# Wet day at work.

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Wet Clothing Forum - Beach Club ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Will the gardener on June 08, 2019 at 14:48:39

The other day I had agreed to help out a friend who, like me, runs his own business. We have a mutual agreement to help each other out with labour when any job is too much to do alone. Ian started out as a gardener / landscaper like me but has since been doing water features and, when the opportunity arises, installing swimming pools. He has also recently taken on his nephew, Jason, who was expelled from his school for reasons I have yet to discover. I have met Jason before as he had previously helped out during his school holidays. A big lad, both tall and broad, with a good sense of humour and willing to do anything that is asked of him, or a least give it a good go.

I agreed to meet on site, a big detached house in the posh part of town - the houses here go for £1.5m minimum - and this one was one of the bigger ones. The owner is having the house renovated and Ian is building a natural swimming pond and water feature in the back garden. The house is currently empty with the decorators doing the final bits of their work.

When I arrived the early morning sun was just disappearing behind a bank of dark clouds and looking around, there were more dark clouds in every direction. I walked through to the back garden, following the tracks of a mini-digger, and found Ian and Jason standing by a what looked like the excavation for the pond, they were silent and deep in thought.

"Hi guys, this looks like a big job, how's it going?" I asked as we shook hands.

"Well so far." Ian said "Glad you could make it today. I want to get the liner laid in here this morning and then we can start filling it. An extra pair of hands will make the job much easier."

We were just starting to lay the huge sheets of liner across the hole when it started to rain and got gradually heavier and heavier as we worked. I was wearing heavy cotton work-wear trousers - a light sand colour with black patch pockets and knee patches, a well worn grey denim shirt and brown work boots - I could feel the wetness soaking through my shirt and dribbling through my hair and when I looked at the others they were in a similar state, Ian's tan jeans and khaki shirt were gradually changing to a darker shade the wetter they got and Jason's black tee-shirt and grey and black camo pattern combats were beginning to look decidedly shiny.

"Does anyone want to stop for a bit until the rain eases up?" Ian asked as we stopped briefly to assess how far we had got before starting on sealing the separate sheets of liner together.

"No, I'm fine." I said "Your decision, but I'm happy to carry on and get wet."

"Me too." Jason said as he grinned at me "I'm enjoying this anyway."

"So you're a wet fan, Jason?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure ............ nothing better than a nice pair of wet jeans. Preferably worn in a swimming pool." Jason laughed "Been a fan since I had a go in a dunk tank when I was in the Scouts."

"So do you get the chance often now?" I asked.

"Sure do - we have a pool at home so I'm in there as often as I can be, provided it's not too cold." Jason explained "We do have a family tradition of having a swim on Boxing Day every year even if it means breaking the ice to get in, but I prefer it comfortably warm in the summer. Dad and my brother think I'm mad but don't object to me swimming in my clothes. And now I'm working with uncle Ian I get even more chances."

"He'll be in here testing it out before we are finished......" Ian laughed.

We carried on working at glueing and taping the sheets of liner together and by the time we had done that we were all soaked through. Ian turned the hose on and we gently tamped down the liner as the water began to fill the pond. The weight of the water ensures that the liner is tight against the underlying layer of sand and also lets us see where it needs to fold and wrinkle to match the contours of the pond's base and sides. After a bit we left the hose running to fill the pond and carried on working on the rockery and water feature on the bank away from the house and main lawn area. The pond is quite big and deep so Ian reckoned it would take the rest of the day to get anywhere near half-full and most of the next to completely fill.

We had a break for some lunch and carried on working until late afternoon, when Jason suggested he check out the pond. He kicked off his boots and walked slowly and carefully over the sloping liner until he reached the water's edge and after a short hesitation carried on walking, getting deeper and deeper until he reached the lowest level of the pond where the water was just lapping around his waist level.

Ian and I stood on the bank and watched him.

"What's the betting he'll go for a swim now?" Ian asked.

"100% I'd say." I laughed.

"Yeah, I agree." Ian sighed "He'll get the inside of my van all wet again going home."

"You should make him strip off - teach him a lesson - he might not be so ready to do it again if you did."

"No thanks - he's not a pretty sight without clothes - and I'm not driving through town with him like that ......... Ooohh there he goes......" Ian laughed as we watched Jason dive forward, take a few strokes and roll onto his back to float in the water for a few moments before regaining his feet and start to wade back out of the water. As he stood up the water poured off him and his black tee-shirt gleamed and stuck to his chest and torso, I could see that he was well toned and had a very decent looking six-pack.

"The water's not cold, this will be lovely when it's full and all the planting is in place, you get a different view of it from down here." Jason called "Anyone else for a swim? How about you Will?"

I looked at Ian and he shook his head as he said "Not me, thanks. You go if you want Will."

So I pulled off my boots and jumped down from the bank and walked over to join Jason. He was right, the water was very pleasant as I waded in. We swam about for a few minutes and then waded out, pulled on our boots and started to tidy up prior to going home.

As we packed up Ian's van, Jason asked If I'd like to join everyone for the BBQ they were doing that evening.

"Ian and Julie are coming round, so it will just be them, dad and Sam. Dad does a mean BBQ and you could always have another swim in a nice warm pool. Bring Janine along of course, it would be nice to have new friends around instead of just the family."

"I'd like that but let me check with Janine first, is that OK?" I asked.

"Of course." Jason replied "I'll just go and get the last few tools and turn the hose off."

As he hurried off, I asked Ian "Is this OK, I don't want to gatecrash a family BBQ?"

"No, no. I'm glad he asked. Since Karen, their mum, died they have become rather isolated, just the three of them alone together. I've been trying to encourage them to get back to inviting people around for a while."

"Oh right, of course you did tell me about Karen, sorry, I'd forgotten." I said "Let me ring Janine, my phone is in the van." Janine was all in favour of not having to cook for us herself, so readily agreed to going along to the BBQ, so I told Jason we'd be delighted to attend, thank you.

"Max's BBQs are legendary" Ian added "he's a great host, you'll enjoy yourselves and the pool will be open rain or not. Max suggested a Hawaiian theme tonight so dress accordingly if you can, he'll like that."

We finished packing up and I went home to get changed into swim-shorts and a bold floral shirt and Janine put on her bikini under a skirt and blouse and we grabbed a bottle of wine and some beers and headed off. We had arranged to pick up Ian and his wife Julie and they directed us to Max's home, which turned out to be a palatial, sprawling bungalow in beautiful gardens with an enormous kidney shaped swimming pool.

It was a fun evening and Max made us feel very welcome, the BBQ was excellent and even the rain held off for most of the evening, not that that really mattered as Jason pushed Ian and myself in the pool almost as soon as we had arrived so we were soaking wet all evening, which was fun. Jason's younger brother Sam was an energetic lad of fifteen or so and spent almost the entire time in the pool with a school friend who was staying overnight, I think they only got out of the water to get food.

Follow Ups:

- Re: Wet day at work. Jamie 11:24:12 6/09/2019 (1)
  - Re: Wet day at work. Will the gardener 14:11:56 6/09/2019 (0)
- Re: Wet day at work. Robin 22:43:25 6/08/2019 (1)
  - Re: Wet day at work. Will the gardener 07:28:10 6/09/2019 (0)

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:

Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Wet Clothing Forum - Beach Club ] [ FAQ ]