Homeowners vs. Mud

Vern decided to take the day off from work today to take advantage of the nice weather so we were at it again bright and early this morning. I'm happy to report that we've got things cleaned up nicely albeit at the cost of being forever known in our town as the mud people.
Frozen frost blankets a little worse for wear, yes, but our footings are now accessible and ready for gravel and drain tile. Since the cost of gravel is primarily a hauling charge, and we're prevented from hauling anything more than a couple of yards at a time because of road restrictions, we're taking the DIY route and planning to haul it ourselves. It just didn't make sense to pay $130/load for a dumptruck to bring what amounts to only twice as much as I can haul in our truck, so I'll be off to the gravel pit tomorrow. Hopefully this will work out better anyway, since I think we should be able to back the truck up to the edge of the trench on the north side and shovel gravel directly into place instead of shoveling it from pile to wheelbarrow and then wheeling it all the way around the house. At this point I'm all about less shoveling. So the gist is that the mud problem from last week that we thought would prevent us from drain tiling and backfilling for at least a month is no longer a problem and we should have our dirt issues buttoned up in the next few days. Homeowners 1, mud 0. Moral of the story: even the biggest most daunting pile of mud (or project) can be moved a little at a time, you just need to start digging.