Thursday 23 July 2015

Narrowboat Klara

I just have to show you the stunning new paint job on narrowboat Klara. Paintwork by Andy Russell.


When we first met Roly and Bev and their boat, I knew I wanted to call our next dog Klara.  I loved the name.  I'll never forget Mick walking around our boat calling "Klara!  Klara!" to make sure it sounded right for a dog.

They're even moored right beside the slipway at Aqueduct Marina where the boat was painted and in the spot where Parisien Star was moored for our first week afloat.  She looks stunning guys and we're so glad you finally got your long awaited new paint job.




Tuesday 21 July 2015

Roof, owl and Klara's first birthday

We have the roof on the house and now a bit of a hold up waiting for the windows to arrive in a couple of weeks.   There's plenty of little jobs that can be done in the meantime so Mick's still happy with the progress.  He's patched up some lovely old doors we've had in the shed for years and will use them inside the house.  Next on his list is painting 1 kilometre of timber lining boards.  Mick's enjoying working in the workshop with such a great view. 

Mick followed Klara around the back of the shed the other night in the dark and got a bit of a surprise when something flew about above his head.  I took a torch out the next night and when I approached the small structure on the side of the shed out shot an owl.  I didn't get a very good look at him but he was white on the underside.  I'm guessing he's a barn owl.

I've found my quilting enthusiasm again.  It makes such a difference to have a group of like minded women to sew with.  My friend Tracey and I have been going to a full day group once a month in Castlemaine (found inspiration in a lovely little lone star quilt by Deborah Dorward) and I've been sewing regularly at another friends place.   It feels like it's taken a very long time but at last we are settled back into our old lifestyle - Mick with a project on the go and me with my quilting.

Last Wednesday was Klara's first birthday.  On Saturday we had a little get together to celebrate.  My sister's girls had a ball entertaining Klara and she loved running around with them and making a lot of noise with a squeaky toy.  We're pleased that she's so good with kids as she hasn't had a lot of exposure to them.  We couldn't be happier with how she's grown into such a lovely dog.  At just a year old she's come along in leaps and bounds and desperately wants to please us.  If she picks something up now and we tell her "No" she puts it down and that's the end of it.  Excellent!














Tuesday 7 July 2015

House - Trusses

Mick has the roof trusses up on the house and all the inside walls are framed up too.  It means we can walk around the rooms of the house and see how they will look.  We've had a stream of visitors checking it out and Klara trots around from one room to the next.  She's not terribly helpful with barking at the noise of Mick's power tools.

We've had some icy cold days, lovely blue skies and gorgeous sunsets.  I really do love Winter, but the minus 4 degrees the other morning was a bit extreme.