Something In The Air

Rain mostly, and quite a bit of it too.

Summer turned to Autumn, the sunshine turned to rain and my head turned to jelly as I spent four hours on Sunday hunkered over a tin of yacht varnish. And very nice stuff it was too. So that's one more weekend working pretty much every available hour of daylight and packing up in the dark. And it looks like it's the last one now. Sure, there's still a few bits and pieces to finish, a couple more coats of varnish, the odd patch of paint, a line of scilicone and a smearing of filler here and there but we're pretty much done.

The air is turning, the sun dropping lower. The trees are beginning to turn brown and there's a flutter of migrational energy in some of the bird life - the geese are practicing their formation low flying again, skimming the roof tops in a glorious cacophony of death-metal honking. It's not yet cold but the heat is slowly draining from the days. Sure we have some beautiful golden sunshine ahead but the land is taking it's slow path into winter and it's time to start reaping in the efforts of the year passed. For me, I guess that means hopefully having a dry winter, keeping the covers off maybe for once, and laying back in my beautiful home. For the next few months, bar the odd weekend, I can turn my attentions to a little p&d inside and maybe a touch of entertaining before the fire comes on and we all do the bear thing until March. So I guess it seems appropriate that I laid my last major brush stroke down on the first day of the season.

I guess it's been nigh on two months of pretty solid work outside now. 7 cans of paint, 1 (so far) of varnish, 4 tubes of sealant, 3 tubs of filler, enough sandpaper to line the walls of a decent sized room, blood, sweat and perhaps the occasional tear.

I do still need to get some more timber though...

I'm So Tired Of Being Tired

But I guess that's why they call it work...


Tunes: Tom Petty: Wildflowers

I Was Always Told Not To Pick At Things

Don't worry folks, it's all fixed now...

And I Feel Fine...

This weekend I have been mostly...

• breathing in the fumes from: boat paint / glass fibre based resin filler / wood filler / heavy duty multi-purpose filler / silicone sealant
• breathing in the dust from sanding the above
• removing the rest of the skin from the fingers on my right hand
• working every hour of daylight that God sends
  

That'll explain why I'm so damn tired all the time.



Tunes: R.E.M.: The Best Of The I.R.S. Years (1982 - 1987)

Sorted...

One of today's few pleasures was getting home, crossing the car park and seeing Chuffy in her new splendour. The last four days have been pretty full on and hard graft but also four of the most pleasurable days I have spent on the mooring this year.

Chuffy was last painted just before I moved on and she'd never been quite finished; there was always that pesky red stripe left undone. I had meant to paint her properly last year but it never happened. So from the moment the sun first broke through this year my thoughts turned to painting boats. There were times when I thought I'd never make it. When I thought I'd never finish and be left with rain seeping through all the cracks I'd opened up. And there were many more times when I dreamed of how she'd look when she ws completed.

The end results were beyond my expectations and there are still a few more things I have to do before she's totally complete outside. Working on your own place is a true pleasure, all the more so in Chuffy's case because she is who she is; not least to say very much a part of me. It's been a labour of love, time has been taken and it shows. I'd kept the work very much to myself until the end so I was so pleased that Annie was able to come over and get covered in very expensive yacht paint. I've spent many hours helping her decorate her homes over the years and it felt good to finally have one of my own that she could help me with.


Tunes: Pulp: Different Class

Life And How To Live It

Book a four day weekend.

Purchase £140 of quality UV resistant boat paint (7 three quarters of a litre tins @ £20 each, 5 x Donnegal Green, 2 x Rustic Red) plus sand paper, brushes, rollers etc...


Finish sanding...


Fill (note mandatory glamorous assistant)... then sand filler... then clean

Paint (1 coat per day over 2 days)...


Stand back and admire work with a glass of wine...

...then collapse!



Tunes: R.E.M.: Fables Of The Reconstruction

Let's Begin Again...

This has been one of those weeks where I knew from the moment I opened my eyes on Monday morning I should have closed them again and just stayed in bed. I only have a team of two developers at work and it was hard enough work getting those. So just to round off John leaving on Tuesday Liam handed in his notice first thing Monday. I'm happy for them both as they're moving on to better things and more money.

But it feels as if I've been battling an iceberg for the past two years and I've suddenly just taken a peek under the waterline...

So heres a picture of a coot that's figured out we put bird seed up on dry land and overcome it's natural timidity to grab some munchies. Go the coots!




Tunes: R.E.M: Life's Rich Pageant

It's Times Like These

Strange to think that a week ago I was sitting in hot tub on the banks of Loch Lomond, with four good folks including one of my best mates, looking up at the night sky with a glass of whisky as the satellites whirled up above.

For those who commented favourably on the last batch of pics there are a few more here


The sun broke for the first time in a long time. And now my hands hurt.






Tunes: Foo Fighters: One By One