Is it wrong to be so in love with concrete ???

Huge week here at the farm, lot's of other small activities that I will document in a later post, but the main thing was that we finally  arrived at the day that  our big concrete area out the back was to be laid.

Brian had prepared the site with the help of the brother next door( digging with the tractor) and then the friend up the road( the boxing up and  leveling with many loads of blue metal base) and then the mesh.
He had planned for the truck to reverse up to our house and  then that all the volunteers would wheelbarrow the wet cement along the level pathway to the drop site.....but no !!! the driver in his wisdom( and thoughtfullness I must add), decided to drive the 11 ton truck full of cement  backwards and forwards several times until he got near the job site.. I tthink he felt sorry for our band of aged 60 +  volunteers....The result is now many, many deep tyre  trenches dug by the truck that we now have to fix

by wheelbarrow with loads of soil to repair the damage. Some are minor, but some areas are a big mess, we really can't believe that he didn't bog the truck.
We had a great crew of volunteers, Brian's brother and my brother, 2 neighbours, and a paid concrete finisher to do all the neat stuff  for us with all the right gear.
The truck arrived nice and early with the  hopefully correct amount of cement on board that our concreter had ordered and  the men all set to work.

The men all worked wonderfully together and it seemed that the  bulk was laid in no time at all( says me that wasn't out there shoveling and wheeling  full barrows.)

It was about at this point that the truck  driver announced that he wouldn't have enough cement  on board  and that he would have to do a second run back to base for another  cubic metre, which meant a two hour wait for his return.( and another $200 for travel) It wasn't  the drivers  calculation , but our concreters), who adjusted his bill accordingly for his mistake.

So our  concrete finisher worked on until the truck returned .

We eventually got the last section laid and smoothed off, and as we now had a fair bit extra cement( me thinks the driver felt a little bad  for us, we were able to quickly box up a couple of extra paths up the back and a step up to the coolroom.

My sister in law also came over from Dubbo to help and she cooked up a great meal of sausages,bacon and egg rolls and salad for all the workers.

She also brought with her  many  pots of small succulent plants that she had started

from her own garden and the two of us got in and planted in  the long garden along the front of the house. They will make an excellent low care ,low water use  garden.

 We are very grateful for all the help that we  received on the day and prior and  will return the favors as needed  by all our helpers.
The concrete looks amazing, I am so in love with my back verandah, everyone just did a brilliant job, I could not have asked for better.

I can hardly wait until the  cover goes over it in a few weeks time, it will be such a  wonderful entertaining area, and play area, and washing drying area, and just so much protection for that westerly side of the house.

This is the view out my kitchen window, for the first time ever I will be able to chat to visitors from the kitchen sink  while preparing food ect...it will be amazing. We badly need to oil up our old  outdoor setting, but that will be another day after the cover goes up.
It felt like we would never reach this point , but it is all happening, life is good....very busy but VERY GOOD.
Take care everyone,
Until we meet again  down the road,
when I probably will be out back having coffee on my new verandah, 
Cheers,
Jane.