Being Productive

It was when all was said and done a pretty productive weekend. The flooring in the hallway is now completed and looks much better then the previous grubby cream carpet. Although the laminate is just a temporary base for the soon to arrive vinyl flooring, it will be far easier to keep clean in the meantime. It looks much fresher and brighter and really lifts the look of the room.

We now have a better idea of what work will be required on the boat. No nasty surprises as of yet and we can now start to gather together the bits and pieces that we will need to get the work done over the next few months. No rush on this just yet as we are having a few weekends getting stuff sorted out at home first.

On the car front. We looked at plenty yesterday afternoon and are going back tonight after work to test drive on particular car and hopefully strike a deal but that all depends on the numbers involved as we know that it needs some paint work doing too it which we had not bargained for when buying a nearly new car. We had wanted something to just put the key in and drive away. But if the price is right we can get the work arranged. Of course it helps that Liam is in the right line of work for that.

Sydney was not the most amused that things are changing at home. He is a creature of habit and his favourite drying carpet has now gone. I'm sure he will get used to the new floor soon enough. He has a new front door to contend with next weekend!

Home Benefits

One of the benefits of being at home is that I can cook us a hearty yet more healthy cooked breakfast. This morning we have had dry cured grilled bacon, baked mushrooms, air fried hash browns, baked tomato and oil less fried egg. It was just the ticket to start another busy day.

This morning we just need to finish off a couple of minor bits to the flooring in the hallway.  While Liam is doing this I will have a bit of a clean up upstairs, change the bedding and generally potter around.

And then this afternoon we are going car shopping. We have decided that we are going to replace the Mini with something bigger and then when my Nissan finally dies we will replace that with something smaller.

And after an afternoon of shopping we will come back to a slow cooked coca cola Gammon joint which is blipping away in the slow cooker as we speak. I think I will serve that with roast potatoes and a cheesy vegetable bake.

All Ashore

This morning I have nipped across to the marina to check that the boat was safe and secure in her temporary new home ashore.

We have a good spot this year tucked away. All looked good with the boat with the exception of the fishing line hanging out of the drive. We knew we had a leak so no surprise really.

I have given the inside of the canopies a good scrub as they had started to get a little mouldy. The fabric foam has worked wonders and they have come up as good as new.

The ropes and fenders are in the boot of the car ready for their annual wash in the washing machine.

And while I have been busy at the boat, Liam has fitted the new temporary flooring in the hallway.

It has been a productive Saturday.

Seems Strange

It seemed strange this morning to not be rushing around and getting things ready to visit the boat. We almost had a relaxing morning of it.

Well I say almost but we did have to get to Liam's work slightly early this morning so that we could give the Datsun a quick once over and check everything was working in time for its annual MOT next week. It needed just a slight top up of brake fluid and a rear number plate light bulb and it is good to go to the tester early next week. Fingers crossed for yet another pass for the old girl.

It will seem weird heading straight home tonight, well after we have called in at the supermarket on the way home anyway to pick up a few bits and bobs that we need for the weekend and a sneaky pizza for tea tonight. 

Tomorrow we have a busy day with Liam fitting some laminate flooring in the downstairs hallway. This will only be a temporary flooring solution and will at some point soon be covered over with some vinyl flooring which will run through from the kitchen and into the hallway to match. But the now not so cream carpet in the hallway has to go. It was never going to work with a dog. And the laminate flooring will provide a level surface for the vinyl anyway. So not all is lost.

While Liam is tackling this little job me and Sydney are going to nip across to Lincoln to check that the boat is OK chocked up ashore and do a couple of little jobs. The inside of the canopy needs cleaning and the cockpit throws need bringing home for a good wash with the cockpit upholstery having a good wipe down as well.

All being well we should both be finished with our jobs by mid afternoon and then we can head out somewhere with the dog for the rest of the daylight hours.

Another Quiet Year

It looks as though Naughty-Cal is set to have another quiet year this year as yesterday we decided to have a change for our summer holiday and booked a lodge in Cornwall in July.

We had been set to have a group trip to Wells next the Sea this summer but as usual the group dwindled to just us. The others deciding that they would head to York instead. We didn't fancy York and we just didn't fancy Wells on our own. It just isn't the same without a group of friends there. So we have opted for some time by the south coast in Boswinger instead.

Now by shear coincidence we have ended up with the same lodge that we had a few years ago on the Seaview International site. Last time we visited this was a pet free lodge but this time around it is a pet friendly property luckily for us. 

It was a very nice three bedroom property with a lovely large open plan lounge, kitchen and dining area, a very handy utility room, large family bathroom and three good sized bedrooms with the huge master bedroom having a lovely dressing area and en-suite shower room. I think this should do us nicely again.

All we have to decide now is which car we will be taking.

Making Lists

What with so many projects in the pipeline both at home and over the coming months on the boat we have had to start making lists of what needs doing and when to keep on top of everything. If anything the boat list is somewhat easier than the house list.

So far the boat list comprises:

• ·         Full service to sterndrive to include bellows, anodes, oil and bushes
• ·         New trim tab anodes
• ·         New trim tab bellows
• ·         Clean and polish trim tabs
• ·         New raw water intake pipe
• ·         Dismantle and clean out raw water coolers. Reassemble with new gaskets.
• ·         Grease stern drive bushes
• ·         Check all battery connections and clean up as required
• ·         Full hull and superstructure polish and wax
• ·         Cockpit clean, polish and wax
• ·         Cabin GRP surfaces clean, polish and wax
• ·         Replace USB charging socket at helm
• ·         Fit new VHF aerial connections
• ·         Apply new antifoul to hull
• ·         Touch up sterndrive paint as required.

The list at home at the moment is a moving goal post. But by the time the boat is back in the water we aim to have a lot of these jobs ticked off the list.

• ·         Replacement front door (due for fitting next week)
• ·         Roof repairs to include replacing damaged and broken tiles and hip tiles and new flashing to kitchen roof (due to be completed this week)
• ·         Fit new temporary laminate flooring to hallway to replace carpet
• ·         New internal doors to kitchen, living room, stair cupboard and two bedrooms
• ·         Gloss all wood skirting boards, door frames and picture rails in hallway
• ·         Wall paper hallway
• ·         Fit new matching vinyl flooring to kitchen, hallway and bathroom
• ·         Replace central heating pump and motorised valve
• ·         Power flush central heating system
• ·         Replace radiators in kitchen and hallway
• ·         Replace radiator in bathroom with heated towel rail
• ·         New bathroom suite
• ·         Replace kitchen work surface
• ·         Replace kitchen wall tiles
• ·         Replace kitchen cupboard doors

We don’t imagine for one second that we will have all of the house jobs finished by the time we are relaunching Naughty-Cal but it would be good to have made some marked progress in ticking off the jobs as we would like to get this little list finished off this year in time for making a new list next year!

Up and Away

We got the news yesterday that Naughty-Cal had been taken from her mooring and had been lifted out of the water, her bottom given a good pressure wash and that she was safely chocked ashore and plugged in for her three month period ashore.

We enjoyed a good long session with her in the water from October 2017 right through until now, so it is time for her to enjoy a well earned break and for us to give her some well earned TLC over the coming months.

Our time will be split between weekends working on the boat and weekends working at home. We really do need to get a programme of works carried out at home before the boat goes back in the water. But at the same time we have plenty of jobs to keep us busy on Naughty-Cal as well as we will hopefully split our time 50-50 with the boat and the house.

Now we have to come up with a couple of plans of attack!