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Here I would love to share with you our travels and adventures as international mushroom consultants. MEMOIRS about husband Pieter Vedder, who was a SCIENTIFIC PIONEER in Commercial Mushroom Cultivation Education. His practical handbook is in 9 languages and is called the MUSHROOM BIBLE: https://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2020/08/modern-mushroom-growing-2020-harvesting.html

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Digging out Part of the Mountain of Dirt left under the House by Contractor

 Yep, after living and working in Indonesia, we still did continue doing consulting work but no longer than 2 or 3 weeks at a time.
So we finally since early May of 1992, could start working on home & garden...
Our contractor left us with a huge mountain of dirt UNDER THE HOUSE!
While we were working/living in Indonesia, he started constructing the house, which Pieter had designed, by making the drawings all himself.
Two levels on the driveway end and one level on the kitchen side.
The contractor did ask if we wanted a wine cellar but we said no, we don't need that.
Not realizing by not wanting that, he also bypassed any concrete flooring...!
Oh dear, when you're not physically present at times; big problems can arise that need to be dealt with later. 
Neither was there Internet for quick communication...
Always harder too, for correcting a problem like that later, as you barely can access the area for a fast and efficient excavation.
But we needed to get rid of the musty heap of 60 tons of dirt!
In August of 1991, I've dug out already a big section, as much as we needed to fill in for washed out dirt that Pieter rode then out in the wheelbarrow... See: The FIGHT of Growing Grass in Subtropical Georgia/USA ←click it.
This time, Pieter himself dug out a lot more, as we planned to build our pantry.


You can best watch this on YouTube, and use the clickable points that I've inserted and written about, below video.
You can see the start of the digging and wheeling out, in the beginning, on a nippy cold February day (my Birthday) and next the construction of our pantry in progress.
Having a dirty house, at least downstairs, I only kept up with the extra laundry and also captured our Garden Critters in-between filming Pieter's hard labor.
Pieter indeed has been a worker bee; all his life and he's done it ALL.
At the end of the video, you also see at clickable 38:07 after 20 days of labor, the completion of the construction of our pantry. 
At clickable 39:16 Pieter lets the viewers peak behind the added door from the pantry underneath the house, where the remainder of the mountain of dirt remained, till he dug it all out in 2004 for constructing our Rose Suite.
With those 60 tons that came out, we could nicely grade our garden.
At clickable 42:18 showing garden with wooden walkway, our wood trail on the left of our gazebo. 
You also get to see the ditches, dug for draining the swampy section! They were by then nicely clad with mosses!

Related links:
The FIGHT of Growing Grass in Subtropical Georgia/USA | previous post 
Non Glamorous Wheelbarrow Job for Filling and Raising Swampy Parts | previous post
{The Construction of Our Rose Suite - Part I} | previous post by me where Pieter dug out the 60 tons of dirt
{The Construction of Our Rose Suite - Part II} | previous post by me

18 comments:

  1. Hello Mariette, In cold climates we have to dig out from mountains of snow, and it rarely is light and fluffy--compacted and heavy is more its usual state. I would have thought that moving to a nice warm place like Georgia would have eliminated such heavy work, but apparently in this life we are not spared from such tasks. In Taiwan I don't have snow or mud to remove, but I do have to carry heavy groceries about a mile, then up to the fifth floor (no elevator). You must be familiar with this pattern from the many places you have lived, so you know that things like canned goods or sacks of rice can get heavy pretty quickly.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Jim,
      Of course no snow digging here but for the rest it can be pretty strenuous to do any digging due to the climate. Guess it all comes with the package of life!
      Well in Indonesia we did cook minimally as we had our warm meal with the staff and had our driver for going grocery shopping. But we also have walked the distance and yes, those bags can cut into your hands by the weight. In Italy we luckily did have an elevator to our fifth floor!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  2. You two are an amazing couple. What a lot of courage to take on such a project; and all the hard work involved. What a beautiful transformation when it was all finished. God give you strength, good health and patience.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Victor,
      Well, we've done it with a lot of willpower and perseverance. The end result always has been rewarding and it probably was a lot better for our health as opposed to a sedentary lifestyle!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  3. That looks like it was an enormous amount of work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Janey,
      It sure was and Pieter went about it very tenacious, every day anew for getting it over with!
      Our dead line also was departure for Europe, to visit family and friends... that helped.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  4. Cuando se acomete una obra, hay que estar pendiente de ellas y eso evita que te lleves sorpresas después.

    Que tengas una linda semana.

    Besos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Querida Antónia,
      Muy cierto, pero si vives y trabajas en Indonesia, hace que sea muy difícil de manejar... Se solucionó, ¡pero solo con trabajos forzados!
      Abrazos,
      Mariette

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Dearest Jo-Anne,
      You bet, it was back breaking hard work!
      But Pieter persevered and it got done.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  6. Oh my gosh what a big job Mariette, your husband did an amazing job, he must have been exhausted! Was lovely to see the garden, I'm guessing it was spring, the daffodils/jonquils and blossom trees are so pretty. Enjoyed seeing the birds and other visitors to your garden 🌿

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Grace,
      Yes, that was quite a mega job but in 20 days, Pieter had our pantry ready. We had to, as on March 1, we flew for the 40th time to The Netherlands to visit family and friends.
      Spring is rather early in our subtropical climate and it is a happy time.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  7. There really are times that if we want a job well done we have to do it ourselves. It's sad, especially when professionals fail their commitment.
    xoxo
    Coisas de Feltro

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Christina,
      Yes, that is so true and this all had to be done because the contractor indeed failed to do a decent job. I've never ever in my entire life seen such a mountain of dirt left under the house.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...

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