Getting ready.

After being moored up for more than 18 months, the thought of moving off is very exciting. We have both begun to get itchy feet and yes I know that sounds gross, but other boaters will know exactly what I am talking about.

With the thought that we may be on the move next week, I have begun getting the boat ready. One of the jobs I really wanted to get done was the painting of the floor in the gas locker. It has not been done for 4 years and so I set about taking the gas bottles out. I then scrapped the floor and then washed it out. Once the floor was dry I then used a wire brush on the rusty bits. The one thing I am really happy is, that our gas locker is huge and so it is easy to get into and paint. I usually use bitumen, the same stuff we use on the hull. Painting in an enclosed space means the fumes can be extreme, so every now and again I would stick my head out of the locker to get some fresh air.

Floor done, it was allowed to dry before putting the gas bottles back in. I only did the one coat for now. I will do a further coat later in the year as well as painting the walls.

Job two was to paint the cover for our inbuilt generator. For sometime we had a piece of wood in the hold to make a new door for the front of our generator, which lives in the engine room. having made the door, it needed painting and so that was my next job.

Having given the board two coats of undercoat, I wanted to paint it Grand Union Green, but on opening the tin, it was clear there was not going to be enough to do two coats and the paint had gone thick, due to standing around for a couple of years, so plan B was to paint the board black with one coat. We will buy some Grand Union Green when we are out and I will then paint the board again when we come back to our mooring. There is always a solution to a problem and that was my answer. Another job done.

Now as you will all know we have a lovely garden alongside our mooring and it needs to pretty much look after its self whilst we are away, so I got on with weeding and planting the remaining plants in the garden, as i did not want to leave potted plants on the pontoon to dry out and die whilst we are away.

I have not put in any veggies this year, because we are not going to be on the mooring to enjoy them. The shrubs and flowers should look after themselves and I know the weeds will be more than happy to grow whilst we are not looking.

The newly added Bug Hotel, now has its own sign, which I painted. So far it does not look like we have any bugs taking up residence, but possibly behind the scenes they are moving in. It has certainly been commented about. I have been asked by a few people how you build a Bug Hotel. I used a pallet, which was cut up and stacked up. Hubby nailed it together and then we filled it with straw, bits of pipe, pine cones, twigs, hollow bamboo and stones. You can add anything that you think bugs will love to live in.

So the idea now is that Hubby will see his dentist on Friday, to try and sort out a painful tooth. He has been waiting for an appointment at the dental hospital in Birmingham, but having waited months and still no appointment, his patience has worn out and his pain has increased, so he wants the tooth taken out. If that goes well, we will celebrate my birthday at our favourite Indian Restaurant and probably leave the following day. But as you know the best laid plans can always go pear shaped and so things may change.

I will keep you posted.