The day started bright, sunny and warm so that we could get the covers off and the roofers could keep on working at felting and battening before starting work on the stud-work at the dyke end of the roof. Joan and Trevor Gray were down and thought that Harnser was ‘a bit big’. I heard from Diana today who has managed to get the car fixed and will be coming back with the girls tomorrow
I was first up this morning even though I had also been last to bed yesterday evening. The day started bright, sunny and warm so that we could get the covers off and the roofers could keep on working at felting and battening the new place. By mid-afternoon they had completed the job and could do no more before the tiles arrived and we ended the day without any idea as to when that might be. Steve and Allen worked steadily away securing the iron ties for the big trusses and finished those by the end of the day and Dave was on the soffit under the rear eaves of the boat-house and has at least one more day of that to do.
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He took a break this afternoon and formed some of the stud-work at the dyke end of the roof which also had the effect of stopping the wind whistling in under the roofer's felt whilst also bracing that end gable as well. We then battened polythene over the empty window apertures to make the entire building weather-proof and this was severely tested by a couple of downpours later in the afternoon that would have saturated our timber if it were not for the roof. I managed to stain the rest of the match-board soffit ready for fixing and also got Steve to go round and tighten up all of the bolts, some of which needed a full turn as the timber had dried out considerably. Joan and Trevor Gray were down and staying at the bungalow next door and I went across to see them and ask what they thought of my new boathouse. They thought it was "a bit big" and much larger than they had anticipated but I assured them that it was being built according to plan.
I took Steve and his son over to The New Inn on The Jolly this evening which made another nice opportunity to see both our boatshed and many others from the river for comparison. To bed well after them, having taken a long walk round to Racing Reach and then had a bath and updated my journal. Heard from Diana today who has managed to get the car fixed and will be coming back with the girls tomorrow. Had an unusual call from a man today who has just read the section of my book referring to the tale of a former occupant of The Birches (now "The Aviary”) who became pregnant with a black son and left the village. He was a close relative and was furious at this reported slur on their character. There did not seem much that I could do so many years after publication! More rain forecast but it will not trouble us too much now.