Angels

For some reason, Someone up there liked us on Wednesday. Backtrack to Monday, when we were under the impression - a well-informed one, having had three phone conversations and an emailed quote from the brickie in question - that a local bricklayer would be starting on our wall on Tuesday morning. Said morning came and went sans word from said bricklayer. I got edgy. I rang, again and and again, only to be greeted by his voicemail message. Not entirely happy, I emailed him. Eventually I got an email apologising for his tardiness, and promising that he would be with us first thing Wednesday morning.

Got back from the school run to - you've guessed it! - no man wielding trowel. Rang again. Ditto Tuesday's saga. I decided to find someone else, so placed an ad on ratedpeople.co.uk. It's a brilliant site if you're looking for any sort of tradesperson. Literally minutes later I got a call from a brickie, who was round 15 minutes later to quote. Lovely man, and I'm sure his work is wonderful, but his price was through the roof so we had to turn him down.

None too chipper, we closed the door on him, but 10 minutes later received another caller - the angel Jim, who had seen the ratedpeople ad and popped by on the offchance, having spotted our yardload of blocks and bricks and put two and two together. He's Irish, he works with his Da', and boy is he as good as his word. They were in our back yard by 7.30 on Thursday morning and haven't stopped since. They've built most of the back wall (had to stop part way through because they ran out of bricks - another saga!) and are currently laying our driveway and replacing one of the pillars at the entrance. They stop for lunch and that's all. I mean, seriously? Pat laid the entire driveway entrance AND built a pillar in about two hours.

They are, truly, angels. Sent to save us in our hour of need.

And I loved the fact that Irish Jim wore a Springbok rugby jersey on his first day :)

Here they are: