Initial landscaping phase complete

We completed the excavation of the lake over a month ago and since then, nature has been doing its part in filling it up!  The lake has been filling up a lot more quickly than one might imagine as the surrounding land has also been draining into the lake through the top metre of porous soil.    The lake will fill up by another two metres before it reaches the limit of the clay soil that retains the water…. certainly, by the end of the rainy season it will be full to its natural level.   

Once this level has been established we will carry out some more re-sculpting of the edge of the lake to add a path way just above the water line.    In terms of the rest of the land, the excavation of the lake was enough to raise the level of the rest of the land by about one metre.  We will allow this land to settle for some time and then we will add another layer of top soil that is more suited for planting.  There is another area of the land where the house is to be situated that will be raised up by another meter or more, in places.   However, this will be raised closer to the time the home is built, once the design is finalised.

In the mean time, we will be planting about 40 saplings to add to the 35 mature trees already growing on the plot.   We will also be transplanting a number of additional mature trees on to the land.

 

Roof frame and block work

In my last blog post about this project we were just preparing the re-bar for the columns and beams of the concrete structure.   Since then, we have completed all of the concrete structural work and have nearly completed the roof structure.   Block work is about 80% complete and we are preparing to move on the roof tiling and rendering.

An island is born...

We have been a little hampered by heavy rain recently, but the future lake on this project is slowly growing in size. We have now created what is soon to be an island within the lake, once filled with water. We shall be transplanting some additional mature trees on to the island before the water rises, and there is also a lot more excavation to be done.