Dem legs is made for walkin and dat wot they will dus - part 8

Hello ma frends. Bout time you wrote da next chapter ain't it Lexie? mum says to me. Ok ok I say. I be a very busy lady you know. Wot wif all da nappin wot I has to do, all da tweetin and such. I mean dis not some excoos but it has been extreeeeemely ot lately and I has to make sure I keeps cool. Is very impawtant for da Lexie. Dis be ma bestest position for keepin cool: chicken drumsticks mum calls it, or frogs legs!

Anyway, where is we at? Oh yes, da year dus now be 2007. I was tellin you before bout mum's manager (she was woman not man) who was really orrible.  Was gettin mum down a lot and dad say is time to quit.

On MV Atlantis (MV dus stands for motor vessel) the usual fing appen. Can you guess? Yes - frost, cold, ice, frozen pipes, mum fallin over bla bla bla! Mum heard bout a new exercise class startin up in da village near where we was moored. She decide to go along wiv her frend and did discover they was bellydancing! She loved it! Da moosic... da dancing... da heaters in the dancehall!

She was hooked da first time she went and has been dancin ever since! Probly we be tellin you more bout dat later from time to time. Here she dus be when she dun her first performance at a school fete! She was really scared can you tells?

Mum was as well worried bout money and quittin her job wivout anuvva one but she say, what the hell, I can't go on like dis. So she quit! Was great feelin. They talks it over and they decide is time to go freelance and work for herself. Wot she does for a livin? I hear you ask (possibly) She work wiv da interwebnet. She build websites, content management systems and writes for da web. Dad say she can find job easy wiv her skills and experience. He dus be right bout it!

She hadn't even left her job when her old boss call her up and offers her some contract work! Best of all, she can do it mostly from ome! Yippeee! She is doin a web fingamabob for a housing association in Hammersmith, London. They ask her to go in twice a week and rest of time she can work from home! So that's her sorted and I get to av mum time 3 days a week and all weekend too! Hooray!

In da meantime, I telled you bout the fing what dad was gonna be working on. Dad had been given da opportunity to do some eggsitin work on a huuuuge boat call Auldyn River. Da man wot buyeded it wanted to turn it into a recordin studio and he wanted to film everyfink for a televishin documentary wot would be on the telly! Audlyn River dus be a hooge boat as you can see from dis pic. She was a coaster and shipped bulk materials all over da world.

Dad and mum had decided to employ Jared full time to be dad's apprentice and learn all da fings he need to know to be a shipwright. Jared would be workin wiv dad on boaf Atlantis and Auldyn River. Dad also had friend wot could work wiv dem on and off to elp wiv fings who ad experience of workin on boats.

Auldyn River was 54m long and it was da intenshuns of da owner to make her into a recording studio and floatin home! First fing they dun was to cut all dem blue fings off da side (on boaf sides dat is). Thems is called combings. After that they did av to prepare da hold for its new floor coz it wud be split into two and have a further storey on top!

They had to buy lots of hoooge stacks of wood for da floorin and to make da supportin frames. Dad use a fing wot is called a magnetic pillar drill to make oles in da steel to bolt the wood to the steel. Here's da wood wot they did av to put in da hold. You can see how deep the hold is. On da wall about 2.8m on da wall you can see da wood and some steel hangers wot they would lay da floor on.

They moved all dat wood by hand, carryin it up da 1/4 mile pontoon on they shoulders one by one! Dad earned his nickname of Popeye coz his muscles got even bigger in da end!

Dey jump over to Atlantis for a while. Dad has to get her ready for sailin to anovva mooring wot we as secured. Is still wiv da same landylord is just more of a working moorin where he can has access to a yard and do fings dat is not allowed in da ovva marina. He has until May dat year to get her ready for da trip. Is only about 1/2 mile around da corner so won't be too difficult!

Best fing about dis is some new equipment wot is goin to make life much easier for dad! First fing is a digger. He use dat to dig out the new berth for Atlantis.  Here he is diggin out da berth ready for Atlantis to come around and live there.

Sounds easy, right? Not really! He had to use the digger to lay concrete beams in da mud first, so he could drive on them so he wouldn't sink in! Of course, dis all was between tides and he had to make sure he move the digger back before it came in or is bye bye digger! heehee. Mum was responsible for watchin da tide and of course, made sure I kept a safe distance in between throwin da ball for me! A very serious and impawtant task!

Next fing is a 30 ton crawler crane wot they has buyed. They can use dat to lift steel onto Atlantis and for dad to remove da wheelhouse and build a new one! Mum likes da sound of dat! Why? Becoz removin da wheelhouse means dey has to finish the bedroom so they can move into it! Oh mum fink, imagine sleepin in a proper bed again! I dussnt know if I telled you but they bin sleepin on da floor for FOUR years! Yes, FOUR years in the cold and  windy (winter) or boiling hot greenhouse (summer) wheelhouse on a mattress about as thick as a cream craker. Course, mum being mum worries. What about? Fallin out of da bed! heehee!

Dad start workin in da fishhold (do you remember that - the stripout?) to turn it into bedrooms and en suite shower. He has to get it ready so he can remove da old wheelhouse. Here he is ..... working ;).

Dad be hoppin between Atlantis and Auldyn River tryin to sort everyfink out redy for our move. Jared is workin ard on Auldyn River and is comin on really well, dad say. He say he can leave him unsupervised to get on wiv fings and each mornin Jared come to see us for cup of tea and dad tell him the days work.

Wot bout me and da mum? Well, we dus av lovely routine. We gets up bout 7am and go for walks all along da beach. If the tide is in I get to swim too!

We dus find a nice woodland to walk in as well dat as got bluebells and little paths. We dus play hide and seek in da woods and mum hides behind trees and fink I not know where she is! Silly woman!

We comes back to Atlantis and mum does some work. Den we dus all av lunch togeva and mum does any tidyin up wot dad dus need. She might take some stuff to the local tip for im or go and get gas for da cutters or weldin supplies.

Later on durin da afternoon we dus go for more walks togeva and plays wiv da ball. We dus av some tea when is later and I usually get anovva walk before bed time. I has learned dat these are times when I dus go for wee and poo! Mainly, coz she say wee and poo all the time! Can a doggie get any appier dan this? I dussnt fink so! Altho I fink I shud of start measurin ma legs I'm sure they has got shorter since then!

Well friends, as usual, dis is turnin into one loooong post. We fink we might have to spread 2007 over a few posts as a lot appens that year. I shall love you and leave you and hope that I'll see you again!

Lexie signin off! Bissous!
xx