This morning after breakfast we drove to the Natchez Trace and followed it to Jackson Falls, a nice waterfall at the end of a moderate hike. Luke sure enjoyed it, and we had a snack at the trailhead picnic table after hiking. We drove further down the Trace, stopping again for a wildflower hike and finally again for another waterfall. We had lunch at home and I mowed the back field while Liz and Luke had quiet time. Then I set up the sprinkler on the straw bales, and let it run all afternoon. While that happened we all drove to Henry Horton. The playground wasn’t as shady as I remembered but Luke didn’t really want to play. He swung a little on the swing set, then we walked over to the sand area, but he didn’t really want to play there either. So we drove home to play with Legos and read books. We had dinner on the back deck again and then the bed time routine began. There was a bit of a meltdown at the end, but now is asleep or at least quiet.

Wow, what a day. This morning I spread the last of the gravel over the driveways. I was a bundle of nerves thinking about concrete trucks getting stuck and other things going wrong. It was early afternoon when the concrete guy arrived with his helper, and they started to do the final preparations for pouring. The concrete trucks arrived not long after, and the first nearly got stuck. I ran some errands while they started pouring and returned about halfway through. It was nice to talk with the truck drivers and I was able to relax a bit. Unfortunately I bought about eight yards more concrete than I needed. Everything got finished and looked good, I paid everybody, and then I left. I drove to the cottage, hooked up the trailer, and headed home. I arrived about a quarter before eight, and Luke was still up. It was nice to see him before he went to bed.

I got to the job site about seven this morning in anticipation of the inspector. I finished up the rebar and moved some dirt with the tractor. My big accomplishment was getting a massive stump loaded onto the trailer and hauled to the burn pile. The inspector came and was okay with everything except for the fact that there was rock in a corner of the footings on one house. He told me to hammer it out and to send him a picture. So after Dillon came with a load of gravel I borrowed my dad’s truck and drove down to Manchester to rent a jackhammer and returned to the job site. There I started hammering and it was a lot like work. Dillon returned with another load and his truck got stuck, but we were able to free it, with a lot of help from the tractor. After he left I did more hammering and got the footings all cleared out. I took the hammer and generator back to the cottage and drove home. Liz and Luke were having dinner on the back deck, and I joined them. It was a beautiful evening. After dinner I mowed the grass and watered the sweet potatoes and straw bales. It was after dark by the time I finally came back inside.