Foundations

Big moment....the foundations are dug and filled. Tony had to be away for work, so I was set with the task of taking lots of photos and movies because he was 'missing the birth of his child....!' (A dam sight less painful and more enjoyable for me this time though!!)

Setting out - A thin graffiti line depicts where our house will stand. We can stand in the kitchen now!

Will measuring the depth of our foundations

Surveying the situation!

The cement lorry fills the bucket and then the digger drives over the playroom to fill the trench - simple!

                                                                                                                                       

            Freddy the school bear checks it out too! 

                                   

                                             

Small child is dangled over the trench to squish both hands in the cement with her name.

And then.....oh alright then....I'm only doing it to show the children it's ok! Ouch will my legs ever bring me to safety.....Thank goodness for yoga!

Well....it's gotta be done huh?!

             

                           
 'the boss' overseas it, but isn't convinced....

Mummy, Mummy can I go in Barry's digger?!

Its ok.....the experts have arrived......

'no, no, no, it should be built like this.....'

Look what we found whilst digging!

Muck, Muck And Away!

The lorries just kept on coming and the muck kept on going. About 50 in total. It does mean that the drive is going to be a little steeper than we'd hoped, but the main part of the plot is way flatter than we could have wished for.

Gabion Wall Building

Groundworks finally commence.....and while barry starts making mountains and dramatically changing the landscape, Tony & I begin some hard labour on our Gabion walls at the end of the garden. A green and cheap way of obtaining retaining walls.
And a MASSIVE shout out, respect and huge thanks for donating some or in some cases all of their weekend, under the guise from me of its a cheaper way of getting muscles than the gym!!  goes to:
Dad, Chris (sadly not caught on camera on this occasion!), Steve, Mark & Phil for all their help. We now owe a few beers...

First we built the cages by wiring up 1/2m x 1m x 2m and some 1/2m x 1/2m x 2m meshes.

Then we got filling......How to re-cycle an old garage and drive.......

With a bit of help from an expert digger driver and his piles of rubble.

Is this what a rabbit feel like?

Dad kindly helping out too. We probably didn't help with the golf swing the next day though!

Back corner before gabions

Back corner after gabions

Wheeee! Me throwing boulders over the hill....

A well earned (only 5minutes please lads) lunch break!

King of the mountain Schtevie

Doing what you're taught never to do.....

....throwing heavy stones at each other! 'Working on the chain gang...'

And finally... the next day after Barry kindly hid all our hard work...

Did The Earth Move For You?

The first major job for the digger was to scrape away all of the topsoil and store it in the corner of the plot to be used later.

                

The next job was to level the sub soil to create as level an area for the house and garden as possible. To confirm what we had thought, the ground is solid chalk. This is the best possible sub base for the house foundations. 

     

I wasn't really expecting a 'yes' when I asked if I could have go. Fun though it is I can promise you it's harder than it's made to look!

Tony 'Mr digger man' Goacher..........Barry had run away at this point. I don't blame him! Although, Tony looked amazingly in control until the bucket went on the ground and the cab started lifting!!! Just joking Tony, a pro now.

The Preliminaries

First step was to appoint the works foreman

Then the Tardis arrived

Followed by the serious stuff!