Weekend already!?

Wow where did that week go?
It didn't seem to take long for that week to pass and here I am on the eve of a well earned day off thinking about mothers day lunch out again!
Today was yet another great day with sun all day, with just a hint of some cloud and murk towards dusk.
I got my delivery this morning so spent some time sorting it all out and getting all the right materials to the right places.
Then I was off to 2 Bay View Terrace to do 2 bedroom carpets.
They took me a while as they were a little fiddly.
The boys had a mate down from St Agnes today, so I played 10 minutes of football with them before going back to work this time a front room carpet.
It was all ready and I just needed to put down underlay and carpet.
Even though it was a fairly big room I had it done in an hour and then I was finished for the day.
On the way home I took a couple of pics of the Bishop and Wolf pub that has been having some work done to the front of it all week and it looking just about done now.
Hope so as we are in there for lunch again tomorrow!
And then on the drive home I stopped to take a pic of the church that was looking good in the afternoon sun.
Also got a pic of the clock that has been stuck at 12 o clock for a few months now since the main bell was removed.
The new bells will be arriving soon and hopefully when they are installed the clock will be operational again.
That's about it for me.
Sunday is mothers day so I am sure the boys will be treating their mum and looking after her very well!

Today started on a calmer note with only 2 jobs lined up.
Both of them were large carpet one being 8.50 metres long and the other 9 metres x 5metres.
So I actually started my day by washing by downstairs windows.
I have been watching a couple of Linnets in my front garden daily and really want to get a pic but as soon as I go outside or open a window they fly away.
The windows were a bit dirty making a pic through the window tricky.
Now they are sparkling, so next time I see the Linnets I should be able to get my pics!
It was another bright sunny day so I also washed the car that somehow had some oil up the side of it from yesterday. That is now sparkling too.
So with everything clean I went of to work feeling pretty happy with myself and set about doing the dining room at the Bylet guesthouse.
Its was a big area and took me all morning to prepare and fit the carpet.
After lunch I was spurred on by the weather to go and check out my boats.
I have 2 boats in the field my Bonwitco With 385"Springer" and my 14' GRP punt "Pirate" that needs a bit of work doing to her.
I intend to keep "Springer" the With in Town on a running line and should have her down in the next few weeks and Pirate will have some work done to her and with any luck shall be down in the summer at Old Town with a view to pottering around Old Town Bay for leisure and fishing where as Springer will be in town allowing quick and easy access to the off islands and fishing further afield, as she is significantly faster and better suited to island hopping for me.
So after the very pleasant boating interlude I needed to take a trip to the dump to get rid of some clutter that has been waiting to be dumped for a few weeks.
I spotted this Ladybird on one of the cardboard tubes that I was taking to the dump, luckily it had gone by the time i needed to load them into the car.Its the first one I have seen this year and was really enjoying the sun.
So with that done I headed up to Schooners Hotel to do a large lounge carpet that is right at the top of the hotel on the 3rd floor.
The lounge has stunning views across the harbour and is very distracting trying to work while the view is so good and frequently changing with boats coming and going...
The carpet was 9 metres long and was a huge lump that was actually delivered by crane through an open window as it was so heavy!
Thanks to Phill Deason for the pic he took on the 13th of the carpet being delivered!
I had a bit of help to unroll it and decided i could manage it then...well I did eventually but I have to admit it was quite a struggle and even managed to give myself a sore hamstring by pulling it into the right position.
It took me the rest of the afternoon to finish the carpet by which time the Gry was in and I had taken about 25 pics out of the windows of various different things.
Phil was giving the pontoon a wash off after running the inflatable onto the pontoon to give her bottom a clean, and getting rid of the seaweed.
It has been another cracking day and my weather station tells me that it reached 19.7 degrees at some point in the sun today.
At lunchtime it was 16 degrees without the windchill...there was little or no wind in my back garden..
So hopefully with the forecast looking good it should be a good weekend.
Pity I am working all day tomorrow.
On that note I going to head off to bed!

No Delivery....

I was on the go bright and early, well about 8.30 and off to the quay to see if all of my stuff had arrived.
And surprise, surprise there was nothing at all there for me!
It turns out the Gry sailed early for some reason and my delivery failed to get to Penzance in time to make the boat.
So a different day from what was planned for me then.
I went off to Spanish Ledges flats to do a bedroom.
It took me most of the morning as I really couldn't do too much today due to lack of materials and I had a nice chat to Todd who was also working in the same flat as me.
I went off to get my dad a paper just as he called me to remind me to take him to the hospital to pick up some crutches to help him get about a bit easier.
His right hip is really giving him jip and the crutches have made it easier for him to walk,well a bit easier.
He is having a hip operation in the next couple of months to with any luck we shall see a big improvement!
After taking Dad home and having some lunch, I went to Merrick a holiday let in Rams Valley to stick down a kitchen vinyl that I fitted the other day.
I had just enough adhesive to do the job!
With that one completed next job was a bedroom at 2 Bay View terrace.
It was all clear and ready to go so I got the underlay down and had the carpet done in good time.
Leaving just enough time to do another bedroom carpet in Warleggan Flats.
By now it was past 5.30 and time for tea.
Seeing that I had been busy all day more or less I hadn't taken any pic again.
So I made the effort to get some and took a walk up to the top of Carn Thomas which is always a great view.
Today was no exception and I have put on a variety of view from the top,
It was quite hazy looking west into the sun but not bad looking away from it,typical conditions we get with a fresh easterly wind.
On the way home I stopped off at Old Town to quickly observe some birds having their tea.
There was 2 Oyster Catchers and black headed gull and a Greenshank all looking busy feeding at the waters edge.
I did get 3 different birds in one shot, this isn't unusual for Old Town where you can often see Little egrets,Grey Heron, Oyster Catchers, Greenshank and all types of gulls on a daily basis normally at the waters edge on the incoming tide.
We are so lucky to have this beauty right on our doorsteps and it is great to know what the birds are and take a bit of time to watch them go about their business... a very relaxing end to the day!

Too many carpets,not enough time.

Today I have been all over the place fitting carpets.
First job was to finish off the flats in Harbour Lights.
This was dome by about 11.30 and then I went on to do a bedroom at Newfort House, that didn't take too long so then I went down to 1 Golden Bay to do a bathroom vinyl.
By now it was 3p.m and time to go and do my weekly football session for the kids down at the primary school.
It was lovely and sunny by now, after early mist and low cloud.
The session went well and we mixed it up quite a bit from what we normally do, so that was good.
After that we went to town to buy something for tea and then I went out to a meeting at the Old Town Inn for the Old Town Bay boating AGM.
I got my wish for an inner mooring down in the bay, so now I can get on and get my 14' GRP punt ready for the summer when I get some time, and with any luck have her in looking sweet by some time in May/June after she has had her gunwales replaced by Peter Martins and then a good paint job too.
Then I will be out around the bay catching fish for tea and maybe the odd lobster or crab too..
Sorry no pics today, just haven't had time to take even one!

Bryher and more work..

So the day started brilliantly with bright sunshine and a cool easterly breeze, I had a boat to catch a boat to Bryher at 8.40a.m so didn't take the boys to school and headed for the quay at 8.30.
I was all ready to board at 8.35 and the Firethorn appeared on time to pick me up.
It was a calm trip across and I enjoyed a chat with some local workmen who were also heading up to Bryher for a couple of different jobs.
I was up at Bryher to do a bedroom carpet at Bank Cottage.
I was picked up by Mac and his dog Gypsy who seemed pleased to see me and off we went to do the job.
This carpet was measured by Mac and there needed to be a join under the wardrobe and chest of drawers.
It was a talking point for a minute or 2 as I hadn't brought any means of joining materials with me..this is typical of working on an off island, you can be sure you will need the very items you left in the boot of your car!!
So Mac searched about for some duck tape and I put in a temporary join that is hardly noticeable now that it is under the wardrobe!
When I was finished I had a few spare minutes so Mac showed me around his garden in particular an Agave in very good condition and looking great, he was also keen to show me his Koi pond and one of his fish was huge and named "Jaws" after it nearly took his finger off while trying to feed him!
There was 10 minutes spare leaving just enough time to run down and say "Hi!" to Richard Pearce.
He has some great new paintings on display and I am heading back soon for another look, I like Richards paintings and will get him to do me a commission one day..I will one day.
I also really like Steve Sherris' paintings too, just had to add that as I have told him that I like his paintings allot and I wouldn't want him to think that I had a favourite!!
So it was time to catch the boat home,it was the Hurricane on the way home effortlessly handled by my mate Neil Jenkins. It wasn't long before I was back on St Marys and on to the next job.
As I walked off the quay I couldn't help but notice the new pontoon looking very neat alongside the quay, this will make berthing of small boats and visiting yacht tenders much easier than the previous arrangement of a set of steps and small patch of sand/rocks that used to be used for dingies and suchlike.
My first job to do wasn't really ready for me to do as my underlay wasn't here, so I went back to Harbour Lights that I started last week to do flat 12.
Flat 12 overlooks the harbour and is most distracting while you are trying to work.
The view from the top floor is just stunning and this particular flat has large windows to make the most of the view.
I was too busy to take any pictures and had the flat basically done by teatime.
I stopped for a break at about 3.30 and took a quick drive up to Star Castle as I knew my kite surfing friends had gone to Samson for the afternoon as the wind was favourable there toady.
Unfortunately they were out of reach of my zoom and you can make out the kites and that was about it.
They were over a mile away so its not too bad...
After tea I got ready to go out as is was pool night and we took on the Mermaid "A" team and beat the 6-3.
We had a nice evening but lost the "Gallon" that we play for money, so that was a shame.
the money we win goes in a pot and we always go out for a meal and a few drinks at the end of the pool season.

I noticed that the Sapphire was gleaming today after being laid up alongside old quay for a polish and general tidy up for the new season.
I shall be going out her a few times this year to go shark fishing but also bird watching too..I can't wait!

Angle lifeboat and sunshine

It was a cracking start to the week weather wise this morning and continued right throughout the day with unbroken sun all day and just a gentle easterly that wasn't too chilly so long as you were in the warm sun.
At lunchtime is was positively baking in my back garden and my car that was parked in the sun was cooking when I returned to it after lunch.
Had to open the windows to cool it down.
Some real heat about today and some of my friends and family really caught the sun already even wifey had a red face due to the sun today!
Work was ok but i'm easily distracted on sunny days so when I heard on the radio this morning that a brand new lifeboat was in the harbour I headed straight down for some pics and to show the boys before school.
She is a brand new boat, a Tamar class lifeboat that is a style that can be launched down a slipway and not kept on a mooring like our Severn class that is too big to fit in the lifeboat house.
After school drop off I had also heard on the radio that the new lifeboat would be departing at 9 o clock.
So I headed down to the quay thinking I could get a few shots of her leaving before I started work.
Well like all Scilly plans this one was in no hurry to get underway, and all she did at 9 was to leave her overnight moorings only to go to the quay to fuel up for the trip to Wales.
She must have taken on a large amount of fuel for she was alongside for a good 45 minutes.
I in the meantime hung around on the end of the quay patiently waiting with Frank Gibson to get a pic of her leaving!
We both got our pics in the end, but it left me a little late for work.
First job today was a simple flight of stairs, but my mind wasn't really on the job in hand today and I had one of those days when everything you need is in the garage and not in the car!
So lots of trips in the car to fetch bit and bobs and the simple stairs took me until lunchtime to complete.
After lunch and hanging out the washing in the warm sun I was due to do some work for Island Properties in various different holiday lets around the island.
It wasn't a huge success today but I did manage to get another kitchen done.
After the school pick up I decided to give the island properties jobs a break and headed for Crebinick Guest House who had a bedroom carpet all ready to go.
This was a doddle and ended the day nicely for me.
All in all a good day with 2 jobs completed and 2 started!
Tomorrow i'm off to Bryher in the morning and then some more for island props when I get back..

Spring has Sprung!

Its been another fantastic day, actually better than yesterday with all of yesterdays sunshine, but today hardly a breath of wind.
It has been picture perfect now thoughts are truly all about getting the boat ready.
We have some good friends coming over in April so it would be great to have it ready by then.
So today was an easy start with a good lie in and then a bit of spring cleaning, hanging the washing out.
Not much happened in the morning and then it was time for lunch.
Last weeks lunch at the Bishop was such a hit that we used Michael's birthday this week as an excuse to do it all again today!
Again it was very good and next week we can go again because it is mothers day..oh the hardship of it all!
After lunch we bit a quick bit of shopping and then headed for Old Town beach.
We met up with some good friends and the rest of the family.
We played football and my brother in law went looking under rocks for marine life, he found butter eels,pipe fish,starfish and an assortment of crabs.
There is a picture here of the eel and pipe fish in the bucket along with a small starfish.
We are lucky to have a plethora of marine life here on the islands, you just have to know where to look.
It was very warm down on the beach in the sun and the sea was so calm it looked to inviting that the boy decided it would be OK to take out their surf ski for a paddle, personally my feet were cold paddling around the shallows in my wellies!
I reckon the water temp can't be much above 9 or 10 degrees.
Any way they were very happy on the surf ski and had no complaints at all.
Unfortunately the afternoon was over all too soon and it was the unpopular decision to go home time!
By the time the boys were all bathed and showered I think they were pleasantly tired and all went of to sleep leaving me with some time to finally get around to do a proper post!
The weeks ahead is full of work again and I'm fully booked up till April by which time I am hoping for a bit of a rest maybe a few days preparing the boat and getting her down for the season nice and early.
Will just need a big blow to pass before I go for launching..always a good idea.
This weather can never last at this time of the year and we should really have a good gale before anyone gets any bright ideas about launching little boats!
Here hoping the gale comes sooner rather than later.
I have paid the price in the past of launching too early and having my boat sink in a severe gale, I'm not prepared for that to happen ever again!
I guess time will tell....

Sorry for the total lack of updates since Thursday!
Friday was a blur of work and play, I went out on friday night..
And yesterday was a stunning day that I just spent most of the day relaxing on the beach and a bit of work thrown in for good measure.
Now I'm off to that carvery at the Bishop again, we are using Michaels birthday as an excuse to go.
Today again is a cracker even better than yesterday... my thoughts are to go boating but the reality at this early stage of the year is a trip to the beach for some rockpooling and other beach activities!
Lots of pics to come tonight no doubt!!
Cheers George.