Let the digging begin.

I always see these goofy photos and videos on the news of politicians "working" when doing a groundbreaking ceremony for some fancy new building - or in the case of Seattle this insanity called the "viaduct tunnel".  I won't get into that!
I couldn't get any famous astronomers to come over and break ground with a golden shovel, so I just simply started cutting out the 11 x 11 foot square.
The turf in the yard isn't very deep, and there is a layer of rock underneath.  I'm sure this is going to be a painful process, but gotta do it.

That tree in the middle is a peach tree with some small peaches that don't seem to grow very big. That will soon be dug up and  moved someplace else in the yard.  
After the square is cut, the next thing to do is dig a hole in the middle for the pier.  I have some ideas on how to do the pier this time.  Mostly with a steel pipe bolted down to a deep foundation of some type. More on that later, and more photos as work continues.