Dowsing & Septic & Power, Oh My!

What a day!

Gus was up at the land when we got there at 8:45 am Thursday. He had the hole for the septic tank dug, and the tank was ready to go in. Because the family spends so much quality time in septic-related issues, we wanted to be sure to capture this critical moment for posterity.

Gail Fisher, our Dowser, arrived at 9:15 am. I had established 100' from Gus's septic work, and we were ready to dowse. The septic takes up more room than I had thought, so we have a narrow window of opportunity for Gail. It was pretty amazing.

She uses maple forked branches. Her husband has pruned / defoliated most of the highways in a 20 mile radius. She started uphill on the north side of the garage, in front of "Firewood Mountain" and the stick went wild! She feels that there is a strong water source there- one at 300' and another stream at 450'. So, now we will dig out a space for the well truck to get in, and we will see.

Eddy from Duke Energy came up, and we got our power supply settled. That can go in as soon as Tony the Grader sets a level site for the box. It nestles in the woods, just before the clearing, closest to the house at the screened porch end.

We put a deposit on a 2005 Kawasaki Mule, 3010 Diesel this week. We will be able to do the landscaping, go to the Music Center, and pick up the mail. NellyBelle gets delivered when we come back from Portland.

Gravel Road & Surveyor 1st Staking

We took Connor to Charlotte on Friday, August 17, 2007 to see The Lion King and to fly home to Florida.

On Friday, Tony finished graveling the road. It now has 3 culverts instead of 2, and they all work. The low spots have been eliminated, and the terrain is much softer. It is approx. 13 feet wide at all points- very comfortable for travel.

The surveyor located the house- it is canted a little more west than I thought. This will prove to be very nice. As you come up the final rise, you will still see the screened porch and hearth first. But when you reach the top of the last rise, the house will be more angled, presenting the front porch and door to you quite nicely.

Construction- Days 2 & 3

It is amazing how fast Tony is going. He runs the track hoe, while Victor uses a chain saw. Not one tree has been "cut down" in a conventional way. The track hoe pushes the tree over and plucks it our of the ground, roots and all. The chain saw trims branches off, and cuts larger trees into 8' sections. If the tree is 4" or less in diameter, the track hoe just snaps it in pieces. Each day sends 12-16 dump trucks of debris off the land. By the end of day 3, the road is cleared, the building site is cleared, and the septic area is cleared. On Day 4, earth will be moved to improve the road. Once that is complete, we are ready to stake the house by surveyor, do the septic system by Gus, and have our dowser locate the well.

Construction- Day 1

Stanley, our builder, and Tony, our grader, are doing a great job starting the lot. The road needs to be cleared of brush, as does the building site. Then the building site will be lowered in elevation, and the hills and valleys of the road will be softened. We will start to get a view.