9 June 2018

Got started on the last section of the wood walkway.  After considerable head-scratching, finally figured out that three small (4½″) steps are needed (two at the upper end and one at the lower end) to keep the side hill pitch within reasonable limits where the walkway crosses the lower driveway.  Minimizing side hill pitch is critical because someday a septic system service tank truck will need to drive over the walkway to access the tanks buried in the backyard.  Delores, as well, has to enter that area once a year to have her sanitary system tanks emptied.  At 12:30 Jim Ploof arrived with his largest excavator (John Deere 160).  In literally less than a minute he rolled the first 11 ton boulder out of the ground.  Then the fun began!  Seems the first boulder’s shorter but dumpier sister was a tad plumper than I thought.  In fact, she was positively obese… at least twice the size of the first rock.  Jim worked for an hour, but, in the end, all he could do was dig an enormous hole next to that bad girl, roll the porker into the hole, and cover her back up… a couple of feet deeper than before.  In digging halfway to China Jim encountered a few nuggets (this is Leicester, after all) but mostly all he excavated was the most perfect pea gravel I’ve ever seen.