It Never Rains But It Pours (or not...)

We started our building the actual house - or at least broke ground - in the brief spell of glorious weather and this sleepy little site has transformed into a hotbed of activity. Not only are we drowning in lists of people to contact, decisions to be taken and jobs to do (when we've not even started the foundations yet!), but our social calendar has chosen this moment to explode.

We're having a great time. Sleep, after all, is for the weak and foolish.

Friday saw a trip into Cambridge for a night of beer and curry with friends. It reminded me how well situated we are. The train station is ten minutes' on foot through beautiful fields along side the river. What better way to forget work at the end of the week than walking through blissful countryside as the day's heat gives way to fresh evening breezes? Then it's barely more than five minutes into town and a short stagger to the civilised comfort of the Salisbury Arms (many other pubs are available, please see Mill Road for details).

Back in the village (with a hangover.. ouch) the barracks had it's annual open day this weekend. The kids were entertained with a chance to sit in a helicopter and turn knobs and dials until it might never be able to fly again. Dad was entertained by a long display by the Lancaster bomber, Spitfire and Hurricane which took turns to do runs over the old airfield, dive and spin off into the sky. Mum took the opportunity to go riding.

Sunday saw the village beer festival's family day - Pimms for Mum, beer for Dad and more ice-cream for William and Becky. When so many of the local villages have lost their identity to nearby Cambridge and the march of supermarkets and shopping centres, it's great that ours is big enough to have a real sense of community and successful events without quite loosing that close knit feel.

In between these trips we've managed to fit in a visit by Ness' Aunt, cousin Ben and his family, a visit from my Mum & Dad, my birthday and a lot of site preparation. When not socialising, we've been checking plans, marking out locations with upside down paint(*) and hammering in bargeboards to show just where everything should go. The day starts at seven and ends with me watering the plants in the dark as the sun has set. Last minute clearing, chopping, digging and marking seems to be paying off though - I'll post up the video of the site being dug very soon.

* - For painting upside down. Very useful stuff.