On Solid Ground

Hoser. Spritzer. Divine Queen of the Water Spirits. Whatever you want to call me, I finally got to be useful on the building site. My job, for several days, was to man (or woman) the hose to get and keep the base material for the pad perfectly moist. The stuff starts out rather like a gritty powder with bits of gravel in it, but in order to compact it into the concrete-like base one wants for the building pad, you have to wet it. A lot. But, if you wet it too much, it turns into a muddy slurry that makes a big, useless mess.

Fortunately, learning just how much to spray the stuff down as Jason was mixing it around and spreading it with the backhoe was not rocket science, though it did take a surprising amount of concentration. You might think that standing there hosing down base material for hours at a time would be mind-numbing, especially on that first day when it was cold and actually spitting snow while I was out there. However, I found myself watching the machine like a hawk, trying to figure out exactly where Jason was going and  how much to spray at every moment. My muscles got tired from holding the hose out in front of me for so long, but it was actually great to be able to contribute something useful to the physical creation of the house.

This was me as I appeared (in my own mind) while watering the base material.

Okay, maybe this was how I actually looked. This was the day it snowed!

My contributions, however, paled in comparison to the herculean and brutally physical tasks Michael took on on his "days off" that weekend. There was the weighty job of spreading the base material after Jason dumped it...

Then there was the bone-shaking, arm-numbing, painstaking task of compacting the material, which is done with a heavy, hand-operated machine that basically jumps up and down and smashes down whatever is underneath it.

The compactor -- a job not for the weak!

Besides the grunt work, Michael also helped out by measuring the depths of all the different areas of the pad with the precision equipment Jason has for that purpose. Naturally, Michael knows how to use all of these things!

Of course Michael knows how to use complicated surveying equipment! Doesn't everyone?

The upshot of Michael doing all this work (and me doing my little part) was that Jason took it all into account and charged us much less than we had expected. Other than his son, who came up and helped here and there, he didn't have to bring in any outside laborers, so that saved us a bundle.

I have to say that the finished pad was a thing of beauty: smooth, even, and rock solid. Nothing like the evil, squishy, peanut-butter clay that was there originally!

Michael standing on the finished pad, approximately where the mud room will be. That's our little ATV on the right.

The next step was to get the concrete guys up there to do their thing. They started on Tuesday putting together all the forms for the concrete footings. The head guy's name is Roberto, and he runs a fast and very capable crew. I went up there to see what they were up to and was surprised to see how far they had gotten in a very short time.

Roberto and the Tres Amigos

 It didn't take long at all before they had the forms ready to rock and roll, and then it was time for some actual concrete to get poured. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating, with quite a bit of rain and even some snow making it less than ideal for working with concrete. They did manage to get most of the footings poured, but our roughed-in road took a serious beating from the heavy cement trucks, and it got so slippery and rutted that the cement guys were afraid to drive back up with the last bit of cement to complete the footings.

The footings, as done as nature would allow them to be on that day.

Nonetheless, Chris, the County building inspector, came up and passed everything with flying colors. He commented that the foundation layout was one of  the best he had ever seen, meaning that he thought the footings, the pad and the forms all looked very well done. Yeah for Jason, Michael, Roberto and his hombres!

The weather has continued to be sketchy, but that didn't stop Roberto and his boys from getting up there today (Saturday!), and working their hineys off to get the forms ready for the stem walls. Here is what the site looked like just about an hour ago:

The forms for the stem walls miraculously appeared today.

While we were up there checking it out, I noticed that the wood product used to make the forms is from Canada. So, building this house is not just creating work for locals, but is also benefiting at least some folks back in the homeland.

I also noted that the supports for the front porch posts are HUGE, probably far more robust than necessary to hold up that small section of roof. But hey, I'd rather have the project over-engineered than under. Thus far, it looks to be a house built to last.

The buffalo-strong front porch supports.

In other news, Michael and I did a bit of exploring on Castle Peak up past our property the other day, and it was seriously cool up there.  I saw some beautiful Indian Paintbrush blossoms, a plant I have heard of but never seen in person before. The brilliant red color made me think of my mom, who has a penchant for the color red and for pretty flowers in general. Mom, this one is for you:

Indian Paintbrush growing wild in the canyon.

We also passed the remnants of an old mine, a reminder of the metals that led people to this area in the first place.

The entrance to the old mine.

And of course, I was thrilled when we came upon an area with a running creek, lush grass, and a herd of wild horses making the most of it all.  The herd seemed much less acclimated to humans and vehicles than the horses we commonly see around the neighborhood houses, and they ran off as we approached.

One mare, however, refused to follow them until she was good and ready, so I snapped the shot below of her drinking her fill in the creek. We heard the harem stallion calling to her, but she just tossed him an offhand nicker and stuck her muzzle back in the water. I could just imagine the conversation:

He: "Wilma! Dad gummit...Where the hell are you?"
She: "Keep your shirt on, Melvin. I'm not done drinking yet and I'm not a-comin' 'til I'm good and ready."

This mare was not to be rushed, despite her husband telling her to hurry up.

I have never seen running water anywhere in the Highlands before and have been wondering how the wild horses survive. These secret places are obviously critical for their needs, and I felt privileged to see them there.

Getting there was no piece of cake, however, as the "road" -- which is appropriately named Jeep Trail -- is full of sections washed away to reveal boulders and crazily canted parts that were a challenge to even our tough-as-nails ATV. I thought we were going to roll over at one point, but Michael assured me that the Rhino has a very low center of gravity and could handle that kind of rough going just fine.

Jeep Trail -- and not even one of the worst sections!

I want to take my friend Dona back there to see the creek area -- and hopefully to see those horses again -- but I wouldn't be brave enough to tackle that road without Michael there in case something went wrong. Fortunately, you can get to that area from another, much more civilized route, which we discovered on the way out.

Well, sorry it took me so long to get this post up. I will leave you with a picture that is here for no other reason than that it is so darn cute -- a shot of my new friend Becky's wee daughter, Skye (yes, the Fairy Princess herself), walking Rogie down the road. We had a second lead rope on his other side for safety, but Skye was the one he was following. They are getting to be good pals. 

Skye and Rogie

Lots of love to you all!