21st - 28th February 2010

Monday 22nd
Well, Monday was the day and it seemed bound to have enough excitement to last a fortnight - which is of course how it turned out, as our builders disappeared after the concrete was delivered to do another job and wont be back for a couple of weeks. But anyway back to the plot...

Dave had to be there for six am, when the concrete for the main slab was due to arrive, but things were well underway when he arrived. It was a bit difficult to assess exactly what was going on but there was a lot of action.



And lots of work to be done.


One truck leaving, the next one there, ready and waiting. In all, ten trucks delivered 45 cubic meters of concrete in a couple of hours.

Then there was the task of sorting it all out.




and smoothing it off.

We had a new plan to retain some water on the surface - the sand dams discoloured the garage floor and so this time they put a narrow rim of mortar where the concrete was to be exposed instead.

And just to complicate things, the men who had dug the bore returned to connect the pump, so now we have a pump and a nice little home for it. Just need to sort out the pipework and taps and we will have 'Irrigated Pasture' at last and no need to worry about 'Local Drought'.

And meanwhile, progress was also being made in the garden. There was one major area that still had not been mown and this was now rather full of gorse and blackberry. So we decided that was the job for the week. It started the week like this....



And on the first day was progressing very well until the mower got stuck (again)

Never mind, Dave to the rescue (again).

Mowing day two - another mechanical crisis. This time I had got a rather large bit of gorse stuck in the belt that drives the cutters. At least this was a new 'stuck', and I like to keep Dave occupied.


End of day two and the slope is looking much better and the compost heap at the bottom much bigger.

Day three and the last assault. The pond had finished serving its purpose as a water catchment and is now housing some fish from the pond at our old house temporarily. So the plastic sheet could go and allow the rest of the slope to be cut. It had proved invaluable for the last few months.




And then the last stretch on the mower. For once no crises,

and it soon looked like this. Yay!

And, as a final job, the new number, commissioned from niece Katie, was added to the letter box.

15th - 19th February 2010

Monday
A day off for the builders but Dave still went back for more - more floor levelling and more concrete watering.

Tuesday
An action packed day with 5 vehicles and a digger - shows what happens if you offer to pay people lots of money.

The builders returned to continue preparing the house floor for the concrete .....

... with Dave still on levelling and watering the sand.


... while the plumbers returned to install the water tank and stormwater drains ....



They had to dig out the site of the water tank

and then await the arrival of the tank.

We'll have the enormous one please.

Wednesday
On with screeding the floor for some .....

and then it got serious with a stereo effort.

But the main excitement came from trying to get that huge tank down the hill and into its correct place.

It was clear they had done it all before...

but still fun to watch.

I'm not quite sure what Dave thought he was going to do but at least he was willing.

Having got it on one side, they just had to get it down the hill (but not too far). A big heave ....

and then the wait to see where it where it would stop.

It was all good and with a final bit of fine adjustment .....

... it was nicely tucked out of the way.

Add some pipes and yay we have a water tank.

And meanwhile yet again, the real work of the day was taking place in the veggie patch where I turned my effort to the next section of the flax border and turned this ....

... into this. And yes, all but one of the flaxes that were hidden in the grass were still alive and thriving.

Thursday
Dave was given the job of dismantling the boxing around the garage floor. This was much harder that he anticipated as the supports were rather well fixed in some places. Still, it looked rather good when it was done.

The others were putting the final touches to the house foundations - at least with the sand all covered it no longer needed to be watered.

Just about ready for the concrete. This was to have been delivered on the Friday but bad weather had delayed the previous job so Monday it is (weather permitting).