What can we do today!!!

Why is that you sometimes think that it would be nice to be in one spot for a while and then when it happens you wish you could be on the move again. Okay so our situation is of our making but it will be so nice to get back on PB again.

Paul isn't any good when it comes to not having anything to do, his boredom threshold is zero whereas I can read, take the dogs out or just do a bit of housework Paul ends up getting really twitchy and just doesn't know what to do with himself. Yesterday we went to Coventry initially to B & Q to look at tiles then onto the town to meet up with Graham and then go to Ikea to look at these darn armchairs. Ikea was heaving and needless to say the chairs were out of stock yet again, but at least Paul could sit in one just to get a feel for it it. He did prefer the larger chair but besides being £70 a chair dearer it was just too big for the boat. So hopefully for once I will get MY way over something.

I think we are going to take a walk to the old fashioned hardware shop in Rugby as there are some catches Paul is after and he is sure that this shop will sell them. ( You can tell Paul is bored because we keep going to the shops!!!!!) Then next week we have to bring the brass back here to get it cleaned up.  At least today there has been motorcycling on the tele so Paul has been quite happy to sit doing nothing. I have finished yet another book so will have to choose one from the selection I exchanged at Braunston. It is so handy (and cheaper) to be able to exchange books I have really taken advantage of this while here.

Look no paint.

Piston Broke is down to her Bra and underpants!!!!! She has been skabbled to remove all the old paintwork and this is how she looks now.

This process has to be repeated with a sander to take it back to bare SHINY steel.

Paul managed to stumble about on board in the dark before she was totally sealed up, to take a picture of our new bathroom vanity unit.

Obviously the sink has yet to go in and this will be down to Paul once we can get back on board. All the skin fittings have now been drilled and fitted. So now until the paint work is finished we will only be visiting once or twice a week.

Relaxing day yippee

We had a quick visit to the yard this morning, Jeff and Dave had been busy as everything was off the roof, no mushrooms, cleats, top box no anything. The windows were also being removed so things are getting done. The boat certainly looks longer, lets hope ,that once the painting has been done we can keep the roof relatively clutter free.

Paul hopefully can now begin to relax a bit. I think a trip to Coventry is on the cards to the big B & Q to have a look at floor and wall tiles. No ceramic tiles on the floor for us as the original ones cracked across their length and width possibly done when the boat was initially craned into the water, and of course they are cold under foot.

Paul also has a bit of a dilemma, what colour to paint the engine room floor. Should he go for charcoal grey or, and this is the favourite, red oxide. Paul likes this as it reminds him of when he worked deep sea for P & O.

All the skin fitting position were confirmed between Paul Liam and John today and the hole was cut for the replacement mushroom vent in the bedroom.

We don't need to go down again until later in the week just to take some pictures of a nude boat.

This afternoon I trotted off to Tesco with Paul promising me that he would be down in time to help pull the trolley back. Did he arrive did he hell I found him asleep on the sofa. If this is the sign of things to come for the next 5 weeks I think I will have to send him off to the yard every day to get him out of my hair. Dont think there is any chance of that though the lads at the yard need a break from him.

Oh yes I forgot to mention, in the course of conversation the washing machine cropped up, “did you have any problems plumbing it in?” I asked. The look on his face was classic, “do you know what” he said “I have forgotten to do that” To say words failed me would be an over statement. As usual an excuse was forth coming.

Time to relax!

At long last Piston Broke is in the paint shop.

In the flooded dock waiting to go in.

Going.

Going.

Gone.

Yesterday the new engine room steps were made. They have been re-designed to a 4 tread pattern so it is easier for dogs and Humans to get up and down, also because the hatch is longer we wont smack our heads when it is in the open position.

As you can see Pythagoras came into his own when these steps were designed. Yes they do look p****d and when walking down you are in 3D but it works very well. There is a very useful locker behind these steps now what will I be able to fill that with?

After the dock was drained PB sat on her bottom with Jeff looking at her thinking “where the hell do I start”.

How long!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not long now.

Paul came back today with a few more pictures and I am looking forward to going down there tomorrow to see it all in the flesh.

The fracas over the hatch combings has been resolved which is a huge relief to me as there is no more muttering from himself. Paul has surpassed himself by getting to grips with the hoover and making every thing spick and span. Apparently all the trim work has been finished, the back doors are in the workshop being re-lined all the wardrobe doors are on. 

Drawers back in under the beds and as the bed has been raised by 5 inches to accommodate the DX coils we have loads more space under for storage.

Drawer unit at the end of my bed just waiting for the knobs and a varnish.

Wardrobe doors in place. Went back perfect you would never guess they had been moved.

Rear locker under the steps is nearing completion and the new steps have yet to be made.

New oak ceiling in the bedroom with the original beams, also new lighting boards.

It is still on for tomorrow cant wait to see it. All the redundant pop rivet holes from the old canopy and cratch cover have been marked up as these have to be welded up before painting.

Smiley face again.

Tuesday Paul had a day off, thought it best to bring his blood pressure back to normal. So off we went to Braunston to Midland Chandlers to get some brass door catches and check the availability of the cooker I want. Well the door catches were £18 each and as we needed 6 there was some re-thinking and Paul finally got smaller ones for £3.78 which was a bit better. We then had a wander down to the Gongoozlers for a bite to eat and then headed back to the boat.

Yesterday off he went to the yard resplendent in gloves body warmer, coat and I’m sure the thermal underwear came out of the drawer. He came home around 5 with a big grin on his face, things had really come on and now we have a slot for the paint shop which is Saturday. There will be a few bits to do once it is painted but nothing major. I have to go down tomorrow to help get the junk off the roof and take curtains down and sheet up the inside to protect mattresses etc. Once the brass cleats, mushrooms etc are off the boat we can get stuck in cleaning them returning them to their shiny glory.

Tonight we are meeting up with John and Angela nb Ellen, will be good to catch up with their exploits on the Nene. 

Oh deary deary deary me.

Paul came home early to day which is NOT a good sign. To say he was in a  steaming temper is an understatement, the expletives came from his mouth and some I hadn't even heard before. It had certainly been a very BAD day, it will take him a couple of days to get over this.

It all started when he arrived at the yard this morning where he found a couple of things he wasn't happy with, however he carried on with the work in hand fitting the new radiator in the lounge and completed the central heating pipe work. The pipe work on the calorifier was also finished off. Paul did a bit of wiring this morning fitted a 240v switch for the immersion, tidied up and then removed some of the redundant 12v wiring.

There it is all nice and neat.

The lads were finishing off the trim work round the side hatch doors and all was going to plan.

They then decided to fit the oak combings to the sliding hatch this again was all going to plan until it was finally fitted and they found there was a discrepancy to the steel work of the hatch sliders. This is when Paul really lost it. However it has to be said this is no fault of the chippies. During the lunch break Paul took various measurements to come up with a solution to rectify the fault.  He thought that the best thing to do was to wait for John to come back from lunch explain the problem and the best way to overcome it. He then left the yard before he said something he would regret.

Threshold in place this bit did go to plan!!!!!!!!

I am sick and tired of hearing about it but I can appreciate that Paul wants it right, I understand the problem sticks out like a sore thumb. It is now 7pm and as I write this he is STILL going on and on and on. Tele is on max volume to drown him out. What time is the next train to Kent.