OUCH!!

Now, I really have no right looking for sympathy, my apathy towards dental care has got me into the sorry state of getting an abscess on my tooth. I do have a fairly good  set of teeth, ( no doubt a dentist would beg to differ), I brush twice a day, but I don’t go to the Dentist unless I am in pain, and obviously by that time I have a serious problem! So instead of going to the Dentist as soon as my tooth started to niggle, I left it and left it until the inevitable happened.

My tooth had been hurting for a couple of days but I managed to keep the pain at bay with pain killers, until Sunday afternoon when I suddenly realised I looked like I was storing last nights tea in my left cheek! The Hamster look is so not chic in any way shape or form.

I managed to get an emergency dental appointment as I am not registered with a practice, one of those, “never got round to it” things.

I paid my £17:50 and asked the Dentist if she would remove my tooth. After giving me a couple of injections to thoroughly numb my mouth, you know the ones that make you look like a spitting image puppet, she set about removing my tooth.

By this time I was a quivering wreck, ( such a coward when it comes to Dentists). Now I had heard if the infection in your tooth is too severe the injections don’t work, it felt numb until she tried to pull the tooth, I won’t go into too much detail, but the indentation of my body shape remained on the surgery ceiling as they peeled me off it, and I hear the Dentist is recovering well in Hospital!!  Needless to say the tooth is still firmly attached and I have to go on a course of antibiotics for a week, then  go through it all again. There is a lesson to be learned from all this, soon as you feel a niggle go get it seen to, will I learn from this experience? Probably not knowing me…

Snap Happy!

Ever since my Mum bought me my little digital camera, it’s never far away from my side. I love taking photos, and you just never know when you will see something you would like to snap. I was coming home from work yesterday and spotted this little fella…

Apparently these are quite common, but I have never seen one before, I asked him to pose for another photo, and he willingly obliged!

Photo opportunities seemed to be in abundance yesterday, I managed to catch Bobby with a real cute smug look on his face, because he was sitting on the settee, as if he owned it!

 

Yes Bobby that’s very clever, but that’s MY settee not yours….( with that little face, he was allowed to stay there for a cuddle)!

Duckling Ramp!

After my last post about the Duckling Ramp, the lovely Jaqueline on Nb Valerie, said she would love to see a picture, so I have patiently waited for the Ducklings to perform, this was the result…

Mark made the ramp out of a piece of scaffolding plank, as you can see the Ducklings are making very good use of it!

Duckling Time!

I love this time of the year when all the little balls of fluff make an appearance, the only problem is I find nature quite cruel at this time more than ever.

One day you will see Mother Duck with her brood of twelve, only to see her the next day with some missing. I hate it when I hear the pitiful peep peeping of a lonesome little Duckling who has lost his Mum. They look like a little fluffy full stop in the middle of the Canal, which to them must feel like an ocean! They do seem very capable though, they feed themselves, there is nothing funnier than watching as they jump up to catch low flying gnats and flies.

In all the years I have been on the boat I have never noticed how many get killed by getting trapped in tyres down the side of boats, as they use them to follow their Mums on to the bank .I have lost count of the amount I have set free that have been inside tyres and can’t get out, or worse crushed to death.

I mentioned it to Mark, and he said it might be an idea to put, “ Duckling ramps” in. So he got an old scaffolding plank attached rope one end secured it with a mooring pin on the bank and just rested it in the water. I was that chuffed the first time I saw a family of little Ducks walk up the plank, I wanted one too! They use them all the time to get out of the water so result!

I noticed the other night a lone Duckling sitting at the top of the ramp, a tiny newly hatched one. When I approached it didn’t move, I gently picked him up and brought him inside. Now I know you shouldn’t interfere with nature but he seemed quite distressed, there was no sign of his Mother anywhere. I placed him gently on the settee and he snuggled down.

I put a fifty pence in the shot to give you an idea how tiny he was!

After letting him rest for a while, I decided I couldn’t keep him so decided to see if he could swim before I let him go…

 

So after a couple of laps around my Bathroom sink I let him go. I just hope he makes it!

Change Of Scenery!

Just had a lovely weekend away with the Boaty Crew! I decided on the last minute to go, after looking at my endless list of jobs to do, I pulled the pins and scarpered!

We didn't travel that far but moored up in a lovely spot, relaxed in the sunshine and just had a very much appreciated chill time. Plenty of wine, spirits and beer flowed and a lot of fun and banter took place. I have to say a big thank you to everyone who made the weekend so enjoyable. Robin, our Commodore and Patrice made the weekend a great success.

Tickety Boo nestled in the trees on her new weekend mooring.

The lovely outlook from the mooring.

Bobby Dog enjoyed the change too. We were moored adjacent to a huge playing field, that Bobby decided would be a good place to show that he actually can run, and not just a feeble trot which is his normal gait, he loved it! He had a lot of new dog bottoms to get acquainted with too! His face was a picture every time he saw a new four legged friend to go sniff out and say hello.

The weather was really kind,Saturday stayed dry, Sunday was lovely, sunny and warm, so we all trooped off for lunch at the Ship Inn and sat in the beer garden in the lovely sunshine. It turned quite chilly on the trip back, the wind was icy, it was nice to get back though and cosy up by the fire. Bobby curled up on the rug and slept for hours, his legs doing the dream shake now and again, he was obviously back on the playing field galloping about in his sleep!

So, now to today, it was raining earlier but now seems to be brightening up, fingers crossed it stays that way as I have jobs to do outside. It is great to have a few days off work this week, so next weekend will come around quickly. If weather allows it will be "S" day, S for starting to sand the boat ready for painting. Obviously I won't get her all done in one go so she will be done in sections. I intend to start with the roof, the hand rails being my first job, they are really bad so a lot of hand sanding there. There is a lot of rust on them, I am ashamed to admit. I have made a promise to myself, that now I have my enthusiasm back I will hopefully never let the boat get into this state again. The worse you let it get the harder the work to put it right!

I will sand the rails back to the metal where the rust is really bad, I will then apply Kurust, red oxide, undercoat, then top coats, I want to try and get as many top coats on as possible before winter sets in. I want to tackle the really bad bits of the boat first, get them out of the way. Bring it on!

Can I just say at this point, anybody reading this blog, if you see that I haven't started my mammoth task, you have my permission to get on my case about it and give me a firm kick up the backside to get me going, any encouragement from you will be very welcome. Just one more thing, if any of you are travelling to Liverpool, feel free to moor up and sand a patch on Tickety Boo! If all the boats that passed did a square foot of sanding she would be ready to paint in no time! Then again I could have a sanding party, now there's a thought...

Another Mode Of Transport!

I see many things pass Tickety Boo, Other boats, canoes, kayaks, dinghies , my Brother in his flying machine! Yesterday however, I saw something I had never seen on the Canal before, these……

Two Men on paddle Boards, the guy on the right looks like he is walking on water! How on earth they kept their balance I don’t know! I caught them just as they were paddling away. I did manage to get them on the way back though and asked if I could take a photo.

He kindly slowed down for me to get my photo, but said he couldn’t stop as he would fall off.  Spoil sport!

Paint Job!

Finally, and not before time, I have decided that Tickety Boo, by hook or by crook is to have her paint job this year! I have put it off long enough, it can be put off no longer!

I am ashamed to admit that I have lacked somewhat in the enthusiasm to have Tickety looking her best, she is looking quite sad and dowdy at the minute, but hopefully that won't be for long.

I have no grandiose ideas about having a, "Shiny" boat, but I want her to have her lustre back, the lush green she was when she was first painted. I can't afford to have her sprayed so will be painting her myself, ( deep intake of breath)!The boat was painted by hand last time, with mini sponge rollers, and as you can see from the picture at the top of my blog page, it ain't half bad, good enough for me anyway. I am inclined to think that touching up on a hand painted boat, is easier than on a sprayed boat, as it blends in better, ( look just humour me, of course I would have her done by professionals if I could, but that ain't ever going to happen is it? unless my numbers come up on the lottery!)

Originally she was painted with Rylard British Racing Green, a lovely colour, that I would like to keep similar for her new colour, however, after watching my neighbour on the mooring painting his boat, which resulted in a lovely finish, I have decided to go with the paint he used.

So on deciding to go with Dulux Weathershield, I then had to find the colour I wanted, I know I won't get exactly the same green, but on looking at the colour chart I am drawn to a more deep Jade colour, which is quite similar but a bit more adventurous, for me anyway.

With this in mind I trotted off to good old BQ, and there I was fortunate enough to be helped by a lovely lady called Debbie, ( well obviously with a name like that she couldn't fail to be lovely now could she)? Her Patience, with me the excited Boat owner, was excellent. I had picked the colour I wanted off the chart, but it was far too light, so Debbie painstakingly kept adding bit by bit, drop by drop paint to darken the shade until I was happy with it. Now, it was pointed out to me that once the colour was mixed, she would never get that colour exactly the same again, so obviously, I would have to Purchase enough paint to complete the job!

After thinking about it I decided to bring the match pot home, that Debbie had miraculously managed to get to the shade I wanted, and test the colour out first, to be certain it was right for Tickety, painting a 50 foot Narrow boat in a colour you don't like isn't really a good idea!

Now as you know the weather hasn't been the best of late, so couldn't test the paint anywhere out side, so I got a couple of old dinner plates and painted them! I painted one in the original colour, Rylard BRG, then the other in my new colour choice, just to see if I would like the change. I could then take them outside and tilt them about to see how the colour looked in natural light, and sun light. I love the colour, but may go a tiny bit darker. Sorted!

I now have to decide what colour for the roof and matching coach lines. At the moment it's cream, but will that cream compliment the new shade or would another colour be better suited, maybe light grey, or a lighter shade of cream? Back to the drawing board.

My enthusiasm is well and truly back and I can't wait to start! It will probably take me all Summer, but it will be lovely to stand back in the Autumn and see Tickety in her fine new coat. I know the hard work is in the preparation, but then the nice bit comes when the paint goes on!

Now I know there will be some of you out there, saying nooooo you have to use proper boat paint, why? Firstly I can't afford those prices, surely it is how the boat is prepared and how many coats you put on, not to mention maintaining the finished paint job, waxing etc to protect the paint. Well I am going with Weathershield, what is the worst that can happen? I have seen a boat done in it, and it is a fine job, and I was told it is lovely paint to work with, so that is a bonus! How long it lasts will have to remain to be seen.....