Tackling big slabs in the dig

What seemed like a hundred years ago we had decided we needed the breaker to make progress in the dig. And finally we got back to it, breaker and all! Miles is better with breakers; the machine is quite heavy, and when it's used as a drill I tend to manoeuvre myself into a position in which I not only hold it in my hands but also plant a shoulder or gut or foot against it ti help push. That's feasible, as you hold still! But as a breaker you move the bit around. That takes forever if you always have to rally another body part for help! But Miles doesn't need extra body parts; he is strong enough to work that thing with his hands only. So he went ahead with the breaker.

It takes Miles a bit to get up to the top, so in the meantime I did some tidying up at the bottom. We throw so much stuff down that we make the entrance of the dig smaller and smaller and smaller.. Sometimes we need to reverse that process! I made a small start. When I thought Miles must be at the top I scampered after him.

There's a big rock there, split into slabs, and it's very big but cracked at the back. With sufficient force you can pry the slabs apart and break them off at the crack, and that way slowly peel off the entire rock. And miles set to work! Soon he had a rock out that was a bit auxiliary (the other rock leaned a bit on it, and then the top of the actual rock had its turn. And he got it down! Without ending up underneath it. But now we had to chuck it down. And the passage is narrow...

I came up to have a look. I chopped off a small bit myself, but in general I'm more for manoeuvering rocks as they are, rather than break them up first. Not always a good idea, but well, worth the try. I climbed over it and tried to push it down. Of course it got stuck! I didn't worry too much as I could still get past, but we had to get rid of it. Miles came back up and together we broke it up so much I could then finally chuck it down after all. And have a look at what's behind it! And that looks scarier than I remembered from when I had reached over the slab and felt my way around, but well, we've dealt with scary situations before. We'll manage! We're making progress. Let's see what we can do next time!

Back at the car I had another cup of tea. It was full moon and very beautiful! And dry. The place is magic in moonlight!