So here's where we were at the end of the last update, I think, with foundations cast:

Since then, we managed to build the first two courses of blockwork, which brings us to a few weeks ago:

Then in one week off work we had some hardcore delivered on the Monday:

We spread it out and compacted it on the Tuesday:

I've got a pretty cool timelapse video of us doing this, which I'll try and upload if I can. We laid out the dpm and steel mesh on Wednesday and Thursday:

And poured concrete on the Friday:

Over the last couple of weeks this has been setting, and now it looks like this:

Next course of blocks will bring us up to dpc level, and then we'll probably just shut down over the winter months and start again in the spring. We need about 3 or 4 tonnes of Cotswold gravel to finish the driveway up to the front of the new garage slab too. The surface of the slab has got a lot of laitance on it, so we'll probably have to scabble the top couple of mm away before being able to apply a paint or surface finisher, but thats no big deal. All in all it went fairly well, but I now have absolutely zero money after spending a grand in 5 days!! But at least there are no more huge expenses like that until we come to buy the door.

Mortgage-wise, we've been offered a pretty good deal by the Halifax, which we're doing the paperwork for at the moment, so with a bit of luck all our debts associated with the house build will be paid off soon :-)