The Next Step

We've been trying to level the under-layer of the terrace for quite some time now. It was one of those jobs that, in our heads, was straightforward, but in reality turned out to be uber-perplexing. Kevin chalked me a line along the back of cottage #1 which was decreed to be the eventual level of the final terrace surface. My job was to dig the earth four inches below that line to allow for the hard-core and stone layers on top. The digging was tough going, as this area immediately behind the house is where old Mr Geneix hurled his unwanted items, such as bottles, crockery, cutlery, all randomly dispersed amongst lumps of stone. 

After some careful checking with the laser-level, Kevin re-decreed that the line was instead the new pink one. This made the white line I'd originally dug down from the new desirable level. So my digging had been a waste of effort and time.

Anyway, I'm not one to hold a grudge... Let me take your attention away to the construction of the steps. We thought that if we were to tie the steps in with the main structure of the terrace we should get them sorted now. These breeze blocks are not the steps, but are merely serving as a step-height model.

After measuring and re-measuring, we fashioned a rather flimsy piece of 'shuttering' to shape the bottom step, which, we decided, should be large and curved. Kevin decided to restrain the flimsy shuttering with some wooden pegs. I found it difficult to disguise my critical look.

Kevin is never disheartened by suspected critical looks; he carried on with the task.

The bottom step hardened over night and the unveiling revealed something that could pass as a step, albeit with a degree of upright undulation. I didn't take a photo as it felt a bit cruel. The next step has made use of the same flimsy shuttering, but, this time, with the might of upright blocks to hold it in place!

Meanwhile, channels are being dug to accommodate the subterranean cables and water pipes. Yes, I know... I'm busy filling up the terrace with mud, and then Kevin's busy digging it out again. Teamwork.

Look, you can just about make out the uprightly undulating bottom step here!

Our weather has been a bit mixed recently, so we covered the fresh concrete with polythene. It rained. A small pool gathered.

My digging out of the pool area continues to add to the ridiculously high desirable terrace height, particularly in that corner of deception.

Sue came to help me dig while Steve came to help Kevin remove the dodgy head gasket from the French car. More about that particular story in another blog...

The spade is great for cutting off slices of earth using the two-footed jump technique adopted by all seasoned gardeners and builders (surely). The shovel is great for shovelling the sliced earth clumps into the barrow. Unfortunately, the shovel weighs as much as a horse, so Sue and I had to keep swapping jobs to prevent over-bulbous musculature. The shovel is also a little spiteful; its shaft is filled with rusty water that leaks out on you as you toss your clod. Not nice.

Now, don't worry about the current look of these steps. They'll be coated and tiled eventually. We're accepting them as a jolly good starting point.