What a day

I had 2 days work to do today as I wasn't at work yesterday, forty two jobs outstanding, most of them urgent.

I was awake and reading from 2am until 4:30, gave up and got up just after 5.

I made bacon roll for my L&M, porridge for me, made packups for us both.

I arrived at work at 6:30, unjammed 2 machines and started jobs running on all machines, they were running non-stop for most of the day until I finished at 2.

Then I went to DD2's to collect DGD's dancewear, on to the bank to draw out money to pay the fence man.

Collected my L&M from work at 2:30, took him home to wait in for Mr T delivery.

Collected 2 DGD's from 2 different schools, took them to dance class.

I got home to find my beloved in a panic as he can't reply to an email (because he's replying to himself!)

Then he asks if I've paid for the fence repairs, booked his next hospital appointment, ordered his repeat prescription, organised the boat insurance and sorted out the boat licence.

He is not happy as I haven't done these things.

I know he can't use the phone until he gets his new hearing aids next week, but when exactly did he think I was going to have time to do all this?

And stil the fence saga rumbles on.

I've had yet another discussion with the knickerless neighbour re fence repairs, she's not happy that some of the old fence has been repaired and some has been replaced.

Because of this until the wood weathers in, the slats aren't all the same colour.

I listened to her for a few moments then said 'Oh Petra, just fuck off' and shut the door in her face.

No doubt she will be phoning the HA again!

View from our bedroom window.

Shame about the recycling bins isn't it.

There are so many interesting buildings in Crick.

What's for breakfast?

I took these photos today whilst our boat was being surveyed. Two swans waiting patiently for breakfast.

The fence and the knickerless neighbour

So our knickerless neighbour phoned the HA to complain about the fence, she is a tenant, we own our house. The HA sent someone out Friday afternoon to inspect the damage, by which time my beloved had effected a temporary repair.
Another neighbour popped round to see us to relay the basics of the conversation to us as she'd been dragged into the conversation with the HA, it went something like this.

HA 'So which fence are you complaining about?'
KN 'That one'
HA 'It's not blocking the pavement'
KN 'No but it was during the storm'
HA 'It's not affecting you, it's about 5 mtrs from your property and it would have been dangerous to try to repair it during the storm.
KN 'I want them to repair it now'
HA' Well it's been made safe now'
KN 'That's not good enough, they aren't getting it repaired until Tuesday'
HA 'Tuesday? That's quick, some people will have to wait weeks before we get round to repairing their fences'

With any luck she will break a toe as she keeps kicking the fence every time she

What does it for you?

What makes you go weak at the knees with lust?
A particular film?
A glass of wine or whisky?

In the winter I know when my beloved is in the mood, he turns the heating up, he knows he has no chance of me ripping my clothes of in sub zero temperatures.

Now I know I'm weird, there is no need to tell me, but what works for me is music.

In particular Joe Jackson 'Is she really going out with him'.

This was released in 1978/9 and it has nothing to do with my life then as I was knee deep in nappies, my L&M is a fan and as soon as he plays this track I am overcome with a desire to jump his bones.

Getting our ducks in a row

A temporary fix has been done on the fence, the neighbour who cannot keep her knickers on isn't happy she wants it done properly and she want's it done NOW, no doubt she will spend part of the weekend trying to kick it down. It's being repaired on Tuesday, so she'll just have to wait.

We are away part of Monday as the boat is being surveyed, if it passes ok it will be blacked and the sacrificial anodes may need replacing ( I think they just add new ones on top rather than removing and replacing).

The log burner needs to be re-installed and the solar panels will hopefully be fitted and wifi organised, this will all more or less at the same time whilst the boat is in the marina as we will be spending some weekends aboard.

I want to remove the existing pictures and replacing them with some of our own. I also want to check out the soft furnishings to see if any need replacing, if they do I will do the work myself.

Hopefully this will mostly be done by Easter  as that is when we hope to bring her home.

Bloody Doris

We've been attacked by Storm Doris, we've lost 3 fence panels! Oh bugger.

I've had a letter today from DWP, my pension is going up by £2  week, somehow I don't think that will pay for the repair to the fence.

One happy granddaughter, one happy grandson.

One of my lovely DGD's is an avid reader, she was given money by some people for her birthday, she received £20 in total and she spent the whole lot on books.
Her favourite series currently is the Tiara Club.  She has all the titles in the first series except this one.

I found it on Amazon for £1.82 so I ordered it for her. I will have a look in the local charity shops in the hopes of finding some of the subsequent series for her.

One of my DGS's has just passed his theory test, yay!

Next projects

I have downloaded the pattern for these, octopi for prem babies, I'm hoping to make a dozen.

 I have bought the pattern for this porthole cover.

But before either of these I am making a rainbow unicorn.

Baby blanket finished

Baby blanket for a colleague all finished, I haven't added a border as she asked for it not to have one.

'It's all about me'

We have  friend John, who visits most weeks to have a drink, sometime he brings his wife with him.
We haven't seen him for a few weeks because he spent a week in hospital being treated for an injury he received at work.
No sooner was he out of hospital than his Dad was taken ill and spent a few days in hospital.
On Friday he visited us and brought his wife along with him, bloody hell she's hard work!
She was not in a good mood, she complained bitterly that John had not taken her out anywhere the last two weekends, well that would be because he'd either been in hospital for himself or with his dad.
He is taking her out for the next two weekends but then the next weekend after, it is his DD's birthday so he will be visiting her, his wife won't have her in the house!
She didn't like the waistcoat I was making for DD as it looked home made.
She wasn't keen on the nibbles I'd provided as she is on a diet.
She's fallen out with her daughter in law for the umpteenth time, it seems the DIL always have to have her own way! This time it is serious and she is changing her will.
She doesn't understand why we want to live on a boat and thinks I just need to get more money from my ex.
She thinks the new people who want my house are probably not the 'right sort'.
She can't get anyone to come and look at a problem with her roof, she has phone 3 or 4 companies and shouted at them and they still won't come to make a repair.
She can't understand why everything has to be all about me.

What's in a name.

The boat is called Cloudberry, but we may change it, if we can ever agree on a different name.

I find all the NB names fascinating, one we saw at the weekend was called Rhapsody for Bunny, and it had the tag line 'Because I knew you'.

I'm sure there is a very romantic story attached to that name, I wonder what it is.

Eating from the freezer

We've already eaten the contents of one freezer so now we've started on the other one. I only have two small four door freezers, but on the boat I will only have a 1 cu ft freezer.

Today we had roast turkey and pigs in blankets from the freezer, with roast potatoes and assorted veg.

Left in the freezer is:-

A lamb shank, big enough to do a roast dinner for the two of us.

A packet of white fish and a packet of salmon, I will buy some smoked haddock and make a couple of fish pies.

Stewing steak, so beef casserole will be on the menu.

Assorted veg and lots of bacon as I but it in bulk.

I'm estimating that the freezer on the boat will hold one drawers worth of food so I'm aiming to get down to that stage.

I'm hoping it will hold a bag of frozen chips, a bag of frozen peas, a viennetta. These are all things that my beloved feels are essential for  comfortable living.

On my hook

I'm using a 10.0 mm hook and 3 strands of yarn.

One strand of James C. Brett Soft & Gentle DK in variegated pink and white.

One strand of James C. Brett Soft & Gentle DK in variegated pink, blue, yellow and white.

Finally one strand of anonymous variegated pink and white DK that has been in my stash for a few years now.

More about the boat.

Please ignore if you already bored with me waffling on about the boat.

She is a reverse layout semi trad with a large front deck.

Here is a diagram of the layout.

Reverse layout means that the kitchen or galley is at the back of the boat, many boats have the bedroom at the back but this means that if you are wet from steering the boat you come straight in to the bedroom. We wanted reverse layout partly to save the wet being tracked through the bedroom and partly as it is more sociable to have the kitchen at the back.

The semi trad stern means there are seats near the tiller, again a more sociable layout.

The kitchen has a fridge with a tiny freezer on top, gas cooker, washing machine, two shelves, four cupboards, six drawers and a wine rack, this won't get used as we don't drink wine though we do sometimes get a bottle in for visitors.

There are two leather reclining swivel chairs in the living area along with the multi fuel stove, three cupboards and four shelves. There is also a slot for a car radio to be fitted.

We would have preferred a Pullman diner but settled for an L shaped one, it is raised so it is easier to look out the window when eating. There is storage under the dinette cushions, this I have earmarked for spare bedding and my yarn!

The bed is 5ft wide and although it looks strange in the photo it pulls out to a full length bed.

The storage in the bedroom includes under bed space, a wardrobe, six drawers and two shelves.

The front deck is large, big enough for a table and a couple of chairs and a storage locker.

The bathroom contains toilet, basin, a cupboard, two shelves and a shower big enough for two, it's a good way to save water!

Nearly finished

I just have the ends to weave in.

Hard Up Hester Blog Probs

Still not got to the bottom of all this but.

The American yoga blog is called snittykittysblog.blogspot.co.uk this is strange as it is obviously American so why does it have .co.uk

My blog address is snittykittys.blogspot.co.uk

I used to have a blog called Hard Up Hester and the address was harduphester.blogspot.co.uk, this was hacked when I was in hospital and unable to access it for a while.

I started a new blog and struggled to think of a name and eventually settled on Snitty Kitty, and renamed it Hard Up Hester after a few months, but I have to stay with the snittykitty addy.

I realise this is probably as clear as mud, but hope it will help some people find me.

Facebook virgin

We were passing a local pub yesterday around lunchtime so we popped in for a drink and lunch. A valentine treat so after that we were all loved up.

When we got home my beloved decided to try another foray into Facebook.

Within 20 minutes I wanted to fecking kill him, he seems to have a very definite idea on how Facebook should work, only it doesn't!

He gets so cross, keeps ranting on, he asks me for help and then ignores what I'm telling him, aarrgh!!

More decluttering and a 'lazy day'.

My beloved forgot to turn his alarm off this morning so it woke us just after 5am!

I got  up and made a cuppa to take back to bed, but whilst waiting for the kettle to boil I turned the freezer off, put old towels in front of the freezer topped with the oblong washing up bowl.

I returned to bed with the tea and managed to get back to sleep, by the time I awoke and was dressed the freezer was defrosted.

All the frozen food now fits in one freezer though I may spread it out between the 2 to make it easier to find things.

There were a few things we should have gone out and done today but I felt like a lazy day so we stayed home.

Even so my lazy day included getting 4 loads of washing done and mainly dry on the line as well as defrosting the freezer.

I checked the inventory for the narrow boat, it seems it comes with everything that is on board, erm, it looks as though the owner has just popped out for a pint of milk!

The kitchen is full of equipment and the shelves are full of books and other stuff, hey ho, more decluttering to come.

Jiggling Jenneke and girls in jodhpurs

We stayed in a hotel on Saturday night and when we came down to breakfast the restaurant was full of netball players and nubile young ladies in jodhpurs.

Some of the netball players were full of joie de vivre and seemed to be warming up in way reminiscent of Michelle Jenneke the Australian hurdler.

Many of the men breakfasting in the restaurant seemed mesmerised by the cornucopia on view, one aggrieved wife even went so far as to tap her husband smartly on the forehead with her cereal spoon.

I merely went up for a second breakfast as I always enjoy any meal I haven't had to cook and that I don't have to clear up after.

We've only gone and bloody done it!! With inside pics as requested.

Our new home, subject to satisfactory survey.

Mandala waistcoat update

So I'm now on row 26, the armholes and collar are marked out.

The circumference is now 94 inches, it takes a long time to get all the way round!

Mandala waistcoat update.

Row 21, change colour to petrol blue, next row and I make the armholes.

Aches, pains and little blue pills

It's all medical round here at the moment.

DD took DGD Suzy to A&E today, she has had a vile smelling runny nose since Christmas. A foreign was suspected, umpteen visits to the Dr's bore no result. An emergency ENT appointment booked for 27th February (if that's an emergency appointment I hate to think how long the wait is for an ordinary appointment) in desperation DD was told to take Suzy to A&E, an hour later, a lot of screaming a bloody nose and finally a small foam holly berry was retrieved, result!

My L&M has a problem with his feet, he already has plantar faciitis, from too much walking, he then developed problems with the skin on his feet, he started to develop trench foot. He has an 'all weather' job but wet weather gear was not provided as his duties could be arranged to avoid inclement weather. His duties were changed to include standing outside for 90 minutes in the piddling rain. Wet weather gear was eventually ordered but took four months to arrive.

Yesterday he had a hospital appointment and is now waiting for an appointment for an MRI. He has also been prescribed with some little blue pills, no not those little blue pills, but they do seem to be having a similar effect. It's like the Martini advert round here, any time, any place, anywhere!

Whilst my L&M at the hospital he visited a friend of ours P, who is in hospital with an eye problem, P got some dirt in his eye when gardening and it worked its way round to the back of the eye, P's whole face swelled up and he was in agony, he is now on intravenous antibiotics and will be in hospital for a few more days.  Once the infection is under control there is talk of the eye being popped out so the dirt can be cleansed from behind it.

One step forward

Only a small one, we haven't found the place we want to move to yet, but we have found someone who want's our house.
Baby steps, but better than nothing.

The bra saga and ongoing decluttering

I'm still decluttering, though there isn't much left to do now.

I tried on a couple of tee shirts and decided I could do without them so I passed them on to a friend who is on a low wage and has 3 sons to feed and clothe.

I also decided to declutter my underwear drawer again, I'd done a vague run at it and got rid of a lot of X-rated items and some cheese cutter thongs but this time I attacked the bras. I had six, I threw three away as they were very tatty, I dismantled one and saved some bits of lace.

I'm left with two, I can manage with two, I don't always wear a bra anyway and if I do I wash it at night when I take it off and it's dry by morning.

There is just one problem, one of the bras is soft and has a natural (saggy) contour, the other is underwired and padded, nothing is allowed to sag, it is what my beloved refers to as a Rawhide bra. From a very old cowboy tv series starring Clint Eastwood. The theme song contained the phrase 'Head em up, move em out'. This bra definitely heads them up and out and when wearing it I am oft reminded of my friend Joy's encouraging comment of 'Chin up tits out!'
PS, edited in light of Joy's comment. 

Rambler

Did you allow enough chain stitches to allow for them being used as the first stitches in your return row?

I swear by YouTube when I trying to learn something new.

It has been my constant companion since starting DD's waistcoat.

I have to admit I never make a swatch to check my tension/size, I know I crochet tight so I always use a hook one size bigger than recommended.

Also I  usually make scarves and blankets so they tend to end up whatever size they end up.

In a grump

Moan, moan, whinge, whinge, bitch bitch.

I cannot go to my Tuesday writers circle as I can't see to drive in the dark.

I was hoping to meet a friend for coffee on Wednesday but by the time she was free it was too late for me to get there and back before it got dark.

A colleague, one of the last ones that pops in for a chat is leaving soon.

Bitch, bitch, whinge, whinge, moan moan.

Big hook little hook

 On my big hook the first row of a chunky baby blanket in variegated pink and white yarn for a colleague.

On my little hook, the mandala waistcoat.