A Rare Bug

Well, actually, I don’t think it’s rare at all – a lot of people seem to have it or have had it – just not on boats here in the marina.

Since living on a boat we have had very little illness – just a few sniffles and odd days of not feeling ‘quite the ticket’.  I think it’s probably a result of being out in the fresh air such a lot and not being in places where people assemble in confined spaces – like offices, shops, schools etc.   BUT ….. a nasty bug has now got John in it’s clutches!  A week ago he complained of a husky voice!  His throat, he said, was, however, not sore.

Gill and Rodney came and we spent a few really nice (note the choice of a different adjective - ‘nice’ and not ‘lovely’!) days with them – as usual eating and drinking far too much!  On Valentine’s Day we went for a splendid (!) meal in The Red Lion.      By Thursday all the ice had melted so we took Rodney’s boat out for a quick ‘jolly’ to Yelvertoft and back.  Gill was in the throws of ‘getting over’ the bug!  The irritating cough was still in evidence.

John seemed fine until Saturday when he too started to have bouts of coughing.    These things always seem to be worse at night so neither of us have had peaceful slumbers!  I fear I’m making it sound as though John caught this bug from Gill – not so – I think he had started to incubate it before she arrived.  I really hope Rodney hasn’t caught it.  Today I’ve opened the back doors and closed the bedroom door in an attempt to flush out lurking germs with gusts of cold air!!  I definitely do not want to catch this bug – we are going to see Mick and Lynn on Thursday –  they have already had it, got rid of it and I feel sure do not want it back!!  On Friday we are due to revise old skills – that of baby-minding!!  Just as well Leo is a tough little lad!  He could be in for an interesting experience!

My brother, Graham is, according to the sister on the ward, making good progress.  He is now sending daily progress texts!  Things rarely go completely smoothly though – he is soon to begin radiotherapy as they did not get all ‘the bad stuff’ (his words) out during the operation.  Also, there is a problem regarding nerve endings between his neck and shoulder and he is receiving physiotherapy treatment for that.

Three more weekends before we get back out on the cut. 

That Was the Week That Was

Last Monday my brother underwent his major surgery.  I spoke to one of the surgeons involved that night and he was very positive about how things had gone but, as tactfully as he could, warned me that Graham was not looking very pretty!  I went to Guildford  to see him on Friday and, yes, he looks like he has been severely beaten up by a large gang of thugs!  Quite understandably he is feeling very sorry for himself and very despondent BUT his wounds WILL heal given time and, as each day passes, he will progress closer to that goal.  In reality this is only the beginning of a long, unpleasant journey but surely this is the worse bit? 

During the week we heard that the boating couple we were planning to cruise to York with this year have decided to sell their boat and move back onto land.  They assure us that it’s got nothing to do with the prospect of being with us!  Sue and Rob n/b “Patience” have been liveaboards now for about nine or ten years and, during that time, have made the most of exploring much of our inland waterways.  We wish them loads of happiness for the future    but will really miss them from the system. 

 

Our neighbour, Bob, who is a single-hander and quite amazing in what he does and where he goes has been to York – and Sheffield – and Boston and invited us aboard “The Beez Neez “ to see photos he took of getting to all those places.  His comprehensive and exciting photos have whetted my appetite even more and confirmed to me that, at the very least, I want us to go to Nottingham, Newark and Boston.

Turning off the tidal Trent onto the Stainforth and Keadby Canal seems to be another challenge altogether and not for the feint-hearted.

It would seem that the thing to do is:-

As you approach the lock you start to turn the boat and let the current take you sideways past the lock until you manage to do a 180 degree turn.  You then travel back up-stream and turn into the lock. !!??  It would seem that navigating the Yorkshire Ouse is not to be taken lightly either!  Apparently it goes into flood very quickly and very easily.

I read what other boaters have done and where they have been and tend to think “if they can do it, why can’t we?” BUT I’m not the one responsible for steering the boat and keeping both us and our home safe so I do respect John’s anxiety.

On Sunday we had lunch in The Red Lion at Crick with our friends, Gary and Joan, their daughters Jessica and Alison and Ali’s ‘my Andy’!  Ali is a teacher and lives with Andy in Nottingham.  Crick is a good half way point to meet up with them.

This week is half term and my good friend, Gill, accompanied by Rodney, is coming up to spend a few days with us.  I’m really looking forward to that.  We might have been stuck in one place since November but plenty has been happening to keep us occupied!!

The cold conditions have persisted all week.  One night the outside temperature went down to – 10.8.  For dramatic effect I would have called that –11 but 10.8 I was told so 10.8 it is!  Things are, however, now starting to warm up.  Let’s hope that the worst of the weather is over for the Winter and we can now  look forward to the Spring.  I can’t wait to get back out onto the cut and start cruising again.

Nice Ice ....... Baby!!!

Sorry, I know it's cheesy but I couldn't resist it!

Well, having convinced ourselves that this year we had escaped the ice and snow .............. it's arrived with vengence.  All the boats in the marina and out on the cut are going no-where and I rather suspect that is the general pattern everywhere on the system.

In these condidtions it's not only the cut that gets iced up.  All the water taps in the marina are frozen and so is the pump out facility.

On the plus side the grass and mud on the fields and tow paths, if not covered in snow, are frozen hard which means that the dogs don't get in such a mess when we take them out for a walk.

Trust Rodney to choose to come up this weekend when, prior to this, it's been so mild.  Still, it doesn't really matter what the conditions are like outside when you're in front of the fire watching hours and hours of rugby with a bottle of sherry and lots of nibbles does it?!

That's what you get for helping out!

Jane making a large, fresh snowball - heading our way!

For those of you who know my brother, Graham - please spare him a thought tomorrow as he undergoes complicated surgery - all 8 and a half hours worth!  He has been diagnosed with mouth and throat cancer and is having the tumours removed.  Following surgery he will be in Intensive Care and not able to receive visitors until at least Thursday.  Poor, poor Graham.

A Weekend Near the Sea

Well, we are certainly making the most of having the use of Megan’s car whilst we are over-wintering in the marina!

Last weekend we went to see our friends Jane and Ron who live near Southampton.  John went to school with Ron and his twin brother, Gerald, so they have been friends for a very long time!!  Jane and Ron’s son, Stephen, is a whizz with computers and, bless his heart, he took ours away with the aim of resolving the problem of the blue screen!  So far, so good – we have now joined his mum, dad and fiancé, Becky, in belonging to the official fan club.                       THANK YOU SO MUCH, Steve.

On the Saturday we went for a lovely (lovely!) walk along the sea wall at Pennington Marshes and saw lots of wintering birds which for me, being a bit of a twitcher, was a real treat.  We could see the Isle of Wight  ferries coming both in and out of Lymington.

Sorry to bore those of you who are not interested in birds but there were:- redshanks (including a rarer spotted redshank), greenshanks, godwits, little egrets, turnstones, little grebes, widgeon, pochard and teal ….. for starters.

What a lovely little town Lymington is.  The street market was in full swing and there are still lots of individual shops managing to survive.

Back at home there were more birds to watch!  Ron and Jane only have a small garden but they have masses of different feeders which were constantly occupied by a wide variety of little birds.  A nuthatch did eventually join all the goldfinches, greenfinches, sparrows and tits and grace us with his presence!

I was told by a serious-looking twitcher that this is a spotted redshank and that they are quite special.

 

Not only was I able to bird-watch, I also had a bit of a knitting lesson from Jane coz she’s really good at it.            Megan has challenged me to knit her a tunic!!!   and again - !!!!  

 On Saturday evening we were joined by Gerald, Dawn and Stephen. We had such a good time.

On Sunday we went out for lunch to a pub in the heart of the New Forest. What a treat to find a pub which positively welcomes dogs!

Gerald. me, John, Jane and Dawn with Maggie and Maisie.  Ron, of course, was taking the photo but he looks just like his brother!

 Ron with Jane.

We are now back on the boat and back to ‘normal’. 

Megan is, right now, on a plane heading to Alicante.

Ben is snowboarding in France and ………………

My poor brother is down on his luck.  Things have caught up with him and his health has taken a turn for the worst.  He’s been told that he has a rough ride ahead.  I was rather hoping that 2012 would be less upsetting and emotionally stressful than the last two years.  There’s always something isn’t there?

A Tale of Two ……………… Marinas

Crick – small and simple.

Mercia – vast and complex.

Yesterday we went to visit Ian, Alison and Katy ‘Potato’ Dog at Mercia marina where they are currently moored on n/b ‘Nobby’.  In terms of marinas Crick and Mercia are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Mercia is huge and overflowing with facilities:-

                  

• mooring for about 750 boats
• brokerage
• a branch of Midland Chandlers on site
• two different hire boat companies use the marina as their base
• small shop selling all the essentials
• tea room/cafe
• three luxurious toilet/shower/laundry blocks
• security gates
• coal delivered to your boat!  (You DO have to pay for it though!!)
• Pump out and diesel
• Allocated fields in which to walk dogs
• and …………… a weekly (?) farmers’ market held in the car park

Nearby Willington Village also has a number of useful facilities – Post Office, small supermarket, pub, hairdressers etc.  AND – it’s only a 15 minute drive to the beautiful Dove Dale within the Peak District National Park.  Derby, Burton-on-Trent and Lichfield are all just a short drive away for major shops, restaurants and banks etc.  A very well situated site then and, apparently all this for the same mooring fee as at Crick.

There are some holiday lodges for sale on site – altogether there will be 17 I think and planning permission has been granted for a hotel and 7 other shops.  The marina has gained a David Bellamy Environmental Award.  This is not like any other marina I have seen – it’s more like a Boating Village – or will be when it’s all finished.  All down to personal choice and requirements I guess.  Ian and Alison love it there.

Back at ‘little ‘ol Crick’ – walking around the fields and lanes it feels more like March than January :-

                        

I forced him to have a haircut so that the new ‘titfa-tat’ had a chance of fitting!

A ‘Plug’ as in A Mention …….

Ian (Birks) has collated a collection of articles written by himself covering a wide variety of topics pertinent to boating on our inland waterways.  The collection is called “Shuffling Along A Ditch” and is available from Amazon to download onto a Kindle.  Bargain!

Katy, the 3rd Crew Member of n/b ‘Nobby’

How old is ‘old’?

Back on Iona last Spring the young lady on the ticket desk of the Abbey gave me an age concession ……… and I hadn’t even asked!!  No wonder I’m now even more despondent about my advancing years!  (I’ve been in crisis about it for at least the last 18!)    The years seem to have crept up on me and mine whilst we have been pre-occupied focussing on other things!  I know that many people accept growing older with grace and dignity but, sorry, not me!  The only positive thing about it as far as I’m concerned is that our closest friends are either:-          already older, as old or nearly as old!!

Yesterday, however, I had a salutary lesson. 

As we were walking past Crick Wharf along the tow path we were enthusiastically greeting by a four year old long-haired, sandy-coloured little terrier called …… Sandy!  We got talking to Sandy’s owner (like you do) and, after establishing that we too are boaters, topics of conversation included the advantages of bow-thrusters when they are working properly and the disadvantages of chain saws when they are not!

THEN …………… we found out that this single-handed boatman is 84 years young!!  Looking at him, I thought he was in the same decade as John!  Now it might be, I hear some say, that John is wearing particularly badly ………………. but I don’t think that is really the case.  This elderly gentleman is fit and very proud of his full head of hair.  Sadly, his wife died a year ago and, rather than sit at home feeling lonely and sorry for himself, he decided to sell up, sell his old boat, get a new one built with everything on it that he always wanted and set off as a liveaboard.  TRULY AMAZING!  Only 84 years young – fit, positive, determined and courageous.  An inspiration to us all. 

I still hate the thought of the number of candles to be crammed onto my next birthday cake but ……………….. I will at least now attempt to blow them out with more humility than usual.

Other News

•  Megan is no longer with us.  She is spending the rest of this week with her friend, Lynn, in Reading and flies out to Alicante next Monday. 
• We are still having intermittent blue screens on the computer.  We have had a new drive fitted but …………… it’s still happening!  We now strongly suspect dodgy dongle extension leads.  (Try saying that when not sober!!)  Clearly, finding the solution to this frustrating technical fault will have to be a process of elimination.  If we find that it is a dodgy dongle extension lead John says he will definitely dangle the said dodgy dongle in the drink before dumping it to it’s detriment!!

Drink?  Who said drink?  What time is it?

Domesticity rules OK?

This week my tiny little galley has been a hive of activity and lots of homemade goodies have graced the cake tins.  Every now and then I have this mad impulse to bake cakes but this week I have also ventured into the baking of  pizza and ……………………..

BREAD!!

Back in the summer my friend Chris on n/b ‘DuMorvan’ assured me,

 “Of course you can bake bread without a bread-making machine – I do it all the time.   What you have to do is ………….”

“O.M.G.”, said Megan, “It’s sure to be like a brick!”

“O.M.G.”, said John, “the ducks will sink!”

Well, despite scepticism from the other crew members I thought I would give it a go and see what happened.  They took the rise out of me but they couldn’t take the rise out of my bread because this was the (somewhat surprising to us all) result.  It must have been all that pummelling!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh, they of little faith!  It actually tasted good too!

I’ve also been plodding on with the crocheting of new cabin lace for the windows and have completed two sets.  It always takes a while to get used to something new but I’m pleased with how they are turning out. I can’t quite decide to keep the dingly-dangly-sparkly-bits or not:-

Without dingle-dangles.                                                                              

(Yes, the next job for this Mature Domestic Goddess Student must be to clean the windows!!)     

With dingle-dangles – every one or every other one or interspersed with something completely different?  Can’t decide as yet.

 

Megan has spent the weekend with her best friend from Uni days – Natalie – who, having met the love of her life when she went out to Malta last year to see Meg, now lives near Buckingham.  We are going to collect Megan later tonight and she will spend the rest of the week with us here in Crick.

Sun-set over the marina.