The kitchen work was done for now – nothing that could be worked on until we received the worktop which was due for delivery on Saturday morning, do Mike decided that he could have an early mark to return home for the weekend and the family Xmas party.
Diane on the other hand saw an opportunity to fill the new wine rack so contacted Elaine (nb Manly Ferry) and the two of them were off to Morrisons to take advantage of some low prices on good quality Wolf Blass wine – red and white.
At least some peace and quiet for a little while, before the phone call to confirm the quality of the red wine; and also to let me know that they had found Mick (nb Parisien Star) there as well – so the three of them would be coming back together.
Upon return Elaine came aboard quickly to view the progress and then needed to take care of the menagerie.
I took a little time to sort through the stack of wood that we still had – some for Mike to take; some for Mick to check through; and a small amount which was dumped.
During this time Diane put things away from the lounge and moved the two chairs around to give us a good idea of the final layout – I have to say that that the space that we thought would be there was in fact just jow we were thinking it would be.
Earlier in the day we decided not to continue with a purchase of some solid oak for the trim at gunnel level inside the boat – too expensive (at this stage) and two weeks to arrive – Mike wouldn’t be fitting that before Xmas – we will revisit it after the holidays.
It was quite relaxing to not have any work being done for a few days and just be able to relax a bit and enjoy where we were, but certainly looking forward to the rest of the work being done.
Saturday morning arrived and as is the norm one of us stays in bed and the other takes the dog for a walk to get the paper for her; but a little different today as we needed to wait for the delivery – we had been notified that it would be sometime between 8am and 1pm.
It was very cold and wet with the rain starting somewhere about 5am, but the temperature was way down as the rain was forming into ice on the roads.
The paper came in handy as we waited for the van to arrive and fortunately it came just after 10am; we got the worktop loaded back onto the boat and protected form damage.
We had made arrangements with Lyn and Phil to meet in Stone about 11am, and just had enough time to get there; coffee first before anything else – met a couple of more boaters – Ann and David (sorry I cannot remember their boat name but it is down at Great Haywood) - and then out for Diane and Lyn to reduce the sizes of our wallets (Phil and mine) – we also did a little bit of wallet reduction ourselves.
Naturally thinking of lunch – it was just after 12 noon by now – so we asked the guys at The Mill
setup if the restaurant was open – “yes” came the reply, so all settled – we walked and Phil brought the car.
Unhappily whilst they were open it was only for two pre-booked functions – we would need to try again on another day.
Second option was The Wayfarers – fast becoming our favourite restaurant in Stone – the food was again excellent – we all shared two sharer platters and mains were fairly reasonable choices without being overly large or overly priced.
Such was the enjoyment that we were all having that the time seemed to fly by and the arrival of coffees coincided with the 3pm chimes.
This is what happens when the food, company and conversation are excellent.
A great way to spend time and we had a great time – thanks guys – looking forward to the next one.
Lyn won the sober vote and very kindly returned us back to Aston – again greatly appreciated.
 |
| Friday morning |
 |
| Saturday afternoon two contrasting views of the marina |
Just enough time to take Banjo for a walk where we met a boater we hadn’t seen before – Bob from nb Elysium, who is only down here for weekends – so great to meet him. I had seen this boat about two years ago at
A bit concerning that after a while you remember boats that you had seen a while ago in a different place (and remember where as well).
We also saw Elaine as well who was watering up and not long after this the sun had disappeared below the horizon – time to move back to the boat and be inside before the cold came down.
It very much appears that the cold temperatures overnight will continue; the ice and frost will continue; and sunny cold days as well.
 |
| The first signs of ice on the water for this season - it didn't last that long but a sign of the things to come. |
Saturday has been a lovely day – may more days like this be ready to arrive.
 |
| The end of the day - will it be so good tomorrow ? |
No comments:
Post a Comment