Focus has shifted from wood to steel. Brendan and the team have been assembling and installing steelwork to cater for the bigger structural openings, including the irregular roof of the main living space. Some of these steels are massive but they’ll all end up concealed within the wooden frame and, most importantly in our new-found … More 1st December 2021

Our architect, Paul, popped in last week with his drone and took some aerial images before the building started. The first photo shows the area of the house and the ongoing vegetable ‘project’, sitting within the western half of the plot. We also love this ’straight-up’ shot, as in addition to the obvious features that … More 28th November 2021

Wow – what a windy night! Don’t know who was the most relieved this morning to find the panels upright – us or Brendan and Shaun. The only casualty here was our (half) gate, one of few remaining remnants of the garden’s ‘bungalow-era’. We’ve had a day away from the garden, visiting The Newt near … More 27th November 2021

More of the same today – panels arriving, being unloaded, and then being slotted into place. Things seem to be going well, Brendan is happy – the only hiccup was one of the more loaded lorries hitting a low-hanging tree, bringing down branches and damaging a panel or two. It’s really exciting to see the … More 26th November 2021

And so it begins … At last! Brendan, Shaun and Nathan from MBC are here and getting stuck in. They’re going to work 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week, over the next two or three weeks to erect the timber frame. We’ll be up at 6.30 every morning to let them in. Yesterday afternoon … More 25th November 2021

We’ve done more on the veg area and what will be the ’white garden’ near the potting shed, putting in wooden shuttering to hold back the couch grass, spreading type 1, and recovering earlier stockpiled soil. The soil drains quite well so rain doesn’t keep us off it for too long. We like to grab … More 23rd November 2021

Another weekend in a hotel, this time in the New Forest with Russ, Sue, Fergus and Meriel. We could get used to this … Happy birthday, Chris – first and, hoping, last one in a caravan …

We had a lovely weekend away, just up the road at the Bishopstrow House hotel near Warminster with Genevieve and Ollie. Big beds, warmth, cocktails, a bath, super staff, but returning to the caravan did feel like coming home. (Sadly Henry was called away to Dubai and Erica was unwell). Happy birthday, Gen!

Nick and Tommy have had a couple of visits to extend the scaffold. It gives a feel for how the house will sit in its plot.