Day 16 - Dirt and a Blue Mud Dauber

The final piece of the mold remediation was to fill in a hole that the previous owners has left, from either removing a bush or tree or something.  This hole was right against the foundation on the west side of the house, leaving a great entry point for water. I would say it was a good 2 feet down, in a low spot to boot.

I don't have a truck. I don't even have a car that would be useful in hauling anything. Although the seats do go down, making my trunk large enough to carry a shovel and a dolly. Even my bicycle, back in the day when I had time to ride. So I had to borrow a truck.  And dirt. And a hand tamp.

This whole endeavor had "girl power" written all over it. And borrowing a truck from a friend who also just happened to have a huge pile of dirt AND a front loader thingy screamed divine providence to my checkbook! I picked up the truck 20 minutes outside of town and headed to the house. I haven't driven a truck in over 10 years and here I am, driving a Dodge Ram 2500 extended cab diesel, with these mirrors that stick out at least 2 feet. And it's LOUD. And I'm giggling!

I also borrowed the hand tamp after a coworker saw my "plea" on Facebook. That was a bonus as well.

And finally, to round out the girl power, I have Sue, my trusty farm girl turned suburbanite Mom who is LOVING my little house. She helped me to clean it out the first day I had it. And I couldn't be happier to have her along for the journey. Plus, she had no problems getting up in the back of the truck and throwing dirt like a pro! Her gift cards are just getting bigger and bigger.

We also had a visitor...a blue mud dauber. I Googled it today. This, wasp or hornet, was our constant companion as we laid the dirt out and tamped it down. I think we imported it from out in the country.

Here's our accomplishment!