The chap in a yellow safety jacket wielding a rake said, “There’s nothing like topsoil to finish it off,” and I cannot disagree with that assessment from a man who knows how to shift earth!
Larry Higgerson and his team have put the finishing touches to our storm water system and as the redoubtable Larry said, “It’s great to be above ground at last” and that means final grading, spreading topsoil and laying grass matting. In past blogs I have waxed lyrical about the big, powerful, yellow machines that have roamed our grounds with brutal efficiency as they excavate, fill, and pound the earth and once again a big yellow machine has held center stage this week. This time it has been a master class in precise “excavator bucket” handling to spread topsoil into the tightest corners of the site and operated by a fellow with such a deft hand that I believe he could use the excavator bucket to pull the skin off a rice pudding* without spilling a drop much less breaking the bowl! I have tried to capture his dexterity in the pictures above, alas they do no justice to skill of the man at the controls. Staying outside there’s been a lot of work on installing trim and finishing the entrance porches around the building and whilst this is in itself a sight to behold the real eye catcher has to be the head of the crew and, I think, owner of the business. He is clearly a rather tenacious and hardy chap who whilst working on another site took a tumble off a ladder and in doing so managed to damage the tendons in this right elbow. He is waiting to get scheduled for surgery but in the meantime, he is working a full day albeit with his right arm in plaster from armpit to wrist!! Inside the ladies of the sheet rock finishing team have been continuing their “altitude” act with alacrity as they stretch a scissor lift, quite literally, to its limits whilst their boss keeps a critical eye on their work from the safety of terra firma (a man after my own heart when it comes to heights). Some may recall from the dim and distant past that our Rector’s office used to have windows that looked out onto a shady and sun dappled entrance to the old building. That “shady and sun dappled entrance” was, of course, an early casualty of the new building and that space is now occupied by the Narthex and in particular the two new restrooms that now back on to the Rector’s office – please rest assured the windows are no more. This week the sheet rock team has been doing their thing in restrooms as a prelude to the finishing ladies working their magic then it will be the turn of the plumbers. And it’s not all been contractor action for our own Shirley the weekday sexton and Mathew the weekend sexton have been doing their bit for the project. In the past I’ve blogged about, and posted pictures of, the furniture, box and sundry item “mountain” in Tucker Hall. Well, that mountain is no more. Furniture and boxes have either been returned to the rightful owners’ offices or placed in a handy spot for future distribution in the new spaces and soon it will be time for Father Bob, Mother Ashley and Gretchen to move back into their rightful workspaces!! I’ll be taking a blogging-break for a couple of weeks but in the meantime stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach "Rice pudding" I'm not sure rice pudding is a familiar dish in the States but it was one of my Mum's go to deserts. Her recipe created a hot, rather "sloppy," but rather tasty concoction with a crispy topping (the skin) considered by my brother and I to be the choice part of the serving!
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AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
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