As good as his word, Joel, our builder, arrived pretty much as soon as it was light this morning and whisked Nick away to open an account at Sarremejean, the builder’s merchants, his logic being that if he buys the materials, he puts a margin onto the price, so we might as well buy them ourselves. We can’t argue with that!

When they got back, Nick and Kieran had to dash off to their French class, leaving Joel putting the bits of steel reinforcement into the trenches. He measured and calculated, talking nineteen to the dozen all the while, then left to go and sort the next bit, leaving me with instructions for Nick and Kieran to remove the gates so the cement lorry would be able to get in, and promising to bring a tall ladder this afternoon, to hold the electricity and phone lines high enough for the lorry to pass underneath.

On the dot of 2pm, both Joel and cement lorry arrived; you had to admire the driver’s skill, manoeuvring his vehicle into what seemed like a minute bit of garden and up to the garage doors; there must have been all of an inch either side of the lorry as it came through the gates! Pouring the concrete took all of 5minutes, Joel gave Nick and Kieran their instructions for tomorrow; he’ll start on the blockwork while they barrow in and spread heaps of gravel. By Friday, he expects to be pouring the floor. Another couple of trips later, we have a big cement mixer and heaps of sand and gravel in the garden for the next stage. Then Whoosh, he was gone! (What – you don’t know “Room on the Broom”? shame on you!)

I think we’ll be quite busy for the next little while, Nick and Kieran being Joel’s labourers and me making tea and cake and taking photos