By way of an apology, learning all the technical ins and outs of blogging doesn’t happen overnight – or even in a month or so.
There are a few buttons, such as the one marked ‘Publish’, that can be dangerous when pushed – especially when the post isn’t finished!
‘Day 38: a big post for the start of a BIG week’ is now finalised. If you read it a few hours ago, you may wish to return to it for a bit more news on a key day in the project. As always, comments and questions are welcome!
Hobart hill house 
Doug I have looked through most of the blog and it proving to be very interesting stuff. I note that the excavator is forming terraces down the block. What thought have you given to controlling erosion in storms during construction, and in the future? Graham
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Great questions Graham, thank you. The soil has a lot of clay in it, so while it will erode like any soil will over time, it is pretty durable stuff in the short term; it reminds me of Marrickville clay soil in some ways. Hobart on average, by the way, gets just half the annual Sydney rainfall. As for erosion control, you can’t see them in many photos now but there are hay bales below the benching, or terracing, that will prevent any sedimentation running off. Those hay bales featured in some of the earliest photos, doubling as a physical barrier to rolling stones, and started their duty much higher up the hilly block. But the medium- to long-term answer to erosion is planting. We will be restoring the native grasses and other local species as part of our responsibility as custodians of this land. In a future post I’ll talk about the work, already largely completed, to safely and effectively eradicate a noxious weed that had heavily infested the thicket in the bottom corner of our block.