Stairways And Mary Poppins Moments

I am still on crutches so have not been able to assist with the building works, so I have had to content myself with shuffling around the house and sitting on the computer. The chaps have been getting on with some of the tougher jobs that we had left until later when we had time to consider our options and methods. One of these jobs was moving the vigas into place ready to build the stariway to the roof and the land above.

The vigas are very big and very heavy, and had initially been put in place by the lorry that delivered them. We knew that moving them would not only be very difficult but also had a certain element of danger had we not planned it out correctly. A fair bit of brute strength was required, a lot of measuring and discussion and the use of hydraulic jacks. It was a time consuming job but between the two chaps they managed to get the job done. The vigas have steel bracing across them in many places to hold them close to the borders, and as you can see one of the vigas is less that straight, it was banana shaped before they started.

All the borders in place now and the base at the bottom concreted in , all that remains is to add more concrete and gradually put the steps in place, and then fit the handrail and guard rail to the open side. There will be a gate at the top which will lead into an area that we are preparing to fence off for the dogs.

We bought a big umbrella for the table on the terrace, as we are more or less south facing it is essential to have some sort of shade. We realised that an umbrella of this size would need a sizeable base, so we bought a large plant pot and cut it down to size so that it would fit under the table, filled it will concrete and when it was nearly set we thrust the base of the umbrella into it to make a hole.
This plan worked perfectly, the base was good and strong and had more than enough weight to keep the umbrella anchored, however with all the stunning ideas we have there is usually a slight design fault!!
Earlier today the lovely Aud was getting some fresh air whilst she read her book and I put up the umbrella for her so that she had some shade. It has been a bit blustery today, so this was a good test for the base. I decided to get some ironing out of the way in the kitchen, where I have a perfect view of the terrace. Now the base did the job perfectly, however I did not account for the fact that the wind would actually lift the umbrella out of the base and across the terrace. It was a bit like watching a flying saucer as it hovered above the table, I had visions of Mary Poppins as I tried to retrieve it.

Plan B was quickly executed......a hole was drilled through base and pole and a pin put in place and that was locked into the base. We do not think that it is going anywhere now....we hope !!