A catch up and pottering about.

Friday 26th September.

Gosh almost a week gone by since my last post! I'm still adjusting to the retired lifestyle and feel I should be doing something, anything, so at least at the end of the day I can say "well at least i've accomplished something".

Medical stuff first I suppose, as I have friends and relatives who have an 'interest' so to speak.

I saw the new GP Tuesday and was disapointed to find he has not yet received my notes and scans etc, therefore hadn't a clue about my condition. However, he phoned me later in the day with an appointment for Thursday, (yesterday) to see the ENT dept at the local hospital. (thats Ear, Nose, and Throat).

Nice doctor, had a good feel round my neck and then shoved the camera up my nose and down the back of my throat to have a good look at the site of the first cancer. Not pleasant but I have to say he was a lot more gentle than the last doctor it was done by!

To cut a long story short, I am now waiting to be summoned to Derby oncology dept for what will be more scans and tests prior to surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. 

Enough of that for now anyway, this is a boating blog! Innit!!

Jobs done this week? Well, I've aquired the first of 4 planting troughs planned for the roof.

 I thought it would be nice to paint them in 'Bracken' style livery so here is my first attempt

First red round the outside.

Then green inner panel.

Just the beading to do in white. Hopefully the quality of my paintwork will improve by the time I get to number 4 tub. By then of course I should be proficient enough to do the roof!

Another job, inside, whilst dodging a shower of rain has been to wire and fit a 12 volt socket to plug the TV, or phone charger into when not on shore power.

For instance when I pluck up courage to venture out of the marina into the big bad outside world!

Actualy I did go for a cruise round the marina last saturday. I first moved the boat onto the fuel pontoon to put some diesel in the tank and to also change a gas bottle, so I thought whilst the engine is running I'd have a little cruise round the basins. Well its good practise for me at handling Bracken alone, and of course it puts some charge into the batteries, and saves having the battery charger hooked up to the shore power, and of course its good fun!

Talking of starting the engine- another job this week has been to fit a push button switch in the engine bay so's I can start the engine with the blow lamp in one hand and press the newly fitted starter switch with the other hand. Simples! 

All I did was run a new live wire from the starter battery, through the new push button switch to the starter solenoid. This way I don't need 8 feet long arms to put the blowlamp to the air intake whilst turning the ignition key! Works a treat!

Looks a bit heath robinson at present, it'll look better when the switch is mounted on a plate. The wire is only energising the solenoid so is not carrying a large load and the button is only pressed for a few seconds whilst the engine fires up. Wonderful thing blowlamps!

Well that's about it for now, speak later.

Time spent with friends.......

It wasn't all doom and gloom in Kent. I stayed with my good friends John and Dee as I no longer have a residence 'dan sarf' and they made me very welcome. In between hospital appointments I was able to 'tidy my affairs' so to speak, pay bills in other words, and also visit friends and relations.
On Sunday 14th I took John, Dee and their son Philip to the Tudor Rose carvery for Sunday lunch by way of a thank you for not only 'putting me up' but also for 'putting up with me'. My youngest son Simon also joined us for lunch and a good nosh was had by all!

Glad we weren't arm wrestling for the bill !

Dee and Phil.
Dee on her 4th glasss of vino!

The Great One!

I can recommend the Tudor Rose for good food at reasonable prices. Situated near Sittingbourne Kent I have eaten there many times, and thoroughly enjoy their Sunday carvery.

Back on 'Bracken' I've been pottering about, doing a few odd jobs and generaly enjoying my new leisurely  lifestyle.. One little  job has been to fit a motion sensitive light into what was a dark corner  where the fridge lives.

Ok in daylight but a dark corner as evening comes.

Battery powered LED light with motion sensor...........

.........so when you reach under to open the door, hey presto the light comes on.

Actually works well in the dark, light comes on as you walk past without opening fridge door.

Today, (Saturday 20th) was a damp and gloomy morning. After the recent dry and summer like weather today it was raining, so I decided to light the fire. Not because it was cold but because I wanted to 'prove' the fresh paintwork on the stove whilst I could have the doors open front and rear of the boat to let the fumes escape! Glad I did too, the smell was overpowering to say the least as the temperature  went up.

Seemed like a good time to top up the water tank and wash down the outside of the boat where all the sooty deposits from the chimney had settled.

After a half hour or so the fumes and smell had gone and it was ok to go below.

I let the fire go out as it wasn't really needed but at least when I do need the fire it wont stink me out!

Kent and back

I had to go to Kent for a few days, so apologies for the lack of updates, but hopefully i'll be staying 'put' from now on.
My reason for the trip to Kent was to attend a couple of hospital appointments.
 An MRI scan on Thursday the 11 th in the morning, and a needle biopsy and ultrasound in the afternoon of the same day. None of which is particularly pleasant, but unfortunately necessary. The results of these tests have confirmed the Cancer has returned and so surgery will now be needed.
Obviously my having changed location from Kent to the Midlands will mean new doctors, hospitals and treatment etc. but I'm happier and in a better frame of mind being based on 'Bracken'. Whatever the future brings, I have the pleasure of being where I love to be, afloat.

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.