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:

What Was He Thinking?

When I got the shopping back from the supermarket this morning and we were unpacking it, Ewan was caught heading for the garden with a packet of tea and a spoon. What he intended to do in the garden with those two things we will never know because he was intercepted at the back door and the contraband removed from his person.

Holes

In the garden there are holes where part of the lawn used to be.

And here's the culprit taking a rest after all that effort.


He went to the vet today to have his vaccination booster shot. He's allowed to meet other dogs in a week's time. He's also had a chip implanted so that he can be indentified if he gets lost.

Growing Dog.

He likes sand

And Socks

He also likes to eat snails in the garden but I don't have a picture of that yet.

He Likes Shoes

Cathy's sandals now have teeth marks in their straps. I've been told a new pair are required. He also likes folds in fabric and today he destroyed the power cable for Cathy's laptop.

Flattering

A dog is a man's best friend. It's very flattering to know that there is a creature who would rather do nothing else than sleep at your feet.

Arrow is booked to see the vet tomorrow for his first vaccinations, checks and hopefully to be chipped (not like a car).

Arrow Has Arrived

I went to Devon on Sunday to visit my sister and her partner and to collect Arrow. The oldest two children could not resist coming with me so I had plenty of company on the journey. We spent the night there and brought our puppy home. He has settled in quickly, loves the children and I think we're beginning to make an impact with house training him.

Here he is at his most winsome

Home Again

We left the luxury of Gilfach cottage with its broadband connection, beautiful garden and roll top bath at 11:00AM in light rain.

We skirted around the base of Snowdon without seeing the peak (visibility was only about 200 metres) and after an uneventful drive of about 5 hours arrived home.

Black Rock Sands Again

We passed our last full day in Wales on Black Rock Sands again. This time the weather was less clement. It rained on and off all day. However as the saying goes "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing". We were clad in wetsuits. It's quite strange to go swimming in the sea while it's raining. As you emerge from the water you remain wet. We shared the beach with very few people indeed.

Porthmadog to Ffestiniog

Having been to the beach nearly every day so far (except yesterday) we decided to go to Ffestiniog via the railway. The scenery is spectacular as you travel along the narrow gauge railway into the mountains from the sea.

The engine that pulled the train we travelled on has its own web site.

Here we see a railway employee holding up a token for the driver of the train about to pass his signal box and enter a section of single track. I saw two of the tokens; quite elaborately decorated staffs.

Harlech Castle

Edward I built Harlech Castle nearly 800 years ago.

It dominates the town that grew up around it and dominates the landscape as it was intended to. The castle was originally built next to the sea and had a jetty at the foot of the castle rock that could be used to resupply the garison in the event of a siege. Changing sea levels have left the castle a mile inland today. On our wall at home there hangs a picture painted by my grandfather before my first birthday (in 1965), of Harlech castle, so this visit was something of a pilgrimage for me as well as a visit to a spectacular monument.

I was hoping to get a photograph of the same scene as the picture but it wasn't until I returned home that I realised the painting view point was from the south of the castle while I assumed it was from the east so our photo shows the gatehouse.