Happy Saturday!

Morning everyone.  It doesn't take a lot to make me happy, but getting running water in the galley has made me ecstatic!  Do you know how much more convenient it is to fill a kettle, drain the cooked veggies, wash fruit and veg etc etc from two paces away rather than walk to pantry or bathroom, especially if carrying a pan full of boiling water.  Mind you, I guess it has cut down on my daily exercise!

So here is a picture of the taps that have made my life so much easier.  I also now have a tiled backsplash but they are not grouted yet so I will wait until they are finished before I show you them.

Whilst hunting in the engine room (where Pete keeps all sorts of odds and sods) for some white emulsion as a base coat for the walls, Pete found a huge great big tin of Farrow and Ball paint that he had left over from a job.  When we opened it, it turned out to be a beautiful green/blue colour which will be absolutely perfect for the units.  He reckons that it has saved us about 80 quid, certainly not an insignificant saving, I'm glad I liked the colour so much or there could have been a disagreement.

Mum is doing great, I cannot believe how well she is doing considering it is not so long ago that she had major surgery.  She is already seeing the benefits of her new heart valve in her breathing and mobility.  Once her ribcage get back to normal, she will feel like a whole new woman :)

Finally, I did really well for Mother's Day from all my lovely boys, but just look how these lilies have opened out, they are really beautiful.  I have them in the bedroom as the kitchen is still in a state, so they are the first thing I see every morning.  Not a bad sight for sore eyes xxx

Galley Update

Pete is going great guns and the galley is really coming together.  We bought a small butler sink and ended up receiving three, the seller said it would be too expensive to return them so we could keep them.  My son is going to make good use of them in his new kitchen.  We also bought the most beautiful solid wood, walnut worktop.  The colours in it are amazing, but I can't show you that until next week when it is fitted.  Mum is out of hospital and doing really well, she said to thank you all for your good wishes.  I am loving working only two days a week, although on two of my off days this week I was on babysitting duty, not that I am complaining about that in any way!

My IKEA trolley has had its own little chubby hole built.  In the trolley are all the bits you need for everyday cooking eg oils, herbs & spices, stock cubes etc, it's all ready to pull out and use.  In the past these things have cluttered up the worktop, but I think this is a tidier option.  You can just about see the brown sauce.  Can't stand the stuff personally, but Pete says it has to be Daddies sauce or not at all, is there really such a difference?  I now need to put labels on top of the spice jars so that I easily see what they all are.

This is where the dishwasher and washing machine are going to live.  Can you see my lovely little sink tucked under the old worktop?  I don't need a big sink in the galley as I have a deep, full sized butler sink in the pantry for washing big pots and things.  I am going out in a minute to choose some taps, what a rock and roll life I lead!  Speak soon and enjoy the rest of your weekend x

Hectic!

My life for the three weeks before half term has been - get up - go to work early to keep up with everything, work, leave work bang on time, one hour drive to hospital, sit with mum for a while, one hour drive home, eat, sleep, repeat!  Thank heavens for Pete cooking a meal every night that I can eat as soon as I walk in the door, whatever time of night.  Mum had her heart operation on Thursday and is now on the road to recovery.  She is out of intensive care and into the high dependency ward, so all good.  Everyone at the hospital has been amazing, from the porters to the consultants.  And yes,  Jeremy Hunt, she has had seven-day-a-week care during the last five weeks.  I wonder if he's worked such long shifts every day including the weekends?  My thoughts about that man are just not printable

Anyway, Pete has been getting on with the kitchen fitting.  He has taken down a bulkhead and opened up the whole galley area.  Spot the difference.

He has started the first cupboard which will house the ironing board (which I never use) the vacuum (which I reluctantly use) and cleaning stuff ( mainly used when people are visiting).  Goodness that makes me sound terrible, I am honestly not that slovenly!

The other units will be under the worktops which will run each side of the cooker.  The 'hole' in this one is for the microwave. Eventually the table and chairs will live down here and the sofas etc will be in the wheelhouse.   I cannot wait for it to be finished so that I can finally unpack all my kitchen stuff that has been in storage for the last few years.  Next week I go back to work but only Mondays and Fridays, so once mum is out of hospital I will have more time for my much neglected allotment, healthy cooking, grandchildren and all the things I love (oh and some housework of course) xxx

Finished! (Well Almost)

Here are the cupboards (lockers) that Pete has been working on.  Just the architrave to go now, but I think he is going to do that when he does the rest of the galley.  The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that the knobs have numbers on. This is so that when Pete says "where is......?" I can say cupboard number three, I am so good to him!!!  Actually, I love quirky things and all the door knobs throughout the boat are different and a bit whacky - a bit like me!

Only one more week, seven more wake ups, until I cut down from this ridiculous workload, I cannot wait!  Unfortunately my mum has been in hospital for the last two weeks.  She is going to have a new valve put in her heart on Wednesday.  She is in Basildon Hospital's Cardiac Unit, which is one of the best in the country and who have looked after my Dad so well on several occasions in the past, so we are very confident.  Cutting back on my workload has come at just the right time to give me the time to help look after my mum when she gets out of hospital.  Things always happen for a reason.  Speak soon everyone xxx

Happy Birthday Jessica

This little beauty was one on Thursday and we are going to her birthday party today.  I cannot believe that the last year has gone so fast, it only seems a couple of weeks ago that she was a newborn in my arms.  She was so excited on her birthday, laughing and clapping her hands in delight at all her presents.  Jessica is walking and talking already, such a little sweetheart 😍

Happy New Year!

I know, I know, that is really late and I have definitely been absent without leave for far too long.  Believe it or not, I have really missed you guys.

I have been working full time in Pupil Referral Unit, which is a school for children that cannot attend mainstream school for various reasons such as behavioural problems or health issues.  Teaching in a school is certainly not an easy way to make a living and my hat goes out to all you teachers who have been doing it for a long time. The actual teaching bit is great, but it is all the rubbish that goes along with it that means long, long hours and having to give up a semblance of a normal life!  Anyway to cut a long story short, after a dispute with management as they piled the work on (I went from teaching one GCSE subject to four!) I handed in my notice.  There is something else in the pipeline, but the main thing is that from half term I will have my life back!

So what news is there here?  Well, Pete managed to complete the wheelhouse so that the entire family could come for Christmas dinner.  Thirteen of us sat down, it was a bit chaotic but great fun.  Having young children around again certainly makes Christmas extra special, it was so lovely.

There is still more to do in the wheelhouse, such as installing a steering wheel, but it is such an amazing space, I absolutely love it! The table won't be staying here, it will go below decks, but for the time being I am enjoying the novelty of sitting at a table to eat and having somewhere for people to visit that doesn't mean sitting on each other's laps if there is more than four people!

My youngest grandchildren are both a year old this week, where does the time go?  All three grandchildren are a constant source of joy and I love being a grandmother.  The exciting news is that grandchild number four is due in June and Scarlett will be a big sister 😀

Here is Pete's latest task - building a very large cupboard under the decks.  This is will be part of the galley and is being built as we need to put everything away for the next big job.  I am not going to tell you about that one as I would like to do a big reveal, but suffice to say it means taking down a bulkhead and creating LOTS of dust!

 

Okay, it is now 0545 and I have to get up to go to work (I leave home at 0630 and am in work about 0700), such loooooong days.  Bear with me for the next four weeks please and then I will be back more regularly and get time to catch up with all your blogs too.  Take care xxx

High Tide

We have had some really high tides over the last week.  When the tides are this high, the water comes over our affectionately named 'patio'.  I used to move all the plants, but most have finished flowering anyway and I have discovered that they really don't mind an occasional salt water soaking!  We also have to watch the time too as getting on and off the boat can be a problem.  Not just the wet feet bit, but the patio to barge gangplank becomes almost vertical and it's a bit like climbing a cliff face.  The highest tide actually came half way up the patio to shore gangplank, but that was an extreme tide.  There are normally only a couple of times a year that the tides are this high and we have another lot coming up in a couple of weeks.  Then we are going to have to move as the barge behind us needs to get out to go off for repairs in a dry dock.  That should be fun (sorry Pete, I should have said a pain!).  I will post pictures.

I am staying with my mum at the moment as Dad is in hospital, but he is now absolutely fine and we are hoping that he will be home tomorrow.  I forgot to bring my ipad charger so am having to limit my time online.  I will catch up with you all soon.  Take care xxx