Too busy to blog

Engine back together and partially painted in smart new Lister green
I don't know how some people do it. Blog, tweet, Facebook...and still find time to work. We've been too busy to even think about blogging these past few days.
So, a quick update. Having finished all the hard-core ballast cleaning we've moved on. Vicky has been rubbing down and painting ceilings and walls in the back cabin and engine room - as well as starting to paint the engine,
Me, I decided to have a go at replacing the blown head gasket of No1 cylinder. This was a job I wasn't anticipating having to do but having seen the way oil and water had emulsified into a mess I realised it was a must before we could even think about moving - not that we'll be moving for a while since all the recent heavy rain has wreaked havoc with the Streethay welding schedules - boats have been sitting out on the hard standing for a couple of weeks now waiting for the rain to stop so the welders can get started. It's a pain but it can't be helped.
Dismantling the JP3 made our little Petter seem like Mecanno. Every piece I took off seemed almost too heavy to lift. The cylinder head itself is a six inch cube of steel - and you don't want to drop that on your finger.
But it all came apart reasonably well apart from a couple of those nightmares all users of workshop manuals are familiar with. "Remove the valve rockers by removing the shaft". Er, how? Took me an hour to fathom that out. Or "remove exhaust manifold" - except it wouldn't remove so I had to work around that little snag.
Anyway, it all came apart and, more importantly, today it all went back together and fired up! I can't tell you how relieved I was.
By the way, big engines use big quantities of oil. The dry-sumped Lister needs six gallons - yes GALLONS - every oil change. That's eighty quid a pop. But at least the oil drum makes a tea break seat.