Ouch...

Friendly looking little cuddly toy?  No, this is a gall bladder (okay, so I am showing you a nice furry one rather than a gruesome photo) and mine is giving me some serious gip.  I am just waiting for a scan before they decide when they are going to take mine out.  This is probably the most pain I have ever had, mind you the heavy duty pain killers help especially as they send you as high as a kite!  So please excuse if the blog posts are a bit sparse in the next couple of weeks but I will be reading all yours and I am sure that they will help keep me sane while I am forced into doing nothing. 

Home Grown

This is today's harvest from my little garden.  The tomatoes and chillis are really coming to an end now.  However,  I do have lots of French beans still and I am now in the annual race to beat the squirrels to my fair share of the hazelnuts!

Any Idea?

One of the lovely Ghurka wives that I teach has just given me these.  She said that they can be either eaten raw or stir fried.  They were growing on a huge climbing plant in her back garden and they have very spikey skins.  Has anyone got any idea what they actually are?

Happy 21st Birthday





It's Alfie's third birthday, which equates to 21 in human years.  Here he is looking cute, having just been out for a swim.  Get Alfie near water and he thinks that he is a duck!!



This is for everyone that knows Alfie.  It is his normal stance, waiting for someone (make that anyone) to throw the ball that he has just placed at their feet.  And he remembers who plays with him and always greets them with wild abandon where ever they are.  (He's certainly not stupid!)





And this is Alfie and his dad, doing what they both love best, being together and in a boat.

Alfie, you are such great fun, you guard me whenever we are alone, you know that by giving me 'that' look I can't say no, you make sure I get my exercise, you are there to greet me when I walk in the door, you are a lot cleverer than dogs are supposed to be and most of all you just give us such unconditional love.

HAPPY 21ST BRITHDAY ALFIE!



Income Tax

With all the hooha that's going on in the press at the moment over the total incompetancy of HM Revenue, I decided to take a look at my tax code.  It didn't look right, so I gave the tax man a call and guess what..... I have been paying too much tax for the last five years.  Not huge amounts, but enough, so now I am due a tax rebate, which will probably take forever to arrive.  Do they pay interest if they owe you money, bet they don't.  But take my advice, even if you are on the straight forward PAYE scheme like me,  I suggest you just have a quick check, you never know.

More Floor/Roof

This is our wonderful friend Alex, who is a carpenter.  He is making up a jig (is that the right word?) to make the bowed beams for the wheelhouse roof.  We knew that mezzanine floor would have a use one day!  Just sixteen more beams to go.

Reinforcing done for water tanks.  We were going to use these tanks, but we have discovered several leaks in them and so have decided to buy new ones.  Don't fancy several tons of water cascading down on to us!!!!

Roof/Floor

Today Pete has completed joists for the roof/wheelhouse floor.  We thought this would be happening tomorrow but, by luck, the timber that he needed was delivered today so he was able to get on with it.  Tomorrow he is going to make a temporary staircase so that I can play around with it and see where I want to put it.  Plus he is going to take out the mezzanine floor, so the staircase will be more user friendly than a ladder.   I can't believe how the barge is taking shape.  I knew there was a reason I married Pete!!!

Window Frames

Pete has been really busy today.  This structure will hold the windows; each of the bigger gaps is a window.  We are aiming for as much light and air as possible.  The floor for the wheelhouse will go on top, along with a reinforced area for the water tanks that will also be on deck/under the wheelhouse.  There will also be a large hatch on deck.    I have been getting quotes for the windows and for once we were quite pleasantly surprised at the price.   It really is beginning to take shape now.