what a glorious day

Hi all, it has been an absolutely glorious day here at Norbury today so the tea room has seen quite a few customers through the door. We are thinking of changing the name of the tea room to "Tupps tea room" as Denise looks like Mrs Tupp from the childrens tv programme "Big Bertha", she is so clever that her first aid kit repairs broken limbs and even severed limbs...........only joking Simon.
On a more serious note we have been quite busy here today in one way or another, the phones have been busy, we have been booking day boats and a couple of holiday bookings, and our E bay shop is going quite well.
Joyce has manned the tea room today as well as tidying up in the shop and putting stock out and putting items for sale on E bay, I have been catching up on paperwork and doing general day to day things and so has Simon :-)
Engineer Simon has been working on a private boat and Mr Handbag (Mick) has been blacking and doing odd jobs around the yard, everyone else has been on their days off.
We closed the tea room at 3.30 pm this afternoon, locked the doors and switched the lights off and taped it all off so that Joyce and Myself could paint the floor in reception, We were going to do half today and half on Friday. We then had a brainwave....lets close at  5pm and do it all. Simon said "but how will I get out"....sorted....We got 2 bricks and a plank ;-)....He set the alarm, walked across the plank, locked the doors and went home and hopefully the floor will be dry in the morning.
That's it from Me  today....til next time....byeeee Ange.

ITS LIVE!

Excellent news, our new website is now live, just visit our web site as you have done in the past and the new look site will open up, please bear with us as not all of the information is on there as yet so its still 'work in progress' David is on the case! You will notice that our new site combines both our old hire website and the boat yard site, it was decided that we really didn't need the two sites, this will make the marketing much easier and save any confusion over what site people need to visit, the old address has a link from it to the new site so if you should have it in your favourites it can still be used; your feed back on the site would be great and any recommendation's!

Back to Monday, and its been a flipping freezing day here today, I did see a bit of ice on the canal this morning, I thought winter was behind us but not just yet by the looks of things, not long now, hopefully; Its been a quiet day here today, we have seen a few boats on the wharf for services and the lads have been kept busy today on various boats around the yard, Micky has been on the refit, checking batteries and charging on a private boat, while Freddie has been blacking and paint the day boats, oh and that's it as the other lads aren't back in until tomorrow and Wednesday, the tea room and shop are quiet at the moment which has given Denise the chance to give everything a good sort out, while leaving Joyce the monumental task of sorting out the three big boats that returned on Saturday, they did need a very good clean!

Until tomorrow.
Simon

 It's been a cold day here at Norbury today.

We've had a boat on the dock for a survey, followed by one of our moorers boats for pressure washing and blacking. That's kept Fred and Bernard busy. Mick has been working on a private boat doing some boat safety work.

Ange and Lynn have been busy in the shop whilst Denise has been kept on her toes in the tearoom.

We've got another boat for sale which is an investment opportunity within our hire fleet. More details here www.norburywharfltd.co.uk.

I'm about to launch our new website over the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled.

That's about it from me today.

Best regards,

David 

It's been mighty cold here at Norbury today. I don't think the temperature has got above freezing all day. It even snowed at one point!

The three boats that went out last week (Sphynx, Reflection and Ember) with twenty one children on arrived back first thing this morning. They had an absolutely fantastic time and there are lots of pictures that I have shared on our Facebook wall here http://www.facebook.com/groups/45878996169/?ref=ts&fref=ts.

We've had one day boat out today and Prince has gone out this afternoon for the week.

Mick and Simon have been busy in the dry dock whilst the other Mick and Bernard have been turning the fleet around.

Mrs. Handbag has been busy cleaning, while Ange, Denise and Lynn have been kept busy in the shop

Thursday

I do love days like today, its been really busy here at Norbury and the place has had a great 'vibe' to it, everyone has been busy, Denise in the tea room has looked after the many visitors that we have had today, Lynn has been busy learning the ropes and putting stock away, Me and David have been kept busy with enquiries, bookings, quotes and dealing with lots of customers and of course the lads, who do give us some grief, talking of which, after a ride out to a breakdown on one of our hire boats this morning Simon returned and has been down in the depths of the dry dock where he is now replacing a bow thruster tube and at the same time modifying it so that it will be safe to use in the future, unlike it was when we inspected it in the first place, it was a death trap waiting to happen! Bernard has been in today and is back with us for a while as we have quite a lot of work on at the moment, and Mick (Mr handbag) has been painting, pressure washing and pumping boats out that have been on the wharf.

Until tomorrow

Regards
Simon

More boats needed

Wow another fantastic day here at Norbury, its been that warm that I have even shed my coat! I knew first thing this morning that it was going to be a nice day, It was very cold this morning with the car being covered in a good frost, it was also very foggy and the air was heavy with moisture which was causing everything to became frosty, it didn't last too long and by lunch time the sun had disappeared the fog and cold and it has been a stunning day all day long!

We have had a very busy day today, the phones being busy, the shop and tea room have been busy, boat bookings have been flooding in, and I have sold two boats, now that's a result! David sold two last week, so we are getting seriously low on stock, so if you want to sell your boat, get it to us as quick as you can.

The lads have all been busy today, Simon has been cranking a flue, no that's no kinky or anything like that, he has been putting some angles in to a flue pipe so that it fits between the stove and the roof collar and generally finishing the fitting of it and tidying up, Fred as usual has been blacking and painting the day boats in the wet dock, Mick has been removing the panelling out of the front of a boat that we are going to dock tomorrow to replace its bow thruster tube, there is a lesson to be learnt here, this boat is not a very old boat, only about 10 or 11 years but because the bow tube cant easily be accessed along its full length when docked for blacking it has eventually corroded and sprang a leak, and subsequently sank! Be warned folk if you have a bow tube fitted, make sure that when you have the hull blacked you treat your bow tube to some TLC as well.

Until tomorrow.
Simon

I'm back!

Wow what a superb day to return to work, the weather today has been brilliant, bright sunshine all day long, its been a bit chilly but that has not spoilt the day at all. Its been a busy one today, the weather has obviously helped but also the fact that it is half term has had an effect, lots of people around looking at boats, lots of people in the shop and tea room keeping Denise busy, Lyn has been busy putting stock away and generally helping out in the tea room and answering the phones, I guess the lads have been busy too as I have hardly seen any of them today, or they have been avoiding me! It always seems to take ages to get back in to the driving seat after a weeks holiday but after two weeks its even harder to catch up, fortunately not too much for me to plough through as David and the team seem to have everything in order!

I have had two lovely weeks away, I think that when you have your own business you never truly get away from work unless you go abroad and out of contact, but didn't go abroad this time for lots of reason so  I had a couple of days doing business related jobs, a few days on my own boat servicing the engines and generally getting it ready for the upcoming season, and I ended up doing decorating and several outstanding jobs around my house, oh and lots of socialising! But because I have not had a time schedule to keep to it has felt like I have had a month off work, so I am now totally chilled.

Until tomorrow
Simon