We started backfilling the floor today, starting with dirt which had been removed to create the footer. We were running out of this dirt when the first of two 14 ton truckloads of fill material was delivered. We previously had a kind of fill dirt that was a yellowish mixture of clay, sand and gravel. Today's material seemed to be made of crushed concrete. It was grey sand and pebbles similar to what you'd get in a bag of QuickCrete. This photo shows part of the first load of fill.
The fill was easy to shovel, like sand, but a few dozen scoops full were enough to move me to the bucket line. The neighbors and Esperanza staff have muscles and can move many time more material than I would be been able to.
It's truly amazing how much can be accomplished with a dozen people working in concert. When the distance became too great to throw the fill into the hole like the guys above, we switched to buckets. We got into a rhythm, with the shoveler putting one scoop into a bucket which was removed and passed down the line of people to be dumped at the farthest point, and an empty bucket set in its place. We got the floor about half filled before we stopped for the day. Many of the neighborhood workers and the owner of the house work the night shift, so they needed to get some sleep before going to work.
Our group has been taking the Esperanza staff for a meal at a restaurant each year. Due to Covid concerns, it was decided to have a fiesta at the Posada instead. When we returned from the worksite, staff member, Victor already had a good start on grilling chorizo and carne asada.
We had enjoyable meal with laughter and conversation continuing until dark.
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