are to measure the area to calculate how much stone dust and geotextile fabric I'll need, secure the loose fence posts, and fix the crushed fence.  If all goes well enough, I may just have a secondary dry lot in place before the end of June.  Dare I dream?

Winter is...well, you know. It's coming.

 Day 23 was more framing, some earth smoothing on the driveway, cleanup in preparation for an incoming nor'easter (UGH), and walls on the middle room.

If you average out all the different forecasts, we're looking at anywhere from 8 - 24" of snow.  

Imagine if you will an overly exaggerated eyeroll.  

It would have been nice to have the roof on before we had snow, but it is what it is, and we've been very lucky in the weather department. 

 (Apologies for the dark and gloomy photos lately; I rarely go outside when I'm working, so most pictures are taken at dusk.  It also seems like it's been overcast and raining every other day, which doesn't help.)

 

Post Blustery Night

 Well, the storm came, it blew, it rained like crazy, and it left.  I was happy to find the mule barn only had the normal amount of water that it would have received pre-driveway; the new driveway is lower than the top of the paddock, the little swales I built last winter are still in place and still working to divert runoff past the barn, and French drain is doing its job perfectly.  After this test, I don't anticipate any flooding issues like I had last winter.

Luckily we never lost power, even with the mighty 40+mph wind gusts.  We did lose a tree.

I still can't believe it fell perfectly centered between the fence posts, and did no damage whatsoever.  The Fencing Gods have shown me favor.  

Day 21 of building was all about running conduit in that big trench.  

The builder also started the frames for the walls, which are lying on the floor in this picture.

And the excavating contractor finished off the septic system behind the house.

 Big equipment means big ruts.  Yikes.

Day 22 was the (un)ceremonious Filling O' the Trench.  This was the last bit of dirt work to be completed; the excavating contractor has left the building.  He smoothed out the ruts in the field and brought in a ton of nice topsoil for the front lawn.  It's not spread quite evenly, but if the weather holds out I may be able to at least run the york rake over it a little to smooth it out.  But HOORAY! Underground wires!

Oh, that blue thing in the background?  Well...don't tell my brother this, but we may have got him an AT-AT for his birthday.  

Or it may be Camp Covid, wrapped up tight for winter.

Any way, the best thing about Day 22?

WALLS!

The view from my dining room window is awesome.  I can check my mules any time I want.  

The view from my bedroom window is pretty sweet, too.

It's finally starting to feel like an actual house!  It looks huge, but it's really kind of small.  It's absolutely perfect.  😊

 

...trenchin'.

 Day 20 of construction started frosty and clear, and despite a predicted rain and wind storm, this happened:

Because, why not?

This is the trench for the underground electric lines.  I'm so excited - no more wires hanging across my mom's front yard!  The electric lines will come from the pole at the big barn to my part of the house, and from there feed into the existing house and new addition.  We didn't expect the digging to go so easily given that the front yard is mostly ledge, but apparently over the years most of the rock around here has "rotted" and is not as formidable as it once was.

Right now we are experiencing 40 mph wind gusts and torrential downpours, so it's not so much an electric trench as it is a moat. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in the morning.

Catching Up

 Days 17, 18, and 19.  Between pouring rain and the Thanksgiving holiday, not much to report other than the leach field going in and the sub flooring getting started.  

I like the rock retaining walls the excavating contractor built, but honestly, I'm not thrilled about the placement of the driveway.  I expected it to be more centered and not nearly that close to the mule paddock.  I've decided to live with it for a year and decide if I'm going to have it moved. 

The leach field was not what I was expecting, either.  I was told by the septic designer it would be farther from the house, in a natural depression.  It ended up being right behind the back of my house, basically at the end of where the deck will be.  It's not a big deal, because I did some research and I can still plant over the area, I just can't do raised gardens.  

I also wasn't too thrilled about the septic vent being right in the middle of the back yard.  I did some online searching and found a number of decorative pipe covers, but they were all over $200.  I settled on a cute solar light that mounts on the end of the pipe; it was the most budget friendly and I actually like the look of it.  Once there are plants around it, you'll never know it's actually a stink pipe.

The state inspector should be out to approve the septic system tomorrow, then the excavating contractor can cover it, and move on to digging the trench for the underground electric wires in the front yard.  

We're in for a doozie of a rain and wind storm for the next couple days, so once again it looks like things will be at a standstill for a while. 

Before the rain

 Day 16 - floor joists are going up, more backfilling is happening, and the excavating contractor has started building the retaining wall with those massive boulders he dug up.  

The forecast calls for rain on and off for most of the upcoming week, so I'm not sure how much will get done.  We've been extremely lucky to have had mild weather this late into the season, and I hope it continues for a little while longer.  Just until the garage floor is poured, at least!