May | 2012 | Craig Cottage

There has been some good progress on the building work during the last two weeks. The old entrance porch has been removed, the floor areas dug out and the concrete floor slabs have now been poured throughout the building.

John checking out the concrete slabs

Exterior wall panels, ready for installing

The ground levels have also been adjusted to make a reasonable gradient for the access from the gate to the garage and parking area. The tiles have been removed from the cottage roof and scaffolding is in place ready for putting up the walls and working on the roof. The external and some of the internal wall panels are on site and should be in position this week.

A very large pile of soil

The additional excavations for the floor slabs have left us with an even bigger pile of soil that occupies most of the space between the house and our perimeter fence. Hopefully most of this will be re-deployed in sorting out the garden levels after the building work has been done. The digger driver seems to have had a good time sculpting the soil pile into a very smooth shape.

We were planning to camp in our tent in the garden on Saturday night after a long session of very hot and dusty gardening but we were delighted to be invited to stay with Mike and Karen at their cottage just up the road at Barlocco. After a leisurely breakfast and coffee in the morning sunshine we were back at Craig Cottage to meet Phillip and Miriam who were over from Newcastle for the day.

Gabrielle & Miriam checking the view from the living room window

Not much to report on building progress but we should have an update on the building activities next week after we have made a visit this weekend. We have been taking cuttings and dividing up many of our plants at Turnamiddle to give us a good start on the garden at Craig Cottage when we eventually get moved in. We brought down another car-load of plants in the middle of May and cleared out an area of garden to act as a plant nursery until we decide where to put everything next year. We had already cleared an area that we think will be home to the fruit trees and bushes but it had got a little overgrown during the last few months. Here’s Gabrielle clearing it out again.

Clearing out the weeds

Meanwhile, John was whacking down the weedy growth in the middle section of the garden with the strimmer and lawn mower.

A challenge for the mower

Here are the plants installed in the nursery bed. They are mainly hostas and geraniums but there are a few other favourites too, including a giant himalayan lily, some lupins, a smilacina and a small yew tree. We hope that they don’t end up as food for the local deer population.

The plant nursery

Craig Cottage

Life on the Borgue Riviera

Monthly Archives: May 2012

Floor Slabs

Plant Transfer