Stacked 5 Deep

Ah. Bank Holiday Weekend.

The river has been packed solid all day. Not a good time to be venturing out, as I doubt there's anywhere to moor a canoe, let alone a 53ft narrowboat. It's heaving with people, everywhere.

Bluebell Woods

Took the boat down to Cliveden again yesterday, to have a potter around it's Bluebell Woods. The fragrance was lovely. I didn't think that the phone camera would do them justice, but Sheena wanted me to put the pics on the blog anyway.

I'm actually quite chuffed with this one... It would make a nice wallpaper..

Sumo. On what remains of 'Blue Blanket'.

Approaching the Bourne End railway bridge. Which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment. They're not painting it, apparently. No, they're adding a "weatherproof protective coating". It must be costing somebody a fortune, because the health and safety implementation is beyond ridiculous. The days where stout geezers would dangle over the edge in bosuns chairs are long gone.  I guess they don't want even "one flake" of paint or rust falling down into the river. Which is commendable, I suppose.

Sheena says I'm "in love with the Thames". But on a day like this, who wouldn't be? Absolutely gorgeous. Distant are the memories of getting bumrushed by massive boats all racing to get in the lock first. Maybe that's just on Bank Holidays.

Cliveden's "Green Avenue".

Pear Shaped

After a bit more huffing, puffing, and skin off my fingers, I managed to undo another nut today. But the other two were definitely seized solid. Steve came and gave me a hand with his drill. But like a pair of pillocks, we didn't ratchet strap the stove tight before we popped the top off. It went "ping" and all fell apart. Gutted. Tried to ratchet it back together again, but noticed a large crack by the rear blanking plate. So that will be a new stove and backboiler then.

*waves goodbye to £1000*

A £20,000 paint job.
More money than sense, in my humble opinion. He should have spent the money on a mooring, rather than taking the pris at Spade Oak for six months of the year.

Seized Nuts

It's been a bit warmer over the last few days. Time to tackle a job I'd been putting off, until we no longer needed the fire in the evenings. Our stove top had cracked, about a month ago. Because I'd stupidly overloaded it with wood, and then left the bottom vent door open for too long. It was flaming like a furnace in there when it went "pop". Thankfully, the crack was only on the periphery, with no detectable leakage from the firebox. I sealed it up with heatproof silicone to be sure, and it would probably have been good for a while longer. But I figure we'd have got an "advisory" notice, when we next have our boat safety inspection done. Which is soon.

We got the new top from Harworth Heating, because they were about £50 cheaper than the other prices we could find online. It cost us £71. Their 100% geninune Morso(tm) bolts and stove rope were reasonably priced, too.

Getting the chimney off, went OK. It hadn't seized or rusted into place. Getting the flue out, went OK. Bit of judicious jiggling. Screwdriver to remove the old fire cement. Out it popped, with the minimum of fuss. Stove collar, we fitted recently.  We'd bedded that in with some heat resistant silicone, so it was only a MODERATE PITA to remove. But the retaining nuts underneath... a completely different story. TOTAL PITA. They're corroded, encrusted, nonvisible, and are very fiddly to get at. Because of the backboiler. And I really don't want to be messing with that.

Fortified with triple espressos, I managed to get one out, after much huffing and puffing. But, there are three more to go. Tried a ring spanner. No joy. Tried a socket spanner. No Joy. Next plan is to drill them out from above. The new top will indicate the precise position where the holes should be drilled.

While I was doing all this, Sumo just chilled out.. Sunny spot and Sheena's Pillows. He is on "short walks" at the moment, because he overdid it chasing after tennis balls. I think both of us forget he is 9. We recently switched him over to "senior" Chudley chunks. Which are fortified with sea weed (which he adores) and herbs. He seems to be fine on it. And his coat is nice and shiny too.

awww, mister.

Poo Slick

Not a good day to go swimming.

Bug City

I forgot that this is the time of year when annoying flying creatures hatch out of the river. The boat is infested with 1000's of the things. Though, thankfully, they are not the biting variety.

It was not nearly as nice, today. The sun was struggling to pierce through the clouds. Think I am going to head back up the river tomorrow, before the rains come again. Took Sumo for another enjoyable walk..

Bumped into a labrador owner who used to work on the estate. I commented on the new buildings that have just popped up. Three blocks of them. He said they are "eco homes for the extremely wealthy". They look like something out of Gerry Anderson to me. Or eastern europe. All blocky and square. The National trust have sold off part of the estate's land to fund development in other areas. Shame, really. These buildings do not fit into their landscape. Nor are they very sympathetic, at all. Just all blocky and square. I don't see how it is "eco friendly" to level a shed load of trees and put concrete blocks on them. I guess the money had a lot to do with sweeping aside any niggling concerns about that.

Hmmm..

St. George's Day

Very busy at the marina this morning. Backlog of boats being craned in and out. And a massive barge, waiting to disgorge it's 15 tonnes of "shite" that's been blasted off of the railway bridge during the refurbishment. Time to move! Took the boat down to Cliveden to squeeze the most of this long awaited fine weather, and to give mister some quality exercise and new sniffs.

Beautiful sunshine. Had the river to myself all the way down. Very nice.

It's good to be moving again, even if Sheena isn't here.

Sumo destroyed our bedding in a fit of pique. Normally he just scuffs up his blue blanket in protest and indignation, when the engine stops and he doesn't get off (such as in locks). But today, he went a little too far. When I first spotted him, it looked like he'd constructed himself a cute little dog nest. It was only when he budged, I noticed the massive rip and a big chunk of duvet fluff missing. Naughty boy.

Tucked up in the bushes. Nice mooring, just inches to spare. Mince and tatties for tea. Awesome.

The cliveden towpath. In Jerome K. Jerome's day (and in old postcards), this stretch was completely treeless all along the river edge. How lovely, that must have been for them. Those overhanging trees are a right PITA now.