what we're aiming for...

the problem with living on a beach

We have amazing "soil". I use that term loosely as our "soil" is very...well, loose. We live on a raised beach. So under the 6" of turf you find stone. Not solid stone but lots and lots of stones. It's actually pretty good stuff to build on. Much better than clay or peat at least.


The only problem (or at least the biggest problem) is that it's practically self leveling. You dig a hole and it fills itself in. Which means that slopes have to be kept fairly shallow making any hole you want twice as big as you want it to be and once you've dug it with a machine you have to re-dig by hand all the stones which have slid back into the hole.

what's wrong with this picture...

1. There's a hole in our sitting room wall.
2. It's a beautiful day.

What's right?
See above.

Also: We're on schedule.
Only three days in and no delays.
All of the subs have showed up as promised.
Digger on site this morning.
Electric cable to be shifted today.
And the weather is holding.

Its a rather surreal thing having a hole right next to the sitting room stove. Like a doorway into another dimension. A dimension where builders show up and the sun is always shining. Let's hope this dimension stays around for a while.

half a hole...

The stonemason makes a start on the slapping through the stone gable.

start...

The plan is to add a bedroom, shower room and some much needed loft storage. Simple, modest, and in keeping with the traditional croft house. Enough additional space to relieve the pressure exerted by our growing family on this relatively tiny house.

It starts with a delivery. Hard to imagine that something so big 1) made it over the hill 2) is going to be buried 3) is not an Oldenburg sculpture of a hand grenade. It is, after all, the septic tank. Best place to start? Maybe not, but it is a necessity.