Moving a garden & other stories

The first foxglove planted in the bank at the new site alongside primroses and, I think, a cowslip - hard to tell which is a primrose and which is a cowslip at this time of year. I have so many things in pots now, little plants newly seeded in the garden, or a herbaceous perennial split and replanted, with a little bit saved for the new place.

There's a holding bed-in-waiting too, the grass steadily dying back under the polythene. Hopefully when I come to dig it over it'll oblige by being easy.

Just like at the old place, there are stones buried and half buried everywhere. Beautiful sandstone that looks fine when made into a wall. Very useful for holding the winter polythene.

Another winter thing - a visit to Coole Park for a spin on the bikes, thinking of my good friend Erin, and this time the Whooper swans were there in force. You can hear them way before you can see them, honking like geese. There were groups of them everywhere. We saw these from the other side of the lake to where the house used to be:

Another winter job down in the harbour, putting the winter covers on Winter Solstice. We did it in two stages - the coachhouse and doghouse a couple of months ago, then the deck covers last week. She's all snug now.

Twelve years yesterday since she was put in the water in Portumna, giving her her name. Amazing how you don't remember the process when you only do it once a year. Joe, when he reads this, will be muttering 'But I did remember and you took no notice,' which is true, but he wasn't 100% certain and I was getting cold so just set in there with the side nearest the wall. And anyway, Joe had already started at the bow. Though I do admit I suggested that. But next year we'll get it right! The trick is to start at the stern on the port side. Otherwise the zips go the wrong way and you end up on your belly (you being me) trying to flip the shock cords over the studs under the rubbing strake with increasingly cold fingers.

But there she is, ears pricked and having cosy winter dreams.

A final photo - the garden the other morning:

We're back in the water!

So Winter Solstice is afloat once again. Just before she went back in I took this photo:

I'd gone up to Portumna with Joe to do some hoovering and cleaning. Can you believe it? Jobs I hate enough at home and that's what I ended up doing on the boat. To be fair the hoovering was to remove the dust (the result of much sanding) from the deck, and particularly from the fenders so they wouldn't damage the pristine new paintwork when she was launched. And to be even fairer Joe hoovered the whole of the inside last week.

I would do more of the painting and varnishing (honest), but Joe tells me I'm slower than him, or that we can't both work on the boat together as I'll be in the way... Much as I say I don't need help with digging or shifting compost. Sometimes it's just easier to do the job yourself or, possibly closer to the truth, we all like our own sphere of influence.

The boat was launched on Thursday last - Joe was there for the event but I had poetry stuff to attend to - a meeting to decide on poems for the next issue of Skylight47 which I co-edit. I may not have told you about the first issue - see here and buy a copy!

Joe had the peel-off vinyl name stickers, picked up the day before in Limerick, and two new batteries. The sticker would have been better put on while she was on the hard, but Eamon insisted he'd done that job perfectly successfully while a boat was in slings just post-launch. Maybe not when it was quite so windy though. Joe had a bit of a bother with it, and then there was the rain, but finally it was done.

We went up together on Saturday to check the bilges. Winter Solstice had stayed in the slings for longer than we'd thought she might need to while taking up water, but was now in Connaught Harbour recuperating from her out-of-water ordeal.

The font was bigger than I'd expected - bigger than on the previous sticker, and somehow less dense. I like it. Here it is a bit closer up. 

Just after I'd taken this photo Joe asked me to spot the difference between this side and the other. 'A bit higher up?' I said. No. 'Um.' Spot was the clue. Because of the wind the dot from the i in Solstice had been whipped from Joe's hands as he was trying to stick it on, to be lost forever. I wonder how long it would have taken me to notice?

Inside she's a bit of a mess still. The floorboards are up so the level of water can be checked.

 It was still trickling in from under the starboard engine, so there may be a problem there. 'Not to worry,' said Eamon, who was walking past. If it didn't stop they'd find the spot and put a bit of silicon on it. Strange seeing water in the bilges that came from the outside - she's always been very dry except for the (too many) times when water has come from other sources. The main cause of overflowing water has been from the weed trap, particularly when we're on the canal. When it becomes clogged, we have to undo the wing nuts on top of the trap (see photo), slide the lid across and ram a stick up and down rather more vigorously than is decorous until water pours out and you know it's cleared.

This won't happen any more! A new stalk has been attached at the base of the cylinder, rising it above the water level. So we may return to dry bilges yet.

We hope to bring her down the lake to somewhere with electricity so we can finish the cleaning job. With a bit of luck the weather will be good enough this weekend. We might even stay on board. Nothing like having to live among mess as an incentive to a good clean up.

5s byelaw

I've just been reading the Shannon byelaws from 1911 while having a glass or two in Lock 17 beside the river in Leitrim. We're here for the WiFi you understand. I was shocked and shamed to learn that we have been in breach of one of these byelaws for the last year. The byelaw says 'Vessels to have their Names painted on them'.

After her hull was painted Winter Solstice went incognito until last week when we were introduced to Paul from Boyle. Ye Iron Lung was in the harbour at Boyle being painted by Rory so she would be in tiptop condition for the Shannon Rally. Rory was having new signs made and so did we. Paul from Boyle even came to the harbour and stuck the names onto each side of the bow. Excellent service.

Hope we don't have to pay the fine for breaching the byelaw though. 5s a day.