Still on the job list and getting ready to move

Saturday 6^th August to Friday 12^th August 2016

With most of the work out of the way there was just the small matter of painting the roof of the boat – some would say almost inconsequential – I would say, it was a major undertaking.

Anyway the sanding was completed, with the original paintwork being in fairly good condition there was no need to go back to bare metal, in fact it was a matter of spot sanding for any penetrations and then general sanding all over.

Job done, clean it all down and we were ready.

There are never perfect conditions, but Sunday morning was just about there – just a very little bit of breeze, it had been a warmer than usual Saturday night and no sun in the morning.

So into it and the first coat went on without any problems – very patchy as you would expect – light colour over a darker one – biggest part of the job seemed to be the taping up.

As I finished a bit of light drizzle appeared but it wouldn’t affect the job as it was fast drying.

A second coat would be necessary and that was done on Tuesday – it is looking a lot better and now that it has been lightly sanded, it is ready for the first coat of topcoat – again, we will just be waiting for the right conditions.

 

The white primer is pretty handy reflecting
the sun on a warm day

...but the panels are collecting it all

Diane had a doctors appointment on Wednesday and so we headed off not too early but not too late, trying out the Ebury Way, which is a shared pathway along the old West Watford rail line, which has been gone for quite some time now; a very pleasant walk and with a number of intersecting pathways; we paused at one and took another path which suggested that it was only 1 mile to Bushey Station which was where we needed to pass.

Ebury way - a bit enclosed in places, but very pleasant

...can't resist the "rabbit's" ears

About 2 miles later we had neither seen the station or been anywhere close; we had however reached our destination – the doctors surgery, only to find out that the on-line appointment we had made was for their other location in South Oxhey – a 10-15 minute car trip away – bugger!

As luck would have it, and via a quick phone call, Maggie and Paddy were still at home and had not left for a break away to Norfolk; Paddy picked us up and drove us there – I will be checking next time when I make another appointment.

We bussed it into Watford for lunch at ‘Spoons, where we were served with our meals, but not long after the kitchen was closed – a bit disconcerting – was there some outbreak in there that forced them to close; had the kitchen staff revolted; had a mouse been found – nothing so dramatic, it was simply that the main cooker had packed it in and they couldn’t prepare any meals.

Later on we took a short-cut through the dying BHS store to go into the main shopping centre, but somehow we were waylaid with a few of the bargains in the stock clearance – new sound system, iPhone connectors, headphones, crockery, audio splitters – about £50 later and we were out.

It felt a bit lit picking over the carcass of some dead animal.

Diane snuck into the Watford ground for a few photos

Elton's stand

The playing surface looks in perfect condition for the start of the season

On our way back to the boat, Diane pointed out a few things that she had found when she was up in the town earlier on last week.

 

Bedford Almshouses built in 1580 by the 2nd Earl of Bedford for eight poor
women

This large "sink" hole appeared in Vicarage Road,
and they have closed down the whole roadway...

It took 4 of them to supervise one person to measure it all - talk about
safety 

These have been the highlights of the week with house sitting; fish feeding and bath time taking up the remainder of the time.

 

Proof positive - the fish are still alive

The boat has been moved about a mile to comply with the movement requirements but still within an easy walk; we will be moving south again during the weekend but have that to look forward to – for now we will need to move things back from the house to the boat and make sure that everything is tidy and clean before they are all back