Day three: time for some serious progress. Things speed up when you've got big earth moving equipment. The assistance came first from one man and a big drill. We needed 20cm (8") diameter post holes a few feet deep.

And despite our best efforts, we would never have been able to dig the ditch in a week with such a small team. Roughly 40 cubic meters (ca.1400 cubic feet) of earth had to be moved, so we were quite grateful that the nearby construction crew could skip over to our little project.

And this was the result: a row of post holes and an impressive gap in the ground that will need more hand work.

As is, the ditch is not deep enough, and it lacks the nasty high-angled 'v' in the middle.

At the same time, the bracing bars were finished and one of the posts had the corresponding hole cut into it to complete the mortise and tenon construction. On Thursday a chainsaw specialist will come to complete these holes and the first pairs of posts-and-bracers will be raised.

It fits!