July 19th - Sarking & external wall

With no Jack on site, I regained my natural role as the butt of most of the humour. Melvin and I worked on the sarking while Mal cut the lengths for an hour or two. The rain arrived just as we were finishing the top course on the north side of the roof. We rigged a temporary OSB ceiling above the saw to keep it and its operator dry and Mal and Melvin worked on a supporting wall under the west gable ladder and some rodent-proofing dwangs between ground-floor joists while I manned the saw.
Melvin got a fire going and cleared a load of debris from the site - old pallets and dog-ends of timber. Seemed like a slow day after the big stages of the last few days, but it was productive none-the-less.
Another delivery of timber came from Doves. The project seems to have an insatiable appetite for wood, which has sent it way over budget already. I'll need to try to claw some of it back somewhere, or at least try to stop future stages running so far over.The rain cleared in the afternoon. Melvin assembled my shiny new table-saw, which came in about 3000 small parts and I used it to rip down some OSB strips and flooring for use as packers in Mal's wall.
I took a sample slate from Doves up to my slater pal Davy Bev for his verdict. Seemed fine to him, but he warned me to stipulate that I want them all to be of that grade, as merchants are very fond of supplying lovely samples followed by batches of wildly varying quality. Dropped in on the larch and straw office Mal and I built last spring. It's not been visited for months, and I was delighted to find it bone dry inside after the freakish amount of recent rain we've endured. Bodes well for the house.
Managed to leave the dog at the site, and had a call from Neil, who had scooped her up and popped her in the back of his landrover! Retrieved her and headed home.

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