General progress report.

What have we achieved in just under a year?

Well we sold our old house, moved into a rented place 1/2 a mile away from the steading, had a baby, bought the steading, sorted out various access issues, cleared the inside of the place, removed countless tons of earth / muck from the inside of the place in order to give us enough room inside for 2 storeys in one 'wing' and for the concrete floors, insulation, and underfloor heating in the rest of the place.

The drainage is nearly all in, one part of the steading has had its foundations underpinned, the crushed rock has been put into the place to form a clean, porous, stable base for the concrete is in, some walls have been removed, and some others have had holes made in them for doorways etc.

Outside the septic tank is in, the driveway and turning area is sort of in, it's not finished, but the cars and lorries won't sink into the mud, the timber shed has been demolished, and the 'garden' has been landscaped to a degree, and toms and toms of earth have nem dumped. There are many tons of building materials, one wall has had the pointing raked out, the base for the garage is in, and the garage is in the process of being built.

Am I happy with the progress so far?

I must admit that I am, we had a long lay - off while waiting for the rights of access to be sorted, and thereafter for the mortgage funds to be released. but it's really great to be at the stage of putting things back rather than taking them away, and I'm really enjoying building the garage at the moment.

(Colleagues please note, I'm not doing everything, there will be PLENTY to do on the 30th and 31st of the month)

I got wood

To build the garage, I need lots of wood


(Which was kindly delivered last Friday, so I set about it with saws, screwdrivers, drills, and nails) resulting in this:-



Tip :- Don't try to lift a 4.8 metre section of wall by yourself. They're bloody heavy.

Digging out then putting back.

Over the last month or so, the steading has been dug out as much as it needs to, and some material has been put back in, namely 50 tons of hardcore / crushed rock, and the drainage for the downstairs bathrooms. The main body of the place is on hold a bit while we wait for graite to be delivered. (Should be here in about 6 - 8 weeks) There is a bit of underpinning to be done though, so I won't be twiddling my thumbs.

I won't be twiddling my thumbs anyway, as the base for the garage is complete, and the timber for the garage is arriving on Friday. And I need to turn it from a pile of wood into a set of frames ready to be put up by some willing (and perhaps unwitting, although I hope not) volunteers. By the end of the month.