Narrowboat cafes

I was thinking about how it might be fun to run a little cafe, a sort-of pot luck place with one set meal. Then I was day-dreaming about having that on a narrowboat and was remembering the couple of boats I've come across that are floating cafes - one popular place at Braunston called Gongoozler's Rest and another somewhere up the Oxford canal, above Great Heywood i think it was. I didn't try the first because it was all non-vegan fry-ups, but the second was lovely, moored next to a little orchard and garden with the fruit from the trees piled in glass bowls on the deck.. wish I could remember the name. Anyway, I was thinking about this when along came 'Dr Bradley's Linctus' - a boat belonging to Colin, a much-appreciated ally from Canal World Forum ;-) It was great to meet him in person and see inside the boat he is fitting out to be ......a cafe!!
One end is also to be a bookshop - how perfect is that!

My new feller

I'm pleased with my new axe. Splits logs in one swoooop! (Probably splits feet too, so I'd better watch out.)

The woman in the shop insisted I have a plastic bag over the axe head as "it's an offensive weapon and you might meet a policeman". Ha - that didn't save Harry Stanley, carrying a chair leg in a plastic bag.

Now all I need is a tree stump or something to chop logs on. I seem to come across them all the time until the day I actually want one!

Damn pump!

Grrr.. been trying to fix my pump all morning. For months there's been a long delay between turning on the tap and the water pump kicking in. I just slowly got used to it so it took my daughter coming to stay to make me realise it's not normal to wait two minutes for water from a tap! Remembering I have a boat guest next weekend, I was determined to sort it out.

I found a pressure switch thing at the end that needed an allen key size I didn't have (of course), but eventually dug out a mini-screwdriver that seemed to have done the trick. Just when it appeared to be working properly and I put everything away in the cupboard above the pump, the water delay started again. Twice. So now I've got it sort-of working fine, with coats and boots from the cupboard strewn around just in case it all goes wrong again!