Farewell to an old friend but hello to a new family member

So.... the stove...crikey, has it really been 6 weeks since that was done? In those six weeks, a new addition to the family has arrived and the first snow of winter (or is it still autumn?) gave a good 4 inches, causing havoc to those vehicles trying to get over the swing bridge from Langley Mill Boatyard. Anyway, I could leave this post at that, but you know me! War and Peace has always been my way, so here goes. Sept 29th, the work started in earnest. Ian's first priority was to remove the flue pipe, not an easy job as it turned out. The silicon was removed and by rights, a sharp twist and the pipe would come free. He dug out all the fireproof foam from around the top, I have no idea what it was called, and with that gone the rest should have been a doddle. Anyway, twisting did no good, so out came a blooming great wrench borrowed from the ECP&DA workshop. That didn't help either, so Ian's motto is 'if all else fails, hit it with a hammer'! Hooray...that knocked what was left of the fire cement from around the flue pipe and another try with the wrench and away it came. 

 

 

Considering the stove was bought new eleven years ago, we were amazed at how much the pipe had deteriorated. No wonder we had a problem with the Carbon Monoxide alarm going off.!

 With a blooming great hole in the cabin top, it was easy for Ian to check the collar. Hmm, that was pretty dire too. His deduction...both the flue pipe and collar would have to be replaced. 

New collar bottom right

It was fortuitous of him then, to purchase the 4-inch flue pipe and a new collar from Midland Chandlers when we moored close to Mercia Marina on our way back to Langley Mill. He struggled to carry both on the walk back to the boat!
 

With the stove out of the way, it was a good oppertunity to replace the tiles to the starboard side behind the stove. Two years it's taken him, I had them stacked in my fishing locker, and made good ballast too! 

Before

After

 Friday work party got in the way of progress somewhat but with one of our members a welder, Ian utilised his skill to make the pipe fit. It took most of the afternoon but by the time the pub beckoned, the stove was back in place and all that was left was to apply fire cement and spray the insulating expanding foam around the top and the job was done.

After it had been trimmed.

Saturday was testing day.  A smoke bomb was placed, lit, and door shut. Then we waited with fingers crossed.

 

Aaarrghhh!!!! That was NOT what we expected! It took the best part of that day to seal all the leaks, nearly all the smoke bombs used but finally, not a sign of smoke was seen. The stove was lit and we kept an eye on the new CO detector. It has a number indicator to show what the level of carbon monoxide readings are. To date it has shown zero..... yeah.....

 

October was a busy month for birthdays. We ended up at our son Colins in Milton Keynes. Grandson Oscar's birthday was on the 3rd, Ian on the 12th and  Colin on the 16th. For years we have always cobimed the three birthdays culminating in a party. The get together happened to fall on Ian's birthday, and preparations for the party was in full swing.

I decided to take Toffee for a walk but on my return, I was in for a shock. A phone call came whilst I was out, my best friend Pat had died.

We had known each other for 53 years, she had been my chief bridesmaid at our wedding. Her husband Keith had been Ian's oldest friend where they both met at college and it was through Keith that I met Pat. Keith died 10 years ago and unfortunately, Pat took it very badly. Slowly Pat developed dementia, forgetting her children but never Ian or myself. So much had happened together in our lifetime that reverting back to our many holidays and get togethers meant we were never forgotten. I was so very glad we went to see her the day before her death, Pat held out her arms and we hugged tightly. Little did we know that was to be our last meeting.

Keith and Pat on our other boat Merlin

Pat was one in a million. Really good friends only come once in a lifetime and Keith and Pat were ours. We miss her terribly but if there is a heaven then Pat will finally be reunited with the husband she adored.

Ian can always find things to do and has kept busy with all things mechanically on the boat, but for me not quite so much. I decided watching telly all day was soul destroying so I purchased three more paintings by numbers. That should keep me busy for a while. 

 The first snow of autumn arrived one cold night in the middle of November. Was I glad of a lovely roaring fire!

   We also had the best news ever when our daughter Christine phoned with the news there was to be another addition to the family. Not another baby Burchnall, nop, a wonderful 8-week-old black labrador puppy called River

A lovely positive ending to what had been a very sad time in our lives.