First thing yesterday a huge old truck laboured up our road and off loaded a massive cement mixer, crane and buckets, wooden beams to hold the crane in place, water tanks, wheel barrows and other odds and ends. The pouring of the concrete roof on the house next door was about to begin, however, not before Marion supplied coffee and biscuits and there was a photo shot or two.
This was another amazing performance as they poured the concrete roof. Electrical power was taken from houses either side, one source for the crane and the other for the mixer. They simply poke two bared wires into the various meter boxes and plug the connection with matches in order to hold them in place! There is absolutely no sign of any O.H.&S. practices apart from the one blue safety hat. The man who wore that had the job of standing below the crane and catching the cement buckets as they were lowered to fill. By the way you may notice how close the buckets were to the power lines as they went up and down. The cement mixer had to be attacked every now and then with a sledge hammer when it over heated and jammed! A local water truck was commandered because the local pressure was too low to keep up the supply. Take a good look at the scaffold, all gum tree trunks. There was much yelling and spraying of wet cement in all directions, even all over our front porch area. Nobody seemed to worry too much, they just had a job to do.
The local tradition is to hang a cross, some flowers and a bottle of champagne or wine from the roof. This is to bring a blessing on their work and also to ensure the safety of their roof! The final act is to pelt the bottle with stones until someone is lucky enough to break the bottle with a direct hit. Sadly Marion failed to score a hit strong enough to break the bottle although she did have many attempts.
When it was all over the owners supplied the 'afters' - chicken, chips and beer. This was enjoyed by all even though the rain had begun to fall. Nothing dampens the spirits after a hard days work. We had to leave early because of our English class, however, they were still there, in the rain, when we came home at 9.30!
This was another amazing performance as they poured the concrete roof. Electrical power was taken from houses either side, one source for the crane and the other for the mixer. They simply poke two bared wires into the various meter boxes and plug the connection with matches in order to hold them in place! There is absolutely no sign of any O.H.&S. practices apart from the one blue safety hat. The man who wore that had the job of standing below the crane and catching the cement buckets as they were lowered to fill. By the way you may notice how close the buckets were to the power lines as they went up and down. The cement mixer had to be attacked every now and then with a sledge hammer when it over heated and jammed! A local water truck was commandered because the local pressure was too low to keep up the supply. Take a good look at the scaffold, all gum tree trunks. There was much yelling and spraying of wet cement in all directions, even all over our front porch area. Nobody seemed to worry too much, they just had a job to do.
The local tradition is to hang a cross, some flowers and a bottle of champagne or wine from the roof. This is to bring a blessing on their work and also to ensure the safety of their roof! The final act is to pelt the bottle with stones until someone is lucky enough to break the bottle with a direct hit. Sadly Marion failed to score a hit strong enough to break the bottle although she did have many attempts.
When it was all over the owners supplied the 'afters' - chicken, chips and beer. This was enjoyed by all even though the rain had begun to fall. Nothing dampens the spirits after a hard days work. We had to leave early because of our English class, however, they were still there, in the rain, when we came home at 9.30!
