Day job

That archway is the chimneys converging into the one stack that exits the roof
You did a good job there Jon
I barrowed one ton of sand then was going to start on the other big bag of sand so first i had to move the bags of cement which were on the top, there were only 6 of them but they pulled my shoulder joint out so that was it done for the day 
A load of pain killers and a lay down and wait for the pain to die down, i have a bottle morphine so a swallow of that but it has no effect, dont know why they give me it as its always the same results, got to be different stuff that they give to soldiers where they kill the pain straight away
In the films anyway

The archway seems to be the 'local' way of bringing two sets of chimneys together to a single stack at the ridge of the roof.  Noticed it in advertisements of properties for sale that have included conversions of loft spaces.  Mostly in buildings that are pre-1930s.  Ours was built in 1912. 

Yes good to close up any gap between semi detached houses roof areas, When built an old semi was never considered "fire proof" from its neighbor but only to give a bit of time before a fire would spread across the full roof space.

I filled in similar holes on my Edwardian semi. In fact when I examined the brick work closely it looks like the chimneys and total roof structure across both properties were erected before any brick dividing wall was made in the roof space!  

Certainly seems the case that the 'fire wall' was initially only completed to the point where
required to hold some major wood supports.  Certainly a pain to try and fit brick into the
slope.  I ended up getting out the diamond cutting circular saw blade and slicing a dozen
bricks in half.  Goodness that created clouds of dust and reminded me that much of
what passed for brick 150 years ago was not much stronger than dried mud.

And there is still some gaps that I could not fill.

About 40 years ago someone was using a blowtorch & set something on fire. Because of all the accumulated rubbish in the old terrace it flared up quickly & reached the loft where because there were no walls between properties it spread right through the terrace & the whole lot was burn't down.

Local folklore has it that many a person has gone up into their loft & mistakenly come back down into someone else's house.
Others have chiselled out a recess for an electrical backing box & knocked right through the single brick wall into next door.

Slowly getting it done but its much harder now as Richard has taken the mixer to work, yes he's gone to work, not to bad as all the concrete i used in Cyprus i mixed by hand but thatwas7 years ago and the body aint what it used to be
 
Iv got the pathway from the garage done ill use coloured stone in between the posts

So tomorrow il start on the big area
slowly slowly

Well it dont get no better, Richard was on his way to work this morning when his not that old vans engine went bang   Its been stripped down and the bill will be
£ 3000 so im going to help him out as he cannot 
Bang go's my holiday in Cyprus, 
Shit luck Davey strikes again 

Had a decent day on the slabs until the pain kicked in
 
Slowly getting there
I fell arse over my own feet doing it and landed on my bad shoulder  christ it still hurts
But not as much as my foot / toes i dropped a slab on it, slipped out of my hands, no crying mojo 

Its 11PM and the pain is nearly out of control tonight they have just asked me if i want an ambulance , Not getting me back in Arrow park hospital after the last 11 and a half hour wait to get seen the last time i rode an ambulance, another sleepless night awaits 

It gets worse, after one of the worst nights i opened my prescription that came yesterday and they have missed out the Tramadol pain killers the i take 8 a day
Thing is they are opium based and iv been on them for 35 years so im well addicted and i ran out of them Thursday, so by tonight i will be very unwell just from them alone
The luck changes, it gets worse by the day,  

I had 4 days and 3 nights of pure pain and being so unwell that i would have welcomed death, all because a f ing doctor did not think i needed the medication iv been taking for nearly 35 years, the barstuward even sent me a tx , and he got one straight back 
Making some sloooow progress with the paving but have now only one mixing of sand left, thats 5 tons iv loaded into the barrow and wheeled round the back of the house, then loaded the same 5 tons into the mixer or mixed it by hand and then into the barrow the same 5 tons have then been shovel out of the barrow onto where im paving 
 

We have some of those in our back yard and I can't even lift one. You did all those whilst ill. You must be superman or something    well done.

Been out and done another row but have run out of sharp sand, now i sit here waiting for another 2 ton to be delivered this morning, one ton to finish off the paving and the other ton to turn the scraggy lawn into a bowling green   

I hope you invite us all round for a BBQ when its finished. I don't mind cooking