Serious dirt moving started today

Dad and I would have used dynamite

We had the percolation test holes for the septic system done a couple of weeks ago, but today marks the beginning of “real” work. Thurman brought his son, Chad, with him to start putting in the flat spot for our water tanks. To get up the hill to that site, some small trees had to be sacrificed in order for the huge concrete truck to get up there. Chad’s skill with the backhoe is impressive. With it he plucked out some granite boulders that would surely tax two guys with rock bars, like my father and I had to use about 60 years ago on our little mountain homestead. Our advantage back then was that if we encountered a rock too big for us to move, we would just tootle down to the hardware store and buy some dynamite! Times have changed. A powerful Caterpillar backhoe is today’s dynamite.

Nice new road for the cement truck

While the flat place was being dug out, our shiny new septic tank was delivered by the man from Capital Pipe in Oakhurst. It will hold 1,500 gallons of awful offal. I’ll be long gone before that happens since many of the tanks in these mountains haven’t been pumped in over 30 years and are still going strong. Another delivery of several cubic yards of gravel will be needed for the leach field. Our road is getting a workout, but neighbor Bill has been using his tractor to take out many of the nasty bumps. Thanks, Bill!

Poor Karla--she wanted pink

We got the quotations for the solar powered well pump, the pipe, the storage tanks, fire hydrant and associated stuff. Fortunately we were sitting down when we opened the envelope. At over $29,000 it came to roughly $10,000 above our high estimate when we started the project. That ten grand could have gotten us 24-karat gold fixtures in the bathroom; we’ll have to settle on chrome plated brass like the peasants we’re starting to resemble. That estimate doesn’t include Thurman and Chad’s efforts in moving dirt.

Or the 850-foot double-cased well itself.

Tap water ain’t cheap.