This is my blog about emigrating to Bulgaria. It starts with the idea and will take you through all the steps I am taking to create my new life in this wonderful idyllic country. Thank you for reading.
Please make use of the comments box to ask questions or suggest blog subjects too :)
The men were in early today, and Hikmet was with them. I asked Bekir to make a couple of quick amendments around by where the pump house is going to be but before he could do much of anything the pump arrived and it was hell for leather. Hikmet filled in the drains with screwed up paper while Halil got stuck in watering the ground to help the cement stick better. I was busy at work all day but had to be involved a bit as this is a big day in this project. Rosie would have been kept off school today anyway as she was so excited to see the cement lorries and she was very happily watching most of it from various windows through the morning with Angela.
The pump starts to unfurl
Very long reach
Right over the house
Rosie watching
Smoothing by the table
With the pump situated, and its stability legs extended, the controller extended the arm all the way over to by the Tabletennis table and the great pour began. We had ordered 21 cubic which would come in 3 truck fulls but the pump had some in it ready. It was such a rush, and made worse by the cement company who were hurrying to get the pump freed to go to another job. I hadn't known this would be an issue or I would just have hired it for the whole day. Anyway, this was a problem as poor Bekir, Halil and Hikmet worked like dogs in 33 degree heat to smooth and spread the super fast drying cement and were not assisted at all by the attitude of the company. Very frustrating and it has resulted in a less smooth surface than any of us wanted.
Above are three videos of that first part of the pour today.
One pump, one mixer supplying and one waiting
Working hard to keep up
Slogging in the heat
Filling the hopper from the next truck
The pump works by having the cement dropped into a vat that it then projects; this is first supplied by its own mixing tank but after that runs out other trucks can pour into the hopper and it works uninterrupted. One of the problems today was those trucks arrived too quickly. We had one unloading while another had to park up and wait as they were not respecting Bekir's request to slow down the supply. In the end we had to order another 3 cubic which came on a 4th truck and it was past lunchtime before the whole pour was complete.
And above some more videos.
Assessing after the trucks left
Sweeping, polishing and finishing
Mixing up for spot repairs
The patio, at the end of the day
With the trucks gone Bekir, Halil and Hikmet couldn't stop as they had to wet it down and polish before it dried and became impossible to finish. In hindsight I should have gone for half and half on this pour; we all thought, however, that the pump would be here all day and this unseemly rush wouldn't be occurring. They removed the wooden half beam and filled in with hand mixed cement then used water to find where it was uneven and filled those gaps with more cement. It was a very very long and tough day for them but as you can see it looks great. We are very close to complete on this now, thankfully. It has taken multiple weeks longer than I expected it to.
Evening sun settling
From the roof terrace
There were storms rumbling around a lot late afternoon that were quite threatening but none ended up hitting us. Everyone was so exhausted, with Angela being unwell with the cold she caught from Rosie, that I took Rosie to pick up takeaway which happens so very rarely. She was shattered though. This evening is a glorious beautiful golden evening and the patio looks great from the roof terrace.
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