Paraphernalia Refurbished

I like to try and keep Albert looking as "traditional" as possible so we usually cruise with the chimney, chimney chain, cabin strings, water cans and mop on the roof. I usually refer to this as our paraphernalia.

Although this stuff doesn't stay out in all weathers, it does deteriorate so when Albert went in for a repaint I decided to call it a day for our mop, which wasn't very special, and refurbish the original water can (Buckby) that came with Albert. After around 20 years of use, the finish on the can was dull and at one time I had decided that I would line it out in cream, rather than yellow, and this did not match with the can we bought at Crick Boat Show just a few years ago. So I decided to line out the original can in yellow, touch up areas of faded base colour and varnish it. I must say I am pleased with the result - both cans now look bright and more similar.

Albert's refurbished original can (left) with can painted by Sue Woodward (right)

To replace the old mop I decided to go traditional and make a 6 ft 6 inch long rag mop using a 1 1/4 inch diameter ash pole. I basically followed the excellent instructions posted by Blossom. The felt came courtesy of a donkey jacket I obtained from a laboratory that closed down over a decade ago.

Attaching the felt strips to the end of the pole has been a point of discussion in canal forums but using a rose headed spike (or nail) appeared to me be the most traditional way and not particularly difficult, so I went along that route. We are lucky to live near one of the country's best traditional ironmongers - Odells. They didn't immediately have one in stock but David Odell found one hiding at home and he kindly helped me out. Once I had accurately drilled the pilot hole into to the end of the ash pole, fitting the strips to the end of the pole using the pattern specified by Blossom was, as I hoped, a doddle.  

 David Odell in his emporium

Painting the rag mop can be interesting (that's code for difficult), particularly if you go for spirals. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and go for regular stripes. Red, yellow and green appeared appropriate and matched the cans, so after some interesting masking up and several coats applied over several days, I got a brightly coloured traditional rag mop.

Rag mop and water cans (Buckby)

Whilst taking the pictures for this post my youngest granddaughter Matilda took great interest in the brightly coloured cans. I couldn't resist adding a picture of her examining them.

Matilda (aged 13 months) with water cans and rag mop

Many thanks to the directions of Blossom.