Ground floor panorama

Ground floor with shuttering prepared above windows

All the exterior grond floor walls are done and now the shuttering is being added abovethe windows.  Because there are no corner pillars in theliving and dining rooms, the shuttering needs some careful propping up.

First blocks for ground floor

First blocks in place

Now that the ground has been filled in a bit around the cellar, the work can start on the ground floor.  The first few bricks have been laid here and there; in one corner tey have already done several courses.

For anyone who cares, the bricks are 36.5 cm thick and have a lambda value of around 0.9 W/mK

Utilities going in ... rain water going out

The utilities have also been connected (maybe all, who can tell?), as well as half of the outgoing rainwater piping.  The road was dug up on Friday and left blocking things up all day.  Sorry neighbours.

Further development of retaining wall

The first part of the first section of retaining wall along the river bank has had its shuttering removed.  It looks big.  At the bottom a section has been cut out at the road end for some reason.

First part of first section of retaining wall

The second part of the first section could be poured today.  The shuttering is up and the steel work is all in place inside.

Shuttering for second part of first section of retaining wall

Its still really cold, though.  Poor builders.

Goji bush - top tip

The sun was shining and the allotment was calling.  But the first hours of the year at the allotment have been invested in hacking down and removing the goji bushes.

They grew really well and really fast.  In two years they were arount 8 feet tall.  And they cropped very well.  But ...

goji bushes are a nightmare.  They went wild taking over a huge area.  The roots go down forever and are almost impossible to dig out.  The berries are yucky.  And the plants are covered in giant thorns.

So, my tip for goji bushes: don't.