The last of the trenches, we hope!

Ok, so y'all are probably getting a little bored with trenches... but that's what we (there's that "we" again!) have been doing. Lots and lots of 'em. After digging the drainage trenches, setting the drains, and re-filling them, Sam has spent the last couple of days digging new trenches- these for the footings of the foundation.

First, they chalked out the edges of the new 'house', which was kind of cool because we got a sense of how big Sam's garage will be! (It's gonna be big!)





Then they started digging. He's been dealing with a new machine (same basic tractor, but without the jackhammer thingie), which has slightly more sensitive controls, which took some getting used to. In the course of the 'getting used to it' phase, Sam did a little bit of damage, but just to the fence. It made him angry, but heck, it's just a couple of cedar planks, and we're lucky it wasn't the house!






These trenches are tricky. One of them, in particular, has to run the entire length of the remaining half-house. This is a complicated endeavor because the tractor needs to be snug up against the house in order for the backhoe to dig a straight line. Needless to say, there is a wee bit of pressure to not crash the backhoe into the side of the house. Then, the situation is made even more complicated by the fact of the sandstone: once the backhoe is digging, the sandstone is so strong that the backhoe can't get through it, but stays put, while the tractor (all 17,000 pounds of it!) is dragged from its position snug up against the house.







To give you an idea of the size of the tractor feet which are being dragged around, here is one, in comparison to my size 10!



The sandstone is... not fun, shall we say, to work with. Here you can see some of the dust kicked up as Sam bangs into it with the backhoe (neatly avoiding the house, which impressed the heck out of me!)...



In comparison, the trenches for the other side of the new garage were easy... except that they were very close to the drainage trenches. Sam got a tad frustrated when he accidentally dug up and broke one of the freshly laid drainage pipes...




Here you can see most of the foundation trenches (and the broken pipe, which got fixed!)



So that all made for a frustrating day.

The next day, it rained a bit. This necessitated protecting the open side of our half-house with sheeting.



Sam also got rid of a bunch of the dirt that Michelle didn't need





Sioux doesn't really like the tractor very much. It has the biggest tires she's ever seen! But she is taking the reconfiguration of 'her' yard in stride...



This is Sam, standing outside the kitchen door that used to lead into the garage, but now leads into a chasm... Sioux can still jump inside the house through her dog door!



And at the end of another frustrating day (in which the foundation trenches were almost finished!) we were rewarded with a stunning sunset... we're looking forward to viewing these from our bedroom balcony someday!



And on the 15th day, he rested. We're off to Cabo for 6 days of much deserved R&R, so there will be a 'blog-break'. When we return, I'll post some pictures of our trip- and then... pouring the FOUNDATION!!