August 13, 2005

• Just a quick note to confirm the rumors: we have in fact broken ground on 37th Drive! Grade beam excavation is complete, we're building the forms and doing some rough plumbing— the old sewer line was like an archaeological find, choked with roots, had to be completely redone. It will take a while to do all the rebar because of the interesting regulations etc. that go with the territory, but when it's done it will be bombproof. Not that we're concerned about terrorists tunneling under our house. Especially after our Adventures in Compaction over the past month. You can't see very well in these photos, but the earth was so solidly compacted, the sides of the tunnels look like they are carved from sandstone. Kathryn picked up a rock from the trench and Bob said "That's not a rock, it's a dirt clod". She couldn't break it in her hand, it was so packed together.
  Here is an aerial view of the excavation. And another one for good measure. What a fun little backhoe Bob has! It practically fits in his pickup truck. Perfect for this job.
  Here's one more photo, of Joy hard at work on site. Every family member plays a role in building a home, you know.

  • 5:37 am
  • 2 Comments