Almost a cat-astrophe

Today has been a day of good news and bad news. 

The good news is that Building Control were happy with our three lovely holes, and the three lovely holes are now (mostly) full of lovely concrete.

The less good news is that IdiotCat is an idiot, and after the concrete was poured, it was then pawed, and now we have a small cat with grey, crusty feet*.

The good news is that the first bit of construction has started, and we now actually have a stretch of wall that, unlike its predecessor, is joined to the rest of the house.

A real wall!

The bad news is that we've found a(nother) spot of comedy building technique. The main ridge beam running along the ridge-line of the extension roof has a large crack/break through the middle of it. And, rather like the amusingly-joined steel beams, this has been, well, amusingly joined.

This really is the main ridge beam

The main ridge beam has had two random off-cuts of wood slapped either side of it, and screwed in. Because a few woodscrews is almost as good as a beam, isn't it?

The good news is that the garden has a large heap of new timber waiting to be used to rebuild the roof.

Timber and blockwork ready for use

So, it feels as though the rate of calamitous-discovery-making has slowed down, and the rate of Good Things Being Built has increased. And aside from the cat getting his paws where he shouldn't, the Good Things Being Built are going well. And it's only been going on for a week so far.

* For those concerned about animal welfare, I should point out that BigBear is devoted to IdiotCat and has helped him clean most of the concrete off again, and IdiotCat is now perfectly happy, curled up in his favourite place - a heap of BigBear's clothes.