Going, going...

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend to venture up onto the roof of the small barn.

Dry, still and sunny were perfect conditions

One by one we removed the sheets carefully to reveal the old iron supports beneath.

By the end of the weekend all the sheets had been removed, ready for the next phase...

The scaffolding has arrived

Today progress on the small barn moved on to the next level

Literally - as the scaffolding arrived

Now we just pray for dry and calm weather as we look to remove the old roof sheets and metal frame and replace with wooden roof timbers and secondhand clay tiles.

The weekend sees the completion of the fence

Nearly 100m of fence was needed on the northern boundary.

Two weekends and the help of a mini digger

and of course the chickens soon broke the back of it.

The chickens ate so many worms we thought they were going to explode!

From farm workshop to home

Another cold snap means we concentrate our efforts on taking the large sliding door off the workshop.

This involved the grinder, both inside and out.

And the removal of the large pieces of steel that support the door.

Next Melv produces the openings ready for two new windows, one in the kitchen and one in the lounge.

Warmer weather brings progress

Melv presses on with building the foundations for the extension.

Leaving a cavity for insulation.

The area is split in two for the new bedrooms

Set to go

All inspected and signed off we are finally ready to start building.

The cold and icy weather is a challenge and time is limited by the damaging effect of frost.

But when he can Melv makes good progress and the blocks start to rise out of the ground.