Spring Cleaning.

Hi Friends and Followers.

So who watched ‘Celebrity Carry On Barging’. I so hate the word Barging, when it should be Narrowboating, but hey ho. I am still loving Lorraine, even though she fell in, she was non to bothered by it. Not sure the people on the wide beam were to impressed when she hit them, but as we all know it happens, even with the most experienced boaters. There were things said by the narrator which made me cringe, because they clearly had not done their research on boating, but despite that I did laugh with them and at them, so another good program.

Saturday morning and the birds were singing early. We were awake at 7 am with a cup of tea to hand and the news and weather on TV. It was going to be a good day to get outside jobs done, which was music to my ears.

After breakfast, walking Paddy and feeding both Paddy and Marmite, I was in the mood to get jobs done outside. The first thing on my hit list was to clean the brass, which I had neglected all Winter. I fail to see the point of wasting Brasso, when you need to clean everyday over the Winter, whereas when it is warmer I can get away without cleaning for three or four days depending on the weather. To look at the brass work, it looked really dirty, that is why I am not showing you a photograph, because it was disgusting. Out came the Cillit Bang and Brasso. I know people use a range of things for getting their brass up to scratch. Brown Sauce, Shiny Sinks, Brasso on its own, but my product of choice today was Cillit Bang. Spray it on, give it a gentle rub and hey presto the worst of the grim is off. I then finished off with Brasso.

I cleaned seven portholes, four pigeon box portholes, Terret’s, mushroom vents, bullseye ring and back cabin brass. It was all done in just over an hour. When I do it next week, it will be so much easier to do. I want it to look nice and clean for when we go out.

After the brass was all done, I sanded down the back cabin step and teak oiled it. Doing it at the beginning of the season, means the wood is protected until we come home later in the year. I want to try and wash and polish the paintwork next week, weather permitting, we will then be all ready for shoving off day.

Yesterday I told you that I had tidied the pontoon. Today I washed it down and made sure everything was stowed away. I then turned my attention to the garden. My neighbour and I swapped fruit bushes. She wanted to get rid of a Gooseberry bush and I wanted to get rid of a Goji Berry bush. We tried growing the Goji berries, but had no real luck with them, so hopefully our neighbour will have more luck. I tidied a bit more in the garden, before calling it a day at 3.30 pm, when the temperature had begun to drop and it was looking rather miserable out. The next couple of days are supposed to be nice, so I have the back cabin curtains and blankets to wash. Spring is really in the air for me, or it is just the excitement of getting ready for cruising.

It is almost 4 pm and my day is almost done, I feel like I have cleaned everything I am going to clean today. Poor Keith’s toothache is back. He was fine yesterday, but today it is back. It is just as well he is going to the dentist on Monday. I am now going to put my feet up until dinner time. No idea what this evening has in store, but I am sure I will find something to do. I have plenty of crochet and knitting to get on with.