Week Three

The week started well enough with another package from Endless Pools! I like these people – they keep sending me pressies! Unexpected package contained a CD version of their web site and a pair of goggles. I thought they were ‘wear before drilling concrete to protect your eyes’ sort of goggles, but a closer inspection revealed they were in fact swimming goggles! Excellent – now I have flip flops, goggles, a water log and an inflatable chair… All I need is the pool… Mike the Base phoned to say he wouldn’t be coming until the end of next week…. And everything came to a grinding halt.
Massive thunderstorm threatened to bring down the sides of the pit – and filled it with 8” of filthy water. With creepy crawlies swimming in it…..

Was much boosted by the news on the radio early in the week. Electricity is going up by 25%. Water prices are going up by 50%. So what am I doing? Yep – putting in an electrically heated swimming pool. Marvellous. Also an article in the paper saying that if you put a swimming pool in you instantly lose 54% of its value. I DON’T CARE I’M NOT SELLING IT I JUST WANT TO SWIM IN IT!

Wyn the Wire came round on Wednesday with Mrs Wyn and his dog to discuss electrics. OK, so the dog didn’t help much, but she’s very sweet. We’ve agreed the dual rate meter, cabling, lighting, switches, outside light, alarm and possibly even future heating for the winter. Wow. Not bad for one night….

On Thursday Mike the Base phoned to say he was of course arriving on Friday to put concrete in the bottom of the pit. Surprise! I asked if it mattered that there was 8” of water in it. Yep. I emailed the rest of my office to muster volunteers to help bail out the water with promises of alcohol and chocolate roulade. NO TAKERS (you rotten lot – it will be remembered)! I emailed Guy – who promptly came round with his wellies.


We started with buckets, me standing in the water in my wellies and lobbing it into a wheelbarrow before Guy took it away to throw on a flowerbed. It did occur to me while I was standing nearly knee deep in mud brown water that the next time I get to splash around in the same place it should be in a swimming pool! Hopefully the water will be cleaner. VERY slow progress – plan B needed! So we fixed up the hosepipe to siphon the water out – and went to have a drink instead….

I was up at 6 on Friday to bucket the remaining water out (fill bucket, slither to end of pit, climb out, stretch across electricity trench, chuck water on garden, stretch back across trench, climb back into pit, slither to watery end and start again). I lost count after 27 trips… Remembered to have a shower before work (good idea) then Mike the Base turned up with a motley crew of helpers. Didn’t seem to have the tools they needed, no extension cable and one of them broke his hammer before they started – No, it’s fine, I’m sure they’re really good….

Mike rang mid morning. ‘How critical is the depth of the pit?’ ‘Er, very.’ ‘Alright then, your pit’s way too deep, we’re going to have to fill it with rubble.’

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh! That’ll be the rubble we spent THREE BLOODY DAYS shifting then? I tell him to dismantle the revolting wall and put that in the pit. He rings back a bit later to say he thinks he’s sorted it - ‘we’ve chucked all them slabs in’. That’ll be ‘them slabs’ off the old terrace which Guy and I moved (twice) and carefully stored for another project. Seems they are now buried under assorted other rubble and 8” of concrete…. AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh! Will now have to buy new slabs for other garden project.. Would resort to drink mid morning but feel office colleagues might notice… Sit and whimper instead. Office colleagues notice.

Arrive home after work to site of only marginally less devastation than when I left it. Concrete slurry everywhere, pit almost filled up again, massive tree root cut out so tree will probably fall over on top of new shed, practically all slabs gone, revolting wall still intact.

Total hours worked: About 3 hours bailing, but if you count the ‘worrying time’ then, quite frankly, I’ve lost track….
Achieved: Huge pit nearly filled in again, no slabs, significantly less rubble, still have revolting wall.
Pressies and Purchases: Swimming goggles, beautiful red blanket which I forgot to mention I bought and it’s lovely and yes, of course it’s jumping the gun to have a blanket and a colour scheme for a project that is still a hole in the ground, but who cares? Three lovely candles for atmosphere from Anna together with a BOTTLE OF SLOE GIN - THIS WOMAN UNDERSTANDS ME!
Wine consumed: 4 bottles. Again. Wyn the Wire came for dinner with Mrs Wyn, there was all that bailing out, and then there was the bit about the slabs…. Resolve to drink less wine next week. No such resolve regarding the newly acquired bottle of Sloe Gin…
Casualties: I am seriously fearing for my sanity…. 

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