Skies over The Leasowes

Here's some I took earlier . . . learning how to use the camera ..... I have got a bit taken to sunrises, loft faces east you see .... so the sun really does come up over Jims Bench ha .... and most appropriate. However I havent yet got the hang of this picture lark and getting them right as you can see from the two that just wont go the right way up....yet... and I am afraid that I have lost some pics from earlier when trying out the albums settings and attempting to reorganise them .. huh..... was going for a slide show sort of thing...ah well, they must be somewhere ! !

Engines Away

The last time she had an engine refit ! !

This one seemed to have disappeared somehow. Anyway not to worry, the Petter engine appears to be a goodun and classified as vintage too ! ! ha ha ......

As requested

Cleaning windows eh! A rare event ha, we didn't do the polishing brass stuff either, after seeing Irene, our neighbour on Berine at Bumble hole, when she fell in the canal several times doing her daily cleaning routine......I decided it wasn't worth it, and the rain would do the job for me most of the time. The black n white one was taken the first summer on Wildrose, you might be able to spot the plastic blow-up parrot on the back rail.....travelled with us for miles around the black country canal system ...... as did Ritzy seen here kipping in the back of Nellie the landrover on our way to Scotland for an epic camping trip when it rained for 4 weeks ! !

Me on the back deck was when the National Boat Fest came to Netherton.

The bridge is the Galton Bridge, Smethwick and me standing on the back deck was taken at Sneyd maintenace yard and water point....golly some of the Black Country routes were anything but picturesque, found a dead dog wrapped in a length of carpet that jammed the propellor once and it had to be freed......yuk........however if I can find the ones taken sailing through Birmingham I will put them on as it is quite delightful all the way from Gas Street out to Alvechurch way and shows the extremes of the scenery. Its funny on the way to Westbrom sailing next to the motorway and on the same level for a short while, watching the traffic whizzing past at our gentle 4 knotts max....We got stuck a couple of times, once under a bridge due to a supermarket trolly in the water at Ryders Green. Ritzy ran off and after a day of looking for her we sailed back to Netherton, a very sad journey as there was no sign of her.... However when we got back to Bumble Hole she was there already sitting at the moorings as if to say " where have you two been?" on looking at the maps it seemed an impossible feat for her to have found her way home, but there she was and I always will wonder how she did it, crossing the Birmingham Main line ???? if she went through the Netherton tunnel or over the top of the hill ??? .....

As you have guessed I have been doing other things and staying clean for a few days ha, need some welding done before any more can be done on getting the engine in...and a couple of components to get.......Deisel tanks have been found and should be ready to collect next week, a universal joint has been identified (connects the gearbox to the propshaft I believe an Aquadrive that is the best choice) so getting the measurements sorted for that has been more accurate than I am used to being ha ha. I have also started a scale drawing of the engine compartment just making sure that everything will fit !!!! and would you believe it, I have had to use some trigonometry.....well fancy that eh!

Ha, back later

More at The Leasowes

Here's a few pictures I took when learning how to use Jim's camera last autumn. The moorhen reminded me about the one at Bumble Hole that chose to make its nest on the front deck of WildRose. She (the moorhen) used to walk her babies down the gunnels past the windows and was such a delight but we didnt want to move in case we rocked them off the boat so didn't get any photos. We also had a family of ratties which were video'd playing on the rope maze that Jim built........

Jims Bench at The Leasowes

Had a 'Thank You Jim' pie (ASDA's best pork of course) and a bottle of Spitfire beer, although tea would be a bit more to Jims preference . . . he did enjoy a pint or two, Bathams often, legless and wobbly after two.......... hic ... oops where's me feet?

Anyway it is a delight here sitting on his bench at the Leasowes, every couple of minutes the sun shining through the trees, a lovely and very fitting place indeed.

The inscription on the bench says:

"What gifts pray, can I give you for such a song? For neither the rustle of the rising Southern breeze nor shores lashed by rolling waves, nor streams tumbling amidst the rocky glens grant me such delight"

on the other side its in Latin.... most academic eh!

This was a place regularly visited during the Stourbridge College techno refurbish he was in charge of, as the college has a site at the top end of this lovely place.
It was also visited by us when we first moved to Bumble Hole as there is a canal link at the car park end. Earlier in the year I took the pictures of the bluebells, they carpeted the ground and made a stunning display, also loads of wild garlic in flower. The 'bears paws seat' is a delight cut from the trunk of a felled tree, the roots at the front carved to look like front paws........I think Jim would have found this one right up his street and better to drink tea from ha ha...... seriously well done whoever thought of that one.

The dog, well that was very funny. She is the spitten image of the Bella, mother of Ritzy (more about her when I get a pic scanned). Jim always had a pie for Ritzy and she followed him everywhere. Anyway this black dog was just trotting past me sitting on Jims bench when she spotted the pork pie and woofled down a piece before her owner could stop her. Now Jims motto has always been ' if it moves, feed it' so I was more than happy for the dog to have a share in the goodies and it was really so funny and her owner was fine once I had explained my presence. I have to admit that I did eat most of the pie and drank most of the beer, the rest I scattered for any other wildlife to have a nibble on.

The Heron I have also seen perched on a roof between home and the Leasowes and have several pics of it. In fact I have loads of pics of the Leasowes as I look out on it from my loft, it faces East and indeed the sun rises over Jims Bench. . . . how fitting is that eh!

Well done to Big Ken for organising The Bench Memorial Gig, link added to their website.

PS, it says on the Dudley Borough website that :- The Leasowes is a 57 hectare park ... a mixture of woodland, grassland, streams and lakes, designed and laid out by the poet William Shenstone between 1743 and 1763 .... ranked alongside Blenheim and Stow ... marked a fundamental change in garden design . . . utilised the natural landscape . . . listed as grade 1 on the English Heritage 'Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic interest in England' . . . .

well just fancy that then ......

Going - going - gone ha !

Well this is the diesel tank and yes it needs to go .. its gonna be a bit of a struggle but it has to be done before anything else can be cleaned up if we are gonna get the engine in place this summer.... phew

However, I could considering its potential as a water feature ! ! ! well if ever I really have nothing better to do ha ha. I must say that Jim would only need to look at the tank and it would have fallen out by itself, pretty strong arms make light work of most things . . . .

It was completely stuck and rusted in place but after a couple of hours with the hammer & chisel it began to give way to my by now very feeble 'brute' force. Slowly it eased away from its holding place .... whilst my arms felt the repercussions of overdoing it a bit ha ha ...


but with a bit of pulling and pushing .... it was out...... a bit like being a dentist I suppose
and now a nice empty space to derust and paint

The rust is chipping off rather easily so far ! ! ! The steel is pretty thick though and sounds solid,

but my elbow is now reminding me that there are things I shouldnt be doing harrumph harrumph .....

Am most grateful for the fab sunny days this week as I was able to unwrap Wildrose and let her get some fresh air. The engine compartment has to be the first priority and so I was able to get down and dirty again...my hair turned brown with all the rust dust... Once the tank was out I could measure it all up with replacement tanks in mind and the new engine, batteries, pumps, exhaust exchanger and other stuff which has to fit all within this space ! ! well it will be interesting to see just how it will ....because it will have to ........ crikey

I also found Hammerite direct to rust paint black and red, ha ha...brilliant stuff that has turned out to be....couldnt get the photos on today, but am real pleased with the progress.

A bit at a time eh!.....

and now to clean up

Happy birfday Jim time

Nothing to report on the Wildrose front, its been too cold for me, so instead I have had a woodburning stove installed in the house and its jolly warm when it gets going, and quite mesmerising to watch. We had a Morso squirrel on Wildrose, it was always very hot and efficient and we always had the kettle on..... very much to Jims approval... continuous tea making facility in the winter. Of course in the summer, hang the beer over the side in a net and its always cool.

Anyway, the hole in the wall took some knocking out, Dennis wanted to check it all out of course.

It all got very messy.

Corky was interested in the hearth.....or is it a visitor??

Amazingly the chimney was clean and I dont think it has ever been used as a fireplace.

and I have messed up the pictures of the wonderful woodburner and the cats helping to install it !!!!! they must be somewhere !!!

Anyway its going to be well used now and I look forward to fossiking and forraging for wood.

In the meantime, I have had the tree pollarded !! Allways planned to do this to get a better view of the North 'Sky at Night' , it looks quite whispy now but is budding nicely so its not been damaged, and so there are plenty of logs to go at. Should last me a winter.

Its all been done properly........