The landlubbing life continues

In an attempt to restore some modicum of sanity - and also to help Steve and Karolina get past the last impediments to their moving in, Grace and I returned to St Albans three weeks ago. Our first task was to fit coving in their huge living-room/dining-room. Not a difficult task, just a slow, painstaking one. Since then, we've completed it, and given the coving and the ceilings a coat of primer and the first top-coat.

In our house, I started tidying the loft, starting with numerous bags and boxes of toys going back to our kids' infancy. It's a mammoth task.

Amongst them were lots of stuffed toys, many of them knitted by Grace's mum for each of our three in turn. Their appearance was met with great glee from the kids, now in their thirties and forties. It was great fun.

We nipped back to Kantara for three nights during one of the very hot spells.  It's such a privilege to have this old boat, and to be able to visit her even if we're not able to cruise her while I have this hernia to contend with. We miss her a lot when we're away.

We hardly left the cabin during that short stay, it was so hot outside. The thermometers showed us what it had been like over the past weeks.

The best we could do was to open the front and rear doors, all of the windows, and the side doors. We did manage to get a few odd jobs done, though. It was far too hot to do the paintwork touch-up jobs we wanted to do, but I did get around to completing the boat wash I'd started weeks before - in the early evening!

I never get tired of watching the sun set on the marina.

We'll be back for more before too long.

It was Grace's birthday on Tuesday, and we gave ourselves a break from painting at S and K's house and gardening at ours, and drove out to Cliveden House and gardens. The weather was just right for it. and we had a delightful, magical time. Thank God for the National Trust!  The house has been a luxury hotel for some years. We decided not to spend the night there. It was just a tad too expensive.

Now back to the painting and decorating!