Can You Spell C-O-N-C-R-E-T-E?

And what could this be for? This giant gloop of concrete...Say hello to the brand new floor, ladies and gentleman. It was very quiet around here for most of the week, but today was a frenzy of activity as the floor was poured, and leveled, and finished.

It took a very long time, but the end result-

Is a thing of beauty.

And It Begins To Take Shape

Foundations! Plumbing!

Annnnd...


Dadadum! A septic tank.



It's actually starting to look like it might be a building now. Everyone has been working really hard... Dad even stayed home today to help the plumber trench and lay pipes. We get closer and closer to pouring the floor. The pace of all this is both stressful (okay, really stressful), but exciting. Who knows what we'll see next week.

Is This Really My Backyard?

Blocks! Yes, the walls have arrived... albeit, in unassembled form. Still, it's exciting to see them sitting there waiting for us. Work has progressed at what seems like a breakneck speed after all the slow and careful planning that went into all this. Every day brings some new development, (and some new decision to be made). And the sounds of construction are almost ever-present outside the back door...


As surreal as this project is, we can't wait for the day we can start making and selling cheese. The cement floor should be going in soon. Just wait until the walls go up.

Pilgrims' Progress

OK, so the Pilgrims didn't pour cement footers and drop crushed cement driveways. Fair enough; maybe pioneers are a wee bit closer to the homesteading that is going on here. Regardless, progress is good. Phil Belk should be laying block as quick as the delivery gets here, and we may even have the rough plumbing in before end of next week. Then we begin the wait on the county inspector, and hope we can get our state dairy inspector Tommy Harrel out here before he goes fishing for two weeks. Then we can start pouring the cement floors!

Oh my goodness!

Norwood services has started clearing for the dairy/cheese plant. Jeffery (Mr. Norwood) will also be installing the septic system, adding the extended driveway, and digging the footers. It has been quite a treat to work with Jeffery, and meet all the other local tradesmen as we gather quotes for the next steps. Networking locally has turned this into a block party, as each contractor says, "Oh yeh, I'm just around the corner from you folks".

The clearing process has changed the ambiance dramatically, and the neighbors slow way down as they get a good look at us from the road. The new building will give us some privacy again when it goes up, and there will be plenty of landscaping to do as the project winds down.

The Beast Has Arrived

The machinery has arrived. This beast is what will be clearing all those lovely trees to make room for the building. Work should start Monday, but right now the difficulty is moving the animals out of the way (temporarily) to make room for the new barn... Keeping in mind that milking still has to happen twice a day.

But all of this means that this whole crazy plan is actually going to happen. When you've got a big, yellow John Deere sitting outside your front lawn, you know it's finally a reality.

Summer is coming

We can feel it here - summer. It's starting to heat up, and the trees have closed us in once more, blocking the distant views of our neighbors... But we should be knocking a few trees down any day now to make room for a new barn, and (gasp) the dairy. It's almost unreal. Equipment is being ordered, and right now there is a mad dash to organize the various people that will be involved in the building process. Who knew so much went into a simple building?
In the meantime, we continue to show up at the Matthews Farmers' Market. We will be there every Saturday selling soap, which, even though it isn't as tasty as goat cheese, is still a fine product. Support the project by stopping by and buying some. And come back here soon to see some big changes...