Inspector Pepper

The excavator arrived early, with a load of aqua sewer pipe in the bed of his pickup. A few hours later, he rolled back down our driveway and out for the day. This afternoon, Karen and I went up on our ATV to see what he'd accomplished. We were accompanied by Pepper, the Wonder Dog.

A champion digger in his own right, Pepper took time from his busy schedule to inspect the laying of the pipe for the septic system and the power conduit (right down the middle of the photo). Right after this photo was taken, Pepper jumped down into the trench, sniffed around for a while, and gave the work two ears up, the Brittany seal of approval. Perhaps tomorrow or Monday, the dozer will come in to bury the pipe and we can get our front "yard" back. We'll also be ready for Kootenai Electric Cooperative to hook up our power, for United Drilling to install our well pump and water connections, and propane line and tank.


The finish carpenter also was in today, finishing the installation of first-floor baseboard, pulling the clamps off the kitchen island corbels, and cutting and emplacing some of the second-story baseboard.

Tomorrow, in the morning, I'll scrape stray grout off the rough stair treads in preparation for laying wood and stair nose pieces. In the afternoon, Karen and I will be down in the creek, running at a trickle now, and haul out all the tree limbs and other debris that washed down with the spring floods. Hello chainsaw.