Category Archives: Winter Maintenance

and the work goes on . . . .

Ok.ok.  Sometimes, just sometimes, my fountain of inexhaustible boaty maintenance enthusiasm wanes . . . just a teeny bit . . . you know, I’m human. 24/7/365/20 years is a lot of boat-bonding time, boat bondage perhaps? So after a long season and an epic main engine rebuild I was ready for some boaty down-time.

But thankfully for me and the COLUMBIA III, my son-in-law, Luke, was willing to jump in and tackle some projects on the ship, just when my spirits were flagging. Some tasks are seriously invisible to all guests and almost everyone else, but essential nevertheless.

Project number 1: A vexing issue was the header tank on the main engine coolant system. It has been mounted to the deck-head in the engine room for all my time and perhaps for the last 60 years, but it was installed incorrectly.  It was a nice, tidy installation high between the deck beams, but too high and too tight. The vent-line off the top of the tank was on the very top of the tank between the deck beams which meant the vent line had to go down hill from the top of the tank before it proceeded up to the roof of the ship. This seems like a small matter but in fact is was a very vexing set up. The downward bend in the vent line ensured the vent was ALWAYS air-locked with the air “captured” in the bend under the deck beam. The result was the system didn’t vent correctly. This caused the engine coolant to”burp” onto the roof of the ship as the coolant warmed when operating, and it made it nearly impossible to add anti-freeze to the system for top-ups, routine replacement or after major engine work . . . (See the last few years!!) So I asked Luke to lower the tank 6 inches. How hard could that be? Well there are a lot of pipes, tubes and wires connected to the tank but Luke performed the surgery perfectly and a long standing, mis-installation has been corrected.

Project number 2:  Luke has been attending to the deck planking over the years. A big project was the foredeck a few years ago. And he has also been eyeing the side decks. Some of the older deck planks had split lengthwise and water was causing rot to set in. These are not simple projects as the underside of the deck planks are the ceiling of the staterooms and engine room below. But we decided that Luke would “dig into” the starboard side this winter. (Port side next winter??) We never know what he is going to find and how big the project will be. Once he sands off the deck finish he can decide which planks need replacing and which can stay.

Questionable planks removed . . . 

New planking starting to get installed . . . .

The boat shed work bench is awesome for these kinds of projects.

And grandson, Theo, continues his apprenticeship . . .

and the planks are screwed down, plugged, and then caulked with oakum and cotton . . .

and Theo gets some practice . . .

and the seams are finished off with Sikaflex sealant . . .

But the boat certainly becomes a construction zone and it seems like there is lots to do to get the ship spotless by next May.

Project number 3: The COLUMBIA III remains a very tight ship . . .  in this context she rarely has drips below decks from rain or seas. The exception has been the port wheel house door. Normally it’s not an issue but if the seas are pounding the port side, or if tied to a dock with driving rain on the port side and the ship is unable to feather into the wind as on the anchor, water would hit the door and run down in behind the door sill and drip on the crew bunks below. A long standing issue that is annoying when the conditions are just wrong . . . So I tasked Luke. We made up a game plan and then he started the surgery. Here he has exposed the problem and replaced some “studs” with new clear yellow cedar. Note the vertical tie-rod that bolts the wheel house to the decks for strength.

 

Then a new door sill was made from teak and installed and the wall surface replaced . . .

It takes a fair amount of epoxy glue to secure and fair smooth the repair . . .

Project number 4: This is a big project with few pictures for now. But I will post more soon. We are replacing the main engine fire pump and Luke has been removing the old system and starting the mounting plate for the new pumping assembly. The pump is currently in a machine shop in Campbell River getting a custom drive coupling made . .  More later.

Project number 5: This one is still in the box! The replacement head for the #1 cylinder on the Gardner has arrived from England and waiting for me to install it . . . its part of my New Year’s resolution . . . to get out of holiday mode and get back into Boaty Mode soon!!!!

And on a final note for this post. Luke is a very good wood-worker, and he is a good teacher. This Christmas, Luke and grandson, Theo, made a crazy “sandwich” of pre-cut strips about 18″ long and glued them all together. After allowing the glue to cure for a week, they sliced the “log” with a large band saw into 1″ slabs and then cut them round and sanded them to PERFECTION! Then Theo and Luke gave 8 perfect, dazzling, cutting boards as Christmas presents to some very lucky recipients, including me!!! . . . (+ 64 pieces in each board).

The take-away? The COLUMBIA III is very lucky to have Luke and Theo caring for her!!!

More updates coming as work progresses . . . and the annual shipyard date is now set for March 11.
Oh, the fun of it all!

“To bed”

At the end of every season we put the COLUMBIA III “to bed” for the winter. As we live on a remote island and produce our own limited power through solar, micro-hydro and back-up generators, we do not produce enough power to plug in heaters in the ship over the winter. The modest salon fireplace running on stove-oil provides the only steady source of heat. It flickers away 365 days of the year. As a consequence of this limited heating, we remove as many items made of fabric or paper from the ship to avoid attracting moisture and mildew.

Therefore, every book, cardboard box, mattress, towel, sheet, face cloth, quilt, pillow, life-jacket, spray skirt, . . .  (I expect you get the idea) is  removed from the ship . . . .

and lugged up the dock . . .

in many, many loads . . .

up to my small cabin and stored here for the winter!

Funny how my small place gets even smaller with the extra “supplies” on hand . .  . I certainly rock the concept of an emergency preparedness kit  . . .

For those of you attentive Readers, I know you will be concerned. Yes, the little stove-oil fireplace runs 24/7/365 even when the ship is only checked once a day during the quieter winter months. And I am the kind of Skipper that would worry dark and troubling thoughts in the wee hours of a winter’s night . . .  so many years ago I designed and installed an automatic thermal fuel-shut-off system for the fireplace. If the fireplace even “thinks about overheating” a thermal switch shuts off the fuel supply with a fire-proof rated solenoid if the air temperature ever rises above 85ºF/30Cº. Worry-wart Skippers (me) need to be able sleep in the winter too  . . .

Oops, I got side tracked . . .

For me, the ship is not truly “stood down” until she is emptied and every cupboard and compartment is left open and special ventilation fans (with their own dedicated power receptacles) are installed and running that I consider the current season is over.

The lazarette (nautical talk for storage area in the back of the ship) houses a wwwwide range of items during the summer; from spare wine glasses to extra engine oil, from beer to bilge cleaner, from wine to wire, from dish soap to dinner plates, from gumboots to garbage bags, from hose to hand sanitizers, from v-belts to sea-chests . . . uhh, a lot of spares . . .

So we empty the “laz” to ensure the area is well ventilated and to weed out the “necessary” from the “accumulation of the extraneous”. Here Steve is spelunking the “laz”.

We also have a system (of course we have a system!) of ropes and pulleys installed in the rafters of the boat shed to hoist each kayak up out of the way for the winter. This makes winter and spring maintenance a lot less cluttered.

Steve is on the roof connecting and lifting . . .

and I am on the dock pulling like mad and tying off one kayak at a time.

I often get the sensation that I am swimming under-water watching the fleet of mothership kayaks passing by. A seal’s eye view if you will.

The ship’s non-perishable food stores are pulled out of their nooks and crannies and organized and inventoried. We will compare preseason shopping lists against post-season inventories and adjust the master shopping lists for next year.

Phew! It is always a busy final push when everyone’s energies are waning; the pull of home projects, family and friends beckon after the long busy season.

Once the crews finally left after the day’s toils, I sat by myself on the sofa in the salon, glazing about me with relief that another touring season has come and gone. I am not religious per say, nor especially superstitious, but I am still completely comfortable with pausing by myself and thinking. “Thanks.” Thanks to the ship, her crews, her guests and the good fortune of this BC coast. My personal motto for my little business has always been: Safe, Fun, Viable.

Safe: I want everyone; crew, guests and bystanders to be safe.

Fun: Life isn’t worth living if it can’t be fun (and admittedly I am willing to work for this!).

Viable: I want my business to flourish enough to treat my crews well, provide my guests with an exemplary experience, maintain this heritage ship as best I can . . .

And have some left over for me too.

Thanks. 2022 was a good season.

Ross, Owner/Skipper/Chief washer

Fall 2019, The “Gardner Report”.

WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS BORING DETAILS ON MECHANICAL MINUTIA WITH EXCESSIVE PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT MANY READERS WILL FIND OFFENSIVELY TEDIOUS. READER’S DISCRETION ADVISED.

There is a serious dose of synchronicity hovering around the COLUMBIA III, from the many personal connections with her history to her continued engagement on the BC coast. Here is yet another example.

The COLUMBIA III is 63 years old. Her engine is 63 years old. Very few engines last 63 years. But the engine in the COLUMBIA III is no ordinary engine. It is a “Gardner”. A British made engine famous for its reliability, economical fuel consumption, size and quietness. Gardners are legend! So much so that when I purchased the ship 15 years ago an old timer stopped me on the street in Campbell River and asked if the rumour was true, “So you own the old mission ship now, do you?” and I answered affirmatively. “And what’s it got in it for power?” and I replied, “An 8L3, (the biggest Gardner)” and the old sailor pulled off his ball cap and started hitting me with it . . .”You lucky bastard! You’ve got the COLUMBIA III AND it has a GARDNER!!! I hate you!!” Whack, whack, whack with his hat.

But I digress, new Gardners have not been made for years and their numbers have dwindled. And the mechanics who know anything about them have dwindled as well. There was an elderly gentleman in Victoria who was the only known Gardner mechanic on the Pacific coast, but he retired in his 80’s over 15 years ago.  But synchronicity struck again! Enter Terry Coak! Terry grew up in England and was trained as a marine mechanic. He apprenticed as a young lad when the system was more like being indentured. But Terry learned and learned well. He worked for decades on ships and the smaller vessels in the fishing fleet of Great Britain. And many of the fishing boats had Gardner engines. So Terry knows A LOT about Gardner engines . . . . now comes the cool part (if you are selfish like me). Terry decided to retire and move, with his wife, to . .  . you guessed it . . .  to CAMPBELL RIVER! The closest town/harbour to were we live and the COLUMBIA III is moored.

A real, live, genuine, smart, competent,  and experienced Gardner Mechanic! Right in my closest port! Hallelujah!!

Each spring for the last 10 years Terry has come down to give the Gardner engine a check-up and we  talked. Terry is about 75 now and starting, mind you, just starting, to dream of retirement from his job with Desolation Sound Yacht Charters. So I struck him a deal. When I finish my 2019 summer touring season I will bring the ship to Campbell River and you can take the heads off my engine and see what we find.

And Terry agreed. So…..

Cool Alert: Now there was some leg work to get settled before we commenced on the rebuild. After the all-important commitment by Terry the next crucial step is to secure parts. So I googled “Gardner Parts” and found a phone number in England. I then set my alarm and got up at 1 am to call England at business opening. I had found the engine serial number stamped into the block and I was ready when I made the call. It went something like this . . .

Ring, ring, ring . . .

“Hello, David Tobin here of Gardner Spares” . . . ( in the most perfect British accent. Instantly instilling confidence and good will!).

“Good Morning, This is Ross Campbell sitting out in British Columbia, Canada. I have an 8L3 and I need some parts.”

“Ok. Good day, sir. Do you have the serial number?

“Yes, 8L3 / 104634”

“Good. Let me put the phone down for a second as I run up stairs and pull the file.”  (!!!!!! 63 years later???)

and three minutes later, David jumped back on the phone, “Yes, that’s the right serial number. The file shows that your engine left our Works in June 1955, bound for Canada.”   WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I ordered the initial parts that Terry thought I would need and had them shipped to Canada. . .  That only took about 6 days total! Then Terry and I finalized a start date. I then needed to bring the ship down the day before work commenced.

November 9th, 2019:  The COLUMBIA III had been out of the shed since the first of May. She made it home and into her shed in late October . . .  But out she came again in preparation for her trip to Campbell River for the main engine top end rebuild.

I left the masts down, so I couldn’t use my radars. I had to pick a good day to travel the 3 hours to town.

Bye, bye, Diamond Bay. When will the COLUMBIA III make it home again?

And the next day the work began. Terry arrived with his special Whitworth tools and we started dissembling the main engine promptly. Here the exhaust manifold is removed and the valve covers are off so we can loosen the nuts holding the heads down.

The water cooled exhaust manifold was very heavy, and we lowered it to the floor with a block and tackle. It stayed there for the whole rebuild. More later . .  .

and we broke the torque on the head bolts . . .

and the first six heads popped off very easily . .

But the #2 head (second from the bow) didn’t want to budge. We ended up using two small hydraulic jacks to apply steady, even pressure to slowly ease the head upwards. Once the head was off we  inspected the studs and noticed that they were quite pitted. All the other studs were smooth  and in “like-new” condition. With closer inspection we found that the small O-rings that channel the anti-freeze/coolant between the block and heads were degraded with age. It appears that the leaking antifreeze had corroded and ‘gunked up’ the studs.

I thought I had been “maintaining” the Gardner well over the years but it looked pretty scabby by the time we got the main bits apart. You can see the two nearest cylinders were the scabbiest. But HEY, nothing three weeks of cleaning, washing, degreasing, and painting can’t improve.

You can see the push rods sitting on the block. . .

Here the heads sit on a bunk on the first day, waiting to get carried up the dock to Terry’s truck.

More heads on the engine room work bench . . .

Initially Terry suggested I cut round cardboard inserts for each cylinder to keep the dirt out. I added clean cloth scraps to seal around the card board. Given the amount of grease, crud, brass wire wheel shards and emery cloth dust involved, I was super paranoid about contaminating any of the cylinders. I changed the cloths frequently and vacuumed repeatedly. The Gardner has the unusual feature that the pistons travel up into a recess on the heads so that I could roll the engine over by hand and each piston, in sequence, would protrude about an inch above the block. This allowed me to vacuum around each piston. .  . Repeatedly! I was really nervous that I would screw something up with all my cleaning so I was in hyper-vigilant mode!!   Starting to look cleaner!

Another important point regards the cylinder walls. I am not experienced but the cylinder walls were beautifully smooth and shiny and free of marks or scratches. Terry thought they looked nearly new in condition. As the engine has always run very cleanly and started easily, (lots of compression) and with no smoking, we felt there was no need to inspect the pistons and rings further. Everything seemed to be fine below the heads and we felt confident with rebuilding the top end of the engine. I have been trying to maintain the COLUMBIA III as best as I am able and now I know what the inner workings of the main engine look like. I was confident in the Gardner before in  a rub-my-rabbits-foot way. Now I KNOW I can be confident in it.

I found the best tools for cleaning were a new paint scraper and a variety of brass wire wheels run in the chuck of my drill. The brass could get into all the corners without damaging the parent metal. It took about an hour to clean the top of the block for each cylinder. And then I emery papered the studs until they shone.

There is a really interesting component to this story; the financial side of an engine that lasts 60-100 years. The 10 studs that were pitted were structurally strong enough to remain in service, but Gardner Spares in England could ship me new studs in a few days. At $70 each they might seem unnecessary, but the studs had been in place for at least the last 60 years, so why not make everything perfect now? The price will be spread over the next 60 years.

Once I had the top of the block cleaned and the cylinders spotless I kept the engine well covered.

A big part of this story is poorly documented. Terry took the 8 heads to his shop and completely dissembled them. He called me when he had them apart to report that all was well. There were no broken springs or other bits and the valves were slightly pitted but nothing a good honing wouldn’t fix. By the time I got back up to Terry’s shop about 10 days later, he had reassembled the heads and painted them. 

Here is close up of the underside of the head with the two valves that Terry laboriously hand seated.  The Gardner is unusual as it has no “head gasket”. The heads meet the block in a bare metal, finely honed metal to metal fit. Using a special Gardner tool, Terry had to hone the bottoms of the heads to a precision surface. It was a lot of hand honing . . . Terry said the main metal to metal seats entailed about a 1-2 hour hand-honing work-out per head!

Terry also dissembled the engine oil cooler. He cleaned the individual internal tubes, added a new 60″ long zinc anode inside and replaced all the gaskets when he reassembled it. Here is a peek into the inside of the oil cooler.

Meanwhile, back on the ship I continued my less fancy work. Because the exhaust manifold was too awkward to move, I had to clean the beast in place on the floor of the engine room. It got wire brushed, sprayed with degreaser, washed, rinsed, sprayed again with brake cleaning fluid, dried over heaters and then spray painted with primer and then two coats of grey engine paint. It was a filthy, smelly, time consuming job, especially bad as it was in my nice clean engine room getting every thing else dirty in the process . . . Oh the glamour of owning a wooden boat! and being a DIY’er!!!

Whilst Terry was doing all the work that needed a real mechanic, (someone with years of experience and a knowledgeable, stead hand), I was doing the dirty, mindless nonetheless fun and personally enriching de-greasing, cleaning, priming and painting of the main engine block and lots of various pieces. As I was living on the ship at the time, I painted outside as much as possible to reduce the ship board fumes. Nevertheless, I did take a hotel room for three nights as I repainted the main block. It was just too toxicly smelly to eat and sleep on the ship.

Here the injector fuel lines get a coat of primer on the back deck.

Everything was painted with three coats. So I tried to keep the rotation happening, even if it was a quick coat late at night, just before bed.

I also loaded up on automotive polishing supplies and went to work on the engine air intakes.  Usually I have to travel several hours to pick up supplies but being in town with the boat was a novelty. I would often end up in Campbell River Equipment Supplies several times a day for more paint, or cleaning fluid or brass wire wheels. The guys at the counter knew me pretty well after my month at the dock.

As I was working on the ship I really missed having access to a bench vise to hold the parts in place. I ended up with the pieces clamped between my knees on the aft deck! I think I got as much polish on me as I did on the engine components.

But things got very shiny!

Here is my salon with parts awaiting polishing or painting. I bought a roll of cardboard and covered the floors to keep the carpet and flooring from getting soiled.

And the big day arrived! Here Terry is unloading his truck with 8 rebuilt heads! Ready to go back onto the engine. Exciting!!!

and one of the new studs . . .

. . . and Terry gets the various gaskets ready before we installed the first head.

On the left side of the engine are the two holes that the push rods come up through and it’s the place all the oil lubricating the rocker arms returns to the base. Terry is placing the new O-rings that keep the oil where the oil is supposed to be right before we lower the heads into place.

There are also 4 O-rings per cylinder with little copper sleeves that direct the water/coolant from the heads through to the block.  These little grommets had deteriorated and had been leaking coolant on the outside of the block. Terry concluded that we overhauled the engine at just the right time. There was no physical damage to the metal components but the rubber bits were failing and needed to be replaced. Not bad for ++ 30 years . . . There is no “head gasket” as such on a Gardner. The actual seal between the head and block is a hand-honed metal to metal fit.

I rigged up a 7 foot metal bar lengthwise above the engine so the block and tackle could slide along to any position. Here the first head is lowered into place. I thought the ability to lower the head slowly and in control was a good idea as Terry had worked so hard to hone the bottoms of the heads to perfection. I didn’t want the honed surfaces to get scraped on all the metal studs sticking up out of the block. The first head is now in place. . .

Head number 2 in place . . . this is the head that was difficult to remove but now it slid easily into place on the 6 new studs shipped from England.

And heads 3 to 7 . . .

Here you can see the push rods sticking up and Terry seating the O-rings for the last head.

And the nuts go on the studs snugly but not tight . . .

Then the long exhaust manifold and intake manifolds are bolted in place. Since the heads were not yet bolted down tightly they could individually align themselves squarely with the manifold. Then we could torque the heads down.

Torque the heads? . . . super easy! I watched and Terry worked up a sweat. I was such a great helper!

After the heads were all in place, Terry reset the valve clearances whilst I rolled the engine over by hand. We had also taken the “Gardner” name plates off the heads as the access hole offered a great lifting point. Now, with the heads torqued down, I could start blinging the old girl with my polished hardware . . .  Bling is very important on the COLUMBIA III!

We had removed the fuel control on the second day and dropped it off in Campbell River for over haul. The report later was that the control was in excellent shape and required only a few parts and gaskets from England. Three weeks later we picked it up. Here Terry reconnects the two fuel controls in preparation for reinstalling. . . .

… on the engine . . . Note the levers that can pump fuel up to the injectors individually or lock out the fuel supply to any particular cylinder if one chooses. My old Skipper, Dennis Mattson, has the same engine in his fishboat and he often runs the engine with several cylinders isolated if he has to idle for an extended period. The engine then operates as though it is under a load and doesn’t soot up .. . .

Now here’s a story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The injectors . . .

Settle in, this is going to take a while . . .

Terry and I took the 8 injectors to a local shop but after a couple of days they decided they did not have the capability  to overhaul the injectors. . . . So I called Gardner Spares in England and arranged for the injectors to be overhauled there. Sounds simple. I paid $500 for next day delivery to England only to have British customs seize the package and demand 500 Sterling Pounds for import duties.That took a week to sort out. Then the folks at Gardner overhauled the injectors in just 4 days and promptly shipped them back to Canada. Unfortunately the courier stalled the shipment in Vancouver and waited a week to notify me! Then it took a mandatory 48 hours for the correct destination to take effect . . .  What! It only took 48 hours to come from England . . . So we had about a week when Terry cooled his heels. I used the  time to reassemble many of the ancillary components to the engine:

Here the new $600.00 coolant thermostat,

and reinstalled water coolant pipes and new silicone hoses and clamps . . .   

new hoses on the engine coolant pump . . .

and the coolant supply lines cleaned and painted and the hoses and clamps replaced

Here the coolant flow sight glass is cleaned and getting repainted . . .

and polished and re-installed . . .

As we had the transmission cooler off I had it overhauled at a radiator shop in town and replaced all the hoses on the cooler and on the main engine. . . . I had it apart, so I may as well replace all hoses too!

I also used the waiting-for-injectors time for upgrading the ship’s radiant heat system of valving.

But the rebuilt injectors finally arrived from England . . .

. . . and were installed and the fuel lines replaced.

Terry then bled the fuel control and used the unique individual pumps that let him pump fuel up into each injector as I slowly rolled the engine over by hand to relieve that pressure on the cam shaft.

And finally there was nothing left to do but press the starter!  The old girl turned over a few times and then simply fired up! Amazing! Terrifying!! I raced up on deck to check the exhaust stack but it was completely smokeless! Cleaner burning than before, even with a cold start.

Awesome! Phew!!!!

Here is a brief video of the first few moments when the Gardner fired up after the top end over-haul. IMG_5283  

And Terry stood and listened and looked and listened and checked and inspected. There were a few water leaks on the fittings I worked on and one fuel leak on a fitting I neglected to tighten . . .

Checking the individual temperature of the exhaust ports.

Then we shut down the engine and re-installed some of the final bling, the valve covers I polished to a glinty gleam were reinstalled.

Then we ran the engine again at the dock for about 30-45 minutes for Terry to give his final listen and visual inspection. It was quite anti-climatic (in a really good way!) when I helped Terry pack his tools off my boat and back up to his truck. A formal handshake and off he went. Wow, Terry! Thank you!

But before the COLUMBIA III left harbour Santa Claus was able to sneak a bottle of good scotch onto Terry’s work bench in his shop . . . .

Here is a seasonal uplift! I spend quite a bit of time, and some money, in the local ship’s chandlers, Ocean Pacific Marine, Enough time that most folks there know me . . . in a nice way. So as the engine rebuild was nearing completion I popped back into the store for the 10,245th time in the last month and they presented me with a present for being their favourite customer.

I’m sure they must have many “favourites” in Campbell River but I was willing to oblige them and shamelessly accept the gift and the boost to my ego . . . I left the store with a lighter step and an arm load of sweets!

Then as is usual after any major stay in Campbell River there reaches a point when all the work is done, the purchases are made, the test runs completed at the dockside and there is nothing left to do but leave. After 33 days, there were no crowds waving handkerchiefs, no brass band blaring triumphant fanfare . . . . nope.  I just started the Gardner up, (no smoking and nice high compression start), untied the shore lines  . . ..

and puttered out of the harbour.

But I had imaginary crowds waving and bands playing and maybe even a 3 gun salute . . . .  it was a lot of work for the last 33 days and the first month of my winter “off” .

Finally!!! The COLUMBIA III is underway again! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Leaving Campbell River!!!!!!!!!!!

And 3 hours later, just before I made it home, a few transient (Biggs) killer whales passed by. This is such a cool place to call home!

HOME!!!

And finally up in my house, a toast for the next 60 years on the venerable Gardner engine in the COLUMBIA III!

The next day, December 15th dawned sunny and warm and we slid the boat back into the shed for the rest of the winter. It seemed to me like I hadn’t had a day off since early September. . .  Now I can start my winter maintenance!!!!  (and write this blog!)

BUT! There were certain other pressing matters awaiting my return after being gone so long! Christmas was right around the corner and my grandson, Theo, was eager to get to work making presents for his immediate family and friends.  The last few years have seen wooden toilet paper holders in the shape of Orcas, (and yellow excavators, Theo is a boy after all) and small wooden boxes for his sister’s treasures and one year, hand-sewn cloth bags for everyone. But as we were short of time I suggested a gigantic batch of Nanaimo Bars . . .  one of the sweetest desserts on the planet. Here he is mixing  a massive bowl of icing sugar and custard powder . . .

And the “fruits” of his labours? Enough Nanaimo Bars to keep a dentist busy for a decade . . .

And finally, all wrapped into individual portions for his list of loved ones! “Merry Christmas Everyone!”

It’s a good thing i washed my hands when I got home!