Building up the stem wall

I have been building up the stone work around one side of the house as it wasn't high enough above ground level. I spent time selecting rocks, mixing the the mortar, which is not as fun as the cob mixing as lime is very harmful to the skin I have to wear gum boots (or wellies depending where you are from!) another week or so to finish this.

evidence that the elephants have been visiting 

the lime mortar ready for transport

mixing the mortar with wellie boots otherwise the lime damages the skin

laying mortar and rocks

wetting the rocks before laying

a test patch of cob on the stem wall

pouring water on the foundations to see if the cob stays dry

a beautiful pod mahogany on the plot the future site of the dream tree house!!

the pod and seeds of the pod mahogany