Work/Life Balance.......

This explains the absence of much in the way of a blog post for over a week: quite a lot of life and some work, with the balance this last weekend very much more favourably inclined toward life.

Having worked on Good Friday and Easter Monday at The Hole-Making Shop, (and every other available moment painting nb Caboodle), I was ready for some R & R when the Friday Bank holiday arrived. We listened to the wedding service on the wireless, (I like the Anglican marriage service) and after the 'I Do's' and 'Forever Afters' were exchanged, James and Amy Duck rocked up in company with friends Simon, Ann and their daughter Jessica from nb Melaleuca. (They had both moored up overnight at the GOBA moorings adjacent to The Parish).

We lost no time in getting all aboard Pippin and under way, destination The Bridge at Clayhithe, where we all enjoyed a very convivial luncheon before chugging back.

There was much boat visiting and comparing of notes once back at the mooring. This was of particular interest to our neighbour Rhoda who had also joined us for lunch. She is looking to sell her widebeam and get a narrowboat. Her tour of Melaleuca provided her with not only lots of ideas, but a very good benchmark in terms of what constitutes a really nice one. While all this was going on, I popped to Tesco for more beer and wine and to get the makings for supper. After a decent interval, we all re-convened aboard Pippin for cottage pie and peas.

It was lovely to meet Simon, Ann and Jessica, grand to see The Ducks again, and all in all, I have to say I can't think of a nicer way of not painting anything!!

Saturday was fine and bright, if very windy. We decided to brave the breeze and the crowds and took Pippin to Ely to pump out. This was not entirely without incident, as when we got there, we found the pump-out complete and working noisily, but refusing to produce much in the way of suction.

Hmmmm.

Some headscratching ensued.

Our Vacuflush loo wasn't working either......

Double-Hmmmmmmm........

We let a narrowboat pump-out while we worked out what was going on.

The problem with the Vacuflush was fixed by The Ship's Engineer donning the big gloves and removing an obstruction. I will spare you the details, but suffice to say, a powerful vacuum was restored with an immediacy that nearly removed the gloves!

Meanwhile, on the roof, I contemplated the pump-out hose......

The narrowboat had managed to pump-out to some extent, though thought it very weak. I picked up the hose head to find it moved around the hose itself.

Bingo! That's yer vacuum issue mate, right there.

Only one jubilee clip was holding the hose head to the hose and it had worked loose. I donated another clip to the general good of the waterways and tightened up both as hard as I could. Result? Instant restoration of powerful suction.

Odd that two entirely seperate yet seemingly related problems should manifest themselves at the same time........

Anyway, pumpout repairs effected and holding tank emptied, we had a glorious trip back to The Parish. I was enjoying it so much that we carried on to The Bridge where we met another couple of chums from the mooring for a beer or two before giving them a lift back.

Cunningly, this also denied us the late afternoon light, so no narrowboat-painting on Saturday either!

Hurrah!

On Sunday, we drove over to Norwich to see my old chums John Benjafield and his partner Annie. Delightful meal, excellent company, lovely day!

And STILL no narrowboat painting!!!!

Hurrah Hurrah!!!!

However, Monday saw us return to the (quite literal) grind...

Yes, enough fun had been had to enable us to recommence the job with a good heart, renewed vigour, a sense of balance, and, indeed, a sense of humour......

Jackie rubbed down while I put the second primer coat on the bow foredeck and round the stern. I then painted the roof with its third primer coat and the port side with its first top-coat.

Though I say so myself, Caboodle is beginning to look really quite good!