Dirty Pictures, a Boulder, & a Plan...

This past weekend we got down and dirty...GRRRRRRR! Under the direct orders of "Our Wayne," We dug out the ditch where our new foundation will be going! There are many things we are learning along the way. We are learning about building permits, building codes, building inspectors - we will bake them brownies;)... Cinder block, the formula on how to mix concrete which by the way is 1:2:3 parts by dry volume....I know, I was like "I dunno what that means" either. That is: one part cement, two parts sand and three parts coarse aggregate....Aggre...what?? hahaha...Anywho, we are learning about all that and much, much, more...frost lines, snapping lines, tape measures, tree roots(which we have learned to saw through with our trusty bow saw!~Thanks Uncle Jim!), hatchets, pick axes, silt fence, conservation - we will bake them brownies;)...and the most important thing we have learned to date...ahem...wearing a good pair of work gloves will keep the dirt out from under your finger nails! We may work like construction men, but a girls got to draw the line somewhere! Work gloves are the way to go if you want to keep your hands soft and nails clean! We also learned that in construction, the plan is only as good as the current situation...In other words, things can change as you go along and they usually do."Our Wayne" instructed us to dig as follows: 5 feet from the back of the house to the front at 15 inches down, 2 feet across and dig the entire length of the back of the house 9 inches down.....then, it was dig 8 feet from the back of the house to the front at 21 inches down, 2 feet across and dig the entire length of the back of the house 27 inches down ....then it was...8 feet from the back of the house to the front at 4 feet down, 2 feet across and dig the entire length of the back of the house 27 inches dooow...hmmm...on 2nd thought...China...just dig and when you hit China, hop a plane back and let me know that you guys are done and that should be good. hahaha. It was not quite that dramatic, but when you are hot, dirty, smelly and exhausted, that is what it can feel like. We dug, and dug, and dug, and dug some more. We hit small rocks, medium rocks, rocks that were hugged tightly by big thick tree roots, rocks that were flat and rocks that were round and then,...then we hit the mother of all those rocks and found the rock that stepped up a class in the whole rock society...a rock that was in a category of it's own...we hit... a boulder! At first "P" and I thought, "What are we going to do???" Would we have to rent a jack hammer?? Would we need to get some dynamite?? We stopped and starred at it for a while like we just uncovered the findings in some archeological dig and then we waited and we spoke to "Our Wayne." Low and behold, this rock was a gift! According to "Our Wayne" we can use this rock as part of our foundation because...well let's face it, this rock ain't goin' nowhere! It will provide a good solid base for our foundation and on top of that, it saved us about 3 -4 hours of digging along with some supply cost for concrete and cinder block! Thank you big boulder...thank you!