Hectic

So much for the holiday "break"...

FRIDAY: pipes and backfilling

fine tuning the excavation by hand: E

These green ones have a rubber gasket and are a !@#$%^ to get on: hence the sledge hammer

Instructions: somewhat to no avail

Filling the utility trench

and behind the cistern

Even with the machine there's still plenty strenuous work to do

Putting the rock where it's supposed to go

This is what counts as a holiday at our place

Sluicing off at the end of the day [a day where lots went, if not quite "wrong", definitely not quite right either].  And it's probably near freezing

SATURDAY: scaffolds and house wrap

Actually, starting MY day by rolling large concrete stepping stones up hill and back in place.

PUTTING THE SCAFFOLD TOGETHER BEFORE WE COULD EVEN START

Gathering

Constructing

Gathering

Lifting

Lifting

Placing

Going up

Lifting further

Placing higher

Downhill side ready to go

almost...

Oh, and of course the side wall scaffolding

FINALLY PUTTING UP THE HOUSE WRAP

Getting it around the corner

Working into the dark

SUNDAY: HOUSE WRAP STAGE 2

Ladder time

Something strenuous

Chalk line

nailing

around to the front

more nailing

even more

HOUSE WRAP DONE: NOW THE VENT PIPE

haulin'

Placing: this thing is heavy

glued and in place

Holiday [digging] season: unseasonable dry spell

Christmas Eve and Elizabeth's new scarf from Ella

E and Joan

Clean up time: even room for surfboards

pickup sticks

pick up sticks: where's this one going?

Not enough sticks to pick up: let's take down some more

Digging so E can lay out the marks for the green shed's new home as a pump house

and more digging

I'm outta here! This hill is a LOT easier to ride down than up!

Friends & neighbors helping get the water lines glued for the well

And this is when they finished New Year's Eve

New Year's day: unprecedented sunnyness

Checking that the old temporary power pole is really unpowered...

...before I start digging near it and taking it out.

E laying out pipes for the gutter downspout drains

E lollygagging around admiring the view!

The view: snow on Marys Peak

E and her new present from Dakota: a 3 way adapter, attached to her first electrical circuit in the house.

Jan 2: Sunny, but not here yet and about minus 5 C (22 F)

The water pipe that will end up under the green shed.

Sun breaks out!

Levelling the shed's new home

Towing the shed

Checking that we can get over the water conduit without breaking it: E and Randy the excavator

Easy diggin' this way

The difference between my skinny little hand dug trench and the machine trench.

E at the end of the trench

More digging: this time extending the electrical trench for the well under the shed so all the electricals are in the the shed out of the weather.

Trenching the gutter drains

A trench!

Backfilling at the close of the day

Jan 2 ends: still clear [it was about minus 2 C by now]