Damp

A quiet day today, no formal work, just a bit of paperwork. We have been looking after Jack all day and most of the evening, so a long walk this morning to tire him out was required. He is getting quite cheeky now that he knows us so well. I didn't walk him as far as I normally do, so he decided to carry on walking when we arrived at our tow path gate and wouldn't come when I called him. He is old and a little deaf and I used to be quite indulgent of him because of this, but I know now his deafness can be selective.

I decided that as there were no big chores needing to be done today I should check out the wardrobes and under the bed for damp as it has been quite cold recently and as soon as there is a difference in temperature between the outside and the inside that is when the damp gets in.

The wardrobes have done quite well because I haven't recently crammed them full of clothes and have put a container of damp collecting crystals in them. Also it is really useful to open the doors at every opportunity and leave them open.

The problem lies, if you will excuse the pun, under the bed. There is no opportunity for the air to circulate as we have drawers that go underneath and there are walls all around. I was quite upset when I pulled the mattress off and found the wood where it touches quite black. P says it is not a problem as in the spring he will sand it down and revarnish it. Again I have put damp collecting crystals under the bed and haven't completely filled the storage space, but even this doesn't fully solve the problem. Our marina caretaker said that it may be useful to put a small computer fan under there to circulate the air and to drill a hole somewhere but unfortunately we don't have an outside wall to drill the hole into. All the walls around the bed are enclosed either by wardrobes or the bathroom shower or bathroom cupboards.

We do need to sort this out and when we arrive at a solution I will post it here.

We had a bit of good news today. We thought that our standing order for our mooring fees was over 12 months but it turns out it is over 10 months and we don't have to pay anything for January and February. So we have more money than we thought we had. I had hoped to save it, but P went straight out and bought me a new camera! Quite an upgrade on the 'point and click' we have used up until now. We will see if improves the quality of my images.

I have been saving beer bottles so that we have something to decant the remainder of the cider into. This is now getting out of hand and I have had to put spare bottles in the wood store! The problem is that the cider just isn't ready yet. This is the cider we put in the wooden barrel, but unfortunately nothing happened, it just didn't seem to ferment. So a few weeks ago we decanted it into a tub, put some champagne yeast with it and put it into demijohns. These are now behind my chair on the boat near the wood burner and have been glugging away ever since. It is clearing nicely, but it looks dark and lethal!! We will see!! The cider we bottled a few weeks ago is georgous, but I think this second batch is going to be sensational!

Al