Elk Visit

The elk visited our building site last night or early this morning........note the evidence.

They had quite a time judging by the number of footprints. Were they fighting or partying?

Looks like there were some disagreements....somebody lost a piece of antler and tuffs of hair were on the ground as well.

Poor Mike, the excavator, had to go over the ground again and level it out before the surveying got there this morning.

Willy is the surveyor. He arrived at 8:30 to mark the major corners of the house.

Next up: soil compaction test this afternoon.

Day 5 Adding Dirt and Compacting

We had 21 dump truck loads of dirt delivered today. It's really not dirt.....it's called "push" and it is crushed granite that has not been filtered.

Both Randy and I watered to help compact the dirt. We had to raise the entire site one foot.

Mike moved his front loader back and forth over the site for hours today. Tomorrow we hope to get compaction certification, which means that our site is ready for footings.

Day 4 Excavation

We needed to dig a trench through solid granite and this baby did it!!! Our grandsons would have loved to see this piece of equipment in action.

It was very big....and came loaded on a large transporter. We called just in time as the operator was headed up north to work on campgrounds until May.

Boy, did it create some dust!

This trench is for water, electrical, cable TV and telephone.

There's Hooter.....he worked for four hours. He didn't even wear ear plugs.

Pretty nice trench, don't ya think?

Day 3 of Excavation

This is an odd picture I know. Randy and I were in the bucket of the front loader backhoe. Mike raised us 10 feet off the ground so that we could take in the view from where our south and west facing decks will be.

Randy spent the day taking out some of the dead trees with the chain saw and pruning other trees. I tutored in the morning and hauled branches into piles in the afternoon for the dump truck.

Here's what it looked like at the end of the day. I just never get tired of looking at those rocks. We have to bring in 500 yards of fill. We are in the process of negotiating a price for the dirt.

Earlier this afternoon, Mike set up his laser transit to determine if the elevations for the main floor and the downstairs were excavated to the elevations in the plans. That dude was just one tenth of an inch off! He has been doing this for so long he can just eyeball it.

I dragged this rotten piece of wood to the burn pile and then I noticed the hibernating lizard buried inside. I put him and the log back where I found them....hope he makes it through the winter. I shutter to think about the number of critters we have disturbed.

We had some frost this morning......but once the sun comes out it warms up fast. Matt, the builder, has a 40 degree rule. In the winter, no one starts work until the air temperature is 40 degrees. Otherwise he says that the guys just stand around drinking coffee trying to stay warm.

Excavation Continues

Excavation continued today. We have been sweating this a bit as folks told us it could either cost $10,000 or up to $100,000 depending on how much rock we ran into. We feel VERY fortunate....seems we are going to be on the $10,000 end.

These oak trees had to go as they were in the way and hiding some beautiful granite boulders.

Our firewood pile continues to grow. Randy bought a chainsaw today at Home Depot. We had one but it had a 24 inch blade and so we sold it at our estate sale. He got one with a 16 inch blade which is all he needs.

We will need to bring in some dirt to level the house pad. We are not sure how much yet. We are trying to use all the dirt on the lot, of course. Randy spent the day watering the dirt down as Mike moved it.

Tomorrow we are surveying to make sure the upstairs floor is level with the garage and the downstairs has the specified nine foot ceilings.

Literacy Volunteer

I am volunteering two times a week for the Rim Country Literacy Project. I have two students from the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Murphy is in his late 20s and Debra is 48 years old. Their goal is to get their GED. My biggest task now is to help them learn how to write a five paragraph essay. We're working on the introductory paragraph at the moment...one step at a time.

Working with adults is different from working with elementary students and I am enjoying the challenge.

Fly Fishing 101

We signed up for Fly Fishing 101 with Payson Parks and Recreation today. This is Bob. He was our instructor and he has been fly fishing for many years......about 60. He knows it all.

He brought in all kinds of equipment to share......you don't need it all but it is definitely not a cheap sport. It seems like most of the folks that enjoy fly fishing also enjoy being out in nature.....sitting in a floater in the middle of a stream watching eagles overhead.....you get the picture.

He had thousands of dollars worth of flies. You really have to understand how the fish think and you have to pay attention to what they are interested in eating on that particular day in order to determine the best fly to use. How you cast your line depends on the width and depth of the stream.

We had class time and then we practiced on the lawn and on the water. Randy is really getting the hang of it. Wish I could say the same for me. I will keep practicing. It will come...I have faith.

We are going to join the Payson Flycasters. They sponsor trips, do the Trout in the Classroom program in the local schools, work with disabled veterans and breast cancer survivors and organize restoration projects and conservation programs.

Lot News

Mike, the excavator continued to brush out the lot yesterday. We may be moving the house about ten feet to the west. He dug some test holes to see how far he could dig down before he hit rock......got a good eighteen inches to two feet which is good. It is looking like we will not have to dynamite. Keep your fingers crossed! It's costly.

It started to rain Friday afternoon. Luckily I had an umbrella in the car. I stayed for a while but it was getting cold.

You can see some of the house pad in this photo. It is all taking shape. The guys will be back on Monday morning.

Big Day.....Excavation Begins!

This is Mike, the excavator. He can do wonderful things with a backhoe.

Unloading the equipment at 8:00 this morning.

The city came out and turned the water on. Perfect timing.

The lot has to be cleared and brushed out first. We are trying to save as many trees as we can but some are not in great shape so they will become firewood.

That's me........I am so excited to get this project going!!!!

We are taking all of the wood that can be used for firewood and piling it up in one section of the lot. Randy has a lot of hours of chainsawing ahead of him. George, Mike's dad, is helping load up the wood.

The smaller stuff is going to be hauled to the dump. We've got about $1000 worth of dump runs.

This is Shad, the plumber. He is putting in the water box so we can hook up a hose and have water on the property.

Randy helped with the loading of the firewood. It's quite a pile!!

Another truck load for the dump. Lots of manzanita which is a fire hazard anyway.

Wow! It's looking like we have a driveway.

Sewer Permit.....More Cooking

Randy went to the Gila (pronounced he-la) County Sanitary District this morning to get our sewer connection permit. We found out that the city will not grant us the house building permit without it. We got it for the bargain price of $2900. Apparently it costs $5000 but the developer had to pay $2100 when he was dividing up the land into house parcels.

The engineer who is reviewing our plans is going on vacation for two weeks at the end of this week. We are hopeful that our plans will be approved before he goes on vacation. (Pretty please with sugar on top!)

Meanwhile....Randy is now cooking. I discovered a fun blog called "The Pioneer Woman" a while back and we have been "testing" some of her recipes. Randy bought her cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks."

He has burgundy mushrooms and pot roast on the stove right now. It's a cloudy day with a chance of rain so we will definitely enjoy this comfort food.

If you have some spare time (ha, ha), check out her blog. She lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, has four kids, cooks, blogs, dabbles in photography, and home schools.....she is a character and I love her writing style.

Still waiting......

We submitted our house plans to the city planning department on Wednesday afternoon. The city usually takes about 10 business days to approve (or not) construction plans. We are hoping to hear something by the end of this week. Meanwhile our contractor has been out at the site with the excavator. The outfit that surveyed the parcel will be marking to corners of the house this week. Once we get the okay, we will be ready to go!

So........I am being patient and waiting and baking........this could be bad for our waistlines.

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Woods Canyon Lake

Yesterday we went for a hike to Woods Canyon Lake. It's a 35 minute drive from our house. The lake is shaped like a puzzle piece and lies almost horizontally on the Mogollon Rim.

The hike traces the shore of the 52-acre lake. There were quite a few folks fishing for rainbow trout. We didn't see anyone catch anything though.

We walked through ponderosa pine, wild strawberry, wild rose bushes, gooseberry bushes and tall brown-eyed Susan. We also spotted pine cones that squirrels had nibbled to the core like corn on the cob.

We were hoping to spot a bald eagle on a tree limb but no such luck. We didn't even see a nest. The eagles prefer trees with open branches that comfortably accommodate them for sitting and building nests. We also thought we might see a kingfisher but not this trip. Kingfishers wait on snags, perusing the lake for a fish dinner. We did see signs of elk and beaver.

We were thinking that this area reminded us of summer vacations in Ontario, Canada—lots of slabs of sandstone and all of the greenery. Then we saw these hedgehog cactus living on the top of a huge boulder. You certainly wouldn't find them in Canada!

Visiting Quail

We have some new visitors to our bird feeders......Gambel's Quail. They are very similar to the California Quail. The brown on the top of the adult's head and on the sides near the wings is more a mahogany color rather than a dark brown....beautiful in the sunlight. They come in the mornings......when the cats are napping.

We got an update regarding the injured father we helped on our Horton Springs hike. He pulled the tendons off of his kneecap and some bone from the kneecap broke off with it. Ouch!

He is scheduled for surgery on Thursday. It will take about 6 months to heal but he should make a 100% recovery. No skiing for him this winter!

Friends hiked in and got all of their gear out for them. I guess fishing can be dangerous.