Nothing is constant in life but change, right?

So after digging out a lot of lovely fill dirt from the previous owner, we decided to use the extra 8 feet dug out to solid footing soil to build a basement under the garage, move the root cellar around to under the entry way and I don't think we can say any longer that our square footage is under 3000'... Oh well, I'm sure we'll appreciate the extra storage space and opportunities for a finished basement later on, but it's meant more work with the engineer and Jon out here digging into darkness with a jackhammer to get things ready for the inspector.

The cement footings started going in today!

And the digging begins...

Don't ask about the extra eight feet of dirt dug out of the entire layout... Yay extra concrete and our own private stream running through the foundation! All will be well though, just a few thousand extra in concrete walls and some nice sink-hole mud to play in until then. Here's Jon filling 100 sand bags to hold down our 20,000 square feet of plastic over the dirt piles. 

A Cause for Champagne!

Well, it's official, because we decided it was about time! We opened our 2.5 year old champagne at the farm, after a few obligatory digs with the golden shovel, and to calm the adrenaline of me hiving my two colonies of bees today!


It was a busy morning, as I got last-minute word that my bees were in and impatient to be in a hive, so I dug out a platform for the hives (so many fat worms in our soil, yay!), got all of the last things ready, and then sat in the shop with my mom and the bees as a hail squall swept through the valley. Once it slowed to a slight drizzle, out we went, with Jon taking so many pictures it's like a flip-book, and my mom fearlessly helping. Thankfully it is supposed to be sunnier tomorrow, though not above 60 (so excited for summer!).

Click here to see more pictures of the hiving...