Walls Up!

 Day 9 finds a hive of activity!  The concrete crew worked most of the day putting up the wall forms, and the general contractor used a jackhammer to punch through the surprise 3+ foot thick wall of old concrete that was discovered around the existing house foundation.  Apparently that was a result of "how they did things back then"; instead of pouring concrete into molds made of forms, contractors would sometimes frame the interior walls and pour the concrete directly against the dirt for the exterior of the wall.  (I think I explained that correctly, but maybe not.  Much of this goes right over my head!)  The hole between the foundations is needed to run a water pipe and electric wires from one house to the other.

The arrow is pointing at the jackhammer; I didn't want to bother him while he was working, so I kind of snuck around to get this photo.

The white pipe marks the hole where utilities and water will eventually come through the foundation.

Day 10 was the completion of the wall forms.  The concrete truck was supposed to be on the site that afternoon, but that didn't happen in time, so work was halted for the weekend.  

This was also the day we made it official, and I purchased the property from my mother.  Once again, I'm a homeowner!  It was a bittersweet day for Mom, but in the end we agreed this was the best way to move forward.  She'll retain her home, and I'll be right there to take care of her when she needs it.  She's the most spry and active 70something year-old that I know, so I think it will be a long time before that happens.  

A side note...Friday the 13th is becoming "my date", apparently.  My big mule, Fargo, was born on a Friday the 13th, and now I've purchased my childhood home on a Friday the 13th.  Who says it's an unlucky day?  

Day 11 the concrete trucks - yes, plural! - arrived and the walls were poured.  It was a lot different from the last pour, when it was a pleasantly unseasonal 70*F.  This day was bitter cold, windy, and damp from downpours the night before.  It definitely felt like winter!

Mother inspects the pour.

Since the temperatures have dipped so drastically, I'm not sure if they'll have to let the concrete cure longer before they remove the forms.  Today is going to be in the upper 30s, and tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 20s with a bitter wind. I'm wondering if they'll wait and come back toward the end of the week, when it's supposed to be up into the 50s.  We shall see!

Forms and Footings

 Day 7 finds the concrete contractor and his crew building the forms for the foundation footings.  

The foundation doesn't actually drop down in front; that's where the 4' frost wall will be.  

 

Day 8

The forms are set and the concrete truck has arrived!  Holy smokes, the divots that truck put in the lawn are insane.  You would think after all these years the soil around the house would be quite compacted, but I guess you don't know exactly how compacted until you have a massive truck weighing a couple tons drive over your lawn.  

Once that's set up and cured, they'll start putting up the wall forms.

Busy times here at Stoneridge Farm!

The Big Dig, Now with Septic

 The excavating contractor is done with the foundation hole, and has moved on to the septic system.  He's built a massive ramp out of dirt and stone for various large equipment to maneuver around the site.  The septic truck that's coming to pump the old tank, the truck that's bringing the new tank, the concrete truck for the foundation work...it's a lot, and most of this work will be buried underground.  

Day 5

treasures!!! an old spoke hubcap

   Day 6

tanks a lot

Tomorrow the concrete guy should be here building forms, and the excavator will start the new leach field.  Fun, fun!

The Big Dig

                                                                                 Day 3

                                                                            Day 4

Here we go!

 We have broken ground!  After two years of waiting - almost two years to the day since I sold my house - my new home is finally becoming a reality.  

Day 1:

Day 2:

My brother asked if they had dug up anything interesting.  Unfortunately, the only thing so far is a section of railroad track that had been part of one of my mother's gardens.  No artifacts, no Jimmy Hoffa, no buried treasure...yet.

Deck Be Gone

 So the rest of the deck is off, and the house looks a little bit naked.

Once again we called on Corey and his Big Ol' Tractor to give us a hand.  He lifted one end of the deck frame with a forklift attachment, and he and I (mostly him) pried the deck off the house.  He was able to move it in one piece.

tiny photos by Sue (my mom)

 I had him set the frame aside where it can take up space until I get the chance to start cutting it apart, most likely next year.  In the meantime, if anyone asks, this is where we'll be having the live band every Friday night.

We also picked the walls for the best stones and stashed them nearby.  Disturbing an underground yellow jacket nest kind of cut that project short, but we managed to get a nice stockpile started.

Permit is also in hand, sooo 

LET'S BUILD AN ADDITION!!!

 

*crickets*

It's Finally Happening!

 The contractor has given me an estimate for the addition, the financial part of the process is underway, and it looks like we'll be breaking ground by the end of the month if all goes well.  Finally!  After two years of waiting, it's finally happening!

I had planned to work on the track fence this weekend, but with this news we decided to begin removing the old deck on the side of the existing house.  

 

My uncle is here for the weekend, so we put him right to work.  Between him, my mom, Neil, and I, we were able to get the pergola down in no time.  Neil and I then moved on to the deck railings, which I decided to keep and use as fencing around my gardens at some point.  Once those were off, we moved on to the decking.  What a chore pulling those planks!  They were both nailed and screwed down, and most of the screw heads snapped off if we tried to take them out with a screwdriver.  We managed to get about a third of the boards off Saturday.  On Sunday, Mom and I worked most of the day to remove the rest of the decking.  

Voilà!

 

We're planning to leave the frame intact and once it's off the house, cut it into sections to use as pre-made raised garden beds.  Pressure treated lumber is in short supply with the whole Covid thing going on and people stuck at home doing all kinds of improvement projects, so this is a win for us.

We also need to move the two little stone walls before excavation begins.  They're made from small fieldstone that's weathered nicely, so I don't want them just bulldozed up.

It's finally starting to feel real!  I can't wait to have my own space again, and I'm sure my mom can't wait to have her house to herself once more.

Race the Rain

 After I installed the first handful of posts for the track, we had a good rain.  It packed the dirt around the posts nicely and really helped to set them.  Knowing this, and seeing the long range forecast calling for sporadic rainfall and one good day of rain early this week, I was determined to install all of the posts - about 40 of them - while the dirt piles were dry and workable.  I was able to achieve this goal with the exception of one root ridden hole that requires a little extra soil.   All that's left to do is put the pipe panel section up, install gates, and start on the no-climb fencing.

 

Not bad for a crippled up old fat broad.  

Also, I swear a week ago everything was green.

Suddenly, Autumn.

Behold!

 Reputa with her new accessory. 

Works pissah!  

Considering it's made to move fluffy snow, it's working pretty good pushing dirt and rocks.  I've put in three posts in the time it would have taken me to do two by hand, but that's mostly because I would have to stop and bitch about how much my back hurt.  With this setup, I'm workin' hard by hardly workin'. 

Anybody need a mountain moved?  😁

Slow going

 I've been busy, but it's not "WOW!  Look what I've accomplished!" busy.  Just getting a lot of little things done as summer winds down and fall sets in. We've had a couple good frosts, so I've started pulling plants in the vegetable garden.  It looks so naked after being so lush all summer.

The track fence is going up very slowly.  I hadn't thought about how difficult it would be to fill those massive holes by hand.  Trying to hold a post in the hole, then using my feet to scrape dirt and rock in to try to keep the post upright, then shoveling in some more dirt and stones, leveling, tamping, leveling, shoveling, rolling large stones back into the hole, leveling, tamping...I'm averaging 2 posts per hour, and my back usually gives out by that point.  I purchased a small snow plow for Reputa with the intention of using it as a grader blade and pushing the dirt, but it doesn't seem to fit, despite the model numbers matching up and everything I've read saying this plow should fit that tractor.  My neighbor is working on retrofitting it to work, so fingers crossed.  In the meantime...

 I purchased a back pack sprayer and tried spraying the vegetation within the track with vinegar, but it doesn't seem to have done much to kill the leaves.  Then again, we had a brief rain shower the next day, so it was probably washed off.  I'll try again.

I've started to tackle the weedy mess on the tiered garden bank, too.  The drought certainly hasn't bothered the crab grass and weeds at all.

About an hour of hand pulling and pitchfork work later...

I'm debating whether to pull that tier out and start over, or leave it and just move on.  I think I'll build the next two tiers and see how much the bottom one bothers me.  

Onward and upward.

Murphy's Law

I think I'll get Reputa out and mow the bittersweet vines in the track area. 

 *blows a belt on the mower deck* 

No worries, I'll fire up my recently serviced walk behind trimmer and use that. 

*blows a belt on the walk behind trimmer* 

 Ohhhhhkay. I'll take the mower deck off and use Reputa to pull some small stumps and trees with the Brush Grubber. 

*Brush Grubber loses clip and washer that holds gripper in place, grippers close on my fingers* 

Well now...guess I'll put up some sections of pipe fence. 

*Cue the hornets that are living inside the pipe fence* 

Grrrr. I guess now that I have holes dug, I'll start putting in fence posts. 

*Cue the hornets that built nests in the pile of wooden fence posts* 

ALL RIGHTY THEN.