Now we're back within living memory (last few days, that is). The rain stopped and the sun almost came out on tuesday 26th, so we got stuck into laying foundations.
We made the outer edges of the base to help with positioning the blocks and to keep the blocks level and square (ish).
This is the site with a drainage ditch dug through the middle
We wanted to use lime mortar rather than cement to set the blocks. Cement production is a highly toxic industrial process that damages workers and environments around the world. Lime is apparently less so. It's an ancient technique, and I understand the Houses of Parliament and Buck Palace are set on lime-crete foundations, so we reckoned it would do for us.
Lime is less popular than cement because it takes a lot longer to set - days, in fact. This is okay if you work at the snail's pace we do. It's also caustic (it's the stuff you bury dead bodies in to make them rot away without a trace - if I disappear, look for me under the shower-shed - quickly!)
Dave mixing mortar
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