We've got walls! Framing the ground floor is done, and work has begun on the second floor. Compared to the snail's pace of the basement, where days went by with just coats of waterproofing being applied, or sand being moved about, this has been thrilling. Okay thrilling is maybe a stretch but it's certainly been satisfying to walk down there every day and see very visible progress. Here's thirty days worth of that progress, in 11 seconds. Now the walls are up it's possible to walk around the house and really see how the layout works and what the windows look out onto. So far nothing has surprised or disappointed us either, which is great. Here's where we got to by the end of last week: In the next couple of weeks the second floor will go on. And then, presumably (well, one would hope) the roof. Onwards and literally upwards.

Honestly, it was a nail biter. As soon as it cured we could see that the colour was good. A couple of days of polishing and the speckles of aggregate started to show through and we breathed a sigh of relief - they're pretty! But a couple more goes over with the polishing machine and the floor started looking patchy.  Ignacio said he knew how to fix it - but it looked worse before it looked better. For a few days every time we looked it we saw more patches. It was a dark time. But we should always have faith in Ignacio. Now it looks better and we couldn't be more pleased. By accident rather than by design, the colour and the aggregate give it a lovely beachy look. The scorelines, there to reduce cracking, look really nice too.  It's all wrapped up and protected now while the house is framed, and I guess for several months after that. There's plenty of comfort in the thought that this part of the house is completely done, and it looks just right.