Bartimaeus

We have definitely talked ourselves out of sanding and painting this week. It was a good sunny morning but with rain forecast at 6pm, but by the time we had discussed options the rain forecast had moved to 4 , so there was no longer time to be confident of the paint drying before the rain. It also meant that discounting a bike ride to Derby seemed to be the right choice. In stead Shane made excellent progress with his shelving unit. Yesterday he had one mainly constructed. He added a bit to keep chopping boards behind and stop the toaster sliding below the shelves and being a fire hazard. It means it can only lie on its side until it goes up. Shane used to be a fire officer in his work building, so safety features are a must.

 He had the bit between his teeth and set about designing shelves for the other side of the kitchen, which has to be a different shape to go above the microwave. He also wanted to incorporate space for the fire blanket in his design. He went outside in the sunshine to cut the space for it using an electric plunge saw and came back in  telling me not to worry about the burning smell, it was just that the saw had scorched the wood! I am glad it was done outside, might have set off the fire alarm. We have got both in situ and arranged a few items that are cluttering the work surface, on them. My ornamental gold finch, Bryn and Nye, has a better space too. The shelves still need edging to prevent falls when the boat rocks or bumps and has still to be painted, but we are pleased with them so far.

Meanwhile, I have been working on how to make a double sided flag. I had done something similar before to make a pouch but that didn’t involve crossing the colours over into the two sides. It took me a few rows to work out how to make the stitches look right on both sides and was half way up before I realised there was a neater way of doing the edges so it has been a learning experience, They are a bit scrappy, but am pleased to have worked it out for myself and that this method avoids a messy back, and stops the piece curling at all. 

In between times we did Wordle and both took 4 attempts. Later Bryn and Nye both messaged to say they had got it in the first go – each of them independently tried the same word first! Boom! They used to do it together but have been doing it in their separate homes for a few weeks now (currently in separate countries and time zones) but using the same start words still, and today….Boom!

We have also moved into the marina to top up from 3 days not driving. While bright, it is cold with a little sleet, so we are very happy to have had a short drive and inside jobs. The wind was not troublesome and we are back in the spot we were in before.

We have also had messages today, from our friend, Benny, who has been on many summer trips on canal boats with us in the past and has been keen to visit. He is unexpectedly available all this weekend and we are not far from Sheffield, where he lives, so he wondered if it was okay to join us. It certainly is!

Perfect timing that the woodwork is off the floor and we can get the laundry out of the way while hooked up before he comes tomorrow, all being well. We still are not sure if we will see him in the marina or Willington, but we won’t be far away. Benny does a bit of sculpting and the marina has a few.

Swan Sculpture at the marina.

The only hitch has been a struggle over into the phone website to try to work out why my phone is not working since switching provider. We have investigated as far as we can today, so leave resolving it to another day. Shane is planning to mesh it with a bike ride in nice weather if possible.

A beautiful end to a successful day!