Odd jobs and maintenance.

Wednesday 6th August.

There is something infinitely pleasurable about waking up 'afloat' and laying in bed listening to the sounds of the marina as it wakes up. With the quacking of the ducks, the distant throb of a boat engine, and the shimmer of the sunshine reflected off the water through the curtains onto the ceiling of the boat.

I decided to catch up on some odd jobs today so after showering, and breakfast I sorted out some storage boxes under the bed.

The idea was during summer to store winter clothes and during winter to store summer clothes. Unfortunately the 'tools' took over and filled all the boxes. Having found new homes for the tools I am now able to revert to the original plan.

The tools haven't gone far, just into the drawers below the boxes.

Next job was to screw some cup hooks under a shelf, thereby freeing up the shelf for more of the same.

 I've not been looking forward to the next job.

Where the chimney flue goes into the collar on the top of the solid fuel stove, the fire cement has been cracked and crumbly for quite a while, so as the fire is not in use at present it seemed like a good time to chisel all the old stuff out and re-seal it with new.

A very messy job, but with the aid of the trusty vacuum cleaner, a hammer and a chisel (old screwdriver) I got it sorted. Then it was merely a job of replacing the cement with new stuff and smoothing it round with a wet knife.

Having done that, I thought how scruffy the fire was looking, so out came the wire brush and the vacuum (again) closely followed by the high temperature paint! (amazing how these jobs 'snowball' isn't it)

Just the door to paint now, shame the glass won't stay that clear when
the fire is in use.

Looking much better with first coat of paint. The streak marks on the chimney flue are actually etched into the steel, hopefully they'll fade with the next coat of paint.