Another Light Relief Post

I have blatantly nicked the idea for this post from by blogging pal Val who also lives on a barge in Rotterdam.  You can read her very humourous post about the necessity of light and the ways she has overcome the restrictions of living on a historic barge here.
We are lucky that we can put windows pretty much where we like, but you actually have to put the windows in to get the light!  When we first moved to our home berth we only had windows down one side of the bedroom.  Our poor neighbour, Sue,  complained that it was lovely to have a neighbour at last, but once darkness came she could not even see a glimmer of light from our boat, so still felt totally alone!  Even with his stubbornness, Pete could not hold out on two nagging women, so he put the windows in the other side of the bedroom.  They are not yet finished but they do let in an amazing amount of light.  Only problem is that now with the lighter nights and mornings I am going to have to think of something to block out the light whilst we sleep.  I am thinking shutters rather than curtains, what do you think?

We were very lucky with window frames, in that we got them from the local salvage yard.  They were brand new and exactly the right size.  We added double glazed glass to the frames and hey presto, lovely windows at a quarter of the price we had been quoted.  We also have enough frames for the wheelhouse, although they need a little bit of playing around with to make them fit. He has now also put most of the windows in the galley except one which is going to be an opener.  Still in the meantime, it makes a handy shelf!

When Pete first put the roof on the barge, he built in a large hatch that was big enough to get most things down.  It was through this that the washing machine, fridge/freezer etc was craned in.  Eventually it is going to have a beautiful domed window that opens out to the skies.  But that is going to cost a fair bit, so in the meantime it is covered by a wooden hatch, which restricts the light in the snug area.  I don't like always having to have a light on, so he is putting a piece of Perspex in for the time being.  It will be a lot nicer to have some natural light.

The last photo is supposedly to show you the darkness in the snug, but really it is to show off my latest eBay purchase - a lovely sofa bed.  So now the snug is our lounge, dining room and spare bedroom (and sometimes laundry drying room). Amazing what you can get in a small area.