Breathe

The first week of the build was a busy one. Our focus was getting everyone settled into the new and unusual way of working. This has mostly meant ensuring the builders understood the site and how they would operate within the tight space while adhering to the legislation in place to maintain their safety.

At the beginning of the week we posted a note through the doors of over 50 of our surrounding neighbours asking for them to get in touch if they had any concerns.

Spoiler alert! There were concerns.

Starting a new build during a pandemic is bound to raise anxieties, and we recognise that we have a responsibility to ensure that we keep each other safe on site, as well as the wider public. The reality is that we are not starting this build in usual times. We need to navigate a tight site, while observing social distancing rules, wearing masks, and minimising noise (so everyone logging into endless zoom calls can listen to the fascinating and value adding conversations that we all have at work).

After this build, we will be living alongside our neighbours. I assume at some point I’ll need to borrow some flour, or ask them to Iook out for dodgy people while we’re away on holiday (will we have these again?!), so as you can imagine, I’m putting a lot of weight on my goal of minimsing how much we piss them off.

For me, it’s really important that we can continue this build safely and avoid getting shut down, as it means our builders have a means of income to support their families, that we’re making progress building during the drier months, and that we finally have a home to move into later this year.

As my almost three year old keeps telling me this week….. breathe mama.