23rd June - Faltering progress

A barrage of illnesses in the family has combined with some of the most horrid June weather I can remember to bring the project to a grinding halt. It has rained and rained and rained for a week or more, with frequent cloudbursts and leaden skies. In an effort to keep things on track and get the walls up to a level where the digger can do the infill (scheduled for Monday), Mal brought the kids over today (Michelle's in hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy), dropped them here and headed for the site. Once Anna had struggled from her sick-bed and assured me she could look after the eight noisy weans, I joined him and set about building the piers to support the columns in the kitchen area. After about an hour the heavens opened yet again, the mortar turned to slops and we had no choice but to pack up and come home, drenched and pissed off. Tomorrow's forecast is better, so we'll try again.