It's been a busy weekend...

Whew! There was a lot going on this weekend.
I had the honor and privilege of hosting two active duty Marines for some well deserved rest & relaxation. They had never been turkey hunting, and were delighted when they each bagged a gobbler on their first day. They then made the 70 mile round trip to Emmett to purchase two additional turkey tags, and promptly filled them the next day. They thanked me profusely for my hospitality, and I thanked them for their service to our country. At the same time, one of my neighbor's daughters and her husband treed a bear on the property. It was not a large bear, so they did not shoot it.
The weather finally broke, and Saturday morning before sunrise we were able to pour the floor of the shop. It took most of the day to pour, finish and cut the slab. Now all we need is for R&M Steel to deliver the shop. At the same time, the driveway was getting covered with gravel all the way to the house site. While all this was going on, Susan and I were backfilling and compacting the footings for the house.
I need a rest.

Murphy is alive and well in Ola...

Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

It hasn't rained in Ola since June.
Today was the day the concrete was scheduled to be poured for the shop.
It's raining.
Figures.

A busy day...

The concrete trucks arrived before sunup this morning to pour the footings for the house. Because of the positioning of the house on the hillside, a concrete pump truck was used to deliver the concrete to the forms. The operator controlled the boom and the pump by means of a control box with two joysticks and a row of switches suspended from a strap around his neck. I have pieced together several photos to illustrate the size and reach of the pump truck. Remember that you can click on the photos for a larger view.
While the crew was pouring the footings for the house, I continued to work on backfilling and compacting the shop pad. Tomorrow I will install the plumbing for the water supply and the drains, and level the pad to a uniform depth of four inches below the top of the stem walls.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Harvey Church's truck laying gravel down on the driveway. This stabilizes the larger base rock, making it much easier for the heavy trucks to traverse the road.

Fill 'er up...

We are almost back to where we were over a month ago. The stem walls have now been poured and the forms removed. We are in the process of backfilling the trenches that were dug for the footings and walls. It is critical that the backfill dirt be tightly compacted to avoid settling after the concrete floor and entrance ramps have been poured. Susan can be seen running the gas powered "ground pounder" compactor. It is a slow, noisy, dusty, arduous job, but she makes it look easy. How many wives that you know would be willing to work this hard on a construction site? I am truly a lucky, lucky man!


Due to uncertain weather forcasts for later this week, the shop floor is now scheduled to be poured early next week. That will give me plenty of time to level and recompact the gravel base and get my under slab plumbing installed and inspected.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Thanks to the efforts of over 450 firefighters from as far away as Canada and New Mexico, the Ola Complex fires have been put out, and things have pretty much returned to normal.
Susan and I completed the three wire fence on the eastern side of the property, and progress has been made on the shop construction. The footing for the stem walls has been poured, and the forms for the stem walls are in place. The walls are scheduled to be poured tomorrow. They will then have to set for a few days before we can backfill and compact the dirt in preparation for the floor to be poured. We anticipate that the dirtwork will be finished by the end of the week, and that the floor will be poured either this weekend or early next week. In anticipation of this, I called to have the shop components delivered on the 15th. They informed me that unless someone else canceled, they were about four weeks out for deliveries.
Either date will work, because we will be working on getting the footings and foundation for the house poured and waterproofed, French drains installed, then backfilled and compacted. Whatever happens, there will be plenty to keep us busy.