Playing in the Dirt

2nd & 3rd Week of November

Steve and I sincerely believe we are not "pack rats".  Before we moved to 10208 Carol Street - in 1999 - we had averaged living in one place about 2 years.  Moving is a great way to remove clutter.  But then we lived in our old house on Carol Street for 14 years!  I regularly went through closets and either donated or threw away things.  But three children grew up in that house, so it was a bit inevitable that "stuff" would accumulate.  Some of the things most difficult to let go were favorite toys; things like Legos, Kynex, cardboard "bricks".  And Tonka Trucks!

Nick & Alex's toy backhoe

Some of the things we moved into the new house last weekend were these toys.  We used to tease Alex because he liked to randomly dig holes in the yard.  For the last two weeks our entire front yard has been a series of holes and trenches.  I couldn't resist having a little fun with the back hoe :o)

Septic field ditches, waiting for final inspection

Of course we had to wait a few days for the Fairfax County Health Department inspector to visit our property and "approve" the septic field construction and all pipe connections.  That was done this past Tuesday.  By Thursday the trenches and holes were filled in.  We have a front yard again!

Backfilled Septic Field, i.e. our front yard

All day Friday our builder "played" on his backhoe, doing a lot of the final grading around the house.  And Saturday the masons were back to do the last bit of masonry work - the stone and slate around front steps!

Masons working on Saturday

Somehow we have ended up with some leftover dirt (on the left in the picture above).  I have asked the Builder to spread it over the side yard, to the left of the house.