11.5.2013 - Trench is all done!

While this picture makes it look like nothing but a dirt pile, this is actually very cool...this is part of the driveway back to the carriage house.  We have decided that we will build a barn to hold the equipment - Bobcats, lawn mower, mortar mixers, and on and on.  So Jim has started building up this area with dirt to let him compact over the winter (the darker dirt in the picture below).  He got a lot done this morning.

After lunch, we got back to work on the last bit of trench left to fill in.  Unfortunately, although it was a little stretch, it was hard because it was off the driveway, in between trees and the stone wall.  We couldn't do things in layers like we normally did either because of the tight quarters.  So we had to stay in one area and do it all to build up an area where Jim could work from for the next section.

We were able to work that way for awhile with the Bobcat but then Jim ran out of room to work so he went up and brought the excavator down.  With that he was able to reach across and drag some dirt into the trench - still having to retrieve rocks all the while of course.

But then the excavator stopped working well but by that time he had gotten enough area done that the Bobcat could work again. 

Then we ran out of accessible dirt!  Since Jim has done a lot of grading all down the hill, that used up more dirt than we took out of the trench.  So then it was back up the hill to where he's working on the driveway to try and scrape some dirt off to use.  We probably made 3 or 4 trips up to get dirt and bring it down.  I did get to sit on the bucket during these trips up and down the driveway - kind of reminiscent of sitting on our old Betsy Backhoe when we built the last house!

So then it was down to the last little bit!

We unrolled the tape for the last time...

and cut it off by the pole!

And this is all we have left to do!  Just a few more scoops right on top!  But since it gets dark so much earlier now and we still needed more dirt, we decided that we would wait until tomorrow.  But quite the happy day - the trench is done!

Just a few scenic pics from the day...

I took this one looking down the street...such a pretty drive to home!