A quick update...

I have been very tardy with my updates, considering this is the most exciting part of the building process.  The couple of pictures I put in on the last post were just taken with my cell phone.  Carl gave me a beautiful camera for my birthday last year which I am using to document the progress of the building.  Only two minor problems:  I keep forgetting to take it to site, and I keep forgetting to download the photos and update my blog (or does that make it 3 problems?).

Anway, clearly I have just done a big download and I am going to let the pictures do the talking....

We buried a Bible in our foundations.   We have no doubt that the Lord is the builder of our house, and we wanted to commit the house to Him by doing this. 

The foundations are so deep and wide that the whole of Houghton could end up on the M1, but our house will stay standing!  Not only Jesus is our sure foundation!!

The brick work finally began after so many delays with the foundation stage and then it was go go go...

The builder, Esrom and our architect, Rodger:

Our patch of mielies!  I had no idea where these mielies had come from - they certainly weren't there when we bought the site.  However I discovered that some enterprising builder planted them and now has a bumper crop nearly ready for harvesting!!  In fact the garden is like Eden - avocados; figs; tomatoes; gooseberries; squash!  We'll have to try and preserve them when we do the landscaping.

There was a LOT of back filling to be done to get the ground ready for the slab.

See how fast it goes....

Nearly at First floor level....

The kids are just loving the process and are filled with excitement everytime we go to site....

We have lift off.....

 At last we have reached above the foundations and have got to ground floor level!!  Yippee.  Now it is getting exciting when I go to site - a horde of builders doing their thing.  I am practicing my Zulu on them much better!  Ngiyahlaganiphile!

Hail the Conquering Hero!!

Our Lucy, yes, our gorgeous, aged, rickety Lucy is a hero!

We had just moved into our new (temporary home - the building didn't get finished in record time over Xmas, sadly!).  I was upstairs trying to have a nap, and Ali was in the kitchen, getting something to drink.  Lucy came to the back door and was turning around and around, and barking at him.  She then walked off towards the garden, so Ali followed to see what was wrong.  He looked out of the window at her, and next thing she leapt into the fish pond!  A revolting pond scum of a pond.  Now Lucy, despite being a retriever x Labrador DOES NOT SWIM!  She tried once in our pool and sank like a stone - Carl had to rescue her.  So for her to willingly jump into a pond was more than a little unusual!

Ali raced to open a door so he could get to her and pull her out.  We did not realise that the pond is actually rather deep (thigh height in the middle, with sloping sides) so there was no way she could get purchase with her back legs to haul herself out.  So Ali grabbed her by the collar and yanked her out. 

Then in the corner of his eye, he spotted Gemma, also in the pond, but in a part that was hidden by some bush.  She had fallen in and couldn't get out, so Ali rushed around and hauled her out too.

So Lucy, our hero, fetched Ali, put her fear aside, and her own life at risk, and Gemma was saved!

Our own true life Lassie story.

Piles more piles

Not too much to report except to say that the piling people are putting on the pressure and producing plenty of piles (what a fabulous alliteration, if I may say so myself!).  It looks like they'll be finished this week and then our builder can get started with the foundations.  Hopefully that will all be done before the builder's holidays and then come January we'll be going up!

94.7

 Believe it or not, there have been other things happening in our lives other than the building.  Last week Carl, my dad, my 2 brothers and my nephew rode the 94.7 cycle race together.  They did it in a very impressive 4h10.  So impressive that dad came second in his age group.  Carl and Roland have vowed that next year there will be no pushing dad up the hills!!  Anyway, we were very proud of all of them, but most especially dad and Austin - amongst the oldest and the youngest in the race.

We have piles!

Yes, that is an announcement that one would not normally make, but, I make it with glee!  We have to sink 46 piles, and they did 10 this week.  We are really hoping that the company is going to send another machine so we can speed things up a bit.  They take a 2m long hollow steel pipe and slowly hammer it into the ground.  Then they weld another 2 metre long pipe onto it and sink that too.  We better not have cracks in our walls after all this effort and expense!!!  It is the noisiest procedure I have ever heard.  Our poor neighbours - I am SO glad we are not living there!

Slowly, slowly wins the race. I hope!

Sadly, I don't have much to report since my last entry.  3 weeks have gone by and all we have to show for it are some rather impressive foundations.  The piling people were meant to arrive yesterday, but apparently their machine is broken (or they are finishing off another job quickly, who knows?).  So, theoretically, they are going to start on Monday. 

It's the first time in my life that I want piles, and quickly!