Long time no post….

It has been a while, hasn’t it. Well, we’re back now. We’ve had a busy but uneventful couple of weeks, the boat being in cluttered confusion while everything from the bedroom was stacked in corners and all over the dinette. It all had to be cleared so I could refit the bed as a cross-bed, with new bedhead cupboards, and a new short wardrobe with three drawers beneath. It’s been a lot of work but the result is very pleasing and gives us considerably more storage. Meg was a bit bewildered during the transition but seems now to have come to terms with the new arrangement.

Refitted

The bed is in travelling mode to allow passage through to the stern. A drop down shelf on the right hand side supports the mattress extension when the bed is in use. The cupboards either side of the porthole have built in reading lights behind the fascia, and the new wardrobe with drawers below is on the far side of the bed.

While all this has been going on we’ve only cruised when essential, for supplies and services. We’ve travelled maybe 5 miles either side of Anderton.

Wash and brush up for the cygnets at Anderton

Heron “bottling it” near Marbury

I was lucky enough to get all of the outside cutting work done before the weather turned to early autumn this week. Gary at Orchard Marina supplied the sheet material and oak framing, and the mattress came from Adorn Contracts in Middlewich. It’s firm foam with a memory foam top layer, and is much more comfortable than the old pocket sprung one it replaces.

The skip compound at Anderton Sani-Station provided a battered but serviceable Black & Decker Workmate which just needed new wooden “jaws” and a spring replacing. It’s been extremely useful and will now find a home in the top-box, when I’ve made a bit of space.

We came down the boat lift onto the Weaver today after I’d slapped on the final coat of varnish, so we can start filling the new space tomorrow. It’ll be good to get rid of the temporary boxes.

Locks 0, miles about 20