TSA Conference

We went to the TSA conference. Dominic had a chance to meet lots of other people with Tourette's and we were able to hear three very informative and potentially useful talks by a teacher with Tourette's, Professor Mary Robertson and from the Trust's education expert. Some of this information we put to immediate use for Dominic's upcoming 11+ test.

Dog in a Box

Arrow is growing out of his box bed. He has had a series of cardboard boxes as beds because of his habit of chewing his bed. When he gets over the chewing phase he can have a proper permanent dog bed to sleep in.

Balloon Release (not)

Siobhan's school had its official rebranding ceremony. They have amalgamated two infant schools to make a single primary school catering for children up to 11 years of age on two separate sites.















The local MP (John Bercow) came to cut the ribbon.
Originally the ceremony was planned to end with the release of helium balloons. The RSPCA advise against releasing balloons (even though the material the balloons are made from is entirely bio-degradable) because of the potential harm to wildlife. The balloons were released on a tether and then pulled back down to earth.

Progress Planned

Syncopation is now at the boat yard. The shot blasting man is booked for next week. He will take 3-4 days to process the hull which will be immediately painted with several coats of epoxy primer to prevent corrosion.
Spray foam insulation has been booked for Monday 8 October so after that it's all systems go!

Dishwasher

Arrow has to check the dishwasher whenever it is open. Dishwashers are a great source of food scraps.

Custard and Designer Footwear

Ewan has been busy designing his own footwear, available soon in quality footwear emporia near you:

And this was recently discovered next to his bed :

Overnight Stop

Plan A was to move the shell 20 minutes down the cut to the boat yard. Unfortunately the wind , orientation and size of the shell proved to be too much for the day-boat used to tow, so it has been tied up outside the marina at Gayton overnight until a larger boat can be brought up for the tow.

Here's the skin tank. It is basically a radiator that provides cooling for the boat's engine. Being made of metal the hull will conduct heat to the water of the canal. Hot water from the engine is passed through this thin tank on the inside of the hull and is cooled by the canal.

Stern gland.

This is the part of the boat where the propellor shaft passes through the rear of the hull. You can see the shaft at the centre. The stern gland is the housing around the shaft and contains specially made rope that is packed in lengths around the shaft and grease is forced in to prevent water getting past the rope and also to lubricate the shaft so that it can spin freely.

Afloat at Last

The shell for Syncopation was delivered and craned in to the canal this afternoon. Tim Tyler's steel work looks fabulous with plenty of detail to please the eye.Lifting off the lorry.
Lifting...

Touchdown.

First Voyage - being towed to the boatyard.

First Bath

Arrow was getting rather smelly, so we bathed him. He was not too keen on the idea but was persuaded to stay in the bath long enough for us to get the job done:

Full of Energy

It's Arrow again. Full of energy as ever. This picture catches a little of his seemingly boundless energy.

A Rare View

Here's another rare view in London. They've just demolished the building at the end of Cheapside, revealing the eastern end of St Paul's cathedral. This view will only be visible for a few months because no site in the City remains empty for long. The building that was there previously looked as if it was built in the early fifties.

Martin's Travels

A former colleague and friend is about to emigrate to Australia. But first he's going to travel around a bit. In a Maserati! Here's his blog.

Correction!

Syncopation will be craned in on Friday afternoon. This has been confirmed with the crane man so I'm taking the day off work to go and watch and take some photographs.

Syncopation is Coming!

We have been told the shell for our narrowboat will (probably) be craned in to the canal next Thursday.

More Puppies!

Brian's other female dog has had 9 puppies. Here she is, with the puppies at 11 days old: