Sultry Scotland

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Sultry Scotland is a little like Sweltering Yorkshire; neither sounds completely convincing. Nevertheless, between all the cooler spells and torrents of rain, we have experienced them both and have trekked from one to the other following the sun and inevitably ending up with thundery showers.



In Scotland where the temperature on the sea loch was 26 degrees at 9.30pm one evening we have made some more progress with the retirement project: installing the 12 volt plugs and replacing a foot operated sink pump and buttons for the cushions in the saloon berth, the inners of which had literally rusted into dust. At the moment, however, we are awaiting the manufacture of new mattresses for the forward cabin. For the time being two consecutive nights aboard is proving to be the maximum length of our fortitude as, not only are the current beds playing havoc with our sleep patterns, but we are waking with aching backs and, of course, by Day 3 it is generally pouring down anyway. 



At home in North Yorkshire whilst the bed is comfortable, the heat has been more oppressive and the rain equally as heavy and persistent. It has succeeded in limiting some of the garden harvest but on the plus side the sunshine has enabled me to repaint garden furniture hanging together by rust and now bound by Hammerite. To be honest I thought it was probably ready to be replaced but with most patio tables and chairs these days constructed from resin, it didn't seem right to be making a polymer purchase in the middle of Plastic Free July. So back to the theme of Repair-Reuse-Recycle, we opted to repair and it looks as though it may survive another couple of summers at least. It could have been the effect of the sun for the paint was not only the perfect gooey consistency for a thorough application but it also dried quickly.



Sadly conditions in the past week are suggesting that this year's somewhat short lived summer could soon be coming to an end, causing us to sit down and give serious thought to our plans for the autumn and winter. Retirement is too precious to put on hold for the weather and to devote entirely to the all consuming house DIY or boat restoration that seems to have enveloped us for the past few months. The danger of devoting so much time to anything is that it can begin to feel like work after a while. Retirement satisfaction now demands scope for some distractions.



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