1st coat on.

Hello Dear Friends and Followers.

I was awake again at 5 am and I have no idea why. Maybe my inner alarm clock was letting me know I needed to be up early to get the blacking started, but there was no way I was getting up at 5 am. I dozed for another hour, before getting up to make a cuppa. We then got up and got our act into gear. Today was blacking day.

We have blacked Hadar since she was in the paint shed at Roger Fuller's yard, so we know every inch of her. Of course as the years have past, all ten of them we have gotten older and as we black here every two years, we are both realising that we are not as young as we used to be. Blacking began at 7 am, Keith took one side and I took the other. I did under the back counter to save Keith's back a little, but it did nothing to help my Sciatica. By 11.30 am we had put on the first coat of blacking and almost finished the first tin. I then got on with undercoating the tunnel bands and bow, ready for a gloss coat. 12 noon the decision was made, that we would head to the Hatton Locks cafe for lunch and a cuppa, mainly because we were both pooped and I could not be bothered to sort something out for lunch. The cafe as always was very busy. 

Back at the boat the undercoat had well and truly dried in the heat, so I was able to get a coat of gloss on the white and red bands and on the bow. I am ahead of the game so far, but tomorrow it looks like we may have some thunderstorms, so this may hold us up a bit. 

Gloss coat added, I walked up to the cafe to get us both an ice cream, which I felt I deserved. Whilst I painted Keith went and had a natter to the lock volunteers. They have been kept busy today, with a lot of boats on the move. We are hoping that Ian from the boat yard brings us a new tin of blacking, for the morning, because we are going to be short otherwise, we have run him and he has said he will drop one over.

Blacking and painting done for the day, the heat is now to much for me to cope with, so I am sitting inside out of it. I am off out later to a Trustee meeting in the Arm and then an early night, so we can begin the process all over again.