Keep your shades on...

Been fairly inactive on the restoration front during this amazing spell of nice weather. The sun has been shining constantly now for a few weeks and it's been a time for gigs, biking, fishing and tennis and basically outdoor summer stuff.



The first coats of paint went on last month but it's actually been too warm to proceed with final coats so we wait a little longer. If the steel is too warm or too cool then the paint doesn't go on correctly and can bloom, something you don't want on topcoats....patience is required!

Meanwhile, the summerhouse has come into its own this year and has provided a great space during the summer evenings. The plants have also done well with daily watering and given some nice colour to the mooring.


       The fit texel sheep returned to the field but only the ewes, the lambs have been separated and have gone somewhere else.....the mums can keep the grass down until the back end when the tups will arrive to keep them company.        

The birds and animals have been entertaining, from the little field mouse that lives in the wood pile, or the brazen mink that strolled along the jetty to the unwelcome family of swans that got escorted from the area by a disgruntled Zed, swimming behind them with feathers up and honking with displeasure at the intruders to his stretch of the cut...


This post blog title was inspired by...Alabama 3...off the album Outlaw - had to stick this one in as they were as good as ever when they gave us a great nite out again when we saw them last week.....this band just never, ever disappoints!

Blown away...

As the final weekend sun goes down, as the last bands play at Glastonbury, Andromeda continues to evolve with a newly painted cratch area and took 200 litres of diesel on board.
On the return from the previous sail to Lancaster it was discovered, on removing the heat protection bandage, that the old exhaust silencer had got somewhat 'blown away' over the years. A replacement was sourced and the new shiny one fitted.

Before and after....

This post blog title was inspired by...Pixies - one of my favourite bands and who just played an amazing set at Glasto. This song off the the album 'Bossanova'....what a noise!

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'.

Woke up this morning...

It's all ok to live on the water on the lovely Lancaster canal but the noise can be a bit of a problem...especially in the mornings! The problem at the moment is that next to the oak tree with blue tits nesting in the bird box there is a beech tree that has had a hole added to it near to the top and now is home to a pair of woodpeckers that have the noisiest chicks I have heard in a long time and can't wait for them to fledge!

If they don't wake the crew then it's the water hen that roots about the bird table and the adjacent flower borders and if it doesn't find the produce in abundance it gives out a shriek of anguish at the situation to inform of its disdain...

Blarting lambs that have lost their mums are the next to shout up....

No news on the swans...... She's STILL sitting!

However, the big lad rattles his beak along the steel hull just wanting to know if there is any bread left in the bread bin on his way home....

Then the summer rain drops patter on the roof...

By now it's light and time to get the coffee on...

This post blog title was inspired by....Alabama 3, one of my favourite bands and this single was used as the theme tune to the Sopranos. 

Ain't nobody here but us chickens...

While the farmers were out making silage over the warm weekend the girls further down the mooring were having a party.....

 

......and still we wait......on Saturday on the sail to Garstang all the other swans along the way had signets.....we have to wait a little longer!

This post blog title was inspired by....Louis Jordan from 1956 but I remebember the Stargazers 80's cover during the rockabilly scene....a skifflin' summer song.

Lady Solitude...

With what is known as 'reverse layout' the bedroom windows and doors open out over the bow and from here you can see that the whole area is getting greener. The white tips of the cow parsley are blowing about in the breeze on the towpath side and the reeds are getting higher.
The weekend chores centred around the wood stores, a fair bit of action with the chainsaw and the cut hard wood is now allowed to season on the mooring during the summer. Nb Benjamin visited to collect their share of the spoils. Wood for burning is never a problem on this canal as there seems to be a regular and abundant supply if you are willing to collect and chop it but many don't bother and choose to buy logs in the winter....here, this goes against the grain and the whole process has become recreational.

A seldom seen CRT craft passed in the week, hopefully using some licence fees to do repair work.

The new arrivals in the field are this years crop of sheep and lambs, mainly texel cross ewes with strong lambs that will eventually find their way to the butcher. They have a fair job to do as the grass has got quite long over the last few weeks.

 

Digger is still spending hours and hours on her nest of twigs and only on occasion being relieved of her duties by the big fella. When this happens she loosens her stiff body by running up and down the canal, flapping her wings and making a right old racket for half an hour scattering ducks and chicks and anything that gets in the way of a huge white reckless bird
The old fella counts and turns over the clutch of large blue eggs before she returns to sit back on them for a bit longer.....hence, the Lady Solitude!

This post blog title was inspired by....Good old Richard Hawley and another beautiful sad song off the album Lady's Bridge.