Parlez-Vous Francais ?

Another hectic but good week overall. Weather has been dry so has allowed a fair bit of progress. I spent the best part of the week tracing an underground water supply which had been bodged, crossed and spurred by the previous land owner. I managed to find the majority of the runs but one is going to need finding with the Cat and genny working with the trace wire. Basically a flexible cable is put along the plastic MDPE pipe as unlike steel pipe it doesn't really give off a signal when using the Cat (Cable Avoidance Tool). The genny then energises the trace wire and the Cat is then able to pick up the signal.

The rest of the lads have been busy stripping out an old cattle shed and putting in all the concrete formers for a wash pad in a haulage yard.
I've been looking at a variety of trucks for them and quite like some of the ex-utility company Defender 110 and 130's. They have a good set-up with tool lockers etc which could be useful.
Well, this looks as though this will be the final week that I have my Defender as my Discovery is now in at the dealers waiting to be prepped and go through the workshop. As I've said before, it has been the best Defender I think I have owned and I'll be sad to see it go - well, until I'm sat in the comfortable heated leather seats of the Discovery....

Managed to get a low-loader move in yesterday afternoon so the 14 tonner is now at the next job ready for early Monday morning. Bit of a challenging job this one with a wet hole in a woodland needing to be drained. The levels are fairly tight and it will be a constant operation between digger and site level to get it right. Having said that, those are the jobs which make the whole thing interesting.
One of my customers in London who has a big property in France has requested that we go over to France at the end of April to carry out some maintenance and repair work on the place. It is in a beautiful part of Normandy and is always a 'work hard, play hard' type of job which sees a lot of work carried out during daylight hours and a lot of eating and drinking of good food and wine in the evening.
It's one of the only jobs I know where I have a 'waiting list' of people who want to work away !
My most important task when I am over there is to go to the village each morning to buy fresh bread, cheese and cooked meats for lunch as well as the ingredients for the evenings main meal and of course a few bottles of wine. Once that has been done, I can attend to the less important matter in hand and oversee what is going on with the job ! The people in that region are fantastic and so warm, friendly and helpful.
If it wasn't for the funny language, you'd swear they weren't French...



Barry Chuckle is infact Wayne Rooney's brother.

Getting warmer

So things have progressed well from last week and we have now completed the drainage as well as cutting back and then rebuilding some trackways.
We installed a new mains water supply to a cottage this week which should be connected in the next week or so when Balfours turn up to spur in.
A couple of mornings of rain made things a bit snotty on top this week but a good wind soon dried things up.
The lad who was due to start on Monday text me Sunday evening to say "soz m8, carnt cum tmoz"
Unbelievable.
He then text on Thursday to ask "Ny wrk nxt week m8?" I was going to reply "Get Fkd" but decided not to bother.
Anyway, I had the number of a lad who was looking for work so I rang him and he came in on Tuesday and turned out to be a good hand.
Everything for a reason.

Next week sees us installing some more water pipe as well as measuring up some lagoons. Another two low-loader moves are booked in and we are due to head further north to sort out a recurring flood problem.
The forecast at present says a dry week ahead so hopefully they are right.
This week has been manic with three gangs on the go but it's also been satisfying and rather enjoyable now the days are drawing out a bit more.
With any luck, within the next few weeks one of the gangs will go onto the civils and construction work permanently as we now have a fair bit of this type of work ahead of us. This should free my time up a bit more to concentrate on running the earth moving and agricultural side of things.

This nice spell of weather has brought all the snowdrops and bulbs out in the garden at home. Things are warming up nicely and everything is starting to come alive. I feel as though I should be out there doing something but have decided to get a gardener in this year (not an Up-hill one I might add...) to go through it all and make it nice for the spring. He can dig the beds over, plant some new flowers, tidy up the hedges, mow the lawns and get the place ready for the start of BBQ season.
He can clear the dawg shit up while he's at it...

Spring is in the air

We started on draining some particularly strong ground springs in the middle of a number of fields.
Over the years several attempts had been made to drain them with conventional methods but when the pipes become blocked the springs just divert elsewhere and the problem continues.
We opened up a 4ftx2ft trench which we piped (just for good measure) but deep filled with reject stone. This way the water can get away easily down nearly two feet square of stone filled gully which is then backfilled to allow normal farming operations on top. The spring heads themselves are then opened up and mass filled with large stone to alleviate the rising pressure.
By the time we had finished the first three the water was flowing down them nicely.

While this was all going on I managed to find the time to go and look at 3 other jobs, bring in 3 load of stone on the Fastrac as well as mark out and plan all the work for this week.
This week sees the continuation and completion of the last of the spring alleviation work, the installation of a new mains water supply to one of the cottages on the farm and then the extension of a hard-standing area for the cattle yard. I then have to find time to go to Berkshire and look at a dredging job for later this year.
Towards the end of this week there will be a low-loader move booked in but the company I use are struggling at the moment to keep on top of things as their main heavy haulage tractor unit caught fire and burnt out last Monday...
Luckily the driver was unhurt and turned up Tuesday to drop off the machinery as grouchy as ever !
They're having to run a standard waggon and can't haul the heavier loads at present.

I have another young lad starting this Monday so we will see how he turns out. He has some turf to cut back first thing and then Tuesday can go on the water pipe job. At least this way it should free up a bit more of my time.
I've still got my Defender and the dealer has said that I can hold on to it until my new truck arrives.
I'm going to be sad to see her go but have to admit that a bit more comfort will be most welcome.
On the other hand I am looking at buying a second hand Defender110 pick-up for my main guy to run around in so he can go and fetch stuff rather than having to wait for me to go and do so.
Not long now before the clocks go forward and we can start getting some early starts in.
To be fair, the mornings are pulling out well now and it's nice to know Spring is just around the corner or that winter is waiting to return.
The one thing we have noticed is that despite any small amounts of rain we have had, when you dig down below six inches, the ground is as dry as anything.
We need rain.... but just not yet.


Catch moths by baiting a mousetrap with an old woolly jumper.

Let the chaos begin.

So, we romped home at the quiz the other night. First prize resulting in a fiver each which was nice. They weren't doing food like they normally do at half time (chips etc) but said we could go and get some take-away food and eat it there so we ended up with our table heaped in pizza, chips and kebabs.
Some good questions on history, geography and general knowledge which we did well on and then onto the pictures round - "Who are these Brit Awards nominee's ?"
Bollocks.
Who the hell is Professor Greene ? I did get Adele though. Luckily, the rest of the team were of far more use than myself and so we left those who came in second and third place a long way behind.
Mind you, how many of you would know what the night of April the 30th is ?.....
Apparently it is 'Walpurgis Night'.
No, me neither.

One minute I can't find staff, the next I am swamped with them. I have had four people contact me in the last two days looking for work and two of them look promising.
One of the lads who wants to work for me is local so that's a big help.
On the other hand, a colleague of mine has just got rid of two of his guys who had been with him a while as they were constantly taking the piss with being late, not doing what they were asked etc. Both have had a couple of warnings but didn't take the slightest bit of notice. I told him months ago to get shot of them but he kept giving them the benefit of the doubt. You can't help some people.

Next week sees a lot more kit rolling out on a variety of work, mainly drainage, ditching and some groundworks. The weather has been great in the last week so hope it stays like that for a while as it has enabled us to get on with several jobs and get them out of the way.
The pipelayer goes back on the Fastrac next week also ready for the off so might need a couple of new wearing parts before we start and at the same time I will bung some new metal on the Dowdeswell while we are at it.
Have been offered some ploughing in the autumn for the Magnum but it's only for one season with the possibility of a second. As tempting as it is, time you factor in another plough, metal, diesel and labour, it just doesn't add up. Mind you, some silly bugger will go and do the job for next to nothing.
I've always said that it's not the jobs you do where you make money, it's knowing the ones to walk away from.

So next week hopefully will hear the sound of clattering tracks, whining hydraulic pumps and steel on stone and soil.
Mind you, its more likely to be the sound of shear-bolts breaking, me groaning and drivers whining.
Bring it on...


George Stephenson invented the Toffee Crisp.

Your starter for ten...

Fingers crossed I may have sorted most of my staff shortage problems as a colleague of mine has unfortunately lost a contract to someone who undercut him but he doesn't want to lose his blokes so hopefully they will come and work on my jobs for the next few months. I still need a couple of lads here but its a big weight off my mind.
I had a guy who was rang me asking if I had any work so I told him I did and asked if he wanted to come with us for a day to see whats what and if everyone gets on but he said he wasn't going to come along unless he was definitely getting the job....
He answered his own question.

Last night saw me losing heavily at the races, well, it was a race night done with those DVD's and everyone puts in £20 and then gets betting money to play with. Most of the horses I backed either fell at the first fence or were still running when the next race came on. Good fun though.
I then got persuaded to try some Polish Vodka. I swear an hour later I had gone blind. I have never tried anything like that before - I've run some engines on similar stuff but never drank any of it.
This morning saw me looking at a couple of horses, neither of which were as they were described in the advert or on the phone. One didn't want to jump unless thrashed and the other was so worn out that he could hardly jump. That tells me he had been ridden and schooled to wear him out before we got there...

Tonight is quiz night.
Myself and some of the lads are going to attempt to win the local quiz which we are fairly good at doing or at least coming in the top three. Granted, the other teams are mainly all students and too pissed to think, let alone write down a correct answer but its their loss.
A lot of the questions are from the 60's, 70's and 80's which are rather difficult for the students but bread and butter for us older ones. Having said that, I do tend to come unstuck when the question is about Jay-Z or the Brit Awards...
Still, it's all about the taking part and if we don't win we'll just bottle them.



Christopher Columbus founded RyanAir.

Long arm of the law

A new week, same old problems.
I had a fairly good weekend in one way and another but Monday dawned and it was back to reality - that of a staff shortage. I have spoken to my main guy and he is happy to run some of the pipelaying and drainage jobs for me which is a great help as I know he is more than capable of running stuff with little fuss or bother. My construction guy has one job to finish off and then he can move onto the next project.
My two labourers are busy installing some gates in Leicestershire but reckon the ground although wet on top from the earlier snow, is as dry as Ghandi's flip-flops a few inches down.

We start a load of drainage next week followed by some groundworks then back on to drainage then some ditching. I now have a team full time in the Midlands/Northants as seems to have been a sudden run on pricing menages and horse arena's which is good as you can get on fairly well doing them and I did a lot back when I was based down south. Better to have too much work than too little. Looks like I'll have to see how much my shares are worth in British Asbestos Ltd and DDT Agri-Chem Co...

Another job I'll have to do this week is go to the bottle bank. Mind you, it might have to be under the cover of darkness as it could be a trifle embarrassing as it looks like I've had a 'Port-A-Thon'.
Have found that the best cheese to have with a nice glass of port is 'Cote Hill Blue'.
It's a great cheese and has wonderful texture and flavour.
http://cotehill.com/

I got stopped the other night on my way home by the boys in blue who said they were just checking as there had been a lot of Land Rovers stolen recently. They then asked if the dawgs in the truck were friendly to which I replied, "I have no idea - they were in it when I nicked it".
Not even a smile....

Danny DeVito invented Vimto

Only Fools and Horses

Not a bad week really, finished off a couple of jobs and picked a nice chunk of work up. The downside of this (well, it's not really a downside, just a pain) is that I am now desperate for a couple more decent guys. I think I am going to have to split my two best blokes and put one on civils and construction and one running the earth-moving side. I'll have to cover the ag work and run the rest with a broom up my arse to sweep up as I go along. One of the lads I had last year who I shared with a local estate has now gone and got himself a full-time job and is doing really well. Good luck to him, he's a cracking worker and should do them proud. Still, it doesn't help me at all. I might have snaffled a lad who did a bit for me a year or so ago and is bored working where he is now. He's a decent operator so might fit the bill.
However, that still leaves me a couple of labourers short really but no doubt something will turn up.

Had a chap ask me to come and quote for cleaning out his pond for him last week so went and had a look. A fairly straight forward job but the far side would be a bit tricky due to it being fairly wet and would more than likely need either the long reach on bog tracks or at least a set of mats. The upshot was that he wanted me to give him a written quote with a full breakdown and method statement of how I intended to do the job. I told him what an approx day rate would be and he then told me that it was a lot more expensive than if he hired a machine in himself..... Right, I can see where this is going....
He'd obviously got a price or two to hire a machine and do the job himself but wanted me to explain exactly how to do it so he could then do it all himself and save a few quid.
I told him that I couldn't write down the method I would use as I made it up as I went along. The look on his face was priceless, especially when I told him he was far better to do it himself as he had intended to do all along. He looked very embarrassed and admitted that it was an option he was considering.
I then told him to keep my number as I had a winch and could pull him out when he lost the lot over on the far side....
If he had been straight from the start and told me what he intended to do but could I advise him, I'd have been happy to help him, in fact I would have popped in when he was doing it to see how it was going as I have done for others in the past.
They say the Lord loves a trier - well, this f*cker doesn't.

I've got a couple of horses to go and look at next week and a friend from Hertfordshire is coming along to cast an expert eye over them. Should be a nice day out and might find a half decent hoss at the end of it. The problem is that with work being busy I am going to have to probably employ someone to look after it and exercise it when I'm not around. Part of me thinks it defeats the object a bit but then at least it will be there when I want it and someone else gets the use of a horse and a wage.
Mind you, with the way the price of diesel keeps rising, I might be riding the hoss around from job to job, in fact, if I pulled a little cart around also I could collect any old rags and scrap as I went about.
No use fighting it, it's just a matter of time...


Telly Sevalas invented plasma TV's.