Holidays and Steamboats.

I promised i would write about our week away in monmounthshire. It was great week as always.

Every year we hire a big house for a week and cause chaos in the local area. The house this year was Treowen where we have been every other year for since 2000 (going to varous other large houses around the country the alternate year) so we know it well and have watched it slowly being done up year on year as well. We got out most days, a days cycaling in the forest dean, a trip to caerphilly castle, cardiff model engineering club, the 'go-ape' highleval assult cause at FoD. And a more 'hardcore' day on the bikes at CwnCarn. As well as the usuall pool, croquet, music, radiocontroled cars, drinking and much good food .

A selection of people at breakfast in the kitchen.
A number fo bikes loaded ready for FoD.
Go-Ape at the Forest of Dean. My sister and various cousins.
My cousin Patrick with one of his RC cars, another regualar feature.

Sax Trio. Music of all sorts is made, be it live instements, or more MP3 based!

Also this weekend i visted another steam narrowboat. Ive been making an effort to get in touch with all the steamnarrowboats on the system. Theres only about 10 active boats so it seams silly for us not to be in touch.
This boat 'PussyWillow' as currently called was origanally started many years ago but she was never finshed and changed hands as a unfinished project a number of years ago but is still as yet unfinished.
However i got in touch with her current owner a while back and as i had a free afternoon drove down to Kettering to see her and her owner on the banks of the Nene.
He has done a fair bit of work on the engine a Leak Compound like ours, which when bought wasnt in a running state. And as seams to be not uncommon with these engines the crankshaft wasnt in a fit state to run and the timing miles out. So that has now been rectifide and the engine runs satisfactorally on compressed air, which is an excellent sign of things to come, steam engines always run better on steam than compressed air anyway. And then i was invited for tea! Excellent.

Sadly i dont have any photos, so clearly im going to have to visit her again sometimes soon!