Sutton Hoo, Jacob Sheep, Bike

Sutton Hoo

Courtesy of The National Trust

A beautiful blue sky and strong gusts of wind as I walked upstream to the Wilford Bridge and then down the opposite side to the Sutton Hoo Burial site, run by the National Trust. An excellent visitor centre with a full size copy part of the ship with its cabin, the chieftain lying inside surrounded by his riches and weapons; a film; lots of detail on the jewelry; stands showing the way of life at the time; copies of the clothes of the time that can be worn for photos. 

Courtesy of The National Trust

Courtesy of TripAdvisor

Well worth a visit with lots of stuff for children. Large restaurant – very busy.

Jacob Sheep

In a field next to the visitor centre were some almost fantastic Jacob Sheep.

                                                                     Extraordinary creatures.

Bike     

I'm getting a foldaway bike like this next Tuesday. Part of getting fit plan. I realise I haven't been exercising since the old folks died over a year ago. I used to swim most mornings, up to a mile. I'll bike down to the Woodbridge swimming pool and get back in to the routine.

 

Shelving, varnishing, air heater progress and weird weather.

27 01 16

Galley shelving

 

Yesterday I completed the installation of some extra working storage space in the galley.

   

I’d had the idea ages ago. The crockery storage on the left looks nice and it would be a small job to fix a shelf on top of the main strake running above the basin. The problem was getting the strip mahogany. No one had any. The nearest would be in Colchester. 

Then good luck struck as I was clearing out Rafiki. Pop had used two beautiful pieces of mahogany as legs for his work table in the studio. I took slices off them using a circular saw (I knew that workshop training some 50 years ago would come in useful one day.) varnished them up and stuck them in place with screws and glue. Looks and works fine.

  

                                                                                        Must get the camera flash working!

 

Varnishing

Lady Cate has lots of varnished wood both topsides and insides. Preparing the wood for the galley storage got me started. Varnishing will be an endless maintenance chore, which I don’t mind, as it is restful work. Apart from the shelving I’ve practiced on a few areas in the wheelhouse. Makes a dramatically shiny improvement.

Can't get going on the outside until the weather's better. April is the earliest they start.

 

Air heater

At last I’ve ordered and payed for (PayPal) the air heater from China, $590.00 including air freight. Can’t wait to get going. I’ve been lucky with this mild winter.

 Weather

Although very mild it has been very windy, regularly up to force 7. Lady Cate rocks about happilky at her mooring, which I love, though I can't say why!

Bye for now.

COOL WEEK

Literally. This sunny clear skied Friday morning there is ice on Rinker’s (my neighbour) stern step.

However, my temporary mains powered heating system seems quite satisfactory and my cabin remains snug and warm throughout the night. Must get on with the diesel air heater.

Scoters?

There are two little balls of dark fluff, about 20cm long, swimming about the boat and diving, presumably for food. They spend as much time under the water as on it. They insist on keeping up sun, so I find it impossible to see them clearly. If I get close, they dive and hide under the marina walkways. I think they are young Common Scoter.

  

East Anglian skies

http://www.elizabethfitzgeraldcarter.com/commissionhomes.html

On Wednesday the tide and sun were just right, so I took Lady Cate down some 4-5miles to the anchorage and back. All the trots at Woodbridge and Waldringfield were empty which made the wide East Anglian skies seem even wider, kindling a profound sense of floating, small and insignificant, on the surface of the earth with all of space above; nothing between me and infinity.

It is so difficult to capture the sense that these open skies prompt in us, whether by photograph or painting. Here is a copy of a very successful painting by Elizabeth FitzGerald Carter who undertakes commissions of this kind.