When I went to teach my English class at the CLAN this afternoon, Nick and Kieran were looking forward to a bit of a rest. The cement mixer lorry would pour the concrete into the terrace foundations, they’d spend 10 to 15 minutes levelling it, then they’d have the rest of the afternoon off.

However, it didn’t quite work out that way; the cement lorry got totally stuck in the mud behind the house before it was anywhere near where it needed to be, so they had to unload it a bit at a time into Joel’s digger’s biggest bucket, and tip it into the trench from there. The trench was, once again, partly full of water, so the concrete wouldn’t flow as it should; Kieran tried pumping the water out, but the pump soon clogged up, so he ended up draining it as best he could with a bucket.

But, by 6.30pm, the job was done and the lorry driver could go home; they’d use the digger to ease him out of the mud – until the digger got stuck, that is!!! Eventually it was freed and everybody lived happily ever after (well, till tomorrow, anyway)