My camera is in the truck clear at the other end of the property, so no pictures today.

The dirt contractor showed up today, and they are finally going to start on my road. He said we can't get the free dirt that the city is giving away, and it wouldn't have been suitable for our purposes. But he found some on the west side of town, and they would start bringing it this afternoon.

"It's real ugly dirt," he said, "but it's just what we need: clay and shale that will pack down and expand over time. We'll top it off with road base."

Sure enough, it's got pieces of shale in it, and it's not something to spread around in the yard. They are going to deliver 15 loads of it, and I have no idea what it's going to cost, but it doesn't matter.

Tomorrow morning a hydrologist is going to come look at the places along the river that I am concerned about and tell me if I need to do something before spring runoff to prevent further flooding, and what I need to do long-term.

I baked some little apple hand pies for him.