Thursday, September 27, 2018

Just in time


Is it autumn yet? The setting sun makes it look that way here at Allen's lock and tonight we could well mark the beginning of autumn by lighting the stove for the first time in several months.

Yesterday we couldn't have done it because the stove door rope I bought was too thick for the door to shut, but the wonderful Alex fixed all that today as well as unjamming our seized on chimney and sealing up a crack in the stove top. He even did a smoke test for us to make sure the stove was fume tight. Top man !

I'm already getting used to the canal again, the sticking gates and rattly paddles. Don't you just love 'em?

Last night's mooring spot was not a good choice in hindsight. Now Herbie is coated in a film of dust from the cement quarry. If I wash the roof will it turn to concrete I wonder? Oo er!

5 comments:

Vallypee said...

Autumn's in the air here, Neil, and those colours are suspiciously autumnal. Cement dust? Maybe try hoovering it off?

Mike Todd said...

Which quarry is that?

Herbie Neil said...

Mike, you can't see the quarry from the canal/river but it's just through the trees behind where the canal joins the Cherwell. The vegetation is all smothered in the dust and the air is at times thick with it. There is noise of the workings too.

Mike Todd said...

I'm still a bit confused as I thought that the cement works near Enslow (51.855059, -1.304662), with a tall chimney, had closed down some time ago. Has it re-opened? It's a while since we have been that way although we sued to moor up at Lower Heyford.

Herbie Neil said...

Hmm. No idea teally. All I know is that something behind those trees is making a lot of noise and cement dust. It might now just be that they are mining the material rather than processing it with a kiln.