After the on off weather of the previous week, the TV weather people got their predictions correct as a mini summer heat wave hit, and it was bloomin hot!  On the Monday and the Tuesday Stu and I finished off the brick work on the porch area.  I was at the front of the property doing the brick work in the shade, while Stu was around the side of the property mixing up muck in the sunshine, although it was more like an oven!  We were certainly getting through the bottles of sun cream.

On Wednesday we had the Rain Water Tank being delivered, 20 tonne of hardcore, plus the digger and dumper were being returned.  The digger and dumper arrived first, shortly followed by the hardcore.  I got on the digger, which is normally the best place to be, but with no air con and no breeze coming through the windows; it was more uncomfortable than usual.  I set about levelling the hardcore around the drive area, while Stu followed along with the ‘whacker’.  By lunch time we were all done, and just as we finished our sandwiches the Rain Water tank turned up.  We went through the check list and prepared the tank ready for the following day.

We pumped the excess water out of the large hole prior to the tank going in.  Well we tried to pump it out, but I don’t seem to have much luck with pumps as they always seem too jammed up and don’t work.  True to form, the pump wouldn’t work, so we had to ‘pump’ out with buckets instead.  Cutting edge modern technology!  The concrete lorry turned up with its 6 metre cubic load so we could encase the tank with the stuff.  As we could only back fill around the tank as the tank was filled up with water, so the tank would keep its shape, we had to pile up the concrete on some sheeting on the drive.  This was ok when it was in the shade, but as the day got hotter and the temperature rose, the concrete had the risk of setting where it was.  So we had to keep hosing the concrete down with water to keep it wet and workable.  Stu was in the hole tampering down the concrete in and around the tank, while I used the digger to back fill with the cement.  It was a tough old day, but we got everything done, and make good the drive area again after I had messed it up with the digger.  Digger drivers! We now have a couple of week’s holiday now, and on our return we head back to Peterborough to start work on a single storey extension.