Dear Sarah, I am back in the Alentejo now, I flew in yesterday , the day before the storm arrived , which was pretty lucky really. My two assistants worked well during my absence , the sculpture has moved on very well and now I just hope that the weather holds up for us to continue the work (we had to stop this afternoon, as the weather was absolutely dismal here too) As things stand, will I finish the work by the end of March. I have to stay here over Easter, which is not very nice , as I won't be with my little family, but I hope to get the key to the factory, that I can continue the work over the Easter period. Sorry I didn't get in touch last week, it was so hectic coming back to the UK, and towards the end of the week I was off for the presentation to Newcastle, which was very complicated and I don't know the outcome until probably the end of April. I will up date you with the newest pictures towards the end of the week. With best wishes, Ekkehard.

I will leave for Portugal Friday 8th of Feb, and we start with the carving the following Monday 11th. Today I just finished a transport box, as there are no ferries at this time of the year, I have to ship all my tools in a big box to the Alentejo by mid January, I then rent a car down there for the time (luckily its a non holiday season , so car rental is cheap) Magratex are pre cutting the blocks at the moment, there has been some change in the pre cutting, the company that I wanted to do the wire cutting ( basically, hollowing out and cutting the oval shapes) are booked out until mid February, so Magratex do the cutting with a standard "monolama", which means only strait cuts and therefore much more work for me and my assistants. To give you the idea, we have to reduce the 24 ton blocks down to about 8 to get into the garden , which means we have to cut and chip 16 tons of, which is, given the timeline, a huge task. I have allocated 6 weeks production with 2 assistants, which should be about right , which would mean that we finish the day before Good Friday (20th of March). It is Eastertime, so I am not sure about how the loading and transport will run during that period, it usually takes about 4 days, which leaves the earliest installation date the 27th of March, I need about 3 - 5 days for installation. At present, the foundation is finished ( and payed ) I booked all flights , cars, assistents, Magratex is looking for a flat for me and the assistants to stay in , and they cut the slabs, which should be finished by the end of January. So, its all go and I just have to get all the tools and kit together for shipping. All I need now is a good spell of wheather in February and March down there and we should be fine. Let me know if you need any further information, have a pleasent start to the New Year (everybody is kind of gloomy about it, will the recession come?). Best wishes, Ekkehard

Just a quick messge , I just arrived back from the Alentejo this afternoon, everything went o.k there and they are starting to cut the tranches before Christmas. Early next year the sections will be hollowed out and afterwards the contours roughly cut. As things stand, I will start to work there on the 7th or 8th of February. I will work on a schedule over the weekend, it will be very tight to get it installed before the end of March, but if all things go well, it should be fine. To give you an idea of the task here, the 3 blocks set aside earlier in the year, I am very impressed with the material, it shows that I have good working relationships with this company, they knew exactly what I was looking for, it is top class stuff (at a cost of 23 thousand euros). Chantlers also finished the foundations this week, so, things are finally moving in the right directions. Hope to find you all well, Ekkehard

Next Tuesday I will fly for 4 days to Portugal. There, I will arrange pre cutting , accommodation , assistants, etc. As things stand, this time I will not go with my car. I got quotes for transporting my tools, flight and car rental, and it comes down to the same sum, but it will be quicker for me (no travel and overnight stays) and I am much more flexible as to when to start. I let you know how things progress over there and send you some images after my return. Ekkehard.