Here are some catch-up photographs from the past couple of weeks.  Most were taken yesterday – Midwinter’s Day – under blazing blue Highveld skies, typical of this time of year.

Rafters against the winter sky.

You need a head for heights.

Sure-footed roofers.

The photo above was taken from the second bedroom – on the east of the house – looking towards the main bedroom which is on the west.  You can seen straight through the openings of what will be two sash windows, opposite each other in the main bedroom; one facing east onto the upstairs balcony and the other facing west.

Rafters over the main bedroom.

In the photo above you can see the east facing sash window from inside the main bedroom and part of the north facing window.  The rafters in all three bedrooms will be exposed.

House and guest suite over garage, taken from the driveway.

Bernard and Nigel – current site manager – in discussion with an electrician.

Below is a picture taken from the cottage.  It shows the plastered steps leading up to the door of the guest suite above the garage.  The doorway opening under the steps leads into a washroom for casual workmen.

Steps (plastered) up to guest suite.

Looking through the door into the guest suite.

And below is a view of the north-facing front of the house, as seen from the park.  At last, it is beginning to actually look like a house…

View from the park.

Great site meeting today with lots of progress made in a week.

Brick Delivery

This is quite a popular slogan for businesses in South Africa. Looking at the truck this morning, I wondered whether you use this expression elsewhere in the world? It’s used for all sorts of things here when there is perceived to be plenty of something; ie” There was food for Africa at the picnic” – There was more than enough.   But I don’t mean to get sidetracked into a language lesson.  It works quite well here; we have ‘Sprinklers for Africa’,  ‘Flowers for Africa’ etc etc.

Unloading.

Work on the cottage is progressing quite well.  Below is a picture showing the start of the staircase which will to the left of the entrance.  A compact guest toilet and basin will be going under the stairs.

Work has started on the cottage staircase.

Eric, our engineer, seen through a front cottage window.

Looking South from the cottage through the French doors and window openings.

The cottage will essentially face the street although there will be windows on the northern side to let in sunlight.  The road is quite busy, especially in the morning and late afternoon. Although there will be a narrow veranda and then a wall between the cottage and the pavement, we’re starting to consider double-glazing the south-facing windows.

Below is a picture of the house taken from the ‘garden’.  Today was the first time in a while that I’ve been able to get down to the garden level, over piles of rubble and bricks.  The slab above the veranda has still to be thrown and until that happens, the brickwork on the main bedroom can’t start.

View of the house from the garden.

A different angle showing start of 2nd bedroom.

Window openings in 2nd bedroom.

Looking up at the French Doors from the 2nd bedroom.

(The second bedroom is the room our children are likely to use when they visit from London and probably other visitors too. “Downsizing”, with both our children living in their own homes abroad, means that we will no longer have two clearly demarcated bedrooms, one for each child.  This will be very different from our present home.  Whenever either has come home in the last 14 years, they have naturally returned to their childhood bedrooms.)

This morning, looking at the depth and length of the space that will have to be filled in between the retaining walls and the cottage, we took a sudden decision to build a storeroom into it instead.  Bernard thinks it’s a very good idea and Eric, the engineer seems to think is makes very good sense.  More space to store garden equipment that would otherwise have  had to be in the garage.  The photo below shows the wall into which a door will be knocked.

We have decided to put a door in the retaining wall on the right.

Part of this space – between the cottage and the double retaining walls – will be made into a garden storeroom.

I am not a fan of windowless, cellar-type rooms so the door will have to have to be slatted or will have to include a window.

The bathroom for the main bedroom has started to take shape:

The start of the main en-suite bathroom. The low, oblong window will be next to the bath.

These windows face west and won’t be seen other than from the path leading down to the garden on the west side of the house.  (Which is why I accepted the oblong one which would otherwise have looked odd in relation to all the other windows.)

Two Heads are Better than One. (I hope!)

These two guys are studying the plans intently at the top of the conveyor belt which is positioned through south-facing window of the main bathroom.  It is not a floor-length window; it’s temporarily this deep to allow access now.

Welcome Distraction

Every now and then when I’m on the site I get distracted by flashes of vivid pink; the roses in the neighbour’s courtyard.  If you can see past the ubiquitous electric fencing, they make a welcome change from the rubble and brickwork on our side.

Glimpse of a Garden.

Eventually, a pathway will run down between our house and this garden wall.  It will provide us with access from the driveway to the garden in front of the house.  The wall itself has been put on a back burner for now as our neighbour has not been open to discussion on the subject.   The yellow part of the wall on the left is paintwork still remaining from the kitchen of the original house, which was built right up to the boundary.  One day this walkway will be covered with jasmine and climbing roses…  Watch this space.

Trellis-covered garden path.

The photo above (from Garden & Home magazine, June 2013) shows a narrow walkway between a house and garden wall, similar to what we will have.  Eventually, the rubble-strewn strip we have at present, will hopefully look something like this.