Yes, she added an extra 18" to the bottom of the original wall which she built, I did the neighbors side as she is better at it than me

She does all of it, digging out with a demolition hammer, mixing/pouring concrete, mixing mortar and laying the stone courses, it's all her own work :cool:

I only get involved when a 9" angle grinder with diamond tipped blade is needed

Wow! Is she a cyborg, or Polish?

Maybe a Polish Cyborg? :p

Definitely a keeper.

Still don't understand Captain Ahab's reluctance to renting a machine occasionally... Saves time, saves wear and tear on the old body and who doesn't like to play with tractors every once in a while?

She is a keeper and so am I :D

You're right a machine would be easier and quicker for sure but....

I actual enjoy hard, manual labour. Spend all day sat in an office concentrating and staring at a screen so it's a good release for me to move a small mountain in the evenings. I find it strangely relaxing :confused:

Over the years I've easily removed by hand over a 100 tons of rubble and earth

Also a small site like ours a machine would run out of space to work very quickly, it's the removing that is the difficult bit but I think I have a cunning solution to this which may mean I rent a machine when we get do digging the rain water soak away hole ;)

The missus would make you look bad if you sissied out and used a machine....

want to enjoy moving some crushed rock down a hill?

there's less than 100 tons of it, but I can then let you move tree limbs back up the hill...

RWebb, I'm good and thanks for the offer!

Sooner or Later, you're right, was struggling yesterday but Mrs Ahab got stuck in which renewed my energy just enough to last out until supper time!

A few weeks later and about half way there into lowering the drive way. Do a solid 1.5hrs of digging most weekday evenings when it's not raining which it has done quite a lot and down tools on the last 9pm church bell chime

Think this may be the tallest pile of rubble yet and quite proud of the height. For scale Mrs Ahab is on the left busy building my compressor shed stone base.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599429768.jpg

Before you had to step down into the front door porch and then a step up into the house which I didn't like. When the driveway is finished it will be a step up which will be an improvement and new driveway height now works really well with the man cave floor level.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599429998.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599430100.jpg

To make up for a relatively boring update Ahab Jr. while out on his bicycle spotted this in a neighboring village

It's the 'World's Fastest Shed' :cool:, 4WD powered by an Audi RS4 455bhp V8 and set the record on the Pendine Sands 100mph

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599430401.jpg

Just an unbelievable build.

Mrs. Ahab has a nice smile. Though she may need to be checked out for jaundice.

“relatively boring update”, thats funny.

Its a spectacular project; pictures cannot do it justice.

Love the Shed. Does it have a sign that says for straight line use only?

Question: is the tan material that looks like dirt actually a crushed stone product?

Looks like regular or old dirt to me. Some clods at the bottom, where you would normally find them.

You're both right it's a mix of bed rock and dirt.

It's tough digging as to loosen up the ground enough for shoveling I have to use a small demolition hammer and a mattock pick axe (wide blade pick axe). I snapped a perfectly good wooden handle on my pick last night it's that hard going.

A mechanical digger would make a really mess as great big chunks of sliced stone would rip it all up making it really uneven

The stone in the ground is the exact same stone my house is built from and the original part of the house is built directly on this stone without any footings

Spent too much time reading this thread today. Fantastic work. Love the all the stone. I grew up in construction, done lot of framing, concrete and CAD work.

Here's a pic of me at 3 years old. Got a real laugh seeing the above pic.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599607692.jpg

Nostril, thanks for the compliments

Your picture has to be the coolest of this whole thread, thank you so much for posting it, it made my day :)

My plan worked :cool: this machine rental action photo is for Javadog! Very relieved as if it hadn't I'd have to load a mountain onto a trailer by hand

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599856320.jpg

My neighbors are great! Allowed this 20 ton grab truck to be parked on their freshly graveled driveway. Even after a similar sized truck had nearly knocked over their driveway pillar during their own building works

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599856412.jpg

Well, my cunning plan semi-worked, as in the film Jaws 'We need a bigger truck!" as only half of my 40 ton mountain was removed 🤔 Today was still a win, my shed, boundary wall and the compressor shed stone base Mrs Ahab's has just finished are all still standing.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1599856616.jpg

Best of all my neighbors pillars weren't knocked over or their driveway covered in dirt.

He didn't get it all...

I'm starting to think that the options available in the UK for this sort of thing are different than where I come from. One phone call and I'd have my pick of any dirt-working machine or truck on site in a half hour. A backhoe, trackhoe, dozer, boxblade, road grader, 10 axle dump truck, dump trailer... whatever.

Maybe I've done too much of that crap and hate the thought of having to do anything, ever again, by hand.

Carry on.

I did, I did get it......

It's the on site bit that causes the problems for me as well as my desire to keep myself active and fit as the years advance

To give an idea of the size of access and scale of the site a full sized American dually pick-up truck wouldn't fit on my driveway

Was hoping for a better update than this .....

Promised myself I'd post up the good, the bad and the ugly on this build blog, as it happens. Hopefully makes for a more interesting read than just a 'taa daa' finished reveal format

Well here is the ugly part ......

Picture removed for Javadog!

This afternoon was spent in A and E having my leg stitched up after my 9" angle grinder with the diamond tipped blade kicked back and gave me a nasty nick :eek:

Cut was luckily not into the bone but plenty deep enough for me to see the soggy red teddy bear stuffing my leg seems to be filled with :confused:

Only needed 6 stitches, going to leave a decent scar and my leg modelling days are over :(

I mend well, so plenty more updates with progress will follow this one :cool:

Damn. Only 6 stitches?

Wear the scar with honor!

Ouch, I could do without the picture, thanks.

Sorry to hear about the leg.
I think pictures help keep all of us safer as they remind us of just how dangerous some of the power tools are.

Every time I see a guy on a TV show drilling a hole or using a grinder without the proper eye protection it scares me. Too many kids watching think they can do it too.

And yes, I've had to have eye surgery because a shard of rebar got into my eye once while drilling concrete. And I was even wearing a full face shield at the time too.

Captain;
I always say that it's not a project without a little blood😁
Sucks but good reason for some sympathy and a couple day of rest and reflection on this fantastic journey.

You do many things well.

I have done enough scar-worthy episodes on the farm to make Frankenstein blush.

I drove myself to the hospital after a very interesting chainsaw/knee intercept many years ago. I was so pissed at myself I didn't even tell my wife, just got in the truck and drove with a towel wrapped around the knee.

Coin toss which lineage, Scottish or Spanish, was driving:D

Best to you.

That sucks.
Health first.

sorry to hear that - but glad it wasn't worse

Thanks for the comments and well wishes, very much appreciated, and now back to our schedule program with another progress update....

After a undisturbed night of rest/mending recovering from my self harm distraction I spent a day on light duties without any power tools moving bucket after bucket of stone picked out of the heap from my driveway lowering excavations.

Needed it to to fill up the ramp into the man cave, slope is a gentle 1 in 12, should be ok for clearance of any car on the right side of a slammed ride height. Will cap it with 2-3" of concrete and then cover it with reclaimed Yorkstone flagstones. The graveled driveway will sweep up to make it all flush.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601411247.jpg

I've tried to future proof by running service/utility conduits underneath. Large holes are for hot/cold water to the shed, medium sized hole is for a compressor airline to the man cave, small holes are for heating oil and armored electricity cable to the shed.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601411903.jpg

As usual Mrs Ahab has done an amazing job on the stone plinth for my air compressor shed. Just need to run some service conduits through and then I can fill with left over rubble and cap in concrete before I can start building the oak framed shed. Really looking forward to doing this mini-project!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601412101.jpg

Also nearly finished off making the the front door porch step work with the lowered driveway. Cut back the flagstones to fit a chamfered cut stone lintel and also cut back a couple of concrete blocks that were exposed so they could be capped in stone. The right hand unfinished side was where my 9" angle grinder turned on me and attacked my leg :(

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601412284.jpg

As Mrs Ahab stone work is nearly done around the edge of the drive way she's itching to get started on her next project, building a stone wood fired pizza oven in the far corner of the garden :cool:

While I regain my dangerous power toll confidence I'll carry on with more driveway lowering, oh joy, I can't wait.

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

And I loved the update - it's so good I scroll with trepidation, worrying the update will end too soon...

Thanks David,

No update this weekend as we're having weeks and weeks worth of rain, just another typical English autumn weekend :(

Never fear there will be many, many more updates as all updates are in real time :cool:

Well, to tide things over, you could show us pictures of your favorite pub. Really, pictures of anything are interesting to this lot.

Javadog, picture challenge accepted......

Favourite pub is the Falkland Arms a 16th century pub that internally probably hasn't changed much over the centuries

https://www.falklandarms.co.uk/

It's a genuine ye olde countryside pub in a nearby and very picturesque village of Great Tew

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601762380.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601762413.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1601762514.jpg

Nice

Glad to hear you’re on the mend Captain. Is the front porch original? Lovely aged wood there.

That pub looks to be an amazing place. It oozes character and charm.

Named after Maggie's Great War?

Is Your Tankard hanging there?

That's why I like the pub, it's all real, no fakery going on with the decor

Also anyone could be in there from extremely wealthy city folk down for a weekend of shooting peasants, I mean pheasants :D or a local thatch roof craftsman having a quick refreshment on his way home.

The porch along with the rear extension we built only 15yrs ago, porch was made from reclaimed oak beams, anywhere from 50 to 300 yrs old :confused:

Not sure really, it been a pub for a few hundred years so has probably had a few names

A bit more info., well worth visiting if anyone travels abroad now in this new COVID world :(

Curiouser and Curiouser: Great Tew and the Falkland Arms

I love the pubs ! Great work Cap't ! The work you are doing is extraordinary !

Fantastic as usual, Captain.

The son of my wife's friend just lost his eye to no wearing eye protection while doing a wood working project. Got to be careful out there!

Thanks for the concern gents, I'm all mended and hope everyone is keeping safe in these strange COVID times!

Another job started at the end of the summer which was pushed to the front of the list as it was deemed a 'safe' job for me ;)

Colour choice is all Mrs Ahab's doing, it's a custom mix sage green shade. Lots of sample pots, a full window check and an unimpressed dog later we have our colour :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1603659774.jpg

Think it really compliments the honey coloured stone quite well and a welcome alternative to the old gloss white we had which seems to be the default choice for many houses in our village.

Colour in the shade at the rear

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1603659853.JPG

Colour in the sun at the front

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1603660484.JPG

One window left to do, the colder/wet autumn weather means the clock is ticking so need to get it done!

Still have the front and rear roof fasica/soffit boards to do as well as replacing the guttering which should be end of 'old house' maintenance jobs for this year

Pleased to report man cave work has recommenced so next update will be all about the new build :cool:

You need to spray some "Moss to Go" spray on your new roof.