30th May - Work starts in earnest.

We spent the morning shopping for tiles for the bathrooms and kitchen, much disagreement between Robyn (yes she’s just 10) and myself with an eventual compromise. We popped back to the cave after work and was amazed to see what had been done in just one day. The rooms had been completely cleared and the floors lowered ready for levelling.

We’ve also decided what to do with the two external rooms that we didn’t know about. The one next to the bathroom on the left is going to be an outside sitting area. It will offer good shade and be a nice place to sit and read a book. The other space on the right will be used for an external sink and food prep area for that most essential house accessory, the BBQ.

2nd June - Plugs, switches, rates and medical.

A quick visit tonight before heading back to the UK. Being both an IT Professional and a dedicated gadget freak means lots of power sockets, switches and of course the obligatory RJ45 ethernet for the Internet connection. We like the tile lights so had to mark those up as well. All that was required was a pot of blue paint, a brush and some idea of where things should go. I’d used Microsoft Visio to do all the plans and luckily had done one of the wiring.

We also found a number of interesting documents about the cave that helped add to the authenticity. Firstly a rates bill from 1940 for 15 Centimos and a medical bill from 1950, we also found a fertilizer licence but as that has the address I won’t show it.

6th June - Materials arrive and outer walls well under way.

Well we’re back in the UK, unfortunately, but at least the weather here isn’t too bad today. In our absence Matilda, our Project Manager, will be sending regular photographic updates. Today she tells us there are a team of men on site doing all sorts of things. Photos show the outer wall being constructed. The metal rods are used to tie the wall into the cave structure to ensure stability.