A better start to the day today, so we walked to school like normal.
On the way back I had a quick look for those oyster catchers and sure enough they were there again.
They must be resident on, or near the beach because every morning there are 6 of them checking out what the high tide brings.
They must be feeding on sand hoppers that are drawn out of the sand because of the incoming tide, Cracking little birds.
Today there was also 5 little Turnstones checking out the seaweed on the tide line,these little guys are so well camouflaged even though they were probably only 6 feet away from me, i didn't notice them until they moved.
So then it was off to work and to finish off the hallway I started yesterday afternoon.
What should have been a simple job was made a fair bit harder because there wasn't really enough carpet to do the hallway in one piece of carpet.
So I needed to patch together 4 pieces to make a piece of carpet big enough to finish off the job..
This was one job that I didn't measure myself, if I had I would have made sure I could have done it with just the one join.
The job took me until lunch to finish.
After lunch it was a quick trip to the tip with the old hall carpets and other rubbish and then on to a few calls and measures.
I needed to drop some samples on the quay for collection to go up to St Martins.
I look forward to my off island jobs, there is something really good about going to work by boat!
My calls and measures took me until school pick up time quite nicely what with a cup of tea over discussions..very civilised!
I decided to call it a day after school pick up, well it is Friday after all!
Hopefully next week will bring heaps of work to do.
I have plenty of flooring waiting to fit, just waiting for the customers to be ready for fitting.
Looks like we are going to have some really high winds tomorrow night, along with a whole load of rain, and its all due when wifey and I are due to be out on the town celebrating my sisters birthday!
Typical.
Well lets hope I'm able to get out and about to take a few pics tomorrow....

Woke up today to a howling gale and lots of rain.
So we decided to give the short walk to school a miss and take the car.
This sounded like a really good idea just after my niece had called to say that waves were breaking over the bank at Old Town and with the wind and driving rain she had arrived at school soaking wet.
I could see that today I was going to be mainly a taxi driver for the family!
One of the reasons why I have a 7 seater !
So we all piled in the car and picked up my 2 nephews on the way and took the 1 minute drive to school!
The tide had dropped by the time we were passing Old Town beach and the waves weren't over topping the wall now.
But it was still raining, so we were all glad we were in the car.
After school drop off I went to see if I could get some pics of the big seas, but the wind and rain combination didn't make for good photography and I didn't fancy getting my new camera covered in rain and saltwater so sat in the car and took a couple of pics instead.
Having failed on the photography front I thought that I may as well go to work..
First job up was just a bit of vinyl to fit under a washing machine in the utility room that I did last week.
Conditions in the room made it to tight to remove the washing machine and a shelf unit had to be disassembled in order for the machine to come out so the vinyl could go underneath.
The job didn't take too long and then I went to quay to see what had turned up on the boat for me.
I had 2 carpets and 3 rolls of vinyl that have arrived in time for Mondays job.
I took a couple of small rolls and delivered them to the customers house.
It was still raining...
Then I thought it was probably time to return to the first job that I should have done this week on Monday morning.
Well I tried but again I couldn't get in and there was no response from doorbell and a hefty knocking..Not sure where to go next I remembered that today is my sister Jayne's birthday...and she is 40 today!!
So I called in to see her at work to wish her many happy returns.
Is wasn't long before lunchtime was nearing and I remembered that I needed to pick up the youngest son from nursery at 11.30.
I only realised at 11.33! Typical!!
I was there by 11.34 and no-one was any wiser that I was running a bit late, although my boy was the last child sat very patiently on the carpet waiting for me, bless him.
It only his 4th time in nursery and we all think he is doing really well.
So I took him home and then decided that it was close enough to lunchtime to stop for lunch!
After lunch I needed to pick up my dad and take him into town for a few bits and pieces, and then drop him at the health centre.
I left him to it and tried that house again...I finally had the idea to call ahead and warn them of my pending arrival..and although I rung the bell and knocked hard still no-one came to the door.
One last chance and I gave the door a good shove to see if it would open and I was in.
It turns out they were working out the back and couldn't hear knocking or doorbells and the front door has swelled up in all this wet weather and appears to be locked!
So I was in and set about the job.
Quite a simple one really just a hallway carpet..
I needed to break away from this job at 2.45 to take my dad home, so off I went ..
On the way I saw my accountant who had a few queries about my accounts.
So after I took my dad home I went around to sort that out.
It didn't seem like I was at my accountants for very long, but by the time I got back to work it was 3.30..
I carried on until 4.30 when I needed to take wifey and her children back to town.
So I was finished for the day now and headed home for tea.By now the rain had finally stopped and the wind abated a bit so it wasn't as bad as this morning.
Looks like we are in for some really wild stuff this weekend and continuing right into the middle of next week.
If it as bad as they are saying I doubt the ship will sail, meaning a total lack of fresh food, including all fruit,dairy and bread that people on the mainland take for granted.
I must remember to stock up tomorrow and Saturday just in case....
I do like a good gale, but draw the line when it means we don't get any provisions!
Well that's enough from me, I'm back to that hallway in the morning and then I hope I get a call from any one of about 5 people that are still decorating and still not ready for their carpets to be fitted!
Cheers George.

Its fair to say that today was a more productive day.
The day started the same with the lovely walk to school, though it was grey and overcast with some drizzle in the air.
I paused on the way home shortly to observe 3 oyster catchers looking for food along the waters edge.
What fantastic birds they are,they peep to one another constantly as if talking to one another.
And then every so often stick that long beak of theirs into the sand, no random prod either, a well calculated prod and I bet they got something good.... for all three bunch together and share the food.
Fascinating.
So onto work.
Today's job and there was only the one as it turned out was a kitchen vinyl that needed to be fitted in one piece from kitchen into a hallway.
A bit tricky made worse by the fact that this was yesterdays floor that in all honesty looked like a miniature mountain range.
The house being over 100 years old didn't have one straight wall to try and level things up it was going to be a long job!
The leveling that I had done yesterday had all gone off well apart from one spot, typically right in the main walk way of the kitchen floor.
This needed to be addressed.
The leveling hadn't worked due to some movement between the concrete and wood, so I needed to put down some flexible filler along the joint and leave it to set.
With having to leave it to set I came home for a cuppa.
I gave it half an hour and went back to find that it had more or less gone off, so covered the whole lot with duck tape and proceeded with the job.
About an hour later I had got the whole lot fitted and it was looking good.
Stage 2 though is to take it up so it can be stuck down all over, thought I may as well do this after lunch..
So after a quick lunch it was straight back to stick down the vinyl.
It went well and as ever I reckon there was as much adhesive on me as there was on the floor!!
By the time I was done there was just time for me to dump the offcuts and head down to school for football practise.
Each Wednesday I coach the children from years 5 and 6 down at Carn Gwarvel.
Today was a good one, we did an assortment of different training methods covering most aspects of the games.
Including passing,receiving, throw ins, shooting and dribbling and ended up with a good game to finish it off.
It all good fun and today's game ended 3-3 so a penalty shoot out was decided on with the winner of that winning 2-1. Great fun!
I am level 1 FA Coach which lets me run a session and referee games and such like.
We have some great players and we are all looking forward to our summer fixtures when we take on visiting schools from the mainland.
So then it was home for a bit of toad in the hole, and eldest son had panto practise tonight so had to drop him into town and pick him up.
Feeling quite tired now and its feels good to be sitting here listening to the increasing wind outside when I am sat on our comfy sofa sat next to the heater! A good end to the day.
Think I might make a hot chocolate and that will be me done for the day!

I'm pleased to say that the pool night went well and our team won by 6 games to 3.
We played the Golf Club"A" team who are a group of quite serious pool players with some games taking 15 - 20 minutes per frame.
It was a good evening with only the pool players in the clubhouse and quite a jovial atmosphere, like we normally create wherever we play.
We try not to take it too seriously and as we are getting older the emphasis is on enjoying our night out rather than piling on unnecessary pressure to win.
There is no trophy or prize if we win the league, and so no real incentive to take it too seriously.
Cheers George

Today was something of a "non" day as far as work was concerned..
Not allot of work happened today, still waiting for people to be ready and more carpets to arrive..
The day started well enough, I enjoyed a nice walk to school with the boys in the sunshine.
Its always good walking across Old Town Bay as it changes daily.
Yesterday after the big swells there was much seaweed washed up and it looked a bit of a mess, however today somehow even though the was still a wave most of the seaweed had gone...
The punt that had come adrift was still half attached to its running line and looked as though it had had another rough night..
I'm pleased to say that this afternoon it was gone, so I'm glad the owner managed to salvage it, I was thinking of having ago myself but I know the owner doesn't hold the punt in any regard and has it in the water so he can maintain use of the running line..
After school drop off there was a few calls to make and a spot of paperwork to catch up on.
But with no jobs booked in it was an easy morning.
At about 1ish I headed out for a spot of floor leveling in preparation for tomorrows job.
The floor was a typical scillonian hotch potch of different levels, wood and concrete none of particularly well done..hence the need to level the floor.
In recent years I have been using a really good floor leveller that is actually a floor repair mortar called feather finish.
The product came into its own today being ideal for filling the big gaps up to about 15mm right down to nothing, hence the name Feather Finish.
The job took about an hour and then it was home for lunch.
Not much doing in the afternoon other than a couple of phone calls and a "floating" shelf to put up in the bedroom.
I managed to sort it put in no time and then it was off out to pick up the boys from school.
After school we as a family decided to go into town to pick up something for tea and buy a present for my eldest sister up coming birthday which is in a couple of days.
Its going to be a good one for her as she will be 40!
We have a nice meal to look forward to on the weekend, I can't wait.
Just time to drop off a vinyl pattern book for a customer and then home for tea, a lovely bit a salmon and veg, cooked perfectly by darling wifey and it was a very healthy meal.
I'm off out tonight to play pool with my mates.
I play in the Atlantic A pool team and tonight we are taking on the Golf Club pool team.
Should be a good evening, I will be the designated driver so no problems with drinking too much tonight, I shall save myself for my sisters meal at the weekend I reckon!
I'd better get going..Will add some pics of today when I return tonight..

Mondays....I don't really like Mondays, I think it stems from school days but one way or another Monday is not my favourite day.
Because of this I tend to line up plenty of work on a Monday so I don't have any time to think about the fact that its Monday...
Today was no different, potentially 2 jobs lined up that should of kept me busy all day..
So after I dropped off the boys at school I was straight off to my first job.
I arrived toolbox in hand ready for work, but alas no one answered the door, and unusually it was locked.
I took the hint and proceeded to the next job..
So its was down to the quay to pick up all that vinyl that was delivered on Saturday, easy.
Then off up to Trinity Cottages for job no. 2 on the list.
On arrival the lady of the house asked me to postpone the job for a few days to allow more time for decoration. "No problem" I said "See you later in the week, let me know when you're ready"
I was left feeling a bit out of sorts like having the rug pulled from under your feet.
Luckily I remembered a customer that had stopped me in the Co-op yesterday, so popped around for a measure and show her some samples.
I sorted that little job out and thought I had better put away the remaining roll of vinyl that was on the roof rack...rain was on the way..
With that safely in the garage I thought I may as well pop home for a cuppa and gather my thoughts on what I could do next..
It was getting on for lunchtime by now and I was sat on the sofa happily looking at Facebook and playing a bit of online pool, I'm quite hooked on Facebook pool and have set up a league for people of the Isles of Scilly., I have been top of the league for a while but lost my place today, so was busy playing trying to retain the lead..sounds a bit daft when you type it but hey I like it!
Darling wifey had reminded me that about a couple of phone calls that needed to be made about returning a Christmas DVD that didn't play, and a ready bed from Argos that wouldn't stay inflated on the first use of it.
Got that sorted and had a call from my mate Mark who needed his carpet relaying after I took it up last week so he could decorate his lounge over the weekend.
I went around straight away and did that, happy to finally be doing something worthwhile, after all its was supposed to be busy day.
With that job done I packed away the tools and headed back to the car, during the short walk to the car I could hear a roar of big sea breaking seemingly all around.
Whatever wind we had this morning had all but gone and the sun was trying to break through the cloud, a clear line of cloud was moving away, like you might imagine a front moving across the region as you see on the weather forecast.
Still the sound of the sea was quite eerie, I had to go and take a look.

With the wind blowing from the south west this morning I figured that the Garrison might well be a good place to go, sure enough I had a view right out to the Western Rock and Annet and although the wind had gone the swell was large.
Being low tide as well there was large waves breaking and surfing all over the place.
A strange mist had formed a mix of moist air from the recent heavy rain and spray thrown up from the pounding seas.
I took a video, I'll see if I can upload it here later..

Walking back to the car it was evident that there had been allot of rain, I hadn't noticed any heavy rain, but we must have had an inch this morning I would guess from the amount of standing water.
The birds were having a field day, quite literally.
All over the garrison field there was blackbirds,thrushes and redwing all trying their hand at digging up worms which had been raised to the surface due to the rain.
Other birds like Green finches,sparrows and others were happy to see the sun and were all puffed up and drying out in the sun.
I am not a twitcher, but feel you would be daft to live here and not know what you are looking at when a little bird lands right in front of you.
I know most of our local birds and now with the new camera, I am discovering some of the lesser well known island birds too.
I did get caught up in this moment of nature and was happily snapping away with the camera losing all track of time.
I realised that there was another 2 measures that needed to be done, so went back into town to get one done.
By this time it was time to pick up the boys from school.
I decided to drive home and walk to school, so we could have a nice walk home along the beach, mainly because I had spotted a punt that didn't have a good night and was looking very sorry for itself washed up on Old Town beach.
Sure enough the boys were interested in it..
With the boys home safely it left one measure to do.
I popped in to drop my dad's papers on the way and he gave me an old box of newspapers to take to the dump.
Got that sorted and home for tea, to find that I needed to take the eldest boy to the new badminton club in town before we could eat.
We had a lovely bit of tea and then it was off to pick up the boy from badminton and settle down for the evening.
I really enjoyed downloading my pics tonight, had some cracking pics of those birds.
So put them straight onto SWC, ideal...so that was Monday 12th January..I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Today started much better for me with a long lie in, theres something so good about lying there listening to a gale of wind outside the window safe in the knowledge that you don't have to go anywhere..
So a very easy morning was had by the entire family.
Usually on a winter morning we all go up to the Garrison pitch to watch the football match and then have a kick about and quick play on the play park.
So today I felt that we would head off up there like normal, only problem was a lack of motivation from the younger members of the family who were all too happy to stay indoors and play on their gaming console.
Not to be put off I decided to go up anyway, so lovely wifey got the boys sorted and off we went.
When we arrived the match was being filmed for television by a Norwegian camera crew who seemed intrigued with our league on the islands.
The Isles of Scilly league is renowned globally now as the smallest league in the world, regular visitors to the island will know all about last years Adidas advert that was filmed here 18 months ago and broadcast all around the world during the European champs.
Apparently the Norwegians are here to try and capture the passion of our islands footballers or something like that after being inspired by the Adidas advert.
They weren't disappointed with today match being played for the Foredeck Cup.
This is a two leg match with the winners having scored the most goals over the two legs.
I wasn't sure which team were which today but the blues had started the match with a good cushion having won convincingly last week 6-2.
By the time we arrived the scores were level at 7-7 on aggregate and 10 minutes to play...
Some very good pressure by the blues resulted in the winning goal with 3 minutes to spare.
I was pleased with this result as my other brother in law is goalie for the blues..and my mate Tim scored the winner, seemingly a screamer from outside the box..8-7 the result to the blues...
I'm sure the TV crew would have been very happy with the commitment shown by both teams with some very good football on show that is always good to watch..
With the match all wrapped up it was home for lunch, just stopping quickly at the co-op to pick up the hot dogs which were on the menu....
Very nice they were too, theres always something about hot dogs that returns me to my younger years and evokes memories of eating hot dogs at fun fairs and carnivals,etc as a child, happy days!
After lunch there was a quick spot of DIY on the cards and the eldest boy to drop off for pantomime practise.
The DIY was very straightforward just a couple of cork noticeboards to fix to the wall, that didn't take long to do.
Then sort out the insurance quote for the poor guy with his water leak and it was off to pick up my eldest from panto practise again..
By this time the tide was in and I was hoping to see some Atlantic fury pounding the headlands and beaches, I have to say that it was a rather disappointing show.
For it seemed there was a fair bit of wind and the tides are quite high, not high enough though to reach even the wall down in Old Town beach, nor Porthcressa beach.
There was though a fair bit of swell running so we headed down quay to see if any waves were hitting the quay walls..we weren't disappointed.
Its quite normal on days like these for spray and water to over top the defences built in the late 1800's by Augustus Smith, just how they managed these huge masonry jobs before the days of modern cranes and equipment always amazes me.
Not just how they put the quay together but getting the design and build so good that it still stands firm after over a 100 years of hard punishment. An awesome achievement!
So happy with the pictures I had taken we took a quick drive to Porthloo beach to see the waves coming in there.
Yet again it wasn't anything too special with the only good thing I noticed was the fact that allot of the seaweed that had been sitting at the top of the beach for months was getting washed away.
The various seabirds that I saw were having a field day with all the grubs and bugs being washed out from under the stinking weed.
So that was about it, we headed home to see how tea was getting on and settled down for the evening.
All in all a very relaxing day, pretty much was is required on a Sunday as far as I'm concerned, now I can start my week refreshed and ready for that pile of carpets and vinyl on the quay.
Its got to be cleared and all fitted before the next batch arrives, probably on Thursday!