Recovering, rethinking, redesigning, rescheduling

OK, we’ve had a complete change of plan, and the schedule has gone to pot. We were going to miss the window for building anyway (straw bale walls need 3 months to settle before the first frosts) due to Ali’s illness, and now that he’s recovered we’ve been having a rethink about the design.
Because [...]

It’s going to be stone. Eventually.

We made a decision on the wall – well, Ali did. It’s going to be stone, not breeze block. He’s got enough stone, and he likes working with it, so that’s the plan.
He dug down to make space for its foundations, and to everyone’s surprise (though perhaps we should have expected it, there being [...]

You’d think it would be easy

We haven’t even started on the house itself yet: we’re just focusing on the retaining wall, which should be a relatively simple thing to construct, but we’re having long and intricate debates about how exactly to do it. This is probably a good thing: better than just going at it thoughtlessly and getting it wrong. [...]

The digging is nearly finished now

And I have, wearily, run out of hole puns so I’ll just show you a picture of where we’re at:

Ali has done 95% of the work: he goes out there every day to do some. I am very pleased that I haven’t had to do it myself and have been able to concentrate on the [...]

When you’re in a hole…

…don’t stop digging!

I’m just wondering how many more cheesy ‘digging’ titles we can come up with. Oh, I can think of a few!
Here are a few more digging shots anyway, just to prove we’re Ali is doing something:

I’ve just been out there with pen, pad, pacing feet and [...]

“Are we in Australia yet?”

“No.. keep digging!”
Tee hee.
Well, we’re this far in now:

and already I’m wondering whether it’s in the right place. “Is it wise to build so close to the path?” “What if the baby falls off the edge? We’ll need to fence it..” and “When you take into account the [straw bale] thickness [...]

The deep breath before the plunge

.. is how Tolkien described the quiet waiting before the Battle of Minas Tirith, if I remember correctly. It’s a great analogy for that tense yet calm anticipation of major activity and ok, so we’re not waiting for a battle against the orcs of Mordor here, but it is something that really matters to us: [...]

Choices, choices..

I had some childcare on Saturday and hence the opportunity for a good afternoon’s work. Well, two hours at least – which isn’t by any means enough for the amount that needs doing. But every little helps.
I didn’t know where to start:
Reclaiming the third deep-bed?

Cutting back more brambles?

Clearing the weeds from deep [...]

One problem solved, anyway

I look at the field – the ‘works’ end of it anyway, and I just see a long list of jobs to be done, and problems to be solved:

There is a lot of wood that needs shifting and cutting into firewood for the stove, obviously, and the remaining shed needs to be demolished and [...]

Don’t read this if you’re eating

… or otherwise squeamish.
In fact, if you’d rather not think about anything to do with toilets, do yourself a favour and pass this one by.
If you’re quite sure you want to stick around, I’ll tell you that I’ve been reading about sewage systems and composting loos, in an attempt to work [...]