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We waited to meet up with Sonny Amis on another hot and sunny day and agreed for some more dredging to be done and silt reclaimed and for the hire of a barge for building work. To the Wroxham Riverside Café for lunch and to see Nigel Royall about wherry restoration only to learn of bad news. To Norwich for a new exhaust and four tyres and then home, to Daniel and for Debbie's parents evening
The last day of our short break but we still had a few things to do in Norfolk before we went home. A nice early start again on another hot and sunny day and we used Heronshaw to get bathed and dressed. I then wanted to see Sonny Amis and we had to wait on for him to come later. He and I discussed the problem and came to a good compromise. He would get a little more dredging done around the new dyke now that it was dried out a bit and then do a day's dredging opposite my lawn to get a fair pile built up there for spreading when it dried out. These efforts would cost £40 and £140 respectively. Then he would lend me one of his barges for the two-month period of my construction and only ask for £10-£20 for the trouble.
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After an early start getting ready before the builders arrived, I failed to meet Sony Amis himself before Di and I left to go shopping with the girls in Norwich and returned to carry on working on Heronshaw and wondering about saving the building as it seemed to be well-built with good timber.
I was awake very early and so was Della as I helped her to find her tape just before dawn at 3.30am! Diana was then up and about around 7.00am, making sure that she had used the Heronshaw bathing facilities well before the workmen arrived at 8.00am. I quickly shaved and dressed and finished scrubbing the Paxton Princess decks before I needed my boots to see over the site with the Amis crew. I chatted with them and the main man soon explained that he had tried to adhere to my instructions about the dredging and ground levelling but his boss had overruled him. This still left me short of fill material and wanting more dredging done and so I will have to see Sonny Amis himself about trying to arrange a better finish.
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After a warm night aboard Paxton Princess, I scrubbed it down until it was too hot to do so after 10am. Then a visit to Wroxham Barns and on to Great Yarmouth for rides on a landau and the Pleasurebeach. A more restful evening trip on The Jolly to Hoveton Little Broad with the girls following suite after some school revision.
We had the Paxton Princess cabin windows open all night to keep cool on a warm night and even then had to shed most of our sleeping bags as well. I was awake quite early and followed Diana up to Heronshaw for my morning wash and shave. After breakfast, Diana worked with the girls making sure that they did their revision and I continued scrubbing down the boat with water and 'environmentally-friendly' detergent. It was hot much sooner than yesterday and so I was working most of the time in the heat again. This continued until 10.00am when I made the morning drinks and we relaxed for half an hour before setting off for Wroxham Barns.
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The girls were a bit of a problem, and this set Diana and I on edge and against one another which was a pity. We had more drinks on arrival and then Diana bought some clothes, the girls played on the fun-fair and we all had lunch before leaving with the heat becoming rather unbearable. To the sea breezes of Great Yarmouth to let the girls have some fun on the amusements and rides - mostly at the Pleasurebeach this time. The model village of Merrivale was next and then the walk down the rest of the seafront to the pier where Debbie and I had snacks of sea-food and ice-cream whilst Di and Della had rides on Joyland. A horse-drawn landau back along the front to our car and then back to Horning via Potter Heigham.
I had a good look at the Amis barge under the new road bridge at Potter and I reckon that it would do us fine for carting and storing our timber in if I could get permission to borrow it. A more restful evening taking The Jolly up river to Hoveton Little Broad and then doing a little work around the place whilst Di had a harder time of it getting Della to revise her work again. Debbie is doing a history project on Kimbolton Church. Della had a little row on the inflatable again this evening and, with Debbie, rowed along the dyke and were given drinks by the Dunham’s. No news this last two days and no contact with home where my telephone answering machine did not seem to be working.
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The day spent visiting Winterton by the sea after stopping at Potter Heigham for some shopping and then off to Horsey Staithe for a walk around the mere and to see our cottages before the evening swimming at James and Bernice Dunham’s Smallborough Hall
I slept well last night, although Diana heard the thunder rumbling but found it quite pleasant, nevertheless. We awoke to heavy showery rain this morning, but the temperature was warm and it was obviously going to be another sunny and hot day. I had hoped to clean the winter's muck off of the outside of the boat but I ran out of time as the sun rose and the girls wanted their breakfast, but still I managed to clean the canopy, the roof and most of the cabin sides to make the rest of the job easier tomorrow. We set off by car to go to Winterton for a day at the seaside but first we stopped off at Potter Heigham for our morning drinks and a little time shopping. Whilst the girls looked mainly at clothes, I bought some fly-fishing tackle for my forthcoming trip to Scotland.
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