The Mountain, Mudballs, Mosquitoes, and the Man

...and MUD. August has proven to be the wettest August anyone can remember around here. Ever. With 600+ loads of dirt in our backyard, I think it is safe to say we have the biggest mud pile in the county.

MOSQUITOES...I also think it is safe to say we have the biggest mosquitoes in the country. Anyone who has visited us in the last month can attest to that fact. Seriously, I took these photos today at 1:45pm, temp around 75ish, full sun, and got bit 3 times. The worker crews are going to love us.

THE MOUNTAIN...Many of you have asked for an update. There's not much to tell, other than this stage of the dirt work is done. I'm anxious for the cement work to begin because, let's be honest, it looks a little crazy around here.

View from the garage door

View from the southwest

View from the end of the driveway

View from the top of the mountain

Most people think we are building on TOP of the mountain. Now THAT would be crazy. No, we are building in FRONT of it. And right against it. The purpose of the dirt is so our garage can be on our main floor, which is technically the upper level. Think of it this way--we are building a one story house with a walkout basement. Except we built the hill first. That's ok if you don't get it. Stick around and I'll keep posting photos.

MUDBALLS...The dirt for our mountain came from a hill we own about 5 miles away. This is some unique dirt. It has ZERO organic matter in it, which is terrible for growing things. (I mean really, we've had 10+ inches of rain in the last month and do you see a SINGLE WEED growing??)  But it is fabulous for drainage and foundation. Wonder how we're going to grow grass? Don't worry, Dustin will lay a foot of good dirt on top when we are done. Anyway, this dirt has another weird feature...

 ...petrified mudballs. These things are everywhere. I could go out and collect 100 of them in probably 5 minutes. But you don't find them unless it rains and then they wash out of the dirt like little treasures. I have no idea what they are, and no one else does either. At first you think they are round rocks, but if you throw them against the cement REALLY hard, they will break and reveal...

Someone did tell us the indians used to collect them and make necklaces out of them. Guess what my family members will be getting for Christmas this year...

THE MAN...More specifically, the UPS man. And the Fed Ex guy. They don't even know where to start with us. This is our driveway.

You just can't get much past the blue box before the dirt begins. And the grass to the left has had an inch or more of water for most of the month of August. So it's sort of like the bear hunt song..."You can't go over it, you can't go under it, you can't go around it..." except the song, for us, ends, "You just can't. Sorry."

PROGRESS...Things are progressing but only on paper at the moment. I'll update again when cement work starts, hopefully in a few weeks!