Quart into a pint pot will go!

Anyone who is familiar with narrow boats will  know that storage space is in very short supply and although I thought I had whittled down my possessions into keeping just what was necessary, it became obvious during the unloading that I still had too much unnecessary 'baggage' !
I had just commenced unloading when I had my first visitors. My very dearest friends of many years  John, Dee and their youngest son Phil.
 John and I go back many years, before either of us was married in fact.
 I was best man at his wedding and he was best man at mine so there's obviously a lot of history there.
They were in the Midlands visiting their eldest son and family and called in to see me before they headed home to Kent. It was only after they left I realised I hadn't taken any photos of their visit! Next time for sure.
Jenny arrived just before they left fortunately, so was able to 'catch up'.
My sister is the perfect partner to help sort what to keep and what to not keep. But beware, she is ruthless! "David why do you need 4 skillets?"and, "You don't want that old whisk its rusty, and why do you need so many odd forks and spoons and knives? and why do you want 4 chopping boards?!!" and then would you believe it, my sister STOLE some of my teaspoons!! Just because I had about 15 of them she nicked some! I can see I'm going to have to keep an eye on her when she visits in future. And then if that wasn't bad enough, she made me throw away my pyjama bottoms, the ones with the snowflakes pattern! I'd had them for years and never wore them but thats not the point! Huh, sisters!
She kindly took a number of things back to her house to store for me, promising not to sell them without telling me first so i suppose I shouldn't begrudge her half a dozen teaspoons and two wooden chopping boards should I.  (I retrieved the whisk out of the rubbish box. Ha ha!)

Looking aft, more like home now the Spitfire picture is hung. (actually it's screwed to the wall, not hung)

Porridge in the morning now the microwave is here.

Having trouble finding homes for all my fridge magnets

The car beneath Monet poppies is Johns MG Magnette, totally restored by him over the course of 3 years.

Memento Vivere, it's Latin for 'Remember to Live'. Very apt.

A new chapter.

I drove up on Sunday loaded up to the roof. My poor little Polo was right down on the springs and I was just hoping  and praying i wouldn't get a puncture. Can you imagine having to unload a car full of clutter to get to the jack and spare wheel? Not a pleasant thought!
I had to leave a couple of items with Bev, there was just no way I could get them in the car so my old accoustic guitar and a couple of antique plant pot containers are there for collecting from her in a couple of weeks time.
After a brief visit to Morrisons in Lichfield to grab some basic essentials, I arrived at Kings Bromley Marina and my new home, Bracken.

D'you like the figurehead on the roof just above the front doors? He's been with me many years.

Not much time for unloading as I was expected at G & J's  for dinner so just time to fire up the fridge and tidy away some items that Graham had brought up a couple of weeks ago, before heading off for a lurrrrvly roast chicken dinner. Monday I start trying to 'shoehorn a quart into a pint pot'.

Nearly time to say "goodbye Kent"

Saturday 30th August.

Sitting on my one remaining sofa, surrounded by boxes. In a couple of hours time I'm on my way to Medway hospital to lose the Peg (feeding) tube from my stomach.

Tomorrow the remaining sofa and my sooooo comfortable double bed will be gone, and then when i've cleaned up and vacuumed round, so will I.

180 miles away is 'Bracken' waiting for me to take up permanent residence aboard, and you know, I CANT WAIT !!
Peg tube out, so I spent the evening loading the car up ready for Sunday.  Poor little Polo, loaded up to the roof again. God only knows where I'm going to put all the stuff on the boat. Methinks some might have to go to Jenny's.

Sunday 31st

Bev and Darren arrived with the van to load up the remaining sofa, my sooooo comfy bed and a few other items they had kindly offered to dispose of for me.

Thanks Bev, and thanks Darren for all your help in clearing my place out, I would have really struggled on my own. You could have knocked me down with a feather seeing Darren pick up that old Toshiba CRT widescreen television on his own, and carry it out to the car for dumping. I couldn't even move it never mind pick it up!!

After a good vacuuming throughout, and having noted all the meter readings, I prepared to leave for good.

A few minutes contemplation before I shut and locked the front door for the last time.

Bracken, here I come.

Just 'chillin'

Friday 8th August.

I've spent the last couple of days pottering about doing little jobs. Nothing really exciting to report, but lots of little fiddly jobs that seem to take more time to sort out than a major rebuild!

I spent yesterday evening at Jenny's. She had done a massive spagbog and Peter and Sam, and Charlotte, (my niece) and I, thoroughly enjoyed it Thanks little sis.

The second coat of paint makes the flue pipe look much better.

It'll be interesting to see how the paint reacts when the stove is lit. According to the tin it can withstand temperatures up to 200 deg C.    Hmmm we'll see!

I ran the engine up today just to put some charge in the batteries, and was pleased to see the bilge pump seems to be doing its job as there was only a small amount of water in there.

Back to Kent tomorrow to dispose of the remaining furniture and to keep a couple of hospital appointments.

Graham is going to follow me down to Kent for the weekend and bring back a car load, which hopefully will just leave me to bring the last items with me at the end of the month! I'd best make sure Grahams car is FULL!  :)

Bye for now.

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.

Heavily laden

Tuesday 5th August

I drove up from Kent  with a fully laden Polo . Not a bad journey at just 3 hours, and just the usual go slow around junction 13 Milton Keynes.

The car was stacked to the roof with boxes and the boot was full too. I was wondering where the devil I was going to put it all on Bracken but amazingly I found homes for the majority of stuff and only had to farm one box out to Jenny!

There are two more car loads to come, although one of them consists of furniture which is not coming to the boat but is being 'donated' to Graham and Jenny, that way keeping it in the family. Then the final load will be when I move up here permanently at the end of the month.

After a visit to Graham and Jaq's for some of Jaq's tasty chilli, I popped down to surprise Jenny as she didn't know i was coming up. Then, as I was pretty tired it was back to the boat for bed.

Wednesday 6th August.

A good nights sleep apart from the heavy rain drumming on the roof.

Shower, (still works), breakfast, (bacon and eggs), followed by a cup of coffee. Lovely start to the day and now for some unpacking.

Starting to feel a bit more cluttered homely.

Busy in a leisurely way.

As the title says, I've been busy....... not dashing about like a mad thing, but steady with little periods of sitting and contemplating.
I decided to attempt to get the shower working on Bracken. The taps work ok, as in water comes out of the shower head when turned on. The hot tap even gives out hot water, (as long as the pilot light on the Paloma  is lit first. However, the drain pump has never worked, there is no way of emptying the shower tray except with a scoop into a bucket followed by mopping with towels. Consequently I've not used it so far. Also the socket that the shower head fits into was broken and so had to be held.

Not a great hardship as the shower block in the marina is fine, and what's more they're free to use for moorers.

I started with my multimeter to ascertain that there was electrickery getting to the on/off switch in the toilet compartment.  There was.
Then checked there was power getting to the pump, again there was. I also noticed the body of the pump was very hot to the touch. Tapping the body of the pump didn't make any difference, (thought it might be 'stuck'), so time to extract the offending article and dismantle it.
The pump was situated right at the back of the sink unit, not the easiest place to reach but laying on my back with my head under the unit I was able to get at the hose connections and wiring terminal block
Pump removed, I started to dismantle it.
Oh dear, what a sorry state!
The rotor and motor armature were seized solid, and when i separated the motor from the pump body a load of gooey, rusty crud appeared.

A pretty sorry state. I've not managed to remove the pump from the rotor, it appears to be totally seized so I'll save that for another day. ( maybe a day when I've nothing better to do), I wont throw it away, 'cos you never know when it might come in use.

Fortunately I had a spare pump from the pressure system, so after changing the fittings over to screw-on I was able to install it in place.

Connected up and bingo! A working shower drain pump. The yellow pipe comes from the shower tray, and the red pipe leads to the skin fitting out through the hull.

Next job to fix a socket on the riser rail for the handset to fit into.

A  trip to B & Q at Cannock where I bought  a  Mira handset socket and a length of chromed copper pipe of  22 mm diameter. I cut a length off the chromed pipe to the same length of the present riser rail and slid it over the old rail. That way the new Mira socket  would fit on the old riser rail. It works anyway, and I've had several successful showers since. :)

Jenny came up for breakfast bacon butties this morning, and the doting parents brought their offspring round. Its all part of the training on how to beg the most grub by looking really appealing. Seems to work for them, they got through half a bag of duck and swan treats food!

I need to return to Kent tomorrow to continue disposing of my furniture in preparation for moving aboard Bracken. So see you in a couple of weeks or so when I bring another car load of possessions up.

Some fettling and a lick of varnish.

Monday 21st July.

A slightly restless night due to the heat. I'm not going to complain 'cos there will come a time when I'll be longing for warmer weather I'm sure.

After ablutions, followed by breakfast, I did some measuring up for the bookshelves. Out came the trusty saw, drill, tools etc and I set to. One advantage of a cruiser deck is that there is plenty of room to work and it keeps the mess outside and not treading through 'indoors'. Also, the storage boxes make excellent work benches.

The shelves I acquired from Jenny's boss were a little too long and were well weathered from being outside. No problem though, after cutting them down to length, and a good sanding down, followed by 3 coats of varnish, they look a treat.

 The hot weather certainly aided the drying process, and I was glad to get the job done before the hottest part of the day. That left me free to enjoy a lazy afternoon, staying out of the sun and having a good read.

Next trip I bring books!

Saturday and Sunday

After Friday nights thunder and lightning storm, Saturday was a day of dodging showers.
Graham and Jaq were out Saturday night so I went down to Jennies and enjoyed sharing a take away with Jenny, Peter and Sam. A lovely eve was had by all, with lots of chat and catching up and no tele!
I slept like a log that night, and it was only my alarm that woke me Sunday morning. It was a beautiful morning and so  after a wander down to the shower block I came back and did myself bacon and eggs for breakfast, followed by a cup of coffee. What a perfect way to start the day!
After washing up, I washed a few 'smalls' out and hung them on an airer on the well deck to dry. Then i spent some time catching up with the blog till Graham phoned and invited me to join them for lunch at the 'Wych Elm carvery in Burntwood. Nice meal and quite generous portions too.
Jenny had text me to let me know she'd found a set of shelves she thought I could do something with so I popped down to where she works and picked them up. With a little fettling they'll do nicely.

Tomorrows project, then I'll have somewhere to put some of my books when I bring them up, I do so love a good read. :)

Where I love to be.

Friday 18th July.

It was the usual slow trip up the M1 from Kent. It always seems to be around junction 13, the traffic gets slower and slower, then its stop start, stop start. In the heat of Friday it was not a pleasant trip at all. Especially in a Polo with no aircon. 

In all, it took about 4 hours to get to Lichfield, then a wander round Morrisons for some 'vittals' and then on to Kings Bromley Marina.

How lovely to be back aboard 'Bracken'. Going down the steps into the saloon and opening up the boat was like stepping into an oven. Where all the windows and doors had been closed it was incredibly hot in there.

Once the front doors and rear doors were open a nice cooling breeze blew through the boat and it soon became more comfortable. I'm so glad that all eight windows on Bracken have hopper type vents on them, it lets a little more ventilation in, or maybe lets the hot air out.

Preparing to move.

I had a full car this trip. I've spent the weeks since my last visit clearing out cupboards at my bungalow and disposing of possessions in preparation for moving onto Bracken permanently.

 Hopefully this will happen around the beginning of September, but my god there's some stuff to move before then!

The logistics are simple, I'm moving from a detached, two bedroom bungalow with kitchen, bathroom and with garden sheds, to a 40 feet cruiser stern Narrowboat.... Simples!!

Sorting stuff is easy. You empty a cupboard....... you look at the mountain of stuff before you.......... you exclaim loudly " so that's where it went,"  'it' being an object you filed away so long ago you had forgotten you owned it! Then you wonder how you've managed to go so many years without said object, then you put it on the pile.

There are 2 piles,

Ist pile is  To keep.

Second pile is  To Dispose of.

Obviously the first pile should be the smallest, that way you have less stuff to transport 200 miles from Kent to Boat.

The second pile is the difficult one. This pile can be divided into numerous other piles. Like:-

Rubbish, take to the tip.

Rubbish, might be saleable though.

Junk,  might be saleable though.

Junk, see if anyone in the family want it.

Junk, donate to charity shop.

Not forgetting another slightly embarrassing pile.

Items you borrowed off your best mate all those years/months ago, and you were SO sure you had given him/her back And you told them repeatedly you'd given it back and they must have leant it to someone else who had'nt returned it cos you'd definitely returned it.

Now you have to make a decision, do you  (a) fess up and say to your mate "hey buddy, look what i found. Or do you say nothing, and place it on one of the other piles, after all, he/she had already accepted the loss and probably replaced it with a new 'it' anyway.

Decisions decisions :)

So i have brought with me numerous items from the first pile, consisting of Kitchen equipment, plates bowls etc. Also numerous items of winter clothing, tools, ornaments etc etc. 

Saturday 19th July

I've had a slight leak from the accumulator under the sink so On Saturday i removed it and took it over to Graham's house to make use of his garage/workshop.

After renewing the brass fittings and applying plenty of PTFE tape to the threads of the fittings i re-assembled it and Graham and I refitted it on the boat. Time will tell if i've cured the problem.

The red accumulator tank is in the water supply from the pump to all taps.

Inside it has a 'bladder' which fills when you turn the tap off which basicaly means if you only run the tap for short periods the pump dosn't keep switching on and off or 'cycling' until the internal pressure in the accumulator drops.

What it means is, you get a smoother flow of water, and it's better for the pump pressure switch.