Phase III: Side Extension

When we bought our house, I had grand plans for how it would be.  Grander plans than the budget would allow.  So Niall and I sat down and worked out a plan:

Phase I:  Get the house habitable (immediate)
Phase II:  Loft Conversion  (one year later)
Phase III:  Side Extension  (two-three years later)

Phase I and II are done, and we've been working on Phase III since February.  Well, I guess actually before that since we got planning approval in 2013.  But in February we talked with the architect and structural engineer and it took five months to get the warrant application submitted.  For a side extension, off the kitchen.  Which we don't technically need (come on, the house is already a nice size) but I still want.  Greedy?

We're waiting on Building control, builder and the bank to get started.  Maybe we'll rip down the garage and go forward with the extension next month?  But only if the stars align.

Also, I did tell Niall I wanted the extension so much that I would dig the foundations myself.  But guess what?  I dug a trial hole for the structural engineers and it was hard.  Really hard.

So, uh, the budget will include someone else (preferably a machine) doing the digging.