Construction Diary

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Hi there! I'm Merry, married to Husband for 43 years, 2 grown daughters, 5-1/2 cats (one's feral), 1 dog, living on a little acreage in the Midwest. I am a Christian and like writing Inspirational Christian romance (I have several books out) travel, reading, history, archaeology, sewing, quilting, and writing.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Sunday, May 28, 2006

We are going to a barbeque at Bill and Becky's this afternoon.

Mom is cooking up all kinds of picnic foods. Pa is tinkering out in the shop with drills and saws. He's playing some lovely guitar and banjo music that's wafting across the breeze to me...I'm sewing.















This is my temporary sewing room. Note the breezy ironing board and iron location. See my cutting board to the side of my machine? There's only one problem with sewing outside near bird feeders. One of the hummingbirds has already left a deposit on the fabric. Dang birds!

That's my machine - plugged into a deck eletrical outlet!

If you look up and squint at the birdhouse on the pole you'll see Mama Sparrow checking out the new porch equipment before she goes back into her nest. She's already raised 3 babies. We're thinking she's already sitting on another nest. Papa Sparrow flits back and forth and the 3 older babies are fluttering around the bird feeder and fence. Papa keeps a close watch on them, but they are not allowed back into the nest.

As for the sewing, I'm making red curtains for Mom's kitchen. She decorates every month for coming holidays. The red is for Memorial Day, summer beaches and Fourth Of July.

I'll post more later if I get any good pictures.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Saturday, May 27, 2006

We spent the day at an auction. A lumberyard had gone out of business. My only goal was to try to find some tile for my bathroom for a decent price. Pa's goal was to get some wood to build concrete forms and whatever else might catch his eye for building. Mom figured she'd score some little stuff.

Pa got 12 10 X 12 boards for $48! These will be used as concrete forms when we pour the pump house walls. Pa also got a tape measure for $6 (retail $14), his are wearing out. Mom got a root grabber for $27. They retail for about $40. I got painter's canvas for $15...retails for $43! I will probably cut it up to use in sewing...unless Pa finds a use for it. My biggest score was the BEST! 40 boxes of tile - $2 a box! It retails for $716.00 and I got it for $80.00!!! YES!

But then we had to load it...each box weighed 45 pounds. 40 boxes. Yep, we not only loaded 1800 pounds of tile...we unloaded it!













The truck's rear tires were riding low due to the weight.













Doesn't look like 1800+ pounds of loot, does it?














Echo, the great black hunter started barking like she'd found prey. We all rushed out to see what she had. Yes, my dog had spotted a vicious, dog-eating, man-eating, monster of a box turtle making its way across the yard. Echo had actually dug under the fence to be able to lay paws on the turtle and I think she was preying...













This is what the turtle looks like when it pokes its head out in safety.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Today we started work on the well/pump house. Pa's first task was the push the lovely sand from the well-drilling into a heap that we will use as a foundation of the pump house. He scooped it up and piled it somewhat level.













First, Pa sets the laser level and four poles on each corner. Then he shot the beam and we marked where on the poles the beam hit. Then he pushed sand and Mom raked it even.













Once we thought the sand was even, Pa and I swept with a long rod to find the high and low spots. We had to do a little more leveling as we pushed sand off the high places and put it in the low places.













Mom and I are now compacting the sand. Although we did the area, I'm not sure how much we really compacted as neither of us had much strength!













Pa and I are discussing the house. I am a very visual person - I have to "see" things to make sense of them at times. Pa thought we should lay out the house so I could visualize the kind of space I'll need. We took measurements then used some saplings, rocks and the sledgehammer to lay out where things will go. The bathroom layout was changed 3 times due to the configuration/measurements not looking right.













Echo and Flint watched everything from their view while in the grassy garden area. We were on the other side of the garage at the well for a time so they stretched the full length of their tie-out to watch us.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Thursday - May 25, 2006

The well drilling crew came today at 8 AM. We all gathered up chairs and drinks to watch the show. It was a job that any person with an interest in machinery at work would love. I told Richard it was his dream - heavy machinery, lots of noise and playing in dirt!

The trucks they brought were amazing. Absolute marvels of engineering. The actual well drilling rig was a hydraulic lift, a pressure tank, an air compressor, a storage area for pipes, a drill, a crane, a pipe wrench (super large one!), a massive screwdriver, and a winch! The other truck that held the pipes was also an 11,000 gallon water tank - they use the water under high pressure to aid in the drilling. The rest of it was used for extra pipe storage and the storage of various bits of equipment used in the drilling.

One thing I did notice. The trucks were engineered to "help" do all the jobs involved in drilling, lifting, and placing. The two men had assigned tasks and much work was automated scientific application of the tools provided. Everything was though of from the pipe wrench that was operated hydraulically to the simple tube used to store the two drill bits. It was interesting as I am a user of tools when I quilt and many tools women seem to use are clunky, outmoded and often not ergonomic or user friendly. I know that's a sexist statement but think on it...indoor vacuum cleaners - hoses, nozzles, machine lugged up and down steps...no grip handle, just a push handle and BAGS (although finally someone figured out bagless). But a shop vac for men...wheels that turn so it can go any direction...an engine that has great suction, no bag, just a dump bucket and so on.

Anyway. The first drill bit was nine inches wide - this is to dig a large hole so that the 6 inch casing can be installed. Once the drill reaches 80 feet, they switch to a drill of 6 inches. After they reach 80 feet, the casing is installed and then Bentonite, a type of quick setting concrete is poured down the outside of the casing to set it in place. Once the casing is in place, they continue drilling to reach the water.

We hit the top of the water table at about 190 feet but the pressure wasn't enough to support the submersible pump. We decided to drill deeper to get better pressure. We checked every 20 feet and finally at 250 feet we got the required pressure to run the submersible pump at peak efficiency. It took exactly 5 hours from start to finish to drill the 250 feet and put in the casing, waterpipes and bentonite.














The crane starts to rise so that the trees can be trimmed and the drill can be placed.















Starting work. Walt is trimming the trees with branches that may interfere with the crane's operation.















The 9 inch drill bit is positioned and begins work.













A larger view of the whole area.














I'm watching the work...see the truck nearest me? That red "flatbed" is actually an 11,000 gallon watertank. The drillers use high pressure water to help speed the drill as it digs the hole.













Me by the driller's rig.













Me shoveling the "slurry" of ground limestone, sandstone and the water that is ejected from the hole as the drill digs.














The diesel engine that ran the drilling rig for 5 hours had a huge fan to vent the heat from the engine. The hot air blew up into this tree and eventually burned the leaves.














This was the final test of water pressure. After all the industrialized machinery to do the work, a simple stop watch and 1 gallon paint can are used to test pressure. At a signal, the paint can holder fills the can while the stopwatch holder times how fast it fills. The test was done 3 times at different depths before pressure was acceptable for the submersible pump. A pump needs water flowing at about 2 1/2 times its capacity so it will never have to be sucking air. My pump needed a minimum of 15 gallons per minute. We managed to get 25 gallons per minute.












The pipes are down the well and it is currently capped until the pressure tank and the submersible pump are installed.












A larger photo of the area to show where the well is in relation to the shed.












Echo and Flint came up for a time to visit. They didn't like the loudness of the diesel so I took them home after a while.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Wednesday - May 24, 2006

City Slicker Does Farming...

We went up to Echo Ridge today and did it all...okay, not all. But we started my little grassy area next to the driveway. We rototilled, leveled, limed, fertilized, did pest control and planted grass in my soil.

Pa let me do the tilling. With a tiller. A gas powered tiller. With big teeth. Tilling is hard work. First off, that tiller leans to the right due to its engine being on that side. I'm left-handed. That means my right arm has to do the work. Also, to get the tiller to back up you are supposed to lift it. I'm not tall enough to lift it more than an inch or so off the ground. Pa even set the handles at the lowest setting. This meant that backing up was nearly an exercise in futility. The tiller also requires strength. It's teeth are bent and it digs in the dirt - nothing stops it. Except little old me. The tiller weighs almost as much as me. In a contest of wills, that engine just keeps going and going and going. I had visions of it it taking off across my property dragging me screeching and kicking behind it unable to let go. By the time I'm done doing all the tilling required I'm gonna have pecs like the Governor of California, The Honorable Arnold Schwatzenegger (former bodybuilder). I'd challenge him to a tiller duel, but I wouldn't want to humiliate him.













Here I am tilling.













I'm supposed to be tilling this down to take the high spot out so water will drain downhill. I didn't do too well.














After I finished tilling Pa took the tractor and the box blade and started leveling.













Mom hauls the brush and root snags we chopped up over to the brush burn pile.













Mom uses the tractor to dump her brush load.













Pa decided I needed to learn to level with the tractor and box blade. I got the hang of the shifting okay, but controlling the box blade was a little harder. You have to know the soil well. See the high spots and low spots. Scrape off the high spots and put the dirt in the low spots. Some high spots were left alone as they sloped away from the shed and were naturally occurring watersheds.













Mom and I are using a handheld seed spreader to distribute lime granules and fertilizer to my newly tilled soil.












Mom has a blister from doing all the brush clearing with rake and shovel.













The finished product. This is the view towards the driveway.













This is the view towards the road. The shed is just out of the picture to the left.













YES! The well driller and his rig arrived this evening around 6 pm.














The well will go right here, to the left of the shed.













The purpose of hydraulic lifts on the rig is to raise the bucket to do some low-limb cutting of the trees that may be in the way when the drill starts...and to prevent someone from sneaking in at night and stealing the rig! The well driller told us that someone has to really know what they are doing to set the rig on the ground and drive it away.












Echo is supremely uninterested in the goings on of the crazy humans who dig in the dirt and don't even bury decent bones or food.














Flint takes a nap.










On our way to check out the baby bald eagles nesting in the sycamore tree, this little rabbit was playing in the road. He zipped into the brush before I could take a picture. On the way back home, there he was AGAIN! This time I caught that little bunny with my camera!













This is a rare photo of two bald eagle parents taking a break. Over the years when I visited Mom and Pa before moving here, I'd see Papa Bald Eagle out on this snag by the lake keeping watch over the territory. The sycamore tree where the nest resides is about 1/2 a mile away. FYI, eagles pretty much mate for a season and may return to the same partner for their entire lives. This pair has been nesting here the full 6 years Mom and Pa have been here. Rarely, very rarely do Mama and Papa Bald Eagle leave the nest and scope the territory on the snag TOGETHER. In other years the only time they did this was when the Baby Bald Eagles were ready to leave the nest. Yep, there are two babies. And they will probably be tossed out of the nest in the coming week. We were witness to Mama teaching the babies to fly one year. She literally pushed them out and they had to fly or die. One baby was skimming the earth before he frantically flapped and then sailed on a current and rose into the air. It was absolutely amazing!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Tuesday - May 23, 2006

Yesterday I lounged around most of the day reading books (James Patterson & Iris Johansen) and catching a little news on TV.

In the afternoon, Pa started working on the preliminary drawings for the apartment. My measurements were off, so the house is now 1400 square feet. My kiva fireplace may be a casualty to the new measurements - either that or it will be modified somewhat.

Today we went shopping early, came home to take a nap, then took a ride up to see the baby eagles. While driving up a side road to see if the quinces were blooming yet, a baby fawn hopped off the roadway and tried desperately to get through the fence and into a meadow. Another truck pulled up beside us - neighbors who'd seen the mother cross the road and Baby too terrified to try. They'd backed up so the baby couldn't see them to let him get across...and that's when we drove up and spooked him. Anyway, Baby found a hole and pushed through then scampered off to find Mom. All's well that ends well.

The quinces were not flowering, they already had small fruits. We puttered around to look at the view from above the caves on the creek bank, then drove home.

We then took a walk around the back acreage with the dogs. Echo only ran off once after a squirrel. Pa had placed the game camera by the stump where we put out corn...these photos are what we got.













If you look real close to the left of the stump you'll see Mom's cat, Tiger...












Two raccoons are eating the corn...














Up in the right corner...a wild Pa tries to check the camera's photo capacity without triggering the motion sensor...he failed! LOL

Monday, May 22, 2006

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Pa suggested a visit to some lumber companies to take a peek at their home packages, kit homes they sell with all the materials needed. We found one with a decent plan and when we came back home, we discussed the various layouts and finally came up with a plan for the apartment. You can see the evolution of our discussions here:



As we traveled about, we also hit some antique stores. I scored BIG at one. I found something the girls really wanted for some time...something that Richard and I always planned to get them eventually...when we had the money. Lowest price we ever found for the item was around $120 each. I got BOTH for less than $24. I love getting a bargain gift! I can't say what it is as at least one kid reads this blog! I also found the Pyrex 1 cup measuring cup I've been seeking. The new Pyrex measuring cups are made with an open handle which I hate. So I've been trolling antique stores, garage sales and junk shops looking for the old one with a closed-ring handle. Finally found it and got 10% off, too!

I have no pictures at this time as its been cloudy and rainy and we've not gone up to the Ridge to work the past few days. The welldriller is supposed to be here sometime this week. I hope we are not delayed again. I really want to get this part done as it means we will finally be moving forward on the garage apartment.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Saturday - May 20, 2006

No pictures the past few days as we've been doing other stuff - shopping and off to the weekend auctions and garage sales. Mom picked up a nice china tea set, but I didn't score anything this time around. Pa got some books and a volt meter.

The dogs have been happy just to take walks up to the Ridge to get the mail.

When I went shopping, I bought flower pots, 5 petunia plants and a clematis for my property. I have to find my terra cotta fountain in the shed. I put the plants in the new pots and they will go on the stumps that remain in the grassy area near the driveway that I am planning. I bought grass seed, fertilizer and lime, too. I really can't do a lot of landscaping right now as the drill rig, cement truck and various other heavy equipment will be up there for the next few weeks and maybe longer.

I talk to Richard just about every day, sometimes twice a day now that we've figured out the time zones. He's lonesome, but busy with work. I at least have the dogs (our babies) to cuddle and play with when I'm not busy. Echo has finally warmed up to Pa - the five days we were at Maggie's when he was sole provider of food made up her mind, I guess.

Anyway, perhaps Monday I'll have some new pictures unless Pa and I decide to go up there tomorrow and do a little tilling and chainsaw work on the downed trees...Nah!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Thursday - May 18, 2006

Happy Birthday, Maggie! (Today is her real birthday, we celebrated early).

So - what'd I do today? Since Pa deserved a break and wanted to go canoeing...I decide to work on landscaping on my property. There's a place between the driveway and my shed that I want to turn into a nice grassy area. I had several double and triple trees in the area and to prevent lightning strikes killing them, Pa chopped one or two of each down. He leveled the stumps so I could put terra-cotta pots of flowers on them. Although Pa lightly brush-hogged some if it there were many small saplings, roots and rocks that have to be taken out.

I spent the day with an axe, the riding lawn mower and cart and the rake.

The dogs were with me but the one shot I took of them was blurred. Sigh. It was probably better anyway. Since Flint is so trustworthy, I can let him off leash and he pretty much stays within fifty feet of me. Today, he went around behind the shed...and I do NOT know what animal left a nice pile of dung, but Flint, being a good dog...rolled in it. He ran around the building all excited and happy, jumping on everyone...covered in shit.

I tied him and Echo to the trees and went to work. They basked in the sun and drank their coffee can of water before spilling the rest of it as I worked.

On the way back home they flushed another box turtle. My dogs. The great hunters.

I came home for lunch for an Instant Messaging session with Richard, leftovers for lunch and to take a break.

Then back to the slaving. At 4 pm, Mom and Pa showed up to help me collect the tools, drive the lawn mower back and give the dogs a ride in the truck. I took an "after" photo and trudged to the house for dinner.

After dinner, Mom gave me a big plastic tub and I bathed Flint and Echo outside. They were not amused. However, we're one day late in applying their Frontline tick and flea medication, so this was a golden opportunity to bathe them and take care of that, too. Naturally, as soon as he got out of the tub, Flint rolled in the dirt. Echo just shook water all over the place. Then she went and laid down...getting pine needles and chaff in her fur. Sigh.




This is the BEFORE photo. See the shrubbery and saplings and old leaves?



This is the AFTER photo. See the bare ground? It took me all day to clear about a 10 X 10 foot section of the area.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Wednesday - May 17, 2006

The company that was supposed to do the well-drilling and the septic were called away to an emergency down the road. They will be here next week to do the work we had planned today. Since Pa had some free time away from my property he decided to work on his own land. The bulldozer cleared several stumps off his property and the resulting holes filled with water from the rain. Pa has to drain the water and backfill the hole.

In other news, Echo and Flint spent most of the morning and afternoon barking and huffing at something under the ramp steps to the house. They can't get under that part of the porch due to the fact we blocked it off. I thought they were fussing about Tiger, Mom's cat. However, we finally looked with a flashlight and it was a small box turtle!













This is the hole filled with water. Pa used his box blade to cut a trench to drain the hole.













Uh oh! While pushing dirt, Pa miscalculated and got the tractor stuck in the mud.














So...Pa hooked up a chain to the truck to drag it out. This required two people, one to drive the tractor and one to drive the truck. Its been years since I've driven a 4-wheel drive or a stick shift. The first tug seemed to yank the truck back and I stomped on the brake too soon. However, the second tug was successful. I applied way too much gas at first, but managed to find my "wheels" and pull the tractor out.














A final tug up the hill and Pa was back in business.














Scraping dirt off the hill...













And pushing the dirt into the hole...














The tractor is at a steep angle and when Pa drives up out of the hole after pushing the dirt into it, the front wheels tend to leave the ground a little! Wheeeeeee!














Rather than watching Pa shove dirt around Echo is alerting to Mom's cat, Tiger, who is out in the woods behind the hole.














Flint settles down after strenuously watching Pa and the tractor shoving dirt around. Flint would've helped, but he figured that every dog...er, human...has bury their own bones!