Heavenly Beverley : Back to the Future

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Back to the Future

We have been very lucky. Our first Helpxer, Madlen, was extraordinary in her enthusiasm, energy and positive attitude. She was a joy to have in our home and as her departure date approached, we were apprehensive in our expectations about our next volunteer.

We needn't have worried. Simon from Bordeaux is another gift from the Gods. He is smart, witty and works like a trojan. Having arrived on Tuesday afternoon, he has been immediately been chucked into action. Gary, Michael and Simon have cleared the remaining forty-five square metres of Shop 4, taken up the floor and begun marking and digging for the new steel members to be brought in for the foundations.

This morning, Simon washed the dishes for me. I will have to ask him to give housekeeping lessons to Michael, who always seems to turn up just as I finish washing up. He is also clean, tidy and eats everything, even though he is not fond of onion. And his only vice appears to be that he has the occasional smoke. Michael is secretly delighted as he now has a partner in crime to brave the elements and have a fag.

So we are revisiting the reconstruction of the second phase of the new floor. Surprise, surprise, the current state of the floor looks as bad, if not worse, than the front half of the floor that we replaced in March. There is a distinct lack of visible means of support, the remains of the cellar walls are decidedly dodgy and wobbly and the yellow sand appears to be the only substance holding the brickwork approximately in place. In other words, a disaster.

Fear not. The Three Amigos are riding in to repair the mess. Hopefully, with three of them, there will be less blood, sweat and tears. And maybe Michael will emerge unscathed from this exercise, unlike last time. And having a young fit bloke on the job means that Michael will be able to do less physical grunt work, more supervising and hopefully stay out of hospital!

I can only wish...