I am still trying to figure out if Craig’s statement was positive statement or not. He does appreciate my help – mostly. My need to figure out the next step in the process when I don’t understand the process is challenging for Craig at times. When I try to just wait for instructions my mind starts wandering. I don’t really take orders well. Fortunately I did not become a nurse like I originally intended.
After the driveway washed out for the 4th time, we decided we needed to take terraces from the middle of our TO DO list to the top of it. The amount of soil lost across his sloping land this spring is shocking. It is particularly noticeable when mowing – the tree roots that were barely visible last fall are in full view now.
So we are tackling the terrace at the top where much of the water enters the property. Craig had acquired some telephone poles at some point and after doing measuring and taking a telephone pole inventory, he determined we had enough poles for this most important terrace.
The work started a week ago with marking the line for the terrace and establishing a marker line. Katie Kiota helped break up the dirt along the line for the trench.
Then I GOT TO START DIGGING.
I enjoyed the digging. There were less rocks than Craig thought there might be. I am getting better at cutting through massive tree roots but fortunately Craig has a LOT of experience with them. The telephone poles all had to be power washed before they could be cut with chainsaw. The ends were cut at 45 degrees. Craig spent a lot of time trying to figure out which pole to place where along the line. To make it more interesting, the poles are not all the same diameter. They need to be placed in the trench so that the top surface is even and level which means the floor of the trench is different under each pole. Thank goodness we could use Katie to lift and place the poles as they had to go in and out a few times.
After a week, we have the bottom layer of poles in place. They are level.
Tomorrow we dig the holes for the posts to hold the top level of poles in place. We will put rebar spikes through the poles as well to secure them. Once we have the poles in place we will need to build up the ground between the terrace and the pasture.
This part of the property is in the shade in the first half of the day so with the onset of the heat, we are going to try to go to bed early and get up a 5 AM tomorrow.
BTW, a few days ago I realized for the first time in 6 weeks, I didn’t have any spots that were itching. Such a relief to have the poison ivy gone at last. Just in time for bug season. Craig sprayed the yard a couple of times and we put cedar mulch around the deck so hopefully it will not be too bad this year.
Tamara Unleashed 