November 08, 2004
Rushing to beat the freeze
We ran into a problem getting up the new greenhouse. We found a giant rock right where we needed to put a couple of ribs.
It was too big for us to dig out and move with our tractor, but we got John to come and move it. The delay put us precariously close to the ground freezing. So this weekend saw some major hustle to get the greenhouse skeleton in the ground before it froze.
This is what we woke up to Saturday morning.
It melted as soon as the sun came up, but it started getting colder, and this week is supposed to be colder than seasonal norms, like in the teens at night.
Waverly came out on her tractor to help.
The first rib up.
Susannah came by and helped on Sunday afternoon. Thank you Susannah!
The last task was to dig a trench all the way around so we could put in baseboards. The ground was starting to freeze as we dug. And it's flurrying out as I type. But we got the trench dug!
There's still a lot of work to do to get it operational, but it looks like the work that had to happen before the ground froze is done, and not a moment too soon!
Posted by peter at November 8, 2004 05:40 PMMy only comment is that the picture doesn't do justice to that rock. It is about 4 ft by 5 ft by 2.5 ft thick, and it was all sitting about 6-10 inches below the surface, such that there was no way to know it was there when we started. Our neighbor had come over with his industrial sized excavator to get it out, and in all likelihood, it is now a permanent fixture by the high drive ramp on the north end of the barn.
Posted by: peter at November 8, 2004 08:50 PMyay peter and maryellen! and waverly! you guys are so great! and i am glad to see you got the baseboards in. i figured i'd finally post a comment now that the season is over...
by the way, i can testify to the size of that rock. peter thought he had a problem when he found the first rock, which is resting on top of the larger one in the picture. i believe his words were, here is the worst case scenario. then an hour later, he found the bigger one. he was subsequently speechless.
thanks for everything!
Posted by: susannah at November 9, 2004 11:55 PMGood work!
Congratulations!
Another step forward!
Posted by: Mike, pgg's dad at November 10, 2004 05:25 AMGlad you finished despite my morning interruption! Waverly looks very helpful.
Posted by: Sarah at November 11, 2004 12:11 PMI think a geologist might say that the rock will remain on the high drive ramp on the north end of the barn only briefly -- only until the next glacier moves it on south, into Massachusetts or New York. But until then it is your trophy. All honors to you.
John J.
