Good Morning! 69F @ 5:45AM. Sunny. High 92F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
The softener repairman finally showed up yesterday afternoon, once again confirming that calcium carbonate deposits in the valve body had caused the system not to regenerate the resin bed, leading to hard water. This time he took some samples that will be analyzed for mineral content, and measured the source water for hardness: 31 grains! That's some hard water, but not surprising since the last 200' or so of the well bore are through "blue stone", a local name for limestone. Just down the lake is Lime Saddle, and below the house are located two huge old kilns used in the '30s to make cement.
It was also a day for planning the fire reconstruction work. First the man with overall responsibility for the mitigation work stopped by, and we walked the property to get a better idea of what needed doing. Mostly it's leveling and smoothing out the dozer cuts, and separating tree and brush debris from the soil so the soil can be moved back upslope.
Then the man that will supervise the mitigation crews came through, explaining what he'd done in similar situations. He's only got a bulldozer and excavator to work with, so finesse isn't really within his capabilities. But that should work nicely for much of what needs done, and my little Kubota can finish the rest. He was **** bent to put water bars in the upper meadow cut to control erosion, but since I need to mow there I insisted he not. Instead he'll just back drag with the dozer to get rid of the grouser marks (those deep lateral indents made by the tracks). But that will flip up the many rocks mixed in with the dirt, and I'll ask for some help from the work crews to get them picked up. I think the Kubota will come in handy to shuttle them into piles.
Then the men that will actually be operating the equipment came by to take a look. The dozer operators didn't see anything that wasn't possible, and finally got the idea of what was needed after I showed them the tractor and flail mower and said "picture yourself riding that tractor up and down these hillsides mowing tall grass. Leave it so I don't fall off the tractor or get it stuck on a steep slope or drop off."
I finished the day up at the mail box where another crew had been picking up and chipping the brush that had been cleared earlier. I spoke at length with their supervisor, and it's likely that crew will be here today doing more chipping. They'll also be an excavator on site that will be used to fish the heavy wood and trees out of the berms at the bottom of the hill, and the crew will limb them up and chip "everything with leaves". Then they need to do something with the trunks and heavy limbs; I've requested that they make brush piles I can either feed my wood stove from or burn all at once after it starts raining.
Yet to be discussed it who will pay for reseeding the fire lines, but that work is clearly beyond what is possible now. Apparently the contracts for the equipment and crews only run through the weekend, and after that it'll be tough sledding to get anything more. So likely I'll be out of pocket for the seed, and playing Johnny Appleseed with my bucket to get it on the ground.
I also asked about some water to help settle the dust on the driveway, which had been ground down by the heavy truck traffic to an inch thick layer that billowed up every time one passed. Next thing I knew a water truck had drenched the drive. The driver was backing down the road as I checked the mail, and we had a nice conversation. I was able to get him to make several more passes through the weekend in hopes that the traffic would compact the dust instead of creating more. We shall see.
While I was speaking with the overall project manager, he got a radio call from the dozer crew supervisor. The supervisor was talking to someone that was complaining that the dozers were "scratching my manzanita and making marks on my rocks". I knew instantly that my lovely neighbor was once again being a PITA, and confirmed it when the conversation had ended. When I spoke to the supervisor later, he became quite animated when describing the conversation, but calmed down a bit when I explained that the lovely neighbor treated everyone like that, and suggested to him that there was more bark than bite there. The exchanges were enough to further convince me that this person is best kept at much more than arm's length, and ideally out of sight and out of mind (the latter of which he seems to be :laughing
.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
