Started the day the same, waking up and getting the coffee on.... but noticed that poor Otter was bored. Even though he's been completely off-leash, he won't leave my sight and I had to start taking him on morning and evening walks, just like his routine in the city. So, I'd wait til I had a mug full of coffee and then we'd set off along the dirt paths, Otter sniffing for other dogs, moose, and who knows what else, and me just sipping my brew and strolling along. It actually felt really nice to stretch my legs a bit and walk with a nice straight back before slaving away all day hunched over in a ditch.
Tim came by and used his chainsaw to get rid of the birch stump. One of these days I'll probably have to own one of those things! It's nice to have him check on me once a day to see how things are going... otherwise it's kind of lonely. I haven't been going to see the neighbors much, mostly because of time-pressure to get the holes done.
In the afternoon, working on my 4th hole, I started photographing more... as a means of resting a bit!
I discoved 4 distinct layers in the earth:
1. The organic mat of roots, debris, leaves, soil - best removed with the mattock, chopping through the bigger roots and dragging the thing off the surface, just like clipping a big mat off of a cat.
2. The partially frozen layer of dirt and clay - horrible. Removed bit by chipped-off bit with the maddock... at times it felt like I was chipping rock and this 4-5 inch layer often took me hours, with splattering bits of frozen mud flying into my eyes and mouth.
3. The dirt layer - wonderful. Soft, yielding reddish dirt that is easily shoveled out and tossed aside.
4. The inorganic layer - variable. If it was fine grey sand, it was quite easily shoveled out. However, if it was gravel or mixed sand with gravel and larger stones, it was a nightmare, gradually picked, scraped, scooped, pried, tossed out. Three of the holes were horribly full of rocks, one was a bit full, and, luckily, the four holes on the east side were all sand.
Once a hole is completed, there's a reddish pile of organic soils on one side and a grey pile of inorganic sand/gravel on the other, and then the plastic footing goes in the bottom.
I paused on the 4th hole and started the 5th in the later evening and worked til 9ish. And then, same thing in the evening, walk with Otter, dinner, and bed.
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