Another back hoe, another test, another engineer that costs way more money than you think for such a small project. The perc test people finally arrived today. They were supposed to come last Tuesday which would have been good since we had not had rain for a week by then and things had dried out somewhat after I mowed the field where the leach line will go. Anyway this is the last back hoe I think and the last test. Next week or so we can go to the City with our house plan and grading plan and then things will move along a little more quickly. I am still in the optimistic phase, but know from others' experiences that things will go more slowly than I would like.

The oxalis is in bloom under the trees and the sun is shining after an unexpected rain on Valentines Day.

Desirable property with seasonal stream

Rain and more rain at the Lime Grove. This is a photo of the street runoff during a break in the storms. If I dig out a big area I could also have a seasonal pond.

Beautiful dirt. Sandy loam four feet down with not a rock in sight.

I thought this machine would be too big for the job, but it turned out that they dug three trenches about four to five feet deep so they did indeed need this kind of power.

Groundbreaking at last. Well, sort of, in the sense that holes were dug, but only for a soil report and not for an actual house foundation. Still, it is nice to go out to the lot in the early morning and talk to workers and feel like something is happening at last. Steve, the grouchy neighbor, was also on site with lots of complaints. I hope we have an entrance off Alessandro soon.

Have you ever seen those pictures of footprints people make walking in new snow? Well here are Tommy and Sarah in SoCal's substitute. Must plant something along to fence to block the view of the neighboring greenhouses.