November 2005

Crickey! November has come and gone and we're still the owners of a hole in the ground and not much else. Mind you, we've plenty of new toys to play with including a whopping great generator and Anne's super-duper cement mixer (trying to pursuade her that it is a really exclusive Christmas present but she doesn't seem too impressed! Nice colour too!).

She now wields a shovels like a man with 10 arms whilst I totter backwards and forwards to the trenches (and other general supervisory tasks).

I've also taken delivery of a load of workshop tools but alas, workshop yet to be built. Everything seems a bit slow since everything is new. All the bits and pieces needed, design and construction technique are all new to us and so every task takes time. Thats my excuse anyway! We've also had delays getting materials (sand and gravel) to the site since Paco the lorry driver won't come down the tracks for a few days after any rain. This is a problem as its November and its the rainy month.

What else has happened? Oh yes. Salavador the architect gave us our technical construction plans so we now know what it is we should be doing in terms of foundations, walls, floor and roof construction. Helpful sort of stuff! I've attached a page if you really feel like a doze and need something, well....Houseplans

We have actually made a start with the heavy, bend your back, sort of things. We need a longish retaining wall to hold the main spill from the site excavation which, in turn, holds the access ramp in place. We also need an additional retaining wall about 2.5 meters high to hold the corner of the building in place. We only realised this recently and, following a heavy rainstorm, this corner is in jeopardy of being washed away. (Stop press. Just come back from the site and about 8 meters of newly prepared trench has been filled in by a landslip - b....er!)  (Further stop press: trench dug out again and shuttered up to stop it happening again)

One of our large oaks that for some reason had died, has been felled. What a job. It was on a steep hillside and we wanted to be able to get to it once felled so that we can get it cut and use it for lintels in the house. This type of oak is called a stone oak for good reason. Amazingly hard wood and a job for those who know what they are doing - not me in other words. Currently burning the off cuts.  

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