Shirt sleeve order and clay lump repairs

The outside thermometer was reading 15.8˚C at one point today; the warmest it's been for quite some time. As I was working on the scaffolding Jan mowed the lawn, giving it the first cut of the year. It definitely felt spring-like.

OK, Jan is not in shirt sleeves here, but I was. Today's task was to nail chicken wire to the block work in order to give the render something to grip. I'm not convinced it was absolutely necessary as the blocks themselves are grippy. Oh well - the builder said to do it. What the builder didn't say, though, was to use clay as a render. I've been breaking up some of the clay lump which fell down, mixing it with water in a bucket, and smearing it onto the new blockwork with a gauging trowel. When dry, I'll coat it with tar as per the original. The builder's scheme was to use a weak mortar mix, but I'm reluctant to combine an unbreathable cement-based render with the clay lump which comprises most of the building.

I omitted to take a photo; I'll try to remember to redress that tomorrow.

Now I have a bit of canal planning to do ...