110 holes dug ~ whew!

Over the last two days Cary and I really rocked the mitigation-planting-preparation. The weather cooperated too, it cleared up tuesday afternoon and remained clear all day yesterday, although that meant that the temperature dropped quite a bit. The ground was plenty wet, but nothing we couldn't handle, as it turned out. All in all, we

• got the bark mulch and compost delivered
  
• covered the piles of mulch and compost with tarps borrowed from Dave (thanks!)
  
• assembled the two shiny new wheelbarrows we bought (one regular size and one 8 cu. ft. two-wheeler - yeah, baby)
  
• got new handles for the broken shovels and post-hole digger & repaired them
  
• picked up plants from the nursery
  
• counted and flagged plants to be dug up from the property
  
• went to fence dealer and ordered cedar rails & posts
  
• got the tractor delivered, and dug all 110 planting holes
  
• graded out that pot-hole at the driveway junction
  
• fueled and cleaned the tractor, so it's ready for pick up
  
• staked & color coded all the holes so we'll know what to plant where for proper spacing
  
• transplanted the aspens

We worked from morning to dark both days, and forgot to take any pictures! D'oh. I guess the feeling of accomplishment is enough, we don't need graphic evidence of all the work we did. It feels really good to have so much done, although there is still a lot of work to go.

Tomorrow Cary is going to sharpen all the shovels with Dave's grinder and go out and pick up the fencing materials in Dave's truck and deliver them out to the property. (Thanks again, Dave!)

On Saturday, hopefully we'll have lots of help from friends & family (hint hint) and be able to plant the other 110 plants (since Cary already did the 5 aspens) get them all mulched, and even start building the fence. It'll be fun. Pizza and beer (or hot chocolate) for everyone who shows up to work, natch. Hopefully the weather will hold clear like this, or at least not rain hard. We're northwesterners - if we called off our plans because of a little rain, we'd never get anything done. :)

In other house news, the measurements for the laminate were taken, and all the cork flooring was delivered. Steve and Jack and Mark came out yesterday afternoon with a bunch of tools and Steve got started on the trim. He said he was going to work until 1 or 2 in the morning! I told him that he certainly didn't have to work that late on my account, but he likes doing trim and he likes staying up late, so it suits him. I guess now that the heat and the lights are on, there's no need to stick to daylight hours, at least for interior work. Today they were going to be hanging the interior doors, and probably starting on the flooring. Maybe I'll have some pictures for you tomorrow...