Move over Ram-hoe, it's dynamite

The rock-hoe did not work on the vein of rock that is situated exactly where we planned to have the back wall of our house. So, today they brought in the TNT. Yep, they used dynamite to break up that rock. Tomorrow, they will cart away the broken up pieces. We picked a tough plot of land, that's for sure.

Rock needs ram-hoe (actual title of photo from builder)

This first photo is called "Rock needs ram-hoe" per our fearless builder. Apparently, there is a seam of rock through our property that is tough to break. It requires a ram-hoe attachment on the excavator machine. They will reuse the boulders in a retaining wall being constructed because we are building on an incline.


Some of the photos have amazing bits of blue lake water visible from the house pad plot. That's the beautiful Lake Pend Oreille we'll be seeing from our deck one day. On the down side, the rock seam and boulders have pushed back the laying of the foundation by a week.



Also, there was more organic material than they anticipated under the future driveway. We're asking if it is worth saving in a pile on the property for later use in creating a garden. I guess it took more truck time to cart it away then they thought. I wonder where organic material goes. Anyone know where they put it?

Driveway happens. Log picker upper is cool.

We have the beginnings of a driveway. And scroll down, because that log picker upper thingee is rad. Reminds me of the game in the arcade where you put your quarter in and watch as the fuzzy bunny and/or faux tattoos slip through the metal fingers. That always bummed me out and I'd move onto that horrible game with the piles of quarters.

But this is a completely non-bummer experience, as the claw clutches its prey and won't let go. Can you tell that I want to drive that log grabbing machine too? I'm finding out many new things about myself in this process. I can get excited by an incomplete driveway and a grabbing machine that always gets its prize. Okay. I've imagined the latter before. Lots.

Dirt movement continues.

No words can say how dirt movement makes me feel. Please for you to enjoy.

Dirt was moved. Excitement ensued.

Yellow thing move dirt. Channeling my inner nine year old boy, I wish I was the driver. It does however, seem rather small in comparison to those old growth trees. Those trees resemble the ents of Lord of the Rings and unfortunately, we have to remove some of them to put down the house pad.






However, we are using said lumber to build our modest house. The site is in Sagle, Idaho near Lake Pend Oreille. We have a piece of lake-view property, not lakefront, so it's a dang good thing we are in mountain country.








That slope means we get a peek at Lake Pend Oreille, which is of glacial origins (pics to come). By the way, lake folk, the largest rainbow trout ever caught (37 lbs) was fished from this lake in 1947.

Hmmmm... that makes me want a Kokanee. I just saw a 6-pack of them over at Hum's Liquor on Lyndale.