Chim chiminey

Hello Friends and Followers.

One could be forgiven for thinking Summer has arrived, because Saturday was glorious and today Sunday has been amazing.

After a leisurely cup of tea in bed, it was hard to lie in bed looking at the sun shining through the pigeon box portholes and not be outside enjoying it. So 8 am it was up and about. Paddy got his walk first and then he and Marmite got fed. I was then off the boat sorting out the mop poles, which were ready for their final coat of white paint. Yesterday I put the first coat of white gloss on and today I wanted to get them finished, so I can add their heads. After the painting was done, I spent a good hour chatting to our neighbour, we of course managed to out the whole world to right and enjoyed a lot of laughs along the way.

After a much needed coffee, I decided that with the saloon stove out, it was the perfect opportunity to sweep the flue and clean out the stove, because we are having chillier weather next week if the forecasters are right. I climbed onto the roof of the boat and rammed the flue brush down. The thinner brush went down fine, but my larger brush, just would not go past midway. Brainwave was to sweep it from inside the boat. Hoover at hand and thinner brush pushed up the chimney, I hit a major snag. The brush was well and truly stuck and no amount of pulling and wiggling was going to shift it. Plan B came into mind, I would have to take the flue out and try and remove the brush on the pontoon. With Keith’s help we managed to get the flue out of the boat and onto the pontoon. To get the brush out of the flue, Keith put a piece of rope through the loop of the brush and pulled and wiggled and eventually the brush came out. To clear the obstruction, we tried using a crowbar and a chisel, but nothing was going to move the tar, well that was until Mike one of our neighbours suggest his piece of gas pipe, which had a splayed bit on the end. We place the flue on our work bench and I rammed the pole up and down. Hey presto it worked like a dream. We now have a clean flue and I have muscles like Popeye. I then put the bit flue brush up and down the flue a few times to make sure it was completely clear. Job done . We put the flue back in place and I cleared up and put some putty around the joint into the stove. We are now ready for lighting the stove when need be.

After lunch, I was washing-up and past the window flew a Flamingo. Cath and Alan had come into the Arm for gas and ended up staying. It was fabulous to see them and the boat. The day has been just like a Summers day, it is hard to believe that we are set for colder weather next week, so we will see what happens.