Pouring over the plans to redevelop Heronshaw and checking a few things on Paxton Princess before tackling some chores for Steve and then visiting Mum on the way back. Mum seemed to be managing all right and was in quite good spirits and the visit, though brief, was satisfactory in every way. Dropping off Steve with his purchases before returning home.
We were up early this morning as I was keen to get on and Steve had been rather ill in the night. Once ready, we went out into the garden at 8.00am and got in a good hour's work before breaking off for breakfast. We had been pulling up weeds from the gravel and piling them up ready for shredding on a future visit. We were quite tired by this time and so drove into Horning and bought some supplies for breakfast and then went back to eat them. After this, I cleared the table and we poured over the plans for developing Heronshaw, trying to work out how the old bungalow could be jacked up using the new piling that I have planned.
** "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **
In the end we decided that the new boat-house should be built first and then Heronshaw be stripped and subjected to a survey before anything (including even the piling) is done. The job will be to remove the internal cladding to see the state and proportions of the timber walls before making a decision on renovating it. We suspect that the building is quite substantial and might be capable of saving. We also planned the lines of the new services to the boat-house and garage so that all three portions of the property would have some independence in this respect. All this done, we then went and examined Paxton Princess and satisfied ourselves that there was nothing wrong with the starboard engine mountings for I had thought that I had detected some vibration when last listening to this engine.
I then got Steve to help me with some internal measurements of the boat-house (getting overall and individual timber measurements to facilitate structural calculations) until it was time to get packed up and ready to leave before lunch. I was tired as we set off from Horning and ready for the McDonalds lunch on the Norwich by-pass before we tackled the chores that Steven had in mind. We went to a motor accessory shop to buy another roof rack and then drove on to collect some window frames that had been produced in kit form by Derek, Steven's Norfolk friend. We just about managed to get them on board the Range Rover, despite the heavy traffic in town and then set off for home.
On the way, I dropped in on Mum by prior arrangement and I introduced Steve to her and we were treated to some ham sandwiches for a snack tea. Mum seemed to be managing all right and was in quite good spirits and the visit, though brief, was satisfactory in every way. She has been back from Freda's for two or three weeks and has coped with being on her own again with the continued help of her friends and neighbours. Unfortunately, one neighbour has died, leaving another widow opposite.
The rest of the journey back to Cambridgeshire went well until we were held up by the great traffic jam on the A1; where the latest road works are necessary to put safety barriers in the central reservation. There is such traffic density going north on the A1 on a Friday night that any small roadworks brings the traffic to a grinding halt. At least I got Steve and his windows safely home and so ended two successful days in Norfolk. Once home, I was quite tired and so just sat and read my mail and did not do much with the many telephone messages. The FOCUS printing was late but I was in no mood to tackle it.