Our Crew Moves On.

Josh, Brad and Travis load up the table saw, saw horses, planer and a multitude of other tools for moving to a new job. Our barn is emptying out and we'll soon have both our car and our little tent trailer under cover. But, boy will we miss these guys.

Digging Vine Maples

A couple of Erin's pictures of digging vine maples at Brad's Dad's property in North Bend.  Here Brad is giving his Dad driving directions.

Newest Tool

Designed and built on site -- the perfect tool for bending the roofing.    

The Stream-in-the-making

Moving these huge rocks was no easy feat but Brad did an amazing job, with no mishaps, in these tight quarters. Now the challenge is to turn this pile of rock into a believable stream.

Rain & Mud

It's difficult to imagine being any dirtier!




















Erin spends time behind the compactor




















Brad & Ben place sensors in the heat sink




















The machine ran almost all day non stop















Ben, Ed & Brad set sensors with Erin and Travis
moving dirt in the background

We'd hoped to get to a holiday party, or two, today. Instead we worked in the mud and rain from early morning until after dark. We were exhausted at the end of the day and wanted nothing more than a shower and a good night's rest. Tomorrow morning we start work again -- early -- setting rocks. Preparing for Christmas has been pushed aside this year as we pour on the building effort. However, we will be leaving for the Pass tomorrow afternoon for two days of R&R at Greg and Deb's cabin in the snow.

Long Days

The days have been long, especially for Brad beginning before 7:00 and ending after dark. To back fill the site and fill the heat sink we've had one load of rock, two loads of sand, and one load of gravel delivered by Whidbey Topsoil. Needing more, we had a load of sand delivered by LandShapers.

Erin gets a ride.

Ben, Sterling, Brad and Travis

Another machine

for filling the heat sink, leveling the site, moving
load after load of sand, gravel and mulch, and
compacting the sand in the heat sink. Plus, in
another day or two placing the creek boulders.
















Travis and Brad

Dressing up the carriage doors

These doors need to be painted!















Let's see, what color?
















Red it is...

Pour Day!

An impressive machine

The nest-building bluejays stayed away

from their task today with this huge thing

up in their trees

Chris Marti in front of the

guesthouse machine room floor

and the mainhouse footings in

the background

The carport slab gets the human "power"

trowel finish

These guys are miracle workers

Here it is -- the beautiful carport floor

The concrete experts are at work

so Micka and Brad are able to

just relax and watch

What good are big machines if not to

watch -- Rose, Timothy, Eric & Ben

We definitely had an exciting day today. Once the concrete arrived there was no turning back and our new home became very, very real. It's also great to be able to see the actual shapes and relationships of the buildings to one another and to the land.

A satisfied Brad watches a

successful pour

Vacationing with Fredley in Langley

Airin (Erin) here, back in Bellingham for a new quarter of school.
My vacation had a pseudo-start with "The Weekend of the Big Machine" (see Construction or Destruction? and More excavation pics -- just for fun!), after which I returned home for an EdPsych test and the finishing touches on my last paper. With school out of the way for a couple weeks I headed back to Langley (along with Brad, who had come home with me to go skiing and take care of some business) for more digging. We set up our little campsite, and I got to work with the shovel. I have to admit I mostly worked 4 or 5 hour days--I was on vacation after all.

I think one of the most rewarding tasks I was given those first days was the drainage ditch across the driveway. Or course it's all filled in and covered with gravel now, so nobody really knows it's there. I didn't even take any pictures of it!

A few days later, The Little Machine came in and Chris showed up for the weekend. He and Brad started laying out the utilties while I cleaned up the ditches for them.

Ed, Chris, Brad, and Lance ponder the utilities

Chris' Tools, Conduit, and the Little Machine (parked in the "carport") before Brad started digging the footings

And, of course, there were tractor lessons...

Brad gives Fran the rundown on the machine

And cheers her on
Fran gives Brad a lift at the end of a long days work

You can't tell in any of these pictures, but it rained much of the time. It still felt good to be outside doing something after so many months of sitting in class and doing homework at my computer. Hot showers and food at Fran and Ed's were much appreciated at the end of each day. We tried to have little fires at our cute little campsite, but the wood was too wet. We had fun anyway, and stayed dry and cozy in our tents. At the end of the weekend Brad, Chris, and I returned to Bellingham. Brad headed back to Langley on Monday, and Chris went back to work. I spent a couple days relaxing and working in the garden. I'll save the third leg of my vacation in Langley for a later post. I've got to do some chores and head off to my first day of classes.

Another Day, Another Machine...

This is the weekend of ditches and utilities with the entire family, plus friends, working to accomplish the long list of tasks. First, more ditch digging. Then the fillings -- conduit, pipes, wires! All the various bits and pieces required to accommodate our modern conveniences from computers to sewage need to be in place before we can pour foundations. A milllion details...

Chris, Brad's Bellingham housemate and our weekend electricial miracle worker.

The ditches getting ready for the utilities.

Clearing the Land on Grace Lane

This is a test! My first ever attempt at a blog.