Painting, Painting and Brass Cleaning.

Yes it has been another day of sunshine and painting. Top coats were added to the cratch board and locker hatch. I also rubbed down the galley doors on the portside and re-varnished them, as they had been through the winter weather and needed redoing. I then got on with varnishing around the doors of the back cabin, which had also been out in the elements all weather and therefore needs as much protection as possible. All this varnishing meant both Marmite and Paddy had to stay indoors for most of the day whilst the varnish dried. Whilst I was varnishing and painting, Keith got on with adding a coat of red gloss to our mop handles and to the tops of the back cabin doors. After a busy morning we settled down under the trees to eat our lunch, whilst watching boats cruising in both directions, many of them heading back to their hire companies. One such boat heading back to Ellesmere stopped and bought some of our place mats and coasters, the people had really enjoyed their boating holiday, the last time they hired a boat was Eleven years ago and will do it again.

During the afternoon, we sat in the shade cleaning the horse brasses from the back cabin and whilst we did so, we noticed a boat heading towards us. I recognised the boat and the people on board, it was David and Viv on NB First Fruits, who have a mooring in Market Harborough and are good friends. They pulled in  behind us for a chat whilst they ate their lunch, they had been to Llangollen and had just come off of the Montgomery. It was wonderful to see them again and we will see them again in the Autumn, when we head to Market Harborough. With the heat rising, the rest of the afternoon was spent sat in the shade of a common ash tree, which has given us shelter from the sun. Another lovely day, which will end with a nice shower and bed, because I am bushed.