GH Marina

Packed up the car during the dry morning and drove home in torrential rain in the afternoon. Dremel arrived.

GH Marina

Dave Freeman came to do the low-setting adjustments on the hob, and also to remove the two rusted kitchen window screws. He did them with an angle grinder, which prompted me to research and order a Dremel tool with metal cutting disks.

Window came out, so I cleaned out the screw holes with my M4 tap. No countersunk holes were apparent for fixing the wooden inner frame, so I'll have to create some.

Replaced the window with M4s to check how everything sits. Will leave it in place and covered with a tarpaulin while we are south for a week.

GH Marina

Pump-out (£20 with blue)

Then far too hot for anything.Washed the pram-hood cover.

GH Marina

Dave Freeman came to install the new gas hob. The cover underneath was considerably larger than that on the old hob, so we took the cover from the old one, and managed to get it into shape, though the screw holes were in different places. Also had to use the hexagonal nut from the old hob to secure the ignition switch.

Dave said £40, which was way too cheap. He pushed it up to £50, but I gave him £60. He was worth every penny – he'd been here over an hour and a half and had to use a lot of ingenuity.

GH Marina

Getting settled in. Shopping at Rugeley. Rain in the evening, some heavy.

GH Marina

Came up to Erin Mae, setting out about 17.30. Brought the bikes on the carrier, so some nervousness, but the journey was uneventful, apart from a tyre pressure warning sorted out at Cherwell Valley.

Partial eclipse of the moon.

GH Marina

Rang Dave Freeman and arranged that we could ring him again towards the end of next week to arrange a time to come and fix the gas hob.

Brunch at the Canalside café.