Into the Earth #2

At this point, it is rather difficult to hide what we are doing. One can just follow the mud track to ground zero. If day one had it's challenges, day two started out in the very same spirit. Already before their morning coffee, Pekka and Juha were struggling to help a truck to survive the muddy uphill to come and pick up the pallet. Needless to say, the attempts were first unsuccessful. Only after covering the critical parts of the entry way with gravel, the truck finally managed to drive up. At this point, we had basically wasted 8 hours, a full working day.

Do not mind the mud!

But finally, digging continued. During the next hours, progress was significant as Pekka and Juha were able to work uninterrupted.

In action

Just in case you have never had an opportunity to follow an excavator in action, it is pretty intriguing. In addition to the skill to manage the machine, the driver needs to be pretty good in problem solving - for example how to get the depth and shape just right, how to manoeuvre in a small space without damaging anything or how to move around large rocks without breaking things. Juha proved himself to be a professional - he was fantastic!

A thoughtful moment

It was not only the large rocks giving Pekka and Juha a headache, but also a large tree stump (remainings of one of the two pine trees cut down in 2012) The roots were long, strong and tangled with rocks, so it was difficult to remove from the ground in the first place. Furthermore, it was nearly impossible to move around. We first thought it would classify as landfill waste, which is free to dispose, but it does not. Fortunately, Juha and Pekka got it off the pallet - now we just need to get creative what to do with it...

Obnoxious old stump

This is how the work site looked like after day 2. The required depth had been reached across the entire area, and we were ready for the next step. But...not so fast. It rained the entire night and the morning of day 3, and there was no way the full pallet could once again be picked up. Furthermore, the truck bringing the gravel would not be able to get close enough either. So yes, unfortunately it will be a day off. Needless to say the level of frustration is quite high, but what can you do - this is the Finnish summer.

Digging completed

About 50 cm down

And by the way Urho, who can relax anywhere, did so in the heart of all action. Given the size of his ego it is of course clear there is absolutely no danger in his positioning!

Construction dog