Rocky and Spot

Rocky made a new friend on Friday. Here he is with Spot. They began by having a marvellous time chasing about the yard. Ricky has quickly learnt not to try to run at top speed under boats, so Spot had the advantage there.

Spot's very favourite thing is to find and play with old grinding discs. I don't know what they must do to his teeth. That's what he's hidden under the cloth in the photo - the cloth that I was trying to get clean and dry. Rocky can't really see the attraction of this game.

No pics of a pet at the Port

What a hopeless chronicler I am. I completely omitted to take a camera to Ellesmere Port when we visited on Saturday. My thinking was that I'd seen all the boats there before.... But of course, I'd never taken Rocky there before. The Ellesmere Port Boat Museum is an excellently dog-friendly place. They're allowed everywhere on the site, and in (as far as I could tell) all the buildings (probably not the recreated cottages though).

When we arrived at about ten o'clock, the car park was already overflowing, and we had to park on the road. It didn't seem crowded inside though. Having seen all the exhibits a number of times, the day was mostly about catching up with other boaters and comparing our plans for the summer. It was a dry day, if slightly chilly, and I think Rocky enjoyed his day out. He certainly got plenty of the attention and admiration that seems to fall on him wherever he goes.

Painting, tidying and starting to scrub...

I think I must have forgotten some of the things we did at the weekend, because once again we left with a feeling of achievement. Most noticeably, Jim primed and painted the new Rocky-proof partition - all in gloss red oxide to match the inside of the hull. Rocky observed operations and only got himself a few extra white hairs from the primer...

He has settled much better on the boat this visit. He gets on and off very confidently, and in and out of the hold. The stairs are the main project for next weekend, before the bags of coal wear out.

While Jim was painting, I tidied and scrubbed out the back cabin, and finally had a good sort out of all the odds and ends stored in various places, which can now be rationalised. I even managed to scrub the counter. Just the rest of the boat to do then. Last week's wind and rain indicated that the new translucent top cloth would need to be laced down with bungee cord, so that was the first job. I have been very remiss in taking photos though, for which, apologies. I will try to catch up next time.

We didn't need to go to the pub at all last weekend, cooking quite happily on the Origo. I was dubious about the Origo, but I am happy to admit I was wrong. Jim, conversely, was dubious about my purchase of a modern paraffin heater, but is likewise impressed with the outcome. Dinner on the boat is usually based around a tin of pulses (red beans, white beans, chick peas etc) and a tin or jar of curry or pasta sauce, simmered together with whatever fresh vegetables we've managed to find/got lying about and maybe topped with a bit of cheese, and served with cous cous or ready cooked rice (cooking rice from scratch, or pasta, makes too much steam and takes too long). Last weekend we enjoyed kidney beans in spicy puttanesca sauce with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and olives, topped with crumbled lancashire cheese; chickpea madras with carrots and cabbage (much nicer than it sounds; the cabbage gives a lovely nutty flavour), and butterbeans with mushrooms in tomato and basil sauce.

We finished by clearing out most of the kitchen/sitting area in the hold, ready for the next tranche of improvements... watch this space.