Me and the sea

It is a strange relationship. From the age of 14 I knew I wanted to go to sea. The only opportunity I could see to achieve this ambition was to work on a cruise ship. At the time the only ship I knew of that visited the Falklands was the Linblad Explorer. My mum bless her arranged for me to met the captain on one of her visits to Stanley. I was 15 at the time and had ju

st finished my first year of O'levels. His suggestion was I should finish the second year and then get in touch again. This I would almost certainly have done if the islands had not been invaded. After the conflict I still thought about it but people said they would not employ Falklands Islanders now because they carried Argentine tourists. As a then sixteen year old I listened to these apparently enlightened people and never did check it out for myself. I still wish I had.
So you would think that the life that I lead now would be perfect. We move around our islands very regularly during the summer months on our boat Theo. Who could wish for more but there's a problem. I love big ships, even big ships in bad weather. In 1983 I sailed on the Keiran to Ascension and three months later back to the islands from Ascension. I loved it and the rougher it was the more I loved it.
Theo is 36 feet, a decent size but she only has one engine and no sails. I have become a wimp. I worry continously that we will break down. I no longer like being out in the rough weather in case we should break down or have to stop the engine for any reason. I know if we stop we will swing side on to the waves and that scares me. My fear has become totally irrational. 10 years ago when we first bought George Island I would stand on the beach for a good 15 minutes and retch continously with nerves. At the time we had a wooden boat. What if we spring a board, we will sink. On the plus side although she wasnt designed to sail she had a lovely big red sail which would keep her into the wind if needed. My irrational side drives me and Christopher mad. In the earlier years I used to get this idea that I would feel better off the boat then on. You may think well there is nothing wrong with that but we would be half way between islands and taking into account that I can't swim it is a totally bizarre thing to think. Other times I have had the urge to get into the dinghy and be towed then if something should go wrong then I would already be in the dinghy. This plan however is then squashed by the thought, what if the rope comes untied, I will float away and he (Christopher) may not notice. I am not alone in this thought of being towed in the dinghy however. Elle the dog actually had the nerve to do it. She dissappeared of the boat only to be found standing up in the bow of the dinghy under tow. I often think I should write Christopher a book of warning signs. It would start of with, it's a little rough - this means it's okay at the moment but if it gets a bit rougher there might be a problem. I can hear the wind up high in the sky today - are you sure it's not going to get windy. I don't like it - this is quite serious, it's his first warning that I am not happy. It really means I would like to go back but I am not going to ask, you should just know. I really don't like this - this is the second warning he really should react to this, in fact he shouldn't ask if I want to go back he should just turn and go back. The third and final warning is delivered in total meltdown. It is delivered in no uncertain terms. It comes in the form of unstoppable, uncontrollable verbal abuse and threats of never ever, ever going again. Last time it arrived with an overwhelming desire to kick him in the legs, which I managed to refrain from. My demons however have only got the better of me once. This would never have happened if we didn't have company. I knew it was too rough for me. I could see the waves breaking outside the harbour but we had company. This he thought would give him a bit more leeway. I wouldn't play up in company. Wrong, very wrong, he will not try that again. Today was a lovely day but a bit cold. I decided I would lay on the hatch cover on the deck. Christopher came out and said why don't you get up in the dinghy it will be nice and sunny in there and you will feel DOUBLEY safe. There is no such thing as doubley safe!!! UMM says the insane bit of brain, it sits on a bracket that is welded onto the end of the boat. It hangs out over the back. WHAT IF the bracket breaks, the boat can't fall right of because it is tied but one side will drop. I will fall out. I can't swim, I'm not wearing my lifejacket, he might not notice it has fallen off. I obligingly climb up into the dinghy. After all its only for an hour and a half and worrying about the bracket breaking off means I dont have to worry about the acid that he spilt in the hold which has eaten the legs of his padded boiler suit practically to the knees. I mean what else is it eating. So that is my relationship with Theo and the sea. Never look at the dials. You might notice something is wrong. Enquire about every noise that you have not heard before and most importantly take an i-pod turn it up to full volume and hopefully it will drown all those noises that you have not noticed before that might indicate a problem.

79 today and uncontrollable giggling when you shouldn't

Today is my mums 79th birthday. I wish I was in Stanley so I could take her out for a meal and buy her a birthday present. My mum is a truelly remarkable person. She is as fit as a fiddle despite being told 5 years ago that she had 18 months left to live. Well my mum thoroughly enjoys an argument and proving others wrong. No one was going to tell her she had 18 months to live and not be proved wrong. I know my mum will not mind me telling you all because she is quite proud of the fact that they have been proved wrong. Mums initial health problems started approximately 20 years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The prognosis was good and she had a lumpectomy and radiotherapy. Five years ago she was diagnosed with a rare form of leaukemia called hairy leaukemia, a very slow developing form of cancer which she had probably been developing for the previous 10 years. Ironically it was suggested that this had probably been caused by the treatment that cured her breast cancer. At the time her blood counts were very low and her resistance to illness and the ability of her blood to clot were away below normal. In a remarkable act of what I can only describe as defiance over the last two years her blood counts have improved, some have actually came back to within normal range. Some are still low but no part has deterioated further with all tests showing a degree of improvement to the point where her monthly checks have now been extended back to three monthly checks. She is one in a million.
On a sadder note it is two years yesterday since my father was buried. He was 81 years old. My dad had never spent a day in hospital until his final illness which he was very unfortunate to die from. He was like my mum, as fit as a fiddle and they had both just returned from the UK. Summer had arrived and dad had started to plant his still very large potato garden. During the night he woke with a pain in his chest. In the morning mum was not happy with him and got my sister to take him to the hospital. To cut the story short it showed that he had had a heart attack. The hospital believed it had been caused by a faulty valve that was letting blood drain back. The decision was taken that because he was still incredibly fit and had stablized well he would be sent to Santiago in Chile. An air cardel flight was brought in for him and my brother John was allowed to go on the flight with him. My mum was not allowed to go because obviously she can not get insurance because of her condition. They had a good flight and dad arrived in Santiago in a good and stable condition. His diagnoses was confirmed, he was rested for a few days and then tests were started to determine if his heart and arteries were in good enough condition to have a valve replacement. We were warned that one of the tests carried the risk of disloging something which may cause a stroke. My dad was just so unlucky because this is what happened. The day after the test and with the all clear for the valve replacement he had a stroke. Again he was fortunate and apart from some confusion he didnt lose any use of his limbs but this meant that he was no longer well enough to have his valve replacement. The path of treatment became a bit blurred but we knew it would now be several weeks before his operation could go ahead. Unfortunately his heart couldnt take the strain of the wait and on the 5th October 2009 he had another heart attack and passed away. A week later my brother flew home with my father body.
There was then a delay with his funeral because dad had arrived without all his relevant paperwork which meant he could not be buried. We were told that because dad was in a sealed coffin it would have a window so we could see him if we wanted to. I had visions of this window, would it just be a little window that I could only see his face through. Like a peek a boo window. I couldnt get to grips with it. Mum, my sister Stephanie and I decided we would go and see dad. We arrived outside the hospital and I decided no I couldnt go so only mum and Stephanie went. They came back and Stephanie explained that in fact the whole top half of the coffin lifted and I shouldnt worry because dad looked very peaceful and asleep. One more trip around the square and I decided I did want to go. I had never seem a deceased person before but I have seen lots of dead animals and although I have never said to my sister my dad did look peaceful but he didnt look asleep, he looked as stark as it might seem, dead!! Anyway this was not meant to be a morbid blog but today I have been thinking about my dad and his funeral. I remember telling my sister Stephanie years ago that I dreaded the day our parents should die because I was sure I would be like the Africans when they mourn their dead and that I would be uncontrolable and howl loudly. Bearing this in mind the dreadful day of the funeral arrived. I was doing well, thinking don't think about it, sing the hymn, keep your mind occuppied with other things. So I sang and then I realised, I'm singing different words, I listened more carefully and then realised half the church was singing different words. I got this uncontrollable desire to laugh. I thought of my dad and he would laugh until the tears ran down his face. I laughed and I laughed and my shoulders shock with uncontrollable laughter but I didnt make a sound. I was totally engrossed in my own private world of laughter until I got a sharp nudge in the ribs from Christopher. Dad would have found it soooo funny. No one else laughed.

Perhaps we were having our own private joke. I look back and think the people behind must have thought I was unconsolable with my shoulders shaking in grief, all because the parson had printed the same verse twice. Those who knew the song missed it out and those like me who didnt sang it.

A career hanging in the wind, she's going to love me!!

At last some good news.  As previously mentioned Tiphanie went off to London.   It has been a long two months especially for her.  Some of you will recall me writing about Tiphanie spending a night in hospital with anaphylactic shock while she was in Wales.  This had a massive knock on effect for her job.  She had already secured a job as a fisheries observer before she came home and before commencing her job all that was required was a medical.  During the medical she said that she had spent the night in hospital with anaphylactic shock.  This admission meant that the doctor would not sign her off to start her job.  At the time she had been taking two different antibiotics for a throat infection.  She was immediately taken off both of them.  She returned home not knowing which one she was actually allergic too.  She was however told that it was not likely to be penicillin because she has taken them periodically throughout her life and that it was most likely to be the other antibiotic that she was taking. Fortunately for her the doctor realised the enormous impact on her career if she couldn't pass her medical and arranged for her to go to an allergy clinic in London to be given both antibiotics under controlled conditions. Several weeks later she was sent off to London.  Christopher and I had to pay £400 towards the visit but it was a small price to pay if it meant the difference to her having a job in her field or not.  She went into hospital on the the first Thursday after she arrived and was administered the first antibiotic, the one they thought had caused the reaction.  Nothing.  She then had to return the following Thursday to be tested for the second one.  Nothing happened until the last dose was administered.   The reaction was the same as previously, her face swelled and she got short of breath.  The reaction however was not too severe and they were able to treat it with tablets rather then with an epi pen.  The result was that although the drug ended in the 'in' that normally indicates it is a penicillin it was not a penicillin but in fact an antibiotic that belongs to a small group of drugs called quinollins which apparently are normally given to people that are allergic to penicillin.  Happily Tiphanie is now signed off and starts her job on Monday.  She has tablets in case she should accidentally take quinolllins and an epi pen but she is absolutely clear about what she is able to take so I don't see that she will ever use them but better safe then sorry.
This problem unfortunately has hung over her for approximately two months while she has been working on her masters dissertation.  The knock on effect has been she lost interest in it because she couldn't think of any other job in her field she could do here if she didn't pass her medical.  She has one week left to finish it which she will but I think we will all have to keep our fingers crossed that she gets good enough marks in the dissertation to pass.
I actually wrote this weeks ago and since then Tiphanie has now been at sea for coming up to three weeks. 

After her induced reaction

Normal face

There's a bird and penguin eggs, yum.

There's a tussac bird that appears to have syncronized with Christophers alarm clock.  The alarm clock goes off at 5 am and the bird goes off at 5.05 am.  This wouldn't be so bad if you could turn him off like the alarm clock but I timed him yesterday and he chirpped and cheeped for a full 20 minutes.  To try and control the annoyance that boils up inside me at this interpution to my sleep I even tried putting words from an ABBA song to his so called singing.  It didnt work.  I have moments of shoot him, please Christopher go and shoot him, but he is rare, so they say. I put up with him last summer but my tolerance is running out, the only solution I can see is to move islands.

Gentoo penguin rookeries in the sand grass on Speedwell Island

King shags

On happier things the gentoo penguins have laid.   There are thousands of them all looking fit and healthy. They have set up an alliance with the shags.  I'm not sure who is benifiting, I can't see who has anything to gain by it but the shags have started laying in the centre of the penguin rookeries.  Last year there was an island wide penguin census by Falkland Conservation.  We opted to count our own penguins.  Never again. I believe it is near impossible to get an anywhere near accurate count off the large colonies that have several thousand penguins interscepted with several thousand shags.  I think a new method will need to be investigated for the next census, maybe aerial photos.  We have collected eggs from one colony.  We will pickle some for ourselves and also give some to our families in Stanley.  This will have no detrimental affect on the penguins, they were robbed immediately after their first laying and like a hen they will lay again.  Although we eat penguin eggs we are both conservation minded and the penguins will not be disturbed again this season.

No, No, Shaun not like that!!!

Young farmer putting sheep out

The unruly Bex, looking the part.

Yesterday Christopher asked Shaun to take some cull sheep out of the pens across the green and turn them out into one of the paddocks.  Take your own dog he says.  His own dog is a ten month old collie as yet untrained other then the command, stop.  There are things the old farmer knows that the young farmer doesn't and the old farmer sometimes does not bother to enlighten the young farmer. One thing being that there are at a quick count  at least five different exits of the green and it would probably help you and your very unruly dog if you shut the exits that you don't want your sheep to go through.  Old farmer and wife stand at the kitchen window and laugh as the sheep leave the pens in small cuts.  First comes a cut of three, then another of two, followed by a larger cut which in turn was followed by young farmer carrying a sheep.  Old farmer stops laughing and says well that's a big mistake he's just made.  He's let the front end get away, if he's not careful they are going to be out with the ewes and lambs that have been born from the artificial insemination programme.  Wife says well your not going to wait for it to happen and then get sh**** with him are you.  This prompted old farmer to get older more reliable dogs and a motorbike but not before the sheep were heading out to the ewes and lambs.  Happily between them they managed to get them back in before they mixed with the ewes and lambs.  Young farmer says I'm really pleased with Bex, she didn't know what to do but she really tried. 

It's quite likely we will get lost without you burning the track!!!!

Its been a long time.  We had a frustrating last couple of weeks in Stanley.  Finally on about the 20th September Theo was ready to go back in the water.  It then blew for about three days making it impossible to get lifted back into the water.  Then the dock was extremely  busy with trawlers and oil support vessels etc.  The only spot available was a one hour slot between vessels on I think it was the 23rd.  Everything went to plan and at last she was back in the water.  Christopher and Shaun eventually got a weather window to bring her back out to the islands on the 26th.  It all happened at very short notice and they were unable to get any one to come with them.  They eventually got away at 10:45 in the morning.  They had a good run through with a bit of rock and roll around Lively Island.  Shaun decided they should plot a new course which he okayed with Christopher which resulted in them having the fastest trip through ever.  I got a last call from Christopher at 11:45 pm saying that they were passing George Island.  They took the boat to Speedwell and slept on the boat at the jetty ready to come across to Flores Harbour the following morning to pick Tanya and I up.  It was a great experience for Shaun and proved that he was capable of skippering the boat, plotting courses and using all the navigation equipment.  Tanya and I left Stanley at 6:00 am the following morning.  We had a good run out.  Tanya and I have only ever drove off road down to Flores Harbour once each by ourselves.  We were well chuffed with ourselves for not getting lost.  It was a little disconcerting to find that North Arm had been burning off the rank white grass and in some areas it had swept across the track obscuring the way. We were exactly four hours from Stanley to Flores Harbour and as we came down the last hill to the harbour Christopher and Shaun were just coming in through the narrows.  Happy Days.

King Dick

A long time since my last blog.  I have had acute sciatica and although it doesnt affect my ability to write I just couldnt be bothered.
Theo is still out of the water.  This is the biggest maintenance period she has had in the 10 years since we bought her.  On the engine side she has had the injectors changed.  The timing chain and tappets have been adjusted.  The nut link belts on the alternator and jabsco pumps have been renewed. Some of the salt water coolent pipe work has also been renewed.  The manafold clamps, bolts and gaskets have been renewed.   The engine room has been chipped, primed and painted where it  needed attention.   The old batteries have been replaced.  The fuel tank breather pipes have also been renewed.  The exhaust shroud has been completely rebuilt.   All the navigation light brackets have been cut off and replaced .  The old radar bracket has been cut off  and a new bracket has been put on higher up and the radar re-attached.  The fluxgate compass lead has been removed and re-routed.  The old hi-ab has been removed from behind the wheel house along with the  back A frame.  New brackets have been made  and the new Palfinger hi-ab has been situated at the stern.  All the hydraulic pipes have been re-routed to the stern. The stuffing in the stuffing box has been changed  (this stops the water coming into the shaft).  The hold has been chipped and painted,  some of the cement work at the edges has been removed to check for corrosion, all was fine and the areas were re-cemented.  The hull has been high pessure washed and painted with four coats of paint. First with aluminium primer, then black intertuf primer, followed by two different coats of anti fouling.  The nearly none existent zinc anodes have been replaced.  The prop has been checked to see if it needed straightening and we were advised that if we hadnt noticed any new vibtartion then we should leave it alone. We actually wonder if perhaps it has always been slightly bent. The bulwarks have been sandblasted with the newly purchased sand blaster then primed and painted twice.  The main deck, fore deck and wheelhouse roof have been chipped and needled  and primed and painted. All the starboard side scuppers have been replaced. 
Jobs left to do.  Replace the port side scuppers, put the radio and areial back in.  Drain and clean the fuel tanks, change engine oil and filters. One more coat of paint on the main deck, one more coat on the inner bulwarks and wheel house and front eyebrows.  As you can see it has been a big job and for the last week we have been employing a third person to help with the painting. Hopefully she will be back in the water next week and away back to the islands.
Lastly for today King Dick.  Christopher was tightening a hydraulic pipe yesterday with a large spanner (a king dick) when it slipped off the nut.  He had so much pressure on it that it came up and he smacked himself in the nose.  It hit really hard and he saw stars and decided he should climb out of the hold in case he ended up in a heap on the floor.  When he came home I actually thought his nose was broken because it looked crooked but it looks okay today.  The swelling has now gone down and he is left with a slight black eye.  

Two Nighter

Last Thursday  Christopher, Shaun, Tanya and myself made a last minute decision that we would go to the Goose Green two nighter.  Two nighters are held on the larger farms, normally at the end of the shearing season or for a championship dog trials but sometimes they are just a social event for people to get together and have a few drinks, dance and socialise.  This two nighter was held at Goose Green a 152,000 hectare farm with 42 inhabitants.  We rented a house for the weekend but many people stay with farm residents whose houses bulge at the seams with friends, family and weekend revellers needing a bed or a space on the floor for the two nights.  Although we do not attend many these days I believe they are a social event that the Falklands can be truly proud of.  Despite the consumption of alcohol, in some cases quite copious amounts they are family occasions. 

I was working until 4:30pm on Friday and because we had made the decision late on Thursday we were not ready to leave straight after work.  By Friday lunch time it had started to snow and by 4:30 it was freezing.  Shaun and Tanya got away by 4:30 and rang us to say that the tarmac on the Mount Pleasant road was starting to get slippery.  We eventually got away from Stanley at 6:50pm.  The snow had set in by then and an hour into the trip I was beginning to  wish we hadn't left.  The snow had turned to a blizzard.  We had taken my Pajero an automatic 2.5 litre diesel.   It was quite nice to be passed by one of our friends on the MPA road and lucky that we recognised his vehicle in the dark.  Still being in mobile rang we were able to give him a ring and he slowed down and stayed with us for the rest of the trip.  The biggest problem with the automatic in the snow and ice is the lack of gears to use as control on the hills when you can't use your brakes.  We finally arrived at Goose Green around about 9pm.

As adults, quick stepped, samba'd or in some cases just did their own thing there were children taking turns on a skateboard and scooter in amongst the dancers.  I love the fact that these are family events.  The dancers do their best to avoid the kids and the kids do their best to avoid the adults their is total tolerance towards the children they are not viewed as being in the way or a nuisance, it is an occasion for them to enjoy to.  The youngest reveller last weekend was 5 month old Connor Joe, he arrived in the hall around about 7pm with his mum, brother and grandparents and left for home about 5 minutes before us which was approximately 2:30 am, despite the loud music  and just the general high noise level of a large group of people talking, laughing and generally having fun he sleep the whole evening through under the watchful eye of his family.

Saturday afternoon started with camel racing for the children. This was followed by horse racing for the adults, there was even a tote.  The horse racing was on the tele.  A proper programme for such occasions where you can back your preferred horse and collect your winnings if you are lucky.  All money made by the tote was then given to a local charity.  This was followed by a mixed doubles darts competition.  Again this was a super family event.  Christopher's partner was a lovely young lady called Lucianne.  I'm not sure how old she is but I would think she is 11 or 12.  Christopher and Lucianne won their first game but then came up against Lucianne's grandmother who is quite a darts player and they went out in the second round to Luciannes grandmother and partner.  They had a good game though and it could have went either way.  I was drawn with a young man named Leo who is about 10 years old.  You probably think this is too young to be able to play darts effectively but that is not the case.  All Leo's darts landed in the board and although we did not win our game we were down to our double and had our chances.  The weekend was then rounded of by another evening of dancing, socialising, putting the world to rights, farming stories and a few more beers.

Sunday morning saw Christopher, Shaun & Tanya up and away by 7 am to go to Speedwell for a day trip to move sheep leaving me to make my way back to Stanley on the still snowy roads.  I waited until midday and then made the decision to leave for Stanley but I decided if I found the road too slippery then I would go back and wait for Christopher at Goose Green.  I met with my sister and her children who were also at Goose Green and equally as nervous about driving back in with snow still on the roads.  It turned out that the roads had cleared significantly, we both had little skids, me when I braked at a cattle grid and I saw Stephanie doing a bit of a zig zag in my mirror when she was stopping behind me to give me a message from Christopher.  Two of the valleys had very snowy slopes which I wouldn't have chosen to drive through myself but we had gone too far to go back so it was a case of you know what to do so do it.  It took us two and a half hours to drive back to Stanley.  I guess that is about an hour longer then it would usually take but we were pretty pleased with ourselves.  An end to a great weekend.

Next time. Tiphs dissertation and trip to London.  The day trip to Speedwell and perhaps you could check those bolts dad.

The lifting of Theo with photos

Christopher and Toby Poole

Theo being lifted

Theo sitting on her cradle

Protogat (fisheries protection vessel)

Concordia Bay (local supply vessel) carries animals for the abattoir, wool, fuel and general cargo around the settlements in the Falklands.

Start of the lift

 

The 80 ton crane used to lift Theo out of the water.

It's been a busy week.  Theo is at last out of the water.  She was lifted out last Sunday.  There was snow on the dock.  Shaun was out stevedoring moving squid when at 9 am the call came that the lift was going to happen in the next half hour.  It was a rush to get everything ready.  The tug and trailer had to be taken down onto the floating dock.  We couldn't have it on the dock ready because with the oil exploration it gets pretty busy down there.  We ended up purchasing the tug earlier in the year because it is the only vehicle that fits onto the trailer that the boats cradle is attached too.  The road from the yard where it was being kept was very icy and the vehicle has no four wheel drive but it was a case of doing it because we didn't know how long it would be before another opportunity arose to get Theo out.  I had the job of ringing around friends to get help as Shaun wasn't available.  First I tried my brother but he was leaving for work at MPA.  Then I tried Steven Poole but he was just off to fix his sons heating.  I was wracking my brain thinking who else could I ask when I remembered Shaun Jaffray had offered to give a hand when she was lifted out, he in turn asked Toby Poole to come and help so I managed to cobble together a crew to help with ropes and stropes.  Everything was ready in time but then the digger on the dock belonging to the person lifting the boat out wouldn't start because it was frozen up.  This was needed to clear the snow of the lifting area so that metal sheets could be put down for the feet of the crane.  Apparently if you don't clear the snow first the sheets will aquaplane making it all highly dangerous.  Several hours later the snow was cleared but then the crane had the same problem with frozen filters etc.  Christopher helped get the vehicles running and I think it was about half past four in the afternoon when the boat was finally out of the water and sitting in its cradle.  She then spent the night on the dock because the road up from the dock was just to icy to get her back to the yard.

Theo is looking pretty rough top side but the hull is in good condition and doesn't need sand blasting.  Unfortunately she has a slight bit of damage to the prop.  This we believe probably happened when she drug her temporary moorings last year and ended up on the beach.  Quite unbelievable she went out of the Speedwell Bay one very rough night, missed the island that is situated in the bay, across Eagle Passage and beached herself right next to a wreck that had done the same thing many, many years ago.  I've got to say, I don't know much about boats and moorings but when I saw the temporary anchor he was putting down I did say that wont hold her.  I think my words were I could tow that away myself!!!!  She was too grounded to get off the beach ourselves but we were very lucky that where she went up was sheet rock.  It is very unfortunate that the area has virtually no tidal variance.  In any other circumstance you would wait for the high tide and probably have floated her off but 3 feet makes little or no difference.  We were fortunate that two days later the Concordia Bay was coming up through Eagle Passage  and she pulled her off.  We are now taking advice on whether the dent needs taking out of the propeller.  The consensus seems to be that if we haven't noticed any increased vibration, which we haven't then because it is only slight it would be best to leave it well along because apparently propellers are made in casts and are easily broken when you start hammering them.  We are just waiting for a final opinion from an old friend of Christopher's who has spent his life doing metal work on lathes etc.  If he says it is okay we will leave it if he says it needs straightening we will try and straighten it.  Of course the big deal is if we break it there isn't a replacement one down the road.

Work wise on the boat Shaun has been needling inside the wheel house.  Christopher said he didn't clear the benches first just shoved the stuff aside so it is now all covered in rust and paint chippings.  He has also been needling in the hold.  Theo has cement in the bottom and she was showing a bit of rust at the top of the cement so that is being sorted.  Christopher has been changing pipes in the engine room, this is proving very difficult because the pipe work was put in before the engine.  He knew this but the job needed doing so he will have to find a way around it.  He also has the stack off.  The outer of the stack was knackered when we bought her.  Christopher replaced it then but it is gone again so it has to be done again.  The last couple of weeks have been a bit in limbo because none of the big jobs could be started because she needed to be running to move her around the dock for the lift out.

Well lots more news, Goose Green two nighter, dancing, darts oh and drinking!!   More on Tiphs dissertation and a trip to London for her but I'm fed up writing for now.

Brr its cold!!!

Not much on.  Christopher and Shaun have been working on the trailer that Theo will be lifted out on to.  Hopefully she will be lifted out tomorrow but there is only one crane here with the capacity to lift her out so we have to wait until there is a slot to do it.

Me and Tiphanie (a bit cool in the house tonight)

Right to left the crew, Shaun May, Chris Poole, Steven Poole and Chris May alongside FIPASS

Theo coming into the floating dock (FIPASS)

Tiphanie has done another day electro fishing gathering information for her dissertation.  I have been working as usual.

Your not alone or hey dad I think you should wake up

Nice to hear from the boys.  They are 2 hours from Wolf rocks and about 4 hours in total from Stanley.  Shaun has been at the helm, Christopher has been having a kip, not sure who  was with Shaun but I'm sure either Chris or Steven were.  It has been incredibly rough.  So rough they decided to go out around Livelys but they abandoned that idea because it was too rough to get behind and decided to run with the sea.  As I said Shaun has been at the helm and they have not long ago been intercepted by HMS Edinburgh?  I don't know how long they watched her on the radar but I imagine it had been calling them.  They didn't have their radio on but Shaun woke Christopher who came up and spoke to them.  Apparently she came right across in front of them.  I don't know how close but will find out more later.  Nice to know there is a warship out there.

Can't sleep waiting to hear from the boys

Woke up at 4 am.  Can't get back to sleep   Wondering how the boys are getting on.  I could probably get them on the mobile now but I expect a couple of them may be sleeping so I don't want to disturb them.  I expect Christopher will ring at about 7 o'clock.

Potato patch on George Island

Cabbages and potatoes in storage for the winter

I have picked up a few new followers over the last couple of weeks.  One is Doreen whitelock@victorygarden, a gardeners blog with tips etc on gardening.  This reminded me of the trip down to George Island last week specially to dig the potatoes.  It turned out that the garden was so wet  the potatoes were just mud balls and the trench was filling with water as they were digging them.  In the end they abandoned the idea, they will have to be dug in the spring.  Christopher enjoys gardening very much and produces way more produce then we can ever eat.  This year I have decided to buy him one of these fancy new green coloured poly tunnels for his birthday.  They are supposed to have a 10 year lifespan.  The original plastic covered poly tunnels didn't fair of to well in the Falklands.  The wind generally got the better of them in a couple of years.  He has been wanting a poly tunnel for years but because we move between islands all summer there was a likelihood it would dry out too much while we were away but with Shaun and Tanya on Speedwell there will be someone to water it while we are on George Island.  It will be a surprise. Christopher never looks at my blog, the Internet for him is for sourcing items or finding out how to do something that you don't know how to like wiring a three way light switch.  He has no interest in facebook or games etc.

Tiphanie out, Tanya in, Chris & Shaun on the way

Tiphanie eventually got away today to collect her fish samples from a river out at Goose Green.  The fish will not be killed but stunned by electric current.  She will then measure, weight and take a small scale sample and return them to the river.  She has to do this at several different sites along the river.  Each site has to be GPS marked. I believe they then run a net across the top and bottom of each site to retain any fish in the area.  A count of fish is then also made at each site.  Everything had to be put off at the last minute last week.  Tiphanie got out of bed ready to go, stretched and pulled a muscle in her neck.  It was very painful and for a while she could barely lift her head. This resulted in her not being allowed to go for three days by which time it was the weekend.
Tanya flew in today.  She brought a two week old lamb with her.  The lamb is one of a twin.  One of the draw backs of our new breed of sheep that we are putting across Speedwell is their ability to get in lamb at any time of year, hence we have 3 lambs born mid winter.  The ewes are pure Samm and had been put aside to be artificially inseminated with Samm semen.  Too late.  When the vet went to put the semen in she could  tell that 5 of the ewes were already in lamb.  This is not too big a problem because they have been caught by pure Samm rams but it is not ideal as there is not a lot of feed around.  We are very lucky that we are having an extremely mild winter.  The decision was taken yesterday to remove one of the twins because it was starting to fall away and by doing this it will give the other twin a much better chance to grow.  We still have two ewes left to lamb, hopefully they will hold of for the ten days that Christopher is in Stanley.
Steven and Chris went out to Flores harbour today to meet Christopher and Shaun ready to bring Theo to Stanley.  They plan to leave at about 8 tonight and with a good run will get into Stanley at about 10 tomorrow morning.  The idea is to leave at night so that they approach Wolf rocks in the day light.  If they get to them in daylight they will come between if it is dark they will go out around.  Christopher says they are quite intimidating as you see them rising up towards you ,on the radar I assume.  They will be out of contact for about seven hours but will be able to pick up a mobile signal when they pass Lively Island.  They also have a satellite phone for emergencies.  Hopefully they will not have any problems.  He has a good crew, himself,  very good with all the equipment and a dab hand at mechanics.  Chris Poole who has done a lot of small boat work in the past and is also a mechanic, Chris' father who is also a mechanic and Shaun who is doing his first long trip.  Shaun is good on the equipment but doesn't have much in the mechanicing skills yet.  He can handle the boat well but you are more likely to get a rougher trip with him at the helm. He is quite happy to keep her pounding or rolling where as Christopher learnt long ago that if I'm on board he should keep it as smooth as possible because there is always the chance I might want to turn round and go back.
Lastly looking forward to the boat getting in because Christopher is bringing the skype phone in and I will be able to give my mum a ring and have a nice long chat.

Fascinating

Well I should be doing housework but I switched on the telly and Edwardian farm was on.  Absolutely amazing they have taken a wild pony of Dartmoor and brought over an American horse whisperer to tame it. He has taken it from wild to putting his weight over its back in one lesson.  Christopher has tamed two horses himself and he also takes a gentle approach with lots of ground work but this was amazing.  Some ideas to try with my miniature ponies in the spring.  Although they are too small for us to ride I would like to get them tame so small children could have a ride on them.  Christopher says that since the ponies have been marked they are a lot quieter.

Shaun on Sambo (tamed by Christopher)

I used to ride Sambo when he was a young horse.  Christopher would ride him out on a gather to take the edge of him then I would ride him home.  Because the gathers on the large farms were so big I would take a horse, Christopher would take a horse and he would lead two spares.  He would always ride the two he had tamed first because I can not sit a horse that might decide to stretch its legs.  This particular day we were riding home at the end of a long gather back into Port Louis settlement.  We were riding at quite a lick because it had been a long day and the day was drawing to an end.  I was on Sambo and he was behaving nicely when one of Christophers dogs ran under his belly.  One of my biggest problems was I always rode with box stirrups, these are like a safety stirrup and your foot can not go through them.  Sambo got a fright and bucked, not hard but we were going down hill and I shot  forward up his neck, this frightened him even more but I was still on but my feet were already out of the stirrups and I couldnt get back.  Of course he bucked again and I was hanging down over his neck, still holding on but I remember thinking you will have to let go, you cant get back, so I let go and ended up in a heap on the ground.  Sambo just stood and looked but he never forgot.  I never rode him again for many years but the day I decided to ride him again he must have picked up that I was nervous and two bucks and he had me back on the ground.


Humbug & Curly Wurly the miniature ponies



Diving & Fishing

Christopher diving at George Island

Another busy day.  Out on Speedwell Christopher dived on Theo.  This was to give her a quick once over before her long trip to Stanley.  He was getting very concerned that the anodes would be gone.  It is three years since she was last out of the water when the last set were put on.  The anodes stop corrosion.  I believe there job is to stop the different type of metals destroying each other.   All but one small piece of one anode is all that is left but he said the others have only recently disappeared because the metal under where they were was still all shiny.  Without anodes my understanding is that the different metals in effect eat each other and vital parts like the rudder start falling off.  He also checked the rudder and the cutlass bearing and everything seems to be in good order.  In fact he was very pleased with the condition of her under the water.  Christopher learnt to dive 3 years ago for a job he was working on.  He had two dives in a swimming pool and that was that.  Some people are just born with so much confidence it seems unfair sometimes.  After he finished diving Shaun put on the dry suit and had a swim around the boat.  Tiphanie our daughter learnt  to dive at university and although she hasn't dived here she purchased her own bcd yesterday so that she can start again.  She admits that she is not very confident yet although she has done quite a lot of dives.
This evening Christopher, Shaun and Tanya went down to George Island.  The idea is that Christopher and Shaun will start digging the potatoes at first light and work all day until they are all up.  They will then go straight back to Speedwell where Christopher wants to get the floor of the crab factory cemented before they head to town with Theo.  This will happen as soon as the wind plot shows a 24 hour spell of decent weather.
Tiphanie has arranged her first trip out to one of the rivers to collect fish samples for her dissertation.  She leaves tomorrow with Dan who is helping her with her dissertation and Aiden who she has roped in as an unpaid volunteer to help with the nets in the river.  Aiden is a young lad that has come out to the islands to help lamb marking the last couple of years.

No sleep and missing mum

A good while since my last blog.  Going through a phase of can't be bothered.
In the last couple of weeks mum has left to go on holiday to England.  She is 78 years old, so the 18 hour flight to the UK is quite a trip for her.  She has spent the last 10 days with her niece in Eastleigh, today she goes to her friend Anne in Aldershot from their she goes up north to Yorkshire to stay with Peter my brother and Susan my sister, she will then go to Scotland to stay with my brother Charles.  Before she left she made me some ready meals, steak pies, lasagnas and meatballs and mash.  I am so lucky to have such a fantastic mum.  Everyday I go to her house for my lunch and to feed the cat.  Callum her nephew is living in the house but he goes to his other gran for his lunch so it all works in quite well.
Tiphanie is home, its nice to have her back in her old bedroom.  She arrived home totally skint but within a day she had found herself some temporary bar work.  She has been working part time in a pub in Wales so has got some pretty good experience in pub work.  She worked four hours yesterday but she said she had to keep checking the till receipts because spirtis are so much cheaper here, she thought she was ringing it up wrong.  She starts her proper job as a fisheries observer in September but she needs from now until then to finish her dissertation for her masters.  Before she came home she attended the small island games on the isle of Wight to compete in the badminton, she didn't win any of her matches but no one expected that she would.  We have a very small pool of people to chose from here to represent the islands and they are up against islands with very large populations. 
Out on the islands Shaun and Tanya's new kitchen is finished.  The house should be finished being re-wired today and they will be able to move in. It has been a big expensive job but we wanted it done properly and finished to a high standard.  The next big job is to get Theo ready to bring  to town for maintenance.  We are hoping to bring her in shortly after the 17th.  It takes 18 hours to bring her around to Stanley.  We are hoping we can have all the maintenance done in 3 weeks.  Time is pushing on.


The new kitchen, a truly multi talented job, plastering, tiling, plumbing, laying lino and electrics.





 

The new french doors



Shaun and Tanya in their new kitchen

 I had a stressful few days last week.  At work we are ordering for the September shipment.  This was the first time I had done my part of the ordering by myself  Last time I had Frankie to help me for the first few days.  The first time I started before everyone else and with help had no problem meeting the deadline.  This time I started at the same time and by Wednesday night, I had convinced myself I wasn't going to get finished by end of day yesterday.  I did make the deadline though and also fitted in a large stock take which took half of yesterday, so it was a sleepless night for nothing.

By-election and its just old age

Yesterday saw our first by-election since the last election approximately 18months ago.  It wasn't a surprise with talk of people taking wagers on how long it would be before this representative resigned.  To be honest I think he probably lasted longer then a lot of people expected.  One of his portfolios was agriculture, this was a little concerning in the beginning because he was a representative for Stanley.  It turned out that he was a sound representative for the agriculture sector and to be honest I believe he did a good job on our behalf.  He has been replaced by someone who I believe is invaluable when it comes to representing us overseas and can truly hold his own in the international arena.  With the pressure we are currently receiving from Argentina I believe it is imperative that we have a representative that can do this.  I believe some current and former councillors find him difficult to hold their own against.  In my opinion if you can't hold your own and fight your own corner then you are probably too weak to be representing me.
Christopher has been stuck in town all week.  He came in for an eye specialist appointment because he felt one of his eyes was deteriorating rapidly but apparently it is no worse then the last time he went and its just old age!!!!  The weather in Stanley has been calm but it has been too windy out around the islands.  On the way to Stanley the pinion went in the front axle of the Strada. Yesterday and today has been spent repairing that and it is now running again.
Tiphanie is now on the isle of Wight reading to play badminton at the small island games.  I think we have in the region of 44 competitors across the different sports.
It has been a busy week at work.  Today I sent out a list of special offers to our camp customers.  Well I tried to, in the first instance all they received was a cover note with no attachment.  By the time I get to grips with it all it will be time to go back home for the summer. 

1982

I have been busy finishing off my housework for the weekend but find that I seem to have memories of 1982 constantly on my mind.  I guess it is because we are only two days away from liberation day. I have decided to write down some of them that remain as vivid as they were nearly 29 years ago.
As the conflict wore on dad and I continued to be pretty much the first out the door of the West Store when the curfew ended, mum would stay behind and tidy up etc.  This mean't dad and I were usually home about fifteen minutes before her.  This particular day we got home to find the house had been broken in to.  Two Argentine soldiers were still there, they didn't speak English and were doing something in the electrical fuse box which was just inside the door.  They were either putting fuses back in or taking them out, we are not sure but they were also pointing at my bedroom window.  It soon became clear that I had left in the afternoon to be back in the West Store before the curfew started and because it was still light I had left my bedroom light on.  I had no black out blinds in my bedroom because we were never at home at night time.  We both knew this was going to cause trouble because one of the main reasons for staying in Stanly was to hopefully stop the house being occupied and here I was the cause for the break in.  Anyway dad quickly got a hammer and nails and nailed the broken door frame back into place and we waited to see if mum would notice.  It was my lucky day and we kept the secret for 20 years. Mum never did notice the repaired door frame and it stayed like that until last year when mum had the porch re-clad and a new door put in.
The Sunday before we were liberated mum decided she would take an older couple called Mim and Jim home for Sunday lunch.   They lived at the top of the hill and it was just getting to dangerous to go too far from the West Store and it had got to the point were I didn't really want to go home during the day because it just didn't feel safe.  Mum had went to a lot of trouble to do a nice lunch and had cooked my favourite, syrup pudding for dessert.  We had just started eating when this systematic  boom started.  It was very close and I believe it was a large gun of some description situated in the back yard of a house two doors down.  Everyone continued eating but I was felling pretty scared, the reality of war had set in and all I could think about is sooner or later someone is going to fire back at that gun and if they miss we are pretty close.  Anyway I was desperate to get away from the house and probably for the first time ever I washed the dishes as they each finished their meal.  I can remember thinking for god sake hurry up.
The last one for today.  As well as having our houses constantly searched when we were home we were also constantly counted in the West Store.  This particular day was different and we were all taken outside and lined up against a mesh fence.  We were all in single file with our backs against the fence.  In the middle of the road  also lined up facing us were Argentine soldiers with their guns.  Behind the mesh fence a large hole had been dug.  I didn't think much of it but some of the women were crying and I didn't know why.  I probably thought they were a bit wet to be honest.  It was sometime before I realised that they thought we were going to be shot and that the large hole was probably for us.  In the end it turned out to be just another counting and checking exercise but it made us nervous, maybe that was the idea.  We then all had to sign our names and were allowed back into the building.  I was probably about half a dozen behind this old chap, when a bit of a fuss started.  He refused to sign his name and the soldiers were getting agitated and I though the old chap was just being stupid.  I remember thinking sign your bloody name, your going to get us all shot.  It turned out that he wasnt playing up and that in fact he was illiterate and couldn't write his name.   I believe if I recall correctly he signed with an x.

It must have been the plumb

I have finished all the wallpapering I can do for the time being.  I now need Christopher to come in and remove the stove and ceramic chimney.  You may think it is odd that I am decorating when the room isn't ready but Christopher is so busy that if I wait for him to have time to do the whole job at once then I will never get the room done.  He is very careful however and I am sure he will be able to remove it without causing any mess or damage.  Anyway, I had a sneaking suspicion that the wall paper was creeping up on an angle and had already decided that when I went around the second corner I would use the plumb line to make sure it was straight.  It couldn't have been further out if it had tried.  I partly blame the corners because they are not nice straight corners but it was so far out that I had to overlap part way down to get the paper straight again.  Although a bit drastic I have a cunning plan to put display units right along the end wall so where I have had to overlap will be hidden.  The paper has got to go straight on the wall I am working on now  because there is no where to hide any more mistakes. If I go out as drastically on this wall as the first it will probably be side on by the time I get to the end.  Luckily the design allows the pattern to creep up without any ill effects.  I was thinking about past papering expeditions today when I remembered my second attempt at papering.  We had just bought our first farm. I had papered the sitting room which had been quite uneventful and decided the following year to paper our bedroom.  The ceilings in the house were not in good condition, they were warped and the paper over the joins was coming away.  I decided the solution to make it look better would be to paper the ceiling with anaglypta and then paint it.  I got on and done it and was quite pleased with myself.  Tiphanie was still sleeping in her cot in our bedroom at the time.  Anyway I woke up to the noise of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  I knew straight away what the noise was, it was the paper letting go on the ceiling.   "Christopher, Christopher the  papers falling of the ceiling, its going to wake the baby"  That was my one and only attempt at wallpapering ceilings.  We got up and pulled it all off and the baby didn't wake.  I think it probably didn't work because the house wasn't heated properly and the glue didn't dry quick enough.   Luckily  I have quite a good sense of humour.  I thought it was really funny
Out on the island work continues on the house.  Despite sending out another £200 worth of plumbing and fittings they are still 12 elbows short.
In Stanley I am now trying to restrain myself from opening up the first of the display units.  The end of the room where they are going is now finished and they could be built and put in place.  I know I don't have any of the right screwdrivers etc for the job, but I really do want to get at them.

Another first on the way

Huge congratulations to our daughter Tiphanie for passing the taught section of her masters degree with a B+.  Tiphanie's main degree is in Marine Biology and her masters is within the same field.  She is the first of both of our families to get a degree and a masters will be another first for us.  She is one very determined young lady.  Tiphanie left school with 10 GCSE's all grade C and above.  She then had a bit of a bomber first year at college but pulled out all the stops to get the required grades to get onto the marine biology course at Portsmouth university and hasn't looked back since.  She now arrives home on the 3rd July and will complete her dissertation here in the islands.  She will  have two supervisors here plus her supervisors in Wales.  I have to say that I am a little worried about her doing her dissertation here and would have preferred  her to return to Wales to complete it.   For her final piece of work she is doing work on fish in one of the rivers and this all relies on her supervisors here in the Falklands  getting out with her to collect the information required.  She has put herself on a very tight deadline because she has already taken up employment as a fisheries observer.  She will have ample time to work on her project as long as she has the information to work with.  This and the fact that she will go to sea for several weeks at a time without Internet access will place added stress on her.  I am confident however that with the support of her supervisors here and in Wales she will have a masters degree come September. 
At the same time I have to congratulate my nephew Callum who has just completed his level three as an electrician at Chicester college and who returns to the islands this week.
Shaun our son left school with 9 GCSE's including an A* an A, 5B's and 2C's.  Shaun went off to Bicton agriculture college where he completed his first year and then returned to the islands to complete his second year of practical work which he did.  He then had a tragic vehicle accident that prevented him from returning to complete his third year.  We looked at him completing the course a year later by correspondence but he wasn't interested.  His outlook is "look at you dad you've done alright without qualifications".  True enough he has and like his dad he will do okay.


Tiphanie graduating as a Marine Biologist




Callum and Tiphanie




Shaun working on the house demolition

 Well congratulations finished and it is now light enough to start wallpapering.

Raining Ash

The eruption of the volcano in Chile is now resulting in it raining ash.  The vehicles are grey and  I looked out the window at work and the big macracapa is also grey.  Helicopters and the Islander aircraft are grounded.  The last two airbridges from the UK have both been cancelled with no indication about when the plane may leave the UK.  At the end of the day it is better to be safe then sorry.  In 1991 we were badly effected by the eruption of a volcano in Chile.  The ash is that abrasive that we had to get boots for our working dogs because the ash wore holes in the pads of their feet.  It was so dense at one point that day became very much like night.  Lets hope its not that bad this time.
Christopher is back on Speedwell, Tony from the agriculture department was supposed to fly back to Stanley today but was unable to fly back because the planes are grounded.  He is thinking he may take him over to the mainland tomorrow and then someone can come out and pick him up.

Dissappointed in you America!!!!!

I can't believe that the United States of America are urging Britain to enter talks with Argentina over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.  What makes it so difficult to believe is that America seems to stand up for every body else's rights but apparently the right of self determination of 2,000 plus people means nothing to them.  The Falkland Islanders are unanimous in their desire to remain British, we are British, we have always been British.
We were invaded by Argentina, 255 British soldiers lost their lives so we could remain British.With the anniversary of liberation day  on the 14th June.  I remember laying in my sleeping bag on the floor and listening to the whistle of shells overhead and actually thinking I don't know if I am going to survive this war.  We did and we will be forever grateful to Britain for liberating us.  Sovereignty should never, ever be discussed.

Snow and 106 page views

Wow 106 page views from the USA today.
 I walked to work again today, the snow was quite deep but again most people were driving.  The snow was deep enough on the hill to give quite good grip.  Busy day at work getting the orders ready to go away.  Quite a brain strain day again for me as most of the work has to be done on excel and I have never really used it.  It appears to be all quite simple but because I don't know the programme I find I have to keep asking what appears to be trivial questions to get my work done.  I think I have got to grips with using it for this part of my work now so tomorrow should be easier.
Another busy day out on the island.  Shaun and Tanya have spent the best part of the day running the new wiring in their house.  They now have a couple of days by themselves while Christopher is away.  Shaun's jobs are to run all the wiring for the lights and plugs.  He then has to wire the plugs but leave all the faces off for Christopher to check when he gets back.  After that he has to build the rest of the kitchen units ready for them to be installed.
Christopher is away down to George Island on the boat to take the rams off.  He arrived down there after lunch and straight away went and gathered the back of the island in to get the hoggets.  He said they are in good condition.  The island is very wet which ties in with the summary of the weather for May which was apparently wetter then usual.  Tomorrow he will gather the front of the island and bring in the 1,100 ewes to take the rams off.  The island will then be left open so that the hogs can come onto the front of the island.  The front has much better feed then the back but we have no alternative other then shut the hogs on the back to stop them getting in lamb.
Tomorrow Christopher has the islander aircraft coming to George with a member of the agriculture department.  Not really sure why Christopher has requested a visit.  Its a chance to get the rest of the copper pipe out so that is really good, we wasn't sure that they would be able to take it because of the length but FIGAS was as ever very helpful. I see that Christopher's dad Bruce has been to the house and collected the pipe and fittings so it is all down at the airport ready to go.

7:35 am on the way to work this morning

Theo at the George Island jetty.

The Islander on the George Island airstrip

My mum went back to work for three weeks today.  She is 78 years old and despite having a serious illness is as fit as a fiddle.  Each time she gives up work she says this is it I'm definitely not going back but then they ring and of she goes again.  It is an easy job, answering the phone and taking orders etc in a carpet shop.  In three weeks she is off to the UK to see my sister and brothers and spend the summer with them.  I will miss her as she has been cooking dinner for me every day.

Cowboy Decorator

I didn't go to MPA last night because I decided I wanted to be fresh to start decorating the sitting room.  I may as well have went.  First sheet of paper right, second sheet of paper six inches too long at the top, oh six inches too short at the bottom.  Didn't look properly, got the match wrong.  Third sheet of paper right.  Fourth sheet of paper wrong.  Two inches too long at the top, two inches too short at the bottom.  May just get away with that one if the new skirting board is a decent height.  I could slap myself because I know how to do it but I am in such a rush to get it on the walls to see what it looks like.  So pleased when the first sheet went on, just loved it.  Spent ages on the Internet choosing it and then arranging to get it shipped down.  You can't buy wallpaper in the Falklands and even when you could it was mega safe.  Nothing off the wall that the shop might get stuck with.  This is an off white back ground with big purple flowers. Oh I love it!!!  I would love to be an interior designer.  Only design it, not do it you understand.  Right better get back to it, maybe for this sheet I will get on the chair and measure to where the match needs to be instead of standing back and guessing.  Enough decorating for this weekend.  The room is too dark now and it is difficult to see to do the butting together.  
Another wintry day with some snow showers.  Out on the island Christopher, Shaun and Tanya continued to work on the kitchen.  The door is now in through to the passage, the three new radiators are hung ready to be connected.  The plumbing is now in for the washing machine and sink and the gas cooker is sitting in place.   Tanya started un-packing ready to move in.

Lovely new purple wallpaper

I spent the morning working on the accounts.  A very, very expensive month.  First bill £4,000.00 plus, freight bill for shipping our container of wool away.  Second cheque £400.00 to bring Tiphanie home, worth every penny, third cheque Shaun's wages.  Then there was the fuel bill and another £200.00 for more copper pipe and pipe fittings for the house.  Phew,

Rice Krispie House

Its thirteen years since we brought this house and I am still finding rice Krispies.  They seemed to be stuck everywhere when we bought it.  Today I decided to start getting the walls reading to paper in the living room and where Christopher took the tongue and groove out, there they were again.  They don't half stick like **** to a blanket.
A quiet day today.  Still cold.  I am supposed to be going to MPA to play bowls tonight with the girls and boys from FIC but I am thinking that if I dont I may get more work done to my walls tomorrow.  Work or play!!!
Walked to work again yesterday.  I found muscles in my calves that I didnt know existed.  The hill is so steep going down and seems even steeper coming home.
Monday I have to pay Tiphanies flight for her to come home in July.  £400 plus one way and that is half price because she can fly on student rate.
Out on the island Christopher and Shaun are hoping to get the three new radiators fitted today.  He has had trouble getting pipe fittings because the old pipe is an unusual size that it has to be connected into.
This afternoon mum and I are going shopping.  Im looking for a birthday present for Tanya as it is her birthday on mid winters day. 
Time to go, got to get ready to go to Shorties for lunch.  Must try and get some photos from around Stanley to put on here.

OOOOO it's cold & facebook again!!!!

Um, got home from work yesterday to see my sister had put a link on facebook again.  I then had to go down to the shops and felt all embarrassed in case anyone had seen it.  Not much chance they hadn't because it was on there 4 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Got up to a covering of snow this morning.  Decided to walk to work because it seemed quite slippery.  Most people were driving past me though so I guess it was fine.  Its so cold and windy.
A near disaster in Shaun and Tanya's house this week.  The whole kitchen newly plaster boarded, all the seams plastered and finished, the coving up, everything looking good. Next job take out the old boiler.  Turn on the water to drain the boiler down and forget that you disconnected a pipe.  Consequences water running down through the coving and  new plasterboard.  Very, very lucky that Shaun and Christopher were both there.  Christopher knew straight away what it was, he rushed up into the loft to cover the pipe while Shaun turned the water off again.  Pretty depressing for a while I think but they mopped up the water laying on top of the ceiling and put on some heating and it dried out with no damage.  Phew.
Lastly 5 followers, still a long way to go to conquer the world.

A rough day out on the islands