Full steam ahead

THIS is what the courtyard, downstairs living and hallway looked like a week or so ago.

THIS is what it looks like now! A slab - a big, solid slab ready to be polished and for louvers and doors to go in.

Finally the downstairs is really taking shape. Even though we knew where everything would be once the slab was poured, it's so much easier to get a feel for things when you can walk up the hallway or step into the courtyard just the way you would when it's finished. It feels so much bigger - and I can almost smell the roses climbing up the courtyard wall!

In the immediately foreground of the picture is the living area (I think it will become mainly a TV room), the sunken area behind that is the courtyard and off to the left of that is the hallway and bathrooms.

Believe it or not we're only about a month away from moving in. We. Can't. Wait!

Secret of the slab

There's been a huge amount of neighbourhood interest in our renovation. Far more than we, or our builder, would ever have anticipated. We've all been incredibly surprised. It's flattering but also slightly panic-inducing. What if the end product doesn't end up meeting their expectations? I'm confident it will meet ours - in fact I know it will - but neighbours and members of the wider community? Eek!

However, one enormous benefit of this interest has been the ability to piece together some of the history of our new home.

Since finding out our slab was basically floating on air, we've just assumed it was a dodgy job done decades ago on the cheap. It turns out though, it's like that because there used to be fish tanks under there! That's right, fish tanks. In the 1980s our downstairs living area was on top of fish tanks. You walked across a combination of floor and reinforced glass and could see the fish swimming underneath.

No wonder everyone is so interested - they want to know what the heck we've done with the poor fish!

ps the image is of the 116 bags of cement needed for the new slab.