Cooling down.

Hiya family, friends and followers.

If you are reading this post, you must have survived the mini heatwave we experienced the other day. When I was a teenager, I could literally lie out in the sun all day, but not anymore. Now I stay indoors, close the curtains, turn on the fan and watch films. That is how I have spent the past few days.

So this morning, when I woke up, I was so pleased to see it raining and the temperature a lot cooler. The good old British Summer, likes to throw curve balls into the mix and the mini heatwave was it. The one thing us Brit's are good at is talking about the weather. We hate it when it rains, we hate it when it is too hot. For me the rain is so welcome, because the farmers, reservoirs, canals, garden and wildlife need it. Of course it is nice to have sunny days thrown in, but we do so need the rain. The one thing about this wonderful country of ours, is that we have such a diverse weather system. We are fortunate to have Four seasons, which give us all sorts of weather. I personally would not change it for the world. I have friends who live in countries where it is just hot, hot, hot all year round. So although I will say it was too hot for me, I appreciate what we have in the way of different weather.
Thursday, I did nothing, not even painting. I slobbed out and watched films. Friday I was back whelding a paintbrush, but this time I was varnishing the doors in the back cabin. The doors have Roses and Castles painted on them and they need protecting, so I clear varnish them at least every couple of years. I have not hung the curtains yet, because I am still waiting for my curtain hooks to arrive, so you will have to wait for a finally finished photograph.
Today being Saturday, it has as I said at the beginning been raining pretty much all day. I have spent the day cooking, cleaning and crocheting, whilst watching films on Film4. Because it is the school Summer holidays, the range of films has been great today. We had Ice Age, Puss in Boots, Mrs Doubtfire and next is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. All I really needed was Popcorn and a glass of something cool.

Pop back soon xx

Coming on a treat.

Hiya family, friends and followers.

Phew isn't it hot?
I reckon I have sweat buckets over the past few days. But time and tide waits for no man and as I have started, therefore I must finish. I am talking about the back cabin. Having done the prep work on Sunday, I got down to the hard graft on Monday.

Monday I first coated the walls and ceiling in the bed'ole area. With it being so warm it did not take long for it to dry, so I was able to second coat the walls in the afternoon. The ceiling got a second coat on Tuesday. In between painting and sweating, I put my feet up and watched films, because it was way to hot to go gardening and I was pooped.

Come Tuesday, with the ceiling drying, I painted the gear rods Red Gloss and then began to redress the front of the cabin.

First of all Keith, put the curtain rods back up for me. I then started arranging the plates on the wall. I was so glad I took a photograph before I took them down, because there was absolutely no way I would of remembered where they went.

Plates, brasswork and bits all back in place, it was time to again stop, as the heat was getting to much. We put the fan on in the saloon and sat and watch films. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, we were treated to a huge thunder and lightening storm, followed by copious amounts of lovely rain. Now my thinking was it would cool the air, but on getting up this morning (Wednesday), it was very soon apparent, that it was hot before 8am. Today I have second coated the gear rods and port holes and that is it. The heat is to much, so it was back into the saloon, feet up, fan on and watch The Borrowers. I am waiting for some new curtain hooks to arrive. As soon as they get here, I can rehang the back cabin curtains and the back cabin will be complete. I am so happy, I painted it English Sage and Magnolia. My next task is to make some new cushion covers to go with the decor.

Pop back soon xx

Back Cabin. Day 3.

Hello family, friends and followers.

Having second coated the ceiling, walls and shelves, this morning having checked the paintwork, I decided it needed one further coat, to make sure it was covered properly.

Really pleased with the results. It will hopefully look amazing once the cabin is back together again.

We are both really happy with using the English Sage Green in the shelving, it is a nice contrast.
Tomorrow, I will turn my attention to the bed 'ole area, which needs attention.

Having taken down pictures and the shelf, it became apparent that it needed repainting. I rubbed down and undercoated the Red edging, so I should be able to get away with just two coats of Magnolia. We will see how that theory holds.

News on the broken smokebox. We have hopefully found someone who has some. If this is the case we will pick it up when we leave our mooring in August to continue this years cruising.
Having done all the painting for the day. It seems like a good time to sit down and have a coffee. It maybe Sunday, but I have had a busy day.
The garden requires my attention, but to be honest I am done for today. It will still be there in a few days time. The weeds will have grown a foot taller, so they will be easier to get out. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Pop back soon xx

Back Cabin Day 2.

Hello family, friends and followers.

Yesterday you may have read, I prepared the back cabin by rubbing it all down and undercoated the walls, ceiling and shelves in white undercoat. Today was top coat day, but not beofre the first cuppa of the day, whilst watching breakfast news on the BBC. Overnight we had some very heavy rainfall, which the garden would of loved and the of course the canals. I am not sure at what time we both got woken up, but there was a crack and a bang. It turned out to be the smoke box on our stove.

Somehow it had cracked and fallen apart. I would of expected it to happen if it was to hot, because of a fire, or because the cabin was to cold, but there was nothing to cause this to happen. So we are now on the hunt for a new smoke box. Another expense we could do without at the moment :-(.
Anyway after all the overnight rain, when we woke up properly the sun was out and it boded well for a lovely day to do some painting.
Once we were up and dressed. I opened the boat up, made breakfast and then cleared up with mess left behind by the broken smoke box. Having been in touch with a few people about a new smoke box, we can relax, because we have hopefully found a replacement. Unfortunately Midland Chandlers do not do them anymore and that is where we got the stove from 12 years ago.

My first painting job of the day was to paint the ceiling with Moonlight White. I then began painting the shelves with English Sage Green and the walls with Magnolia.

The first top coat was all finished by lunchtime. So time for a break, I cooked lunch and made a coffee. Mid-afternoon, I second coated the shelves and walls. Tomorrow I will second coat the ceiling and then decide as to whether I need to coat the shelves and walls again. It is looking so much brighter and we love it. I wanted to do the shelves in a contrast colour, to make them stand out and the Green is lovely. I have really enjoyed today. I love having a paint brush in my hand.
Tomorrow will see this end of the back cabin finished.

Pop back soon xx

Back cabin time.

Hello family, friends and followers.

Hooray it has been raining pretty much all day. The garden, the reservoirs and the canals are thankful for a drenching. Of course it will not last, as we are heading for temperatures into the high Twenties next week, but at least it is a start.

Having finished the engine room. it was time to turn my attention to the back cabin. A couple of years ago, I painted the bed 'ole area Cream and we love it, because it is nice and bright. With the scumble now suffering in the rest of the back cabin, we have come to the decision to repaint the whole thing. This morning we took down all the plates.

I took these two photographs, to remind me where the plates go when I come to putting them back up.

Once all the plates, curtains and other bits were removed from the back cabin it was time to sand down the walls, ceiling and shelves.

I have decided on a two tone colour scheme. English Sage Green for the bottom half of the cabin and Cream for the top half. I was very thankful to the little mouse sander I have, because it made my job so much easier, than rubbing it down by hand.

Over the years the scumble has gotten darker and so I decided to paint the walls and ceiling in White undercoat first.

Tomorrow I will be putting the first top coat on.
Inbetween rubbing down and painting, I cooked Spagetti Bolognaise for lunch and did a large Whites wash, which included all the back cabin lace, curtains and cushions. I have a feeling we may need sun glasses to sit in the back cabin when it is finished :-).

Pop back soon xx

More painting.

Hi family, friends and fllowers.

The weather has been warm to even hot, but I have kept on with the painting in the engine room.

Having finished the walls, floor and ceiling. I got on with painting the shelving, which had two coat of Donegal Green. Once it was dry, the shelving went back into the engine room.

The steps were also put back into place. At least now I cannot fall into the engine room :-).

Today, I rubbed down and painted one of the engine guards. It is painted the same colour as the engine, which Keith will be painting over the next couple of days. I will probably be getting on with painting the back cabin. Once I get a paint brush in my hand, there is no stopping me.
I have been doing other things. I have tidied the hold, ready to put coal onboard for our next trip out, which will take us into the Winter, so we need coal onboard.
We stripped off our hold ropes and I washed them all. They had not been washed for a few years, which meant they were dirty and stiff. They are now almost white and nice and flexible again.
There is never a dull moment, when it comes to getting jobs done. We will be heading out again in August, so all the boat jobs need to be done before we leave our mooring.

Pop back soon xx

Busy, busy, wasp.

Hello family, friends and followers.

Being back home on our mooring, has meant we have been especially busy with boat jobs and shopping. Having done our fenders, laundry and opening the copious amounts of post, it was time to get serious.
For the past couple of years, I have been wanting to repaint our engine room, but with us having both Paddy and Marmite, it was a bit of a logistical nightmare. Pets and paint really do not go well together, especially when you have a dog with a fluffy coat and a cat which likes to get into everything. But since we lost the pair of them last year sadly, it now means I have no excuse. I can now get on with the engine room paintwork. The first job was to strip everything out and rub everything down.

I painted the ceiling and the walls in Moonlight White Gloss from Wilko.

It has given it a fresh new look. Last time I painted the wall is a cream colour, but we are both loving the white. The walls and ceiling got two coats.

I then turned my attention to the bottom half of the walls, which were done in Donegal Green. They also got two coats.
Yesterday I Keith's drill, with a wire brish attachment, to get rid of the rust and loose paint off the engine room floor, before applying a coat of Red Oxide.

This morning I did the first top coat of Red/Brown by Epifanes. I will decide tomorrow if I need to do a second. Tomorrow, I will begin to paint the shelving which sits over the generator and hot water tank.
Whilst all this work was taking place, we noticed Wasps flying in and out of one of our bunkers. Last year we had a nest in the very same bunker and suspected we had the same again. I opened the door to be met with several Wasps. None of them were angry, but they were curious. I needed to get into the bunker to get to some paint and a tarpolin which we needed. I actually pulled part of the nest away from the wall, this did not please the Wasps, so we left well alone for a while, before closing the door.

My thinking was we would leave the Wasps alone to do their thing, because once the weather cools, they would leave the nest and we could then have our bunker back. But our neighbour is allergic to Wasps stings.

Today we took the decision that we would have to dispose of the nest and to do that we would have to kill the Wasps. Whilst in town we bought some Wasps powder, which seemed to quickly do the job, once we had puffed it over the entrance to the bunker. We will leave the nest overnight and have another look in the morning. I feel sad that we had to get rid of the nest, but we could not take a risk, what with our neighbour being allergic. She had said she had had a few already in her boat and that was what made us decide to take action.

Pop back soon xx

Days 119 and 120. Back Home.

Hello family, friends and followers.

On Sunday morning we took the decision to head for home, because Keith needed to speak to our GP. We set off for Bascote Locks and were joined by Sloop John T for the journey down the staircase, where we met another boat coming up.

We showed the other two boats how to do the switch in a staircase as neither of them had seen it done before. When we reached Radford Semele bottom lock, there was another boat going down, so we allowed the Sloop John T to join them and we followed on our own. We stopped off at Lidl to get a few bits to keep us going and then carried on.

On approaching Cape Locks, we joined a Black Prince Hire boat for the final two locks, and then headed for the left hand turn into the Arm and home.

The garden is a jungle waiting to be tamed and we have a list of jobs as long as your arm to do.

First day home (Monday) and Keith got to talk to our GP and he has been put on a months worth of antibiotics once more. First job of my day was to get a wash done and hung out. I then walked into town to collect Keith's tablets. 

After some lunch, we oiled our new fenders and after allowing them to dry a bit we put then on the stern. They need to bed in a bit and will need moving about before we go out again. I began to tame the jungle which is our garden. I have so far had three barrow fulls of weeds and still more to come, but after a busy day, it was time to sit down with a Ginger beer and watch a bit of tennis.

Pop back soon xx

Days 117 and 118. Hot and sweaty.

Hello family, friends and followers.

Yesterday (Friday) the day started so well in the early morning sunshine and then all the plonkers, pillocks and plebs come out to play on the canals, it is July after all and the sun is shining. I really do wonder why some people are on boats and who told them it was a good idea to moor on the outside of bends and up close and personal to bridge 'oles?
I am a tolerant person normally, but I really do get exasperated, when people do stupid things, which take no one else into consideration and then they complain when something happens to their boat. One such person had a sign in their window about passing on tick over, which we always do. He then thought shouting at us to slow down was appropriate. If he had tied his mooring lines tight, instead of allowing them to hang in the water, his boat would not have moved. Anyway after a day of cruising in the heat, we moored up at the Blue Lias, where we sat enjoying a pint, having done 13.6 miles 11 locks.

Today (Saturday). Very short trip this morning, which took us all of 35 mins!

This is the wide beam attempting to travel from Warwick to London, still below Bridge No.24 which it cannot get through.

We moored up at the Two Boats, Long Itchington.

Pop back soon xxx

Day 116. It is getting hot, hot, hot.

Hello family, friends and followers.

After a hot day of it yesterday, I spent the cooling of the evening collecting kindling, ready for the Autumn and Winter fires. I ended up with a coal bag over half full. Whilst out collecting wood, Ling came past, looking for somewhere deep enough to moor up for the night.

This morning we were up and ready to set off at 8.00 am. The plan was to get a lot of cruising done before the heat of the day took over. We cruised back past Hartshill CRT yard.

Charity Dock always amuses me, with its eclectic boats and fun dummies.

I reckon this place is full of wonderful treasure. Clearly the owners have a wonderful sense of humour.

We approached Hawkesbury Junction. I hopped off to work the lock and Keith did the turn.

I did have to ask a boater if they would kindly move off of the lock landing, otherwise keith would of hit their boat. They had moored up to apparently use the services. Anyway all was well once we got around the turn.

Always love this field of horses of all shapes and sizes. We also saw a Little Egret fishing with a Heron. There has been no end of ducklings and Moorhen chicks on our journey. We also saw a Terrapin basking in the sunshine. I have not seen one for years in the canal.

Having done Newbold Tunnel and Rugby, we were soon at the Hillmorton Locks. I was informed that all the locks are now working properly, after they had big issues with them a few days ago.

Our day ended at 5.30 pm. We are moored near Barby Wood Bridge No.78, 26.9 miles, 4 locks, 1 tunnel, 9hrs 30mins. A salad dinner was enjoyed and a good soak under a hot shower. It is going to be a sultry night I think. Nothing will stop me sleeping though after a long cruising day.

Pop back soon xx