They brought out another piece of equipment Sunday, called an excavator, I think. So they had 2 track loaders and 1 excavator going this morning, still working on widening the road. (I'm trying to use the proper names ) They worked on the other side of the lake with the excavator. This is pretty boring unless you enjoy seeing junky trees uprooted. .. Videos are much larger viewed directly on YouTube. This was how much left to get to the dam as of noon. After lunch the fence man unloaded a bulldozer, with a blade to smooth the roads, all by himself. More about the afternoon later.... . .
Afternoon yesterday The sun sets behind the hill facing the camera from where I was across the pond, so it's difficult to get any picture in that direction in the afternoons. The fencer thought the boat was a great idea to remove the trash cover from the drain pipe, and I got everything ready, but the man that operates the excavator said he could remove it easily. I missed recording that momentous event. It was only a big deal to me (and the guy who was going to do it from the boat. lol). Patched together video: 1. Excavator at the spillway of the dam 2. Excavator positioned to remove the blocked cover from the old riser pipe 3. Vortex created when the pipe cover was removed (actual sound) 4. Water coming out from the back side of the dam (18 inch pipe) The thing didn't squeal like last time. More like a blubber. I think because it was too windy to get a nice round formation. After everyone left for the day, the neighbor below the dam came by on his old tractor towing a trailer. He is 76 years old, rarely says a word unless asked, has a long gray pony tail almost to his waist, and is a bit eccentric, but he was really nice this time. The last time I saw him was 15 years ago when we fenced the property. The water level went down about 5 inches in an hour. A couple more feet and it will hit the top of the old riser pipe. Then they will need the pumps to take it down a little farther. It was supposed to rain this morning, so I did NOT cancel a dentist appointment. No rain so far. Maybe I need a break for a day anyway. Watching is hard work. . .
The man just called to tell me he is getting a burn permit, to burn some of the debris collected from the road work. That should be interesting. Monday I told him to throw some of the big stumps in the water for cover for the fish. He claims big stumps won't float. I guess we will find out. Cold this morning. Warmer this afternoon, but 15 mph winds. Ten days of showers predicted starting Sunday. He is getting some more culvert pipe this morning. I'm going to wait 'til afternoon to go out. I should have just planned to move out there for a week. No internet. I might have gotten some things done. Ha! I don't see how he can keep track of all the things that have to be done. I would be running around in circles. . .
It was miserable out there today. Strong wind. Predicted to start warming up tomorrow. Thank you! They only worked on the spillway today. Quite elaborate. It is going to be covered with "riprap." Stones much larger than gravel. He is following the engineer's plan to the letter. The water is down about 2 feet, and at the top of the drain pipe now. Fence man thinks it needs to drain down more. I think it is done and just staying even. He had to tell me he stood on the top edge of the drain pipe today. Why would someone want to do that? It's a wonder he is still alive. Just 3 pictures from around the edge of the lake. This one shows the location of the road they worked on yesterday.
By noon today they had removed and cleaned up most of the trees below the road along the lake, and piled them near the dam spillway. I think they are doing too much cosmetic work. Don't care that much about beautiful, because it will not be beautiful by next year when things start growing up everywhere. My main concern is erosion. This man obviously enjoys this kind of work so much I think he can't stop himself once he gets started. First thing they started burning the pile of trees. Threw an old tire on it occasionally to keep it going. The fire was impressive. You could feel the heat half way across the dam as long as it was going strong. The heat was nice because it was still rather cold today. I was fooling around on the dam all afternoon. More about that later. Maybe. Excavator loading more trees on the pile. It looks so easy. Then they started another burn pile up at the head of the lake. They had also finished grading the emergency spillway, started adding stones in the morning, and mowed the dam. How did they mow? Dump truck unloading more stones and bulldozer spreading the pile. Walking on that road, with all the smoke, was almost like walking on another planet. Wish it could stay clean like this forever. I think he is going to add a thin layer of gravel eventually.
I can handle him. He asked me if I wanted to drive it down to the dam the day he unloaded it. He didn't think I would take him up on it.
Received this picture on the cellphone this afternoon. The fence man's helper with a beaver last night. After they quit working they chased one around the lake in the boat, and shot the other one on the bank. Beavers are not very smart. Threw them on the fire. They saw 2 more but ran out of rifle shells. They may try to get the other two tomorrow night.
The only thing notable today was a load of sand piled in the middle of the dam. This is going in a pit at the base of the dam where the water comes out. It's supposed to act as a filter, or something. So why is it on top of the dam? Probably it came too early? I want to understand all this stuff. They said the dump truck got stuck this morning at 7:30 and almost ran off the road into a ditch. They had to get out of bed and come get it unstuck. The dump truck man must be a morning person. It is difficult to stay out of everyone's way, and ride the red clay ridges. Met the truck on the new road both coming and going. We almost need two lanes. They are going to bring the pumps out Monday. They need to do something to the road for a cement truck, but they will put it back like it was afterwards. The concrete is going inside the old drain pipe to seal it off. I think one of the previous contractors said they would bring cement in dry and mix it on site. This kind of cement sets quickly, in water. When I left today fence man was raising the road along the lake with the bulldozer. I think this is going to take much longer than they expected because of all the coordination necessary with so many different people. I hope I don't miss the pouring of the cement and the laying of the pipe.
One time I spent the weekend out at the cabin and you could hear a beaver chewing on a tree all night, right near the side door. It scared me until I figured out what it was. As I mentioned, they are not very smart. They have been really destructive in the past, taking down large swaths of trees. They drag the little trees into the water and some of them float down to the dam drain. They just leave the big trees, and you have to eventually remove them, if they fall on the roads. They stayed out for years after we fenced. Probably came in through a culvert under the fence near the neighbor's property from their pond. I had to cover all the culvert ends with wire. These new neighbors don't seem like the type that would ever try to control them. They will change, if they stay there long enough. LOL There has also been some animal burrowing into the dam in several places. Smaller than a beaver. And then there's a burrow right near the cabin door a little larger.
Fence man called at noon yesterday (Saturday) from the lake, to tell me his helper had a good excuse not to come to work that morning, so he was calling it a day. Caught up on housework here. The mouse in the house They quit making the d-CON pellets in the wedge boxes, which always worked well, and now have these green blocks, that come in little plastic childproof maze boxes. The mouse loves the blocks. I watched him come out from under the bookcase, and eat almost half a block on 3 separate occasions. He keeps on ticking. It could be 3 different mice, but I don't think so, unless they all went outside to die. Many reviews are reporting the same thing. Looks like I'll have to resort to old fashioned traps. Will stop by the dollar store and get one, on the way out this afternoon to check on Rusty. Hope they still make them.
We have a similar sort of thing, @Nancy Hart , and it works great. Usually the mouse/rat goes back outside, or at least under the house to die, but we have found a couple wandering through the house almost dead, and Bobby had to get his needle nose pliers, grab them by the tail and get them out of the house to die. I think that you probably have more than one mouse, and you will keep seeing them one at a time until the whole bunch are gone. If you only have little mice, it might not smell so bad, but we have rats that come from the empty field behind us, and if they die under the house and not out in the field, we certainly can tell when we have a dead one.