Sit Right Down...

Hiding in the grass

                                                                             

There has been much sitting about as you can see from the pictures, quietly getting on with it in a 'do not disturb' kinda way. Not sure how many eggs the swans have now as at last sight it was only four but the duck is sat on about ten. This weeks newcomers to the feeding station were a pair of jays, huge things compared to the smaller local birds and very colourful. They have never been seen here before so hopefully they will also become regulars as the trees start to green up over the next few weeks.
The mooring is looking much tidier now and the summerhouse is slowly getting furnished to make it another useful space to utilise when the weather improves.

It was far too windy for sailing but that didn't stop others, in particular Nb 'Swanswood' who looked to be having major problems trying to turn round in the wharf and eventually just moored up to await a calmer day.

Andromeda hasn't been re-painted as yet and is still in primer but that doesn't stop some rust spots showing through, so Sunday saw a bit of remedial work to stop anything getting worse as hopefully she may get painted later in the summer. After sweeping the build up of soot from the chimney, as the fire burns mainly wood, the stainless steel chimney top even got a scrub and looks almost new again....just in time for the fire to be lit again as the wind got a little colder it was time to retreat below deck.

This post blog title was inspired by....Toots and the Maytals.

The Summerhouse...

Friday night witnessed Nb Where's Wally, using an outboard, limping back to Garstang with a serious engine problem - later to be seen having made it back!
Saturday morning brought an elusive pair of woodpeckers fleetingly to the bird table among the other regular guests, including the now resident water hen. The battle with the moles continued but to date their have been no casualties but some of the mole hills have been stolen to fill up some plant pots, so that should show 'em!

Before...

The main event of the weekend was the arrival and erection of the new summerhouse as a replacement for the tired old shed. It went up on Saturday while it was dry and now it stands there on the mooring soaking up all the rain that is forecast!

On the way to the mooring

After...

Meanwhile on board, the crew have become regularly recumbent and supine with the prognosis being a self indulgent addiction to the drug-addled death wish roller coaster that is 'Breaking Bad'.....Hey Walt, you wanna cook?


This post blog title was inspired by....The Divine Comedy, a Neil Hannon song from the album Secret History.

Laid...

Digger and Zed got a helping hand last night as they were both struggling to find additional building materials to enhance their crib and were searching around frantically trying to fish out old wet twigs from the brook. A helping hand of a big handful of old, dry twigs and grasses were picked and placed handily near to the nest. Sure enough, in the morning she had woven the grasses into the nest and used up the extra twigs. But that was not all that she had been up to, as this morning the first 2 eggs had been laid and were sitting in the bottom of the nest!

This post blog title was inspired by....James - one of my favourite Tim Booth songs, little to do with swans but  quirky lyrics and great drumming.

Seasons Change...

Ok, so the weekend had the clocks going forward to signal the start of Mungo Jerry's British summertime (one for the younger listeners!) and today the first dairy cows have been spotted galloping about the new grass in the fields so I reckon it's officially spring.
Is it me or is there an incredible amount of daffodils about this year?.....they look fantastic!
Over the weekend the mooring continued with its makeover as the old wet, leaky shed succumbed to the lump hammer and got obliterated and cremated. A small new shiny one appeared and a replacement palatial summerhouse for the larger dead shed is on order.
Sunday was a day off and after a lazy ramble up Clougha pike to Wards Stone there was still time in the day to nip up to the water point to fill Andromeda's tank as the wind had settled down to make it an effortless task sailing to it.
Moles seem to be a problem at the moment, as the little sods are making a mess of the field in their search for worms so last night saw a few traps set in an attempt to get them under control.
The other change around here will be the way the posts link to the music. There will no longer be any points to be had as the post title inspiration will accompany the post from now on.....it's just a little easier, ok!

Previous  blog post title inspired by...the Counting Crows, an old favourite'  : No more points!
This post blog title was inspired by....Corrine Bailey Rae, the last track from her self titled debut album.

Have you seen me lately...?

Digger, having breakfast

Signs of Spring

This years large mass of twigs and grasses have been repaired again and would appear to be finished now so Digger and Zed seem to be taking turns to try it out and have been using it during the recent cold but clear starry nights and frosty mornings. They only build one nest and use the same spot every year so that means that one gets the nest and the other has to sleep next to it. It's on a grassy bank just by a small wood about fifty yards behind the mooring so it's easy to keep a watchful eye on them from the windows of the boat. They both seem very hungry at the moment, especially Digger who comes looking for breakfast most mornings now. She is going to need this extra food for soon she will lay her eggs and have to 'sit' on them for weeks so it's nice to see her up close now and looking so well.
The weekend sunshine was definitely welcome as it gave the new solar panel a work out and   It seems to be generating some free green energy quite easily. Since fitting it, the engine has become redundant but the last few days this week have been back to miserable dull and wet conditions so it might be a while before the full benefit of the sun is witnessed. The signs are looking promising already so in time I'm sure it will have been a good investment.
The first boats of the year have started to move about again up and down the 'cut' and a few non-resident 'moorees' have turned up to check over their crafts after the winter and do a few jobs. There is also work to do on this mooring, so during the better days a bit of power washing and tidying up has commenced....a slow and gentle start, patiently waiting for Spring to kick in.....when do the clocks change?....soon I think...!


Previous  blog post title inspired by...Belle & Sebastian :  HARD : 3 points
Off another of my fav albums ' The Life Pursuit'.

Song for Sunshine

Andromeda's restoration took a big leap forward this week as she was fitted with a new solar system. It has been something that has been on the cards for quite a while but it has been a matter of finding the right fella and the right kit for the job. Having found him, the stuff was ordered from Holland and now we are the proud owners of a great eco system....this is how it works....

A 140 watt solar panel sits on the roof to soak up the lovely sunshine and produce amps, these will then feed the 3 x 110amp leisure battery bank keeping them topped up with the little fellas until they are full. ie 330.
It's interesting how little power you actually need to use so having already calculated the amount of amps each appliance will use each hour (Watts/Volts=Amps) it's time to plug in.

With 330 amp hours available this then enables most of the boats appliances, TV, lights, fridge etc. to be supplied with 12v power. A display monitor now shows what is going on like what current is going in or out and how much power is available and for how long.

If appliances need 240v power then a silent pure sine wave inverter takes the 12 volts DC current from the batteries and magically makes things work by supplying them with AC current.
A back up system will also allow a generator to be connected via the 'hook up' and 240v power can be achieved this way too, if required.

It all sounds a bit complicated but it's actually a very simple system and very 'green'.
Hopefully, when the sun gets going it will supply enough energy during the daytime to power everything without having to run the engine to charge the batteries through the alternator on a daily basis.

By turning everything off, so no power is being used, the monitor now makes it possible to see what power is going in from the solar panel, and even on a grey day it's trickling in so when the sun gets going it will be boomtime!


Previous  blog post title inspired by...The Verve :  EASY : 1point
I almost gave you this one - won't be as generous with clues next time!

Music is Power...

Richard Ashcroft was right, Music IS power and within Andromeda the soundtrack is relentless, folk music especially has a front seat at the table of tunes played around here so it's always a fabulous time when you bump into something that pushes the buttons. It happened the other night at the Kenlis, a pub and folk club just outside the town where just two people managed to fill the joint and made such an incredible sound with slide guitar, harmonica, fiddle, banjo and vocals it was a revelation to the inner ear. Inspired beatbox harmonica and equally quirky fiddle and real beautiful songs explained and played with unreserved passion by both talented musicians....PhilipHenry&HannahMartin....thank you for the enlightenment!..see u again at Middlewhich Folk & Boat Festival in June.
Folk music can take you places that other music can't get near and if you live your life like a wasp at a window then it's never going to reach you. At a boaters pace you can stop, clear your mind and play a single you like, from there its an easy path then to kick back, lie back and listen to the whole back catalogue in its entirety, every lyric, every chord, every note and totally submerge......ok, you end up late to bed and and somewhat 'suitably refreshed' but beautifully contented.......I'm convinced that only music can do this but you need to let it work it's magic.


Previous  blog post title inspired by...Ian McNabb :  HARD : 3 points
Off the album 'Waifs & Strays', playing Hurst Green Village Hall at the end of the month, part of his stadium tour no doubt, he's THAT big now....still a great singer songwriter....

.