Progress!

This is how the workshop looked by the end of Monday…

By the end of Tuesday the building chaps had dug a trench for the footings and on Wednesday they poured the first concrete.

Then yesterday and today they built the foundations and the first few rows of blocks. The walls are going to be really thick – we wanted a huge amount of insulation because we want to heat it as little as possible.

This view is the front of the building, and all the windows will be on this side. There are several reasons – one, the sun tracks across that side of the building and the back will get no direct sun at all. This should let the heat in through the day but it shouldn’t be able to escape. Number two reason, this side faces the garden (the opening in the wall on the left will be French doors). Number three reason, our neighbours are lovely but extremely nosy – the back of the building is straight onto the road so any windows on that side would be extremely accessible. Who wants to be watched while they work? Having said that, they also think nothing of wandering uninvited in to the garden to see what you’re doing, so we might have to block off the front windows too.

The bricks came today! We are using reclaimed bricks which means that they are old and recycled, but it also means that they would never be a complete match. Unfortunately you have to take what is available at the time but the builder really listened to us and matched as best he could.

These bricks came all the way from Bristol and my photos don’t do them justice, they are very dusty at the moment too. The ones on the right are part of my house and have been there since the 1920’s. The sun came out briefly for that photo, totally changing the colour - they are a much better match than they look!

Phew, it would be nice to have a lie in after all the super-early mornings but tomorrow it’s car-boot sale day and I’m in need of some bargains.

I’ll keep you posted!

Beccy