The wall

To be honest I am not very interested in construction. I find it boring and sometimes as hard to understand as quantum physics. From drawings it’s even harder for me to visualise the final result of a building or the costs involved. This lack of comprehension also sometimes leads to unnecessary worry about crumbling wall’s or ceilings caving in and not in the least rather stupid questions when I feel obliged to be of some support to my spouse.

An enormous wall is now being build around the garden and witnessing the process of this construction on a daily basis has prompted my interest and I am finally beginning to understand a little of the old technique with which the douars (Berber villages) in the High Atlas region have been built for hundreds of years.

Once the foundation has been made, large rocks are carefully placed on top of the other with cement (clay in the old days). This is done with great precision for a perfect fit and to create little gaps between them. These gaps are then filled with small pieces of stone to make the wall even more massive and stable.

There are easier and much cheaper ways to build a wall but our goal has always been to build a new construction in harmony with and as kind to the environment as we possibly can.