The end of 2011

Well it's unbelievable to think that today is the last day of 2011 and tomorrow it will be 2012. A lot of water has passed under the bridge (literally). The past year hasn't been a bad one for the majority of us, but lets hope that the next one is even better. I for one hope that this country can pull it's way out of the current recession and our economy begins to grow once again.

It's been a bitsa day today, but we have managed to get Aquamarine out of the paintdock. She sits proud sporting her new lettering and Sovereign Lady has now gone in. Here's a picture for you.


Bernard has been cracking on with engine servicing, Mick with gas and Fred has been helping me most of the day - so I'm exhausted now!! Joyce and Ange have both been busy all day, mainly in the tea room and answering telephone calls etc.

All the best for 2012. Happy New Year.

Regards,

David.

Happy New year

As I am not in over the weekend I wont get the chance to say

HAPPY NEW YEAR

All the very best and I hope you all have a very good 2012 boating season
Cheers,Simon

Vile day!

What a horrible day today has been, its been wet, windy and cold, a direct contrast to yesterdays wonderful weather here at Norbury, I thought as I sat in the office that we would be dead quiet today and to be honest it has been quietish , however we did sell a boat so things are not all that bad!

We have seen a few people in today to get essential supplies like diesel and coal and quite a few people looking at the boats that we currently have for sale, some of the lads have been in today, Bernard has been finishing off the fitting of a new gearbox and engine servicing, Fred has pretty much been varnishing all day on different boats while Matt has been painting in the warmth of the wet dock, Cheryl has been in looking after the tea room although given the poor weather today she hasn't seen too many customers which has given her chance to get the floor painted in the chandlery, we have had a change around again in the chandlery and I dont know how we manage it but we have more room and more shelf space and we got rid of a section of shelving, it doesn't make sense other than we are becoming more efficient in how we are displaying our stock, new year is fast approaching and just to remind you that we are only closed on new years day and we have changed our opening times for the days leading up to and just after so check out our website for the opening times.

That's it from me for yet another day.
Simon

Christmas?

What happened to Christmas, no soon as we broke up we were back at work, I had a nice family Christmas and I hope you all had a nice one too what ever you were doing. Well its back to work as I said and nothing changes except that the weather is superb, blue skies and sun, its very windy here today but at least its not raining and mores the point it ain't frozen like it was this time last year.

We have been busy today, we are still on a skeleton staff as we have people on holiday so you do tend to feel it a bit more, we have had a day boat out this morning and a cracking day they have had, we have un docked Pippin and docked two private boats for blacking, we have also put yet another boat in to the painting dock for Matt to weave his magic and make it look new again, Bernard has been kept busy making an engine fit and engine bay after fitting a new differnt gearbox yesterday, Fred has also been busy with varnishing one of our hire boats internals, Angela has been kept busy in the tearoom with a steady stream of customers and I have been kept busy with the usual day to day stuff and moving boats around, we have that many boats here in the winter that when we dock boats it is like one of those square puzzles where you move one block so that you can move another, it takes three times as long to dock boats at this time of year just because of moving boats out of the way and then moving them back again, we really could do with more space, I bet most boat yards say the same!

That's it from me for today, so until tomorrow.
Simon

ding

that noise is all i have heard today from people wanting to be fed and watered in the tea room.
hi everyone, i hope you all had a good christmas and didn't eat or drink too much.
as the title suggests we have been busy here at norbury today, there has only been me, mick and bernard here and the tea room has been really busy with cyclists and walkers. mick has also been busy on the wharf with diesel, pump outs and bottles of gas, so all in all we have not had time to be bored. mick has had to come and do the washing up for me as i couldn't keep up (sorry simon, but i couldn't), everyone who has been into the tea room today wanted feeding, unfortunately i could only do toasted sandwiches or cold sandwiches as when i switched the cooker on this morning we were plunged into darkness, i did try again but the same thing happened but no one went away disappointed i'm glad to say.
bernard has been working on the engine on pippin, i haven't seen much of him today so he hasn't been making the usual nusiance of himself.
it will be back to normal tomorrow and i'm sure simon will fill you in, if he doesn't i will, so until next time byyyyeeeeeeeeeee ange.

It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas.

I just can’t believe that it is nearly Christmas. It doesn’t seem twelve months ago that we were sitting here saying the same thing last year. I think that the majority of us will be dashing around the supermarkets tomorrow to get the final bits and pieces, and be putting the last of the preparations together for Christmas Day.

I’d just like to say that we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, that’s not just from me, but from all of the team here at Norbury. It is a pleasure to work with such great friends and customers alike and we thank you greatly for your continued support.

Although you may see us around from time to time over the next few days (we just can’t keep away you know), please don’t forget that we are actually now closed until Tuesday. Here are our opening hours for the next week – just incase you haven’t spotted them around the yard or on our website.

Saturday 24th December - CLOSED
Sunday 25th December - CLOSED
Monday 26th December - CLOSED
Tuesday 27th December - 10.00am to 4.00pm
Wednesday 28th December - 8.30am to 5.00pm
Thursday 29th December - 8.30am to 5.00pm
Friday 30th December - 8.30am to 5.00pm
Saturday 31st December - 8.30am to 4.30pm
Sunday 1st January - CLOSED
Monday 2nd January - 9.00am to 4.00pm

Have a good one.

Best regards,

David.

What a lovely day

Its amazing to think that today is the shortest day, we are now on our way towards spring time, roll on those lovely long days, We have been blessed with the weather this winter though and today has been amazing, its been like a spring day today here at the wharf, the sun was seriously warm today out side, its just a shame that it has gone dark by 4 o'clock in the afternoon!

Its been another quietish day, no boats on the move but then I suspect that people are now tied up for Christmas in their favourite spot, Fred and Bernard have docked Pippin today for its winter hull clean and blacking, its a new hire boat to us and the first time we have seen her out of the water and I am very pleased indeed with her condition, she is in excellent condition and only requires the minimum of attention, Matt has nearly finished the painting on Phantasy and Quartz so they have now had a new lease of life for yet another season, Bernard has carried on with engine servicing and I have been out moving boats and going through them to make sure that the ones that are going out this week are all fine, we are definitely winding down for the Christmas break, Steve has gone on his holidays, Mick is on his days off, Graham is off today and David is off so it does seem very quiet indeed, Cheryl and Julian have arrived back safe and sound with the new boat to go up for sale so keep your eyes on our website for its details, its called heather Belle.

Finally thanks to Fred and Lisa Webster who are good customers and an avid readers of this blog for sending us a lovely Christmas card, Merry Christmas to you too.

That's it from me for another day.
Simon