tragic fire which ended the Excel electrical shop business
tragic fire which ended the Excel electrical shop business

A bright and sunny morning which became quite hot after overnight thunderstorm with torrential rain which made moving the dredgings more difficult to move today, day but it had to be done.

On a shopping trip to Wroxham, I heard all about the tragic fire which ended the Excel electrical shop business which was underinsured. Then the drive home to hear more about the peacock tale.

We were both awake quite early, it being difficult to sleep in on such nice bright morning with the birds singing away. Our night had been disturbed by another thunderstorm and more torrential rain which was to make my mud even more difficult to move. When it is dry, it is just like light fibrous peat but when wet, it is stodgy and heavy. I really ought to have left it for longer but the necessity of getting the boat-shed foundation prepared had to take precedence. Steven joined me for breakfast after all and then I drove him into Wroxham where he was to spend the day helping Christine get her boat prepared for the season.

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I stopped off at the Londis for some food for lunch and tea and chatted to the owner. I found out that he was the father of the man running Excel, the electrical shop that was burnt to the ground around a year ago. It seems that they lost £20,000 through being under-insured and are still very cut up about it. The son cried heavily on the night of the fire and is still horrified at the fact that any customers in the saddlery upstairs could not have escaped the fire which actually broke out during shop hours. On to Heronshaw via Jewsons, where I bought a new toilet seat and some other things, using the new account that I had opened. There then started a day of heavy work. I first fitted the toilet seat and bath panel, had a cup of coffee and then began barrowing more mud until, by about lunchtime, I had filled in the boat-shed foundation. I had a nice lunch of crab salad - very tasty and fresh with the crab being very large and meaty.

The next chore was to arrange the boon across the new mooring dyke which was quite a job and then I started tramping down the boat-shed foundation so as to compress it for levelling later in the week. This was also heavy going - it being still very soggy with my boots all but getting stuck in the mud! The weather had turned hot, but I pressed on and then levelled all of the far side of the boat dyke mud so as to leave it flat and drying out ready for final treatment next time. Steve came back as I was finishing off and I went in with him, had a wash and we ate tea together before packing up and leaving.

Good progress home as ever on a Saturday night with me home by 8.00pm and able to do a few things. I was greeted on arrival by a neighbour wanting to know what happened to the peacock as everybody now denies trying to get rid of it yet it is no longer around. I managed to find time tonight to clean out the pool, water my plants in the conservatory and then to write up these last two days' journal. Just like when I came back from Scotland, it was sunny and hot in Norfolk and then damp and cool back here.