Walk me to the bridge...

Early morning at Bridge 90

Bridge 90 to be exact....after a great but tiring weekend at the annual Middlewich folk & boat festival we left the mooring equipped with sandpaper, brushes and paint and with a good weather forecast for the week, the intention was to start on the boat roof. It turned out to be a very successful week and not only did the roof get done, the bow, the stern and below the gun whales all got sanded,washed, pre-koted and top coated, albeit the first top coat. Craftmaster graphite grey was the chosen colour, a good solid enamel paint that should suit the old tug and one that can match with maybe a cream/black combination for the cabin sides.....now more paint needs to be bought for the final coat ready for the next spell of nice weather.

Sailing back past the cows..

....bridge 90 was a wonderful place, quiet and open with a gentle breeze, ideal conditions for the job as opposed to the boats home mooring under the trees with leaves and insects which is not a good combination when hand painting a 50' narrowboat.

Wild flower sheep trough on the mooring

Back on the mooring the pair of swans have left the nest......the sad news is that only one signet hatched but that one didn't survive very long so they have no young at all now this year!
The sheep have also been removed and the field has been 'topped' to get rid of the thistles before the lambs return to get fat. It's quiet around here as quite a few of the 'neighbours' are away cruising the system for the summer, lucky buggers!

Craft master graphite grey!

This post blog title was inspired by....Manic Street Preachers...this is a real belter, the new stuff is really good and this is a new single that was regularly aired on 6Music while the boat was up at Bridge 90.

A Lack of Colour...

The mooring is looking a lot greener having had a spell of better sunny weather along with a few springtime showers along the way. Only problem is that the only colour is green so this year a few flowers have been planted to try to enhance the appearance and now the plants are really getting going ready for the explosion that will be the summer bloom.
Pots and tubs and raised beds are busting out with Strawberries, herbs, tomatoes, courgette, broccoli, potatoes and peas and beans and all are doing well along with seedlings of various flowers with awkward incomprehensible names but basically some red ones, purples and other primary colours that should help to brighten up the place in time.
A great crop of wild flowers will also add a nice touch around the summerhouse.
Greedy sheep have already eaten the chives and the top off the red hot poker so there is a need to grow stuff slightly out of the reach of woolly ovines!
Solar power is still the number one power supply and the longer sunny days are effortlessly pouring energy into the boats batteries at an alarming rate......for free!
Other boat owners along the moorings that visit their crafts occasionally, have been turning up in overalls and jaunty hats with pots of paint while Andromeda still sits in primer with the intention to make a start sometime soon when time and money coincide with a long dry spell...it will come, eventually.
Lilies also rooted in the canal are starting to show yellow flowers.
In the evening the midges flutter about over the water and the fish rise and pick a few off leaving the tell tale rings on the surface.
Life is good but then....
 Breaking Bad is over....

The MIddlewich folk and boat festival is on the agenda and getting closer...
And so is Mr Neil Young....

Did I mention that Breaking Bad is over......


This post blog title was inspired by....Death cab for cutie....don't get hung up by the bands name as they make some lovely music including this final track from the 2003 album 'Transatlanticism'.