Jobs done

OK, on with the retaining wall - so we concreted in two more pieces of steel, waited for them to set in place and then just dropped the sleepers into place.  Actually, not quite dropped . . . . more like heaved!  They are really heavy.  We had to cut a bit off the first set and our little chainsaw really struggled.  Once cut, we pushed them over the edge of the bank at the top until they were resting on one steel post, then one of us ran down the slope, through the extension and out at the bottom of the steel posts to hold the sleeper while the other ran all the way round.  Then, with various blocks of wood propped against the steel, we lowered the sleeper down taking turns to lower one end then the other.  It was hard work and a lot of running back and forward, but we managed it with no injured backs or trapped fingers.  Just one more section to do, but that is quite low and that bit doesn't have to be done before we do the timber extension.  It'll never be pretty, but it should do the job and we should be able to soften it with some trailing plants, etc.

Next job was to concrete the floor in the middle barn.  We decided the easiest way was to move the ballast (sand and gravel mix) down onto the extension floor, then with the cement mixer in the barn doorway, there wouldn't be far to move the mixed concrete.  So, on Wednesday we shovelled 3 tonnes (or is that tons, I can never remember which is the metric spelling?) of ballast.  The idea was to shovel it from the top onto a chute made from an old piece of corrugated iron (or 'wriggly tin' as the Forestry Commission chaps back in Northamptonshire called it when we did some volunteering with them before we moved - that term made us smile so we've adopted it and shorten it to just 'wriggly'.  So, the barn opposite the caravan which is made of currgated iron is known as the wriggly now.).  Anyway, back to this here chute . . . it sounded like a good plan, but didn't work too well and we ended up shovelling and flinging the ballast and hoping it landed in the right place.

The next day we got up early and started mixing.  Bob was outside the barn with the cement mixer and I was inside spreading and levelling the concrete.  Because this floor is higher than where the mixer was, we couldn't fit the wheelbarrow under it to move it around, so it had to be shovelled into place - oh my, did my back and shoulders ache and when we finished I could hardly walk!  That aside, it went well.  We had screwed wooden rails along the walls at the right height to be able to use our special wooden bar (see picture) to tamp and level the concrete single handed - it just makes it so much easier.  So, that is all the floors concreted now.  Just need to lay the underfloor heating and then screed over the top and we'll be ready for carpets - well, we're not actually having carpets, but you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, something sad was happening while we were busy concreting . . . . . . . (there that's my first cliffhanger!)