A Weekend in London

Judy and I spent last weekend in London. London is somewhere we very rarely go, so it was a particular treat for us. The children had (for our birthdays and Christmas) bought vouchers for a West End Show and Sunday Lunch at the Ritz.
We visited St Pauls, Covent Garden and many other places.

Judy on the Easter Bunnies at Covent Garden Market

On Saturday evening we saw Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap'.

 



To the Ritz for Sunday Lunch!



We arrived for a One O' Clock Lunch - Canapés, Starter, Main Course, Sweet Course, Petit-Fours and Tea/Coffee. Wonderful as you would expect! We left about a quarter to four.

Judy with Vegetarian Gnocchi

Beautiful Roast Beef - carved at the table.

Chocolate Soufflé and Milk Ice-cream

 

Followed by Petit-fours

 

Washed down with tea and coffee

Whilst being entertained by a pianist...

 

...in beautifully opulent surroundings!

Thanks to David and Alison for the ideas and for paying for it!

 

New window blind

The kitchen window blind was looking a bit tatty and faded. Mum decided it should be replaced and kindly paid for it. Here it is - fitted and it matches the one on the other side.

Thank you Mum!!!

When will the weather improve?

It's gloomy, dull and grey. The weather forecast is for more heavy rain, then very cold. Can't be bothered to move today. I will stay in where it is lovely and warm. Got plenty of food, drink and things to do. I can catch up on the Forum messages, do a bit of washing, read, watch the wildlife - hang on a minute - what wildlife, they've sought shelter too.
If it brightens up at all I might just wrap up warm and have a short stroll.
I suppose I could just take a picture of the greyness, but then, what's the point!

Sunday surprise!

Came up to Constance Saturday afternoon late on after seeing family at home, then shopping etc. Loaded the boat by dodging between the heavy rainshowers and settled down for an evening of amateur radio. Did a bit of reading too. There was a hire boat moored opposite and he had his engine running until well after I went to bed. I guess that, unlike me, he had no other form of heating. I was toasty warm.

What a surprise to wake up to on Sunday morning, no I do not mean just that the hire boat's engine was running again, SNOW! And quite a bit of it.

The snow continued to fall throughout the morning, then it rained for a while. By 4pm it was sunny again and the solar cell was doing its stuff. The hire boat's engine was still running...

First weekend aboard - this year...

Judy and I both came to Constance this weekend. Between us we tidied up from the work that I had done over the winter period and generally got things 'ship-shape'.
I started the engine (first time!) and we motored gently down to Bedwyn Wharf.
Here we emptied the rubbish, recycling, put the excess logs in to the back of the car. Removed tools and other clutter to the back of the car, filled with water. Used the generator and the home vacuum cleaner to do a 'good job' of cleaning up inside.
After all of this we motored gently back to our mooring.
Sunday was a lazy day!

Success at last!

Hold your breath now! Eberspacher finally burst into life with clouds of white smoke. Lots of it. Hmm! I thought, this is never going to be acceptable to the neighbours. The radiator/calorifier water started to warm up. The Eberspacher was working. Even the hot water was starting to warm up, so the calorifier system was working OK.

There were clouds of white smoke passing the galley window...

After a few minutes the amount of smoke lessened and by the time the water was hot enough to do the washing-up, there was no smoke at all. I had to put my hand over the exhaust to check it was still fired up. Phew! Peace withe the neighbours (and the environment) will prevail. Oh, by the way - it is OK to breathe now!

Slow progress over the winter months

I write this just as the sun has started to shine! It has rained or snowed for ages now and what with the short days progress has been slow. In my last blog I show that I have fitted the Eberspacher unit into the stern area. I did change the orientation of the pump to lower the overall profile of the unit. Once the weather got really bad I moved inside.
The electrics area was a bit of a mess. It used the old type of car fuses - with the ceramic middle and the two caps joined by the fusible element. The contacts of these had deteriorated over time and this was leading to problems. The whole of the old fuse system was updated, the wiring sorted out (well it was better than it was before!) and all the fuses are now numbered and their circuits recorded.

The 12V comes in at the bottom and each fuse feeds only one item. This makes fault-finding much easier!

Over several visits, usually during foul weather I have made a very small radiator for the bathroom! I have made it out of copper pipe and pipe fittings, soldered and painted. Here it is!

It is connected into the return of the calorifier hot water system. I have yet to consider how I am going to connect radiator(s) to the system but have put in isolator valves and an electric 3 way valve in readiness.
The next move is to try and fire up the Eberspacher! Watch this space (but don't hold your breath)!