The earthen walls are up!!

It's been hard work laying bricks day after day, but very satisfying and a great work out!! 

I used guide lines for each row of bricks, checking with the level  as I went along

Here I put in structure to for a kitchen counter on the verandah coming out of the wall

The planks for the counter are an old railway sleeper cut into two planks
above is a framework to make a clay shelf

working up to making the arches over the windows

Misheck came to help me make the form work to support the arches as I laid them, we used materials from the bush around us.

First arch up

It's amazing to see how strong the arches are, as soon as the bricks were in place I removed the form work so the bricks settled properly. 

Making the arch for the door

I laid bottles around the arched windows facing in, and these bottles above the kitchen counter and shelves, I plan but some fairy lights inside the bottles.

Oly has been great, coming back from the school in the village at lunch time and playing whilst I build everyday until late afternoon. 

As the walls got higher the work was harder, a very make shift scaffold that has to be moved around the house

The lintel above Oly's room is a railway sleeper

So the brick work is complete, I need the walls to dry throughly before plastering with clay and lime. So the next step are making the floors, building a store room and a whole list of other things!!!