On my 3rd and final day here I built the two small cold-frame walls and laid the interior flagstones over weedblock sheeting.

Look at that little fella - I think I just found my Christmas photo!
 
I’m over in Ellesmere on a field beside a canal in perfect peace and quiet (except for my angle grinder).  What a beautiful setting.

The ground is made up of compacted hardcore and some soil.  I added a one-tonne mix of wet concrete around 12inches deep to provide a level, stable base for the new greenhouse.

I raked over the interior to make sure it was level and added more aggregate and sand and compacted that flat - just by walking over it all day as I laid all the bricks.

 It’s a little colder and wetter than it has been for a while isn’t it?  About time really - I bet I’m not alone in counting down the few weeks to Christmas (and thinking of all that still needs to be done!).

In Oxford this week I made good use of my gazeebo and head-torch to work through the dark evenings.  I’ve a few more visits to make over the next few weeks (and many more booked in for the new year) so I’d best stock up on torch batteries.

Probably wise to get those long-johns out too...but best not to dwell on that!

 

The building industry has picked up they say - and some suppliers won’t have bricks until March.  So it was a frantic few days organising materials to make sure I got what I needed for this week. 

It does seem to vary around the country though and my next couple of orders have gone through fine?

This one needs bricks for the internal raised bed and pathway as well as the walls.

 I laid a traditional herringbone pattern path - using the same bricks as in the wall, laid on end and cutting sections to infill and match the pattern. 

I could have gone for a basket-weave pattern or other designs which don’t require you to cut the bricks.  But the herringbone pattern just looks the best of all though, so I don’t.