The Trench is Dug!!!

I was feeling a bit defeated by the trench I have been digging for the past month. I began to think that I needed a pick=axe with a man attached to it...

But today I went at it with the giant crowbar and broke up the stones and dug it out and then went round fine tuning it with a level, so it runs down to the outlet.

 I even put the yellow drainage tube in, just to see how it looked. Oh it looked fine! This feels like a major break through.

Now I am impatient for the gravel to arrive. Since the men were working on the eucalyptus at the bottom of our land, there is good access through a big valley/field, and I am hoping the gravel and sand will be delivered to the site, so I don't have to take it load by load from the top of the hill... It's a long way and very steep.

But the ground has to be dry so that the lorry doesn't get stuck with two tons of materials.... Exciting. I can hardly believe I am really doing this.

Next, I will fill the trench with gravel and then start on the foundations. Big stones. There is an old, abandoned, quarry near the village, where there are some very good stones for the taking. I have already collected big stones from around here. Lovely white quartz, I think. Big and round and some of them are full of crystals which glitter in the sun.

While I built the foundations I hope that the carpenter can make up a door and a window for the south side.

Meanwhile, the rest of the stuff goes on. The baby chicks are looking like mini grown-ups. The cabbages are filling out, and the broccoli is nearly edible. I have moved the strawberries to the fruit bed under the black fig. I think they will do well there. I ate one this morning. Not bad for January.

Where are the swallows? Usually they arrive around now.

Isabella riding bare-back. That's ma girl!