Updates on the new house

Things are coming together and the backyard is almost done.  It's hard to believe it's been just 2 weeks since the work began!  So much has changed already.  From a backyard of sand and a swimming pool, to garden areas, concrete walkway, step into pool, rounded staircases, finished and raised back walls, and now on to the front yard.

They have worked hard, and it's now 40 degrees outside in the sun, so we're hiding in the shade while our workers, more accustomed to the heat, carry on.

You would not believe how much they can create with so few tools.   At the end of the day, when all the tools are gathered up and placed back in the house for safekeeping, there is a wheel barrow with a few shovels in it, and a 5 gallon pail for the rest. 

Rounded corners on the gardens and steps are created by using plumbing tubes cut in half lengthwise and attached to wooden planks to get just the right height.  All the sand and gravel that is mixed with the concrete and cal is carried in 5 gallon buckets and mixed on the pavement that already exists.  The wheelbarrow is actually used very rarely, because the 5 gallon pails are much quicker to lift and for them lighter than toting a wheelbarrow full of cement, especially in light of the fact that carting material between front and back yards would be impossible as the walkway is too narrow.

 Us in our new backyard!

 The concrete colours are starting to merge better

 The framework for the backyard bathroom

 Completed garden spot - some of my poor plants are here now, awaiting resurrection!  They've been suffering from all the dust and sand that's been floating around.  Hopefully they'll make it.

The forms they use to create the rounded edged planters and stairs - see the plastic tubing buried under the cement pour?