The Land: Days 1-10

We finally own The Land!! Our house sale moved quickly, but not the land. It was 171 days from when we signed a contract to buy the land until we closed. The closing itself took 3 minutes. It was a bit anti-climactic: our lawyer and a couple of scribbled signatures. We should have hired someone to sound trumpets or something.

Anyway, a few hours after closing, we were there!  And it was looking especially beautiful in honor of the occasion.

Except for the decaying skunk carcass, but it made up for it with the interest factor.

Caleb, going at it with a chainsaw.

My buddy Elliott, wearing the cute fleecy jacket that instantly became a colossal burr magnet.

My handsome husband!  This brought me back to the summer of '98, when I helped Evan with his job of cleaning up trees from the January ice storm.  The smell of wood and chainsaw gas always gets my heart twitterpated!  :-)

How nice to have a place to park Evan's trailer!

Kids running around their land!

By the end of Saturday, Evan and Caleb had completely cleared the house site and the perimeter.

Taking time only to stage their oh-so-hilarious picture of Cheyenne sitting on a "sandy beech."

Some logs, bound for the sugar shack!

 

Lincoln, pensing some great thoughts.

Messing around with the brush pile.

One of the brush piles, I should say!  Lots of hauling brush.

Then, on Day 8, the big guns came!  Here they are laying out a kind of landscape fabric for the driveway.

Land cleared for the driveway.  The driveway has to jog a bit to avoid cutting down that big maple on the right, which is totally worth having to steer a little more.

Bulldozer!

Dave dumping a load of gravel on the driveway.

Randy tamping down the driveway (and Lincoln carefully following behind with a stick, desperate to mar that lovely, smooth surface.

 

Finishing up the driveway, with the end of the fabric still visible.

Evan, Striding Manfully.

Over goes the little trees!

Doug can move a lot of dirt with that thing.

Cutting down more trees!  We had thought we could save this one, but it turned out to be smack dab in the way.

Lincoln spent the whole day up at the land, running in the dirt, hanging off Daddy's truck...

Playing in the shadow of enormous, exciting machines...

A snot-faced little boy.  It wouldn't be fall if there wasn't a little snot on sweatshirt sleeves!

One of the gorgeous moss/lichen clumps.  (I know nothing about mosses and lichens, but I should learn, considering they are all over our land.)

Adding a leaf for visual interest.  I could have continued playing with taking pictures here, but I was rather in the way, so I cut it short.

That excavator bucket can move just a little more dirt than a hand shovel. 

 

Lots of dirt moved!

After Doug left for the night, the kids got to play in the hole.  Nothing could have been more exciting.

Boy, the boys love to play here!

At the top.

At the bottom.  This was about 2/3s dug.

The redhead fits in well with the red clay.  (That red clay has made lots of pairs of socks red for life already).

I think the kids believe the land was worth the price, if all we ever have is this giant hole to play in!

We have a mailbox!  Although, I'm a bit concerned that the letter I mailed from the local post office last Wednesday as a test case, has never arrived.  We have got some sale flyers, though, so what more do we need?

Hey, we have a driveway!  I will miss carefully driving over a stump every time, but I could get used to this!

 And, Day 9, the completed hole.  Footers are supposed to be poured on Tuesday, and the walls later this week.  If we're not careful, we'll have the makings of a house soon!