Testing Times

Today really has been a testing time in the Crazy World of Koi.

I started digging out one of the pond corners to square it off at about 09.30. I'd not been digging long before i needed to take a bit of a breather, not just because i'm so unfit but because it was so "muggy". As the morning wore on it became more and more humid and the going was getting tougher. I really don't like this sort of weather and under normal circumstances would be wishing for a thunder storm to clear the air. Today however was different as we'd planned to install the bottom drain, therefore a downpour was the last thing we needed.

Lunchtime arrived ..... and so did the rain! Fortunately it was only a shower and by the time we'd finished our sandwiches & crisps the rain had almost stopped. We'd already glued the majority of pipework in place for the bottom drain along with the air feed pipework which had been given time to go off while we had lunch. Not that it needed this length of time in these conditions. In fact we'd actually struggled to push things in place the glue or cement was going off that fast.

Up to this point things had gone reasonably well for us, apart from the manic assembling due to the glue going off so fast in the "muggy" conditions. However it's quite amazing how a couple of little things can soon turn you into an ogre!

A base for the bottom drain was duly prepared by digging a hole and filled with around 6 inch of concrete. We then positioned the bottom drain in place ready for the next mix to concrete it in place. The mix was looking good and we were just about to transfer it to the barrow when the cement mixer fell over. Concrete spewed everywhere and the mixer convulsed on the floor until i managed to pull the plug form the extension lead. Concrete was quickly picked up and transferred to the barrow whilst the rest that miraculously remained in the mixer was also transferred.

To add insult to injury (although no person was actually injured, the cement mixer was diagnosed terminally ill after a severe fracture and is currently awaiting transport to its final resting place ..... the skip!), the bottom drain then decided that it didn't want to sit level for us and insisted on leaning over towards the side where the air pipe sat. Even after trying to prop the air feed pipe with some bricks, the bottom drain still decided it preferred to lean over. Now we've done a fair bit of concreting in our time, in fact my cement mixes have become the stuff of legends (or nightmares when you're trying to get them back out or broken up) so levelling a bottom drain shouldn't have been too much of a problem.

However it was being as stubborn as a teenager (or a 3 year old if ours is anything to go by) and refused to do as it was told. Reasoning, persuasion, bribery and threats were all tried to no avail, until after numerous attempts to get it to see things our way we finally had a break through. A further mix of cement was called for which was duly mixed by hand (thanks to the suicidal mixer) and placed around the bottom drain to secure it, as well as further down the pipework. A further mix would also be required to secure the pipework at the elbow, however it was decided to complete this another time after the cement around the drain had gone off, so as not to cause upheaval again!

What with the heat & humidity, the suicidal mixer, an un-cooperative bottom drain plus the additional holes that our German Shepherd Dog had decided to add to the build, today really has been one of those days! For the first time at the end of a days work, i saw a mess of a garden instead of a potential Koi pond. However i know that after a nice shower and a bottle (or two) of cider, i'll have a different perspective on things again!