Four weeks to go

There has been a lot happening.  Last week Hazel fell off a stepladder while putting wood treatment on the pergola above our decking.  After three hours in A&E she found she hadn't broken anything, but had quite a few bruises, and waked with a stick.

On Saturday we had an indoor car boot table top sale, where we sold a lot of our smaller bits and pieces.  We also gave out a leaflet advertising our furniture. One lady came and bought a small table and two chairs.

On Monday we had a man come to see the furniture, and he paid us there and then and took  away all except the office furniture. We hurriedly emptied the cupboards and drawers leaving piles of items on the floor which needed to be put in boxes.

We now have no dining table, and we have guests this evening and again next Monday.  We will use a white plastic table instead, with folding white plastic chairs. At least it all matches!

On Tuesday James laid some matting in the stern on Gabriel.  This was the starting point, recently painted:

Then the jigsaw puzzle began:

  

Finally it was complete.

Jaguar matting from mats4u

I still need to do the bow well, which takes three times as many mat tiles

Five weeks to go

Some paint jobs on the boat this week.  We had no matting in the bow well last year, and towpath grit took its toll.  This is what it looked like after sanding away the rusty bits

One coat of rustbeater, two coats of primer, and two coats of light grey raddle made it look like this

I now have some Jaguar matting to put down which hopefully will absorb all the wear and tear.

six weeks to go

Today I painted the roof of the boat where the paint had come away when the faulty solar panels were removed.  The supplier has agreed to replace the panels.  I also sanded the deck of the bow well in preparation for applying primer and then raddle grey paint.  

While I was on my knees using the Mouse sander, two guys walked past and said it looked as though I was ironing the boat!     

When the bow well has been painted I will cover the whole thing with some matting I have bought online. Hopefully then the paintwork won't get so scratched as it did last year. When you come off the towpath you bring all sorts of gravel and grit with you.

Today also in the house, we had a new loft ladder fitted as the old one was getting dangerous and we don't want our tenants getting injured.   

Previous Blog

Previous blog was on a different site, so for 2013 and earlier, please refer to
http://www.travelpod.com/s/jamesandhazel?st=user

Seven weeks to go

We have just seven weeks before we leave our bricks and mortar home in Weybridge and move onto our narrowboat.  Lots of jobs to do before then, including packing, storing, selling, throwing, giving away lots of bits and pieces accumulated over the years.

Estate agents are on the case finding suitable tenants for us.