Maisie has a visitor……

We often have visitors to stay but this week, it’s Maisie’s turn.

Meet George ………………………..

             

He’s a poodle crossed with …………………. we can’t decide!  We were told Jack Russell but, try as we might, we can’t see any Jack in him?   As you can see, despite the fact that he didn’t really know us, he’s made himself well at home!  He’s being a really well behaved visitor.

 

Maisie? 

Well,  she’s not so sure now!  She made a big fuss of him at first but …………… he wants all her chews, all her toys, our laps and is even partial to her new bed!

Maisie doesn’t do share!!

 

Ever since we’ve been in this marina we’ve been told there are big carp in here.  The marina staff are regularly having trouble with fishermen wanting to cast lines in the marina entrance.  Apparently one or two determined fishermen have even tried using remote controlled model boats to deploy bait into the marina!  Well!  Yesterday, however, we actually got to see what all this extraordinary effort is about.  At least three enormous carp were cruising about outside our kitchen window.  Their mouths were easily the size of tennis balls.  They truly were massive fish.  We tried to get a photo of course but the reflection on the water was against us.  Still, ……

Ashby St Legers ……………..

is a village just a few miles from Crick.  It’s not on the canal.  Driving through,  it feels as though the whole village is a conservation area – there are so many old stone, thatched buildings.  The most impressive of these is what remains of the original manor house.                        The Gunpowder Plot is believed to have been contrived in a room over the gateway to the Manor House.  Apparently the locals still refer to this room as the ‘Plot Room’.  Robert Catesby, the main man in the conspiracy, was heir to the estates at Ashby.  He never did get his inheritance of course because he was killed in a battle fighting for what he believed in.

       

There’s a nice pub/restaurant in the village.  Dogs are allowed in the bar which is a bonus but it’s a bit on the expensive side.

There are lots of nice villages around and one of the good things about having access to a car for the winter months is that we get to see more of the surrounding area.  Thanks to our friends Ken & Sandra we have acquired a little old ‘banger’ affectionately named by me as ‘Gertie’.  We have suffered a lot of teasing about her but she is proving to be just right for our needs!!  We are already close to doubling her mileage!

xxoo

Especially for …………..

J.G. alias ‘Tray, the Expert’.

If Nosey Parkers come to close ……………….. they get allotted a job!

BUT ……………..

All efforts are later rewarded ………………

Great to see you, Derek.  Hope you had a good journey back to Cornwall.  xxoo

Consciousness Regained!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all.

It’s time I came out of hibernation and at least put my blog back on ‘trickle charge’.  By that I mean - keep it ticking over with an entry every now and then.

A lot has happened since my last entry but I’m ashamed to say that I have just wanted to ‘winkle away’ – ie: tuck myself away in a shell to reflect and lick my wounds.  Enough now of that!  It’s a new year,  time to get-a-grip and move on.

We had a productive week back in Staines (upon Thames!) on the run up to Christmas and it has been really good seeing so many ‘old’ friends.  They all helped me to re-charge my batteries and replenish the spirit in more ways than one!!  We had a lovely Christmas Day on Ben’s barge.

New Year saw us in Harlow with our dear friends, Mick and Lynn.  Despite the torrents of rain we went walking – well, hairy mutts insist on it even if you are nursing a self-inflicted headache!  The Lee Valley Country Park was heaving with people as usual but, isn’t it good that such a lovely resource is so well used by local people?  Dogs can run free and cars can park …………… for free! 

The Lee Navigation runs right through the middle of the Park.  We cruised this back in 2010 and I remember thinking how fantastic it was to be able to moor up for a few days and access the lakes and bird hides.  On New Years Eve we walked along the River Stort at Roydon.  Another lovely waterway to put on our ‘visit again’ list.  

We caught up with the two younger generations of Claytons which was lovely, ate a lot and drank alot ……like you do!

 

So, all in all, 2013 has got off to a very positive start for us.  (Mind you, so did 2012 but by the 8th I knew all about my brother’s plight and it went consistently downhill from there.)

POSITIVE THINKING!  On our way back to the marina on New Year’s Day we made a detour to Hitchin to see our friends Kim and Mark.  Within 5 minutes walk from their front door is lots of open land so ……………. more dog walking!  They also have some rather special visitors to their back garden …………… BLACK squirrels.  I’ve heard of their existence but …… as Mark says, ‘seeing is believing’.  The photos are a bit fuzzy due to being taken through an understandably-in-need-of-a-clean window …………….

       

Back here in the marina quite a few moorers have come to their boats for the New Year period.  This includes our friend, Rodney who, this time is accompanied by Derek – collectively nick-named by us as ‘The Trotters’!  More socializing!  More indulgences!

It will all calm down soon and normality will return.  It seems that we can enjoy a mild week without rain!  I can hear the tow path and fields around here heaving a sigh of relief.

Our neighbour, Lynne (n/b ‘Piston Broke’) has gone to visit her son and his family for a few days.  Given the dry spell, Paul is threatening to ‘get outside for a bit of touching up’!!  I think she needs to get back a.s.a.p.!!!!!!!!!!!!  xxoo

Let the ‘Silly Season’ Begin ……

I have a confession to make …………… I’m a bit of a ‘Bah Hum-Bug’ when it comes to Christmas!!  I think this is mostly because I don’t agree with the over-the-top excesses which surround it.

BUT ….. I love all the outside lights that decorate houses, trees, hedges etc.    AND, we boaters must not be left out!  Our lights are up and working and the reindeer now has lights on her antlers!   (I definitely think she’s pretty enough to be female!)

Other boaters have started to put up lights and this year we have at least one more new recruit!  Lynn and Paul n/b ‘Piston Broke’ are getting into the festive spirit.  Mind you, lights were not the only thing that was erected early this morning!  I can’t possibly publish a picture of the item of clothing I have in response!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

       

xxoo

Deer, Deer or Two Heads are Better than One.

This weekend, for us, rain definitely stopped play.  We were all geared up for going to spend the weekend with our friends in their caravan on a site near Evesham.  Predictably, the site flooded so ……. they came to us on the boat instead.

Come rain …………………

                    or shine ………     

dogs need some exercise and so do we so, on Saturday, despite the rain, we drove to Foxton Locks.  Even on a cold, wet, November day Bridge 61 was packed.  Our friends insisted on supporting local businesses even more by purchasing some festive decorations from an entrepreneurial boater  ……

       

and then presented one to us!

After consuming alcohol, sausage baps and hot chocolate we drove into the lovely town of Market Harborough just for a ‘mouche’.

On Sunday we went for yet another muddy walk around Crick in an attempt to walk off a rather large full English.

A lovely time was had by all.

Reasons to be Cheerful …………

Graham’s funeral was a week ago today but, unlike today, the sun shone.  (It’s raining heavily here at the moment and is forecast to last all day.)  There were a couple of ‘hitches’ but, on the whole, things went well – I think he would have been pleased.  Many more people turned up than I had anticipated.  He had left detailed instructions regarding his funeral service and I included it all!  Those of you who knew him,  knew that he always liked to be the centre of attention and he definitely was last Monday!  He lived a life of excess and it caught up with him in the end.  He was such a handsome little boy.  He always referred to himself as “Blakey” so, I had no choice, it just had to be!! 

        

YESTERDAY THE SUN SHONE!  We took the boat out just as far as Crack’s hill and it was a real tonic ……………

           

Up here on the summit of the Leicester Line it’s very rural and very beautiful – especially when the sky is blue and the sun shines!  Maisie enjoyed the little ‘Autumnal jolly’ too.  She’s also a tonic -thank goodness we have her!  She even gets her own friends calling.  The face!! (She’s worried about Hookna inadvertently knocking her in!)  We have several good neighbours for the winter months. 

             

A new hot-spot aerial has been fitted in the marina   I can now sit INSIDE the boat when on the computer instead of freezing my butt off in the cratch!

The new chairs we ordered at Kinver back in September have been delivered.  We like the colour and they are very comfortable.

We’ve kept ourselves busy this week catching up with some of the smaller jobs that need doing especially having a bit of a chuck-out before we sink even deeper into the water! 

 

HONESTLY, THE THINGS MOTHERS KEEP!  I found the apron that I made at school when I was 12!  Examining it carefully I think my needlecraft skills were better then than they are now!!   Looks like I was a large 12 year old too!  Perhaps I didn’t wear it much because it was too big!

Goodness only knows what else I’m going to find when I start the un-enviable task of emptying Graham’s house where he lived with my mum.  She began living there in 1939!  Actually, I think she’s still there!  I sense her following me around!

‘Gertie’, the little old ‘banger’ we have purchased for all this to-ing and fro-ing is, so far, serving us well. 

 

I just need to take things a day at a time.

Ben’s Big Barg

A few years ago our son, Ben, arranged for a big old Tjalk to be brought over from Holland.  He then embarked upon the enormous task of fitting it out from scratch.  Whilst we have been here in Staines, dealing with the death of my brother and arranging his funeral, we have been staying on Ben’s barge – its been our refuge.  There have been like-minded boaters to talk to and a large assortment of waterfowl to watch.

I love living on our narrow boat and would not want to sacrifice the freedom of cruising around most of the system for more living space but ……………. living on a BIG boat is a totally different ‘ball game’!  There’s so much space!  So much storage!  So much comfort!   All very luxurious!

Other people do picture shows so, here comes one from me …….

The saloon

The kitchen

 

The bathroom

 

Main bedroom – there is another, smaller cabin but all our ‘stuff’ is in there cluttering it up at the moment!

 

Roof-top garden!  Taken from the front ………..

 

Taken from the back …………

I think that, in a way, she’s a bit wasted here on the Thames – she would be perfect for cruising the French canals and rivers.

Those kayaks do get used regularly:-

               

Apparently, its a good way to arrive at the pub for lunch!

My brother’s funeral is on Monday.  When my dad died my brother and I sorted things together; when my mum died we did the same.  I’ve found it very hard making decisions on my own this time and, I have found the sorrow of losing a sibling very different from the sorrow of losing an elderly parent.  I can’t wait to get back to “Ellen” for some respite.

One last thing:-

 

A friend sent us a picture of a boat that got into trouble on the swollen waters of the River Nene.

It’s a salutary reminder that boating can be dangerous and there is no room for complacency and taking unnecessary risks.  The boaters got off safely but what a terrible thing to happen.