Removing the Forms - We have Basement Walls

Putting in Basement Wall Forms

Truck Bringing Stone to House

Spreading Stone in Basement

Foundation footings went in today....

Machines are everywhere

You can see the end of the driveway, the smooth part on the left.

I love heavy machinery......they did a lot in 7 days..

Side Yard

From the corner of the house, facing East. You can see a white birch tree behind the excavator. This is the southeast corner of our lot.

FOUNDATION HOLE

Here is the basement hole, looking at it from the front door. Find the #4 and win a prize!!!

From the right side of the house - looking back into the Kitchen and eventually the garage (elevated part).
Look from the backyard through the master bath and master bedroom....hey no peeping thru the windows.

THE DRIVEWAY IS HERE, THE DRIVEWAY IS HERE, I AM SOMEBODY....

We now have a driveway laid in all the way to the house site.

You can see where it starts to turn toward the house.
This is looking back down the driveway toward the road. Pretty long huh?

YEAH!!!

Machines, Machines, Machines....

Great entertainment for Terry & kids......They have front row seats. What are you going to do when they move down the driveway......ROAD TRIP!!!!

A Little Muddy - We Bought Swampland

Let's Get Rolling

With the steam roller going - we are getting a driveway this week.....

This shows the driveway base - you can see the steam roller and our car (left). In the background - way in the back, you can almost pick up the end of the driveway (look for pine tree).

Can you tell, Dee is a little excited!!!!!!

Get that Moter Moving, Get out on the Gatesway....

We broke ground this week - FINALLY!!!
If you travel down our driveway (1400 ft), it will open up to our lot (4+ acres). This is a picture right when it opens up. You can kinda see the construction equipment in the background. This is right on our property line, but the equipment is our our neighbor's lot. That tree line in the back is about where the property line is.

This is about halfway up the friveway - you can see how they have cleared it - you can't drive on it yet (all mud), but walking is possible, messy, but possible.

GO

SET......

READY......

Ok, so our last post was in May sometime.....what has been happening since.

• We had to get an exception to put a well in - yes is is our land.....but in order to put in a well, we needed to get a letter from the water company (can you say conflict of interest) and the health department saying it was ok. Then the State of Connecticut had to review. They finally said ok.



• Then.... we had to get our zoning permit....that actually was pretty quick .... thanks Town of Ellington - you have been easy to work with.



• Now that we have our zoning permit, we need to finish clearing the trees, stumping and digging....the person we hired didn't have the right equipment...so we severed ties this week and are looking to hire the person doing our site work.



• We are just waiting for a start date at this point......our goal is to get everything up and sealed before the snow flies.....

More to come......

Clearing the Trees - Opening up the Views

May 22nd Update:

Today, we spent the day with our dear friends Steve & Laurel and showed them around the land.

In this picture, you can see the view to the west, overlooking the farms. Those little dots in the background are cows. Here I am, with a little closer look of the cows. The trees to the right came from our land and are being removed - as we speak.
Here you can see the tread marks from the skid that is pulling the trees out.

It is starting to open up - with some of the trees removed.

Here I am checking out the survey mark. There is still a little bit of small stuff that needs to come down - but as you can see - it is making progress.

Driveway - Over the River

May 7, 2011 Update: With the driveway washing out due to the Spring thaw, we decided to embark on our 2nd endeavour. We have a small creek running under our driveway. It is dry most of the year, but it was gushing this Spring. We had to dig up the old pipes - and none too soon. I think total collapse was eminent!!!

Would you agree?

Out with the old....

Ouch!!!
Can't get there from here!!

Don't hit that man - we need him!!

That's a mighty big hole in your driveway - makes driving a little bumpy.

I don't think my car can do that!!

....in with the New

Water will now pool a little on this side....

....and come out this side and

NO LONGER ACROSS THE TOP OF THE DRIVEWAY!!!

View to the North

View to the North, looking into Somers.

Tumble, like the tumbleweeds.....or in this case the birch and other trees.....