the finished product

Here are a few photos we took on the weekend before we took the boat out. These shots may not look much different to those we've posted along the way but there is a huge difference to the eye when you're in the boat.

Initially we set out to achieve a very streamlined look and opted for smooth painted walls in order to avoid tongue and groove woodwork or lengths of ply broken by cover strips. We discovered there is a very good reason why these two methods are followed as not long after cladding the interior our streamlined painted panels began to bow and crack at the edges. We didn't account for the incredible amount of condensation that is found in narrowboats and so all our hard work was compromised by unsightly cracks and bulges. We were so embarrassed and would cringe whenever we had visitors as we had to confess that we'd done this ourselves. So, a few weeks ago, in our drive to complete the boat we decided to go with the 'boat look' rather than fight it and cover up the cracks and joins with cover strips. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that they weren't so ugly at all and after being painted and seem to blend in with everything else.

The new paint job was done with a hard wearing and washable acrylic paint which we hope will be an effective tool in combating the hand and footprints that make it to our walls on a fairly regular occurrence thanks to Nate.

And last but not least, to finish off the renovation we have put some photography up on our walls, some by me, some by Woz and another by Andrew (which so far has attracted the most comments!).

This weekend Woz and I are going to do nothing but spend time together, catch up with friends and relax and bask in the joy that is a finished project.

we did it

Well we did it. We set ourselves a deadline of this weekend to finish the interior of the boat and somehow we made it. Woz worked incredibly hard all week sanding, filling, painting, sawing, and even a little bit of designing as we reached the finish line.

On Monday, which was a Bank Holiday, we invited some friends over and we planned to take the boat out for the afternoon and evening. After a beautifully sunny weekend, on Sunday night and the following morning we had the most rain we have seen in months. With no prospect of it letting up we had to call everyone and tell them that our plans had changed and that we wouldn't take the boat out. Most people came over anyway and by the time they got here at 5 in the afternoon we were all standing outside in the sun in t-shirts. We took the boat out along a different route than planned, towards Limehouse. We had a brilliant night with not a spot of rain and plenty of sunshine.

Nate was a champion, being entertained by everyone on the journey until we put him down at 8pm with a bottle and he fell asleep. It was really incredible he managed to fall asleep at all as we had music on, the engine running, people walking in and out of the boat and the odd bang into the side wall of the canal! A big relief for Woz and I as we really want to be able to take the boat out with friends as much as we can over Summer.

make a house a home

Filling, done. Sanding, done. Fiddly bits and pieces that have annoyed us for years, done.

Tonight when Woz gets home from work we're painting the boat with one final coat and by Saturday after a good clean up the interior of the boat should be transformed. We've finally had some photos printed and will have them hanging on our walls, bought new throw cushions and now have a small but very welcome bookcase to house our books. All the finishing touches the boat has needed for so long to make it feel like a home.

What on earth are we going to do with ourselves this time next week?

a warm saturday on the marina

This is so typical of a warm Saturday morning on our marina. Every person in this shot lives on a different boat. The pontoon becomes a hub of social activity as everyone discusses whether or not they'll take their boat out and enjoy it or take the opportunity to maintain their boat (as the two in the far background are doing), or whether they'll just lap up the sun and drink the day away. These are the three main pastimes of the residents!

One day, in the not too distant future, when the last piece of wood has been, sawn, sanded and painted and the hammer has fallen for the last time, we'll be joining them.

same old same old

Another Saturday spent working on the boat.

I got a little more involved this time as we managed to keep Nate entertained in his carry-cot for a good part of the day (thanks Ellie for the idea!), interspersed with trips to the park and naps inside. I painted everything within an inch of it's life and was able to do a lot of it on the pontoon next to Nate. Woz was back and forth also, cutting, sanding and sawing. We're so close now! All the finishing touches are really making our 'house' feel like a home.

Nate had the attention of all the residents who passed by and also a paddling (had to google that one) of ducklings although as usual he seems more preoccupied with the camera than anything else.

colour your world

Last weekend was a busy one. Our church organised a conference (Colour Your World) on Friday and Saturday which was held at the Royal Albert Hall. On Sunday we had church there too which was incredible. Woz took this photo from the box he sat in with Nate and some friends.

Normally we pack out any venue we hire so it was really strange to look around the auditorium and see so many vacant seats. Due to financial problems during the construction in the late 1800's a number of the seats were sold before the hall was opened and remain privately owned to this day. Now that is an inheritance I wouldn't mind receiving! Those lucky seat owners are able to walk in to any concert anytime and take a seat, so subsequently we weren't allowed to use them without individually writing to each owner for permission.

Nate and Woz hung out in Hyde Park opposite afterwards for a picnic with friends while I helped out behind the scenes. Nice life for some! Although I should mention that he took over from me at about 5pm and helped pack down the venue, getting home around 12am.

portrait of a rockstar

the end is nigh

It's official! Our renovation 'to do' list is now short enough to fit on our blackboard. Finally, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Woz and I have decided to spend every waking moment over the next month finishing off the bits and pieces that need to be done in preparation for Summer so we can take the boat out as often as we like and enjoy it.

The biggest job left on our list, painting the walls, is the most effective in giving the boat a fresh and polished look and the small amount of work we've done so far has already made a huge difference but we're battling against a fast moving tide with a certain little boy's grimy fingers scaling the wall daily, undoing all our work. At least the ceiling will be clean for a while but at the rate he's growing it wont be long.

a very private affair

In London there are parks scattered throughout the city, hidden by new towering office blocks or preserved amongst traditional buildings. They range from tiny pockets of greenery to large open spaces where you could easily forget you were in a bustling city if it weren't for the constant trail of planes crossing the sky. The smaller pockets seem so random in their location which I've heard is due to the fact that they were never designed to be parks but were holes in the ground left by Nazi bombs during World War II.

Anyway, yesterday, in true 'Notting Hill' style, Woz, Nate and I met up with Rejeili and Isabella for a picnic in their private garden. An absolutely gorgeous park which is privy to the residents surrounding it. It meant that we were truly able to relax and talk while the kids played, knowing that the only way anyone could enter the park was using a key.

Nate crawled for a long time on the grass towards some boys who were playing football until when he was about half way there he turned and realised he was all out at sea on his own and summarily started to cry.

Woz kept Bella and Nate entertained by carting them around the park in a trolley which they both loved. Their own personal chauffeur in a suit and tie to boot.

painting and playing

easter monday

Today we had another incredibly productive day working on the boat. The warm sun and gentle breeze over the last four days has allowed us to paint coat after coat on various parts of the boat so we've now painted some panels that were yet to be painted and 'cut-in' the entire boat ready for it to be painted another weekend.

On top of that Woz has finished building a new bookcase (I foresee having to say 'No' to Nate repeatedly as he tries to pull the books from the shelves but then kids need to learn boundaries right? and we need somewhere for our books!), boxed in a very ugly steel supportive wall and installed two new powerpoints! I'm effectively the lunch-lady these days as I'm limited in my capacity to help out while Nate is awake and as he only slept for 45 minutes today my input was minimal to say the least.

saturday

true to form

Woz had a nice introduction to his new job with only four working days before Good Friday. I have to admit we did revert to type, spending Friday and today working on the boat. We're constantly working out storage solutions for our growing needs and so the last two days were mostly consumed by this neverending pursuit (see bookcase being built) with a brief interlude on Friday night to Tate Modern to meet some friends for a few hours. We also spent some time preparing the walls for a desperately needed re-paint which will hopefully happen in the not too distant future.

lunchtime fun

Day two of Woz's new job and he's really enjoying it. He's been twiddling his thumbs a little though as his boss is away all week so Woz has been proactive and set-up a lot in preparation for next Monday when his boss returns.

Woz already feels at home in the office as he knows everyone there so well from working with them through his old job. So all in all, it looks like it's going to be a great opportunity for him.

Nate and I have also been enjoying his new job too as he's been home for lunch both today and yesterday and home by 4.30pm. Today at lunch he and Nate had some fun rolling around together on our bed.

hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work he goes

After a week off Woz started his new job this morning. We had a great week together. I took the opportunity to organise all the stacks of books, articles, magazine cuttings and post-it notes that had been building up in the hope that it would make the process of writing Woz's thesis a little easier for him. I was in my element! With an organised workspace and a week of intensive focus under his belt hopefully it will be a little more manageable from this point on.

It's funny how quickly you get used to things though and after just a week it already seems strange this morning with just Nate and I home.

snowflakes that fall on my nose and eyelashes ...

Woz is now a free agent ... for a week anyway. His last day at work was yesterday and now has a week off to focus on his Masters before starting his new job. It was a bittersweet afternoon for him - he's excited to be moving on to his new position but very sad to be leaving what has been the best job he's had to date. I'm really looking forward to having him home for the week but at the same time will try to take Nate out for walks and different activities to make sure Woz has plenty of opportunity to study. Nothing like an adorable little boy to distract you.

Not really any other news of interest here. After what seemed to be an easy glide into Summer we've had a cold snap with it snowing every day last week, although not cold enough for it to sit on the ground. Despite that it was magical watching it fall.

snow

So much for Spring and warm days. It snowed today! Off and on all day and never enough to cover the ground but it was snowing!

good times

What an incredible few days we've had. On Friday afternoon we received an e-mail from Andy, a friend we made on our trip to Austria last September. He wrote to tell us he was in Paris and wanted to come over and visit with a friend for two days to see the boat and also to introduce us to two of his friends living in London. He and his friend Bernadette arrived late on Sunday night and from that moment onwards it was go go go.

Woz was able to take two days off work as he is in wind-down mode now that he has resigned and so on Monday we took the boat out. The weather was sensational and absolutely perfect for cruising the canal. We stopped along the way for the traditional English open chips, fish and mushy peas in the park before returning home late afternoon. Andy was taken with Nate and christened him 'Capt'n Little' (which he already answers to!).

On Monday night we invited Andy's friends and a friend of ours over for dinner and the seven of us had an amazing night together. It was an inspiring gathering of people who mixed brilliantly and some real friendships were formed and others cemented. When we decided to move to London we expected Londoners and London culture to be very English but for the first time we got a revelation of real London culture that night with a cultural mix of Australian, British, French, Austrian and Slovenian. Some of us travelling, some calling London our home, some born and bred in London, but all of us with a common bond uniting us. Creativity flowed ...

On Tuesday Andy, Bernadette, Woz, Nate and I walked all over London, heading to the Barbican for an exhibition on Alvar Alto and then to the Tate Gallery. We found a new favourite cafe for lunch north-west of London. Sitting in the huge open cafe in the sun, opposite the Smithfield market had a very 'Carlton' feel to it, especially as Woz bumped into a colleague he worked with in Melbourne who on a two day trip to London, happened to be drinking a pint at the next table.

Woz and I have grand plans to renovate a dutch barge once 'Capt'n Little' outgrows this one and we shared our designs with Andy who was inspired and excited by the project. He is very keen to get involved both in the design and build of the boat and so we may work together in the future.

Andy and Bernadette left early this morning to return to their holiday in Paris but with an open invitation for us to stay with Andy or at Bernadette's apartment in Vienna it wont be long before we see them again.

while we were away ...

Woz resigned! For the last two years he has absolutely loved his job - the hours, the people and the project he has worked on but has decided it is time to move on to bigger and better things. So, after this week he has two more weeks before he takes two weeks off to work on his Masters and then he's back into it again with a new company who happens to be his current client. He'll be moving out of architecture and into a project management role but still working within the rail industry. He's really looking forward to starting there and throwing himself into the new role. The other bonus is that they're only a five minute walk from home so he'll be able to have lunch with Nate and I every day if we're around. He'll also be able to work flexi-time so if he starts early he'll be home as early as 4pm, or alternatively if he wants a lie in he can turn up to work at 9.30 am, which is particuarly handy with a 9 month old baby who isn't sleeping through the night.

life as we know it

We've been offline for several weeks now and tonight for the first time are back on. I'm like a kid at Christmas time, not knowing which site to look up first or which e-mail to read. My mood has lifted 100% and Woz and I can now breathe a sigh of relief that life has once again returned to normal.

Over the last few weeks we've had to resort to such archaic methods of banking as queueing up and talking to an actual person, had to surf channels randomly on the TV and as a result ended up watching loads of rubbish because our online TV guide wasn't accessible, had absolutely no idea what was going on with our friends overseas as we realised that the way we kept in touch with their daily lives was to read their respective blogs of an evening and had to call or text friends in London rather than talk to them via messenger. Can you imagine?!

a very strange european winter indeed

This weekend was once again unseasonably warm and incredibly sunny. On Saturday we spent another full day working on the boat and were outside wearing only long sleeved t-shirts. We even had an alfresco lunch on the pontoon! I didn't see for myself but I heard from a reliable source that it was 14 degrees.


Most of our neighbours were also out working on various projects or dining in the sun so it was a very sociable day for Nate who sat on the pontoon and watched everyone coming and going.

winter wonderland!

Yesterday brought more snow and this time it fell quite heavily and continued until early afternoon. I was sooo excited but really missing Woz and wishing he come home from work and enjoy it with me. I got a call from a friend I used to work with to say that they'd closed the school and that she wasn't going in to work so we ended up hanging out together which was great.

Waking up this morning there hasn't been any snowfall over night but there is still plenty on the rooftops of each boat and on the pontoon. Richard, one of our neighbours, cleared a path to all the boats so we wouldn't slip and also took the time to make us a snowman who is still standing proudly on the pontoon!

old times

This weekend we had another full day working on the boat. It was just like old times. Mess everywhere you turn or tread, power shut off and doors wide open while Woz was going in and out the boat (thankfully it was a sunny day).

The end result was worth it though. We did lots of finishing off bits and pieces jobs but the biggest difference is that we decided to move our meals table and fix it against the wall which is now a meals bench. It has opened the boat up incredibly and Nate now has loads of room to roll around and play. His high chair is perched at the very end of the bench where he can look up at me in the kitchen or back on the living area. Apart from Nate getting more playing room it has absolutely saved my sanity as I was really beginning to get cabin fever living here day in and day out. You only had to have one load of washing hanging and you felt like you were living in a shoebox - some would argue we are! Anyway, by our standards it's absolutely huge now!

another lensbaby shot

The more I use this lens the more I discover it will be months or perhaps years before I have mastered it. Even with an image in mind it is very difficult to see it materialised. It will probably be a similar undertaking to learning the violin - no frets to work with but purely an incredibly fine tuned eye (as opposed to ear!) will be required to make music, so to speak. I think I need to become 'at one' with the lens and clearly I am not!

looking out

Don't you just want to squeeze that belly?!

our excitement was contagious

Nate couldn't stop beaming from the moment we took him outside.

rosy cheeks

looking out from our bedroom window

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

After a chilly night we woke this morning to find the marina covered in a thick layer of snow! After two years this is the first time we've seen snow in central London. It was so unexpected too which made it even more magical! We've had such a mild Winter so far and really it has felt very much like a Melbourne Winter but with more overcast days. Today it is expected to reach a top of 4˚c which is more like a typical Winter's day. Right now, at 12.00 pm it is 3˚c so the gloves and hat will be coming out today!

a new toy

Our good friends Andrew and Vicki spoilt me during the week with a new toy, a 'lensbaby', which is a new lens I have had my eye on for a while. It is a strange looking concertina like lens for our digital SLR which allows you to bring a very small area of your subject into sharp focus and creates a graduated glow from that point (Nate's right eye). A very rudimentary attempt but it was my first time! Woz and I are going to have lots of fun with this I can tell!

stop the rocking!

I can't remember how long it's been since we had a still day. It has been so windy here the boat feels as though it is on the open sea and is rocking quite violently up and down and from side to side. My boat-legs are failing me today as I have almost lost my balance on a number of occasions! Outside, anything that isn't tied down to either the boat or the pontoon is as good as gone and at night, we are quite literally being rocked to sleep.

men at work

Woz went back to work on Tuesday ... sigh. So did the construction workers opposite us who are a year into a three year project. It was a rude awakening on Tuesday morning at 8 am after nearly two weeks of peace and quiet on the Marina. It didn't bother me when I was working as I'd leave before they clocked on and would be home as they were finishing up for the day (as Woz does) but now I have the pleasure of constant noise in the background forming a soundtrack to my day.

Today a good friend of mine, Ann, who I studied Auslan with, visited us for lunch with her family. They're on a holiday in Europe for a month or so. It was great to catch up on all the news and see her face to face - hand to hand. Here's us the last time she was here. The little boy in today's photo was but a twinkle in his father's eye.

making it count

New Years Eve - we are reminded of our bravery, naivety and sense of adventure all mixed in together as just two years ago we threw caution to the wind and moved to the opposite side of the globe. How those years have flown!

Unfortunately this New Years was one of the worst I've had - I came down with gastro in the small hours of the morning and spent most of the day and evening hovering over the toilet seat. We were both in bed well before 12 but woke to hear the firework display on the river.

Woz and I have huge plans for this year and are really excited about what it may hold for us. We have a term we use to encourage each other in life and it is one we really want to continue this year which is to 'make it count'. We have the opportunity at this time to be living in the heart of a vibrant, exciting city, to be parents to a beautiful little boy and to live each day for what it is. So here's to making it count.

Happy New Year!