R.I.P. Barney

The Best Boy Ever

Barney was put to sleep today, he was 14 years old and had heart failure.

When DD Helen got divorced she kept the dogs, her ex husband is in the army and couldn't keep them.

Barney loved everybody, he accepted all the foster children that DD has cared for, he offered unconditional love to them all, accepted cuddles and rebuffs with equal equanimity.

He snuck into their beds and pinched any food left unattended.

When Helen had her own babies he loved them too, he tried to be gentle and they soon learned that his wagging tail was to be avoided.

He never snapped, growled or grumbled even when they climbed all over him.

He was fine at the weekend, seemed quiet and off his food on Tuesday and today seem quite unwell.

Helen took him to the vet and after a brief discussion it was decided that the kindest thing would be to put him to sleep, Helen stroked him and talked to him until it was over.

She has taken him home to bury him in the garden and will plant a tree on  his grave.

 Dogs aren't allowed on the sofa!

Barney was convinced he was a lap dog.

 His farts were silent but deadly

Barney looking pointedly at a biscuit one of the children is eating.

A full and frank exchange of views!

In the week and a bit that the tenant has been in my house I have spent in excess of £1200, mainly on repairs to the house.

Understandably when the tenant phoned to say the shower had stopped working after 4 days and that the toilet seat was broken I was not best pleased.

I knew that some of the things that were broken were probably past their sell by date but the toilet seat was the final straw.

It's less than 4 months old and wasn't broken when I cleaned the house.

I called  in my lovely and reliable plumber, got a quote from him then copied the relevant page of the lease and went to see her.

I explained that I wouldn't be replacing the shower immediately as it had been working fine and as it would cost £300 it would have to wait. There is another shower in the property and the broken one is over the bath.

I also told her she was responsible for replacing the toilet seat, this didn't go down well!

She then announced she wanted a different plumber, so I said that would be ok, but that she'd have to pay the bill.

I explained to her that according to the lease, she is liable to pay for any repairs.

Her reply 'Oh I didn't read the lease, it's too long'!

So I showed her the copy of the relevant page and told her that from now on every item damaged would be inspected by a professional to ascertain whether it was fair wear and tear or carelessness.

She will be billed for any damage caused by herself and her family.

Sewing with DGD

DGD was here on Saturday she likes to make things, so we made these.

We made 6 in total, 2 of each fabric, they are shirt cuffs, unpicked from the sleeves and sewn along the edges. It gave her some practice using the sewing machine. They aren't big enough to hold a mobile phone but then she is only nine and doesn't have a phone yet.

The rest of the shirts won't be wasted, they are being turned into tops for me.

Space is at a premium.

On the boat, everything we have has been pared down to the absolute minimum.

Particularly in the kitchen, it's taken me a while to adapt as I had such a huge kitchen before.

One of the problems has been the size of the fridge freezer, so Captain Hot Stuff decided to invest in a 12v cool box.

Imagine my surprise when this was what was delivered!

It's fecking huge!! To be fair to CHS, the one he ordered has been discontinued so the company sent the next size up!

We now have no shortage of cold drinks of cold anything else for that matter.

Get rich quick.

I'm not going to, that's for sure.

The tenant's deposit is in the Tenancy Deposit Scheme account the rent went into the joint account.

As she moved in half way through the month I only took £485 in rent.

So far I've spent

Professional clean,              £230

Replacement of broken tap, £120

New washing machine,        £303

Now one of the toilets is broken!

The plumber is going to fix in next week, more  money, ouch.

If it's going to carry on like this I will have to start charging her for the repairs!

 

It's beginning to feel a lot like

Christmas, I mean home, as more items find their place.

The DGC's favourite books, picture books for the youngest, Jennifer Jones Won't Leave Me Alone, We're Going on a Bear Hunt and My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes.
Longer stories for the older ones, Fantastic Mr Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch, also on this shelf is a cuddly toy and a games compendium. 

A few favourite books including crochet, plant recognition and dressmaking.

CD's, Frank Zappa, Joe Jackson, Phil Collins and Dolly Parton.

Buying shares in Curver

I wish I had, (other makes are available).

I haven't bought all the baskets and boxes new, some I already had and some have been given to me or been bought 2nd hand.

 Stationary, tarot cards and yarn.

 Potions, lotions and toiletries.

 Towels, flannels and sundries

Kitchen rolls, newspapers and bin bags.

Space is at a premium and having stuff loose on the shelves looks untidy and it means moving stuff to reach other stuff.

I'm sure that china and wooden storage would maybe look more attractive but plastic won't break very easily and it wipes clean.

Only I

Could go on a helmsman's course to enable me to safely steer the boat an end up involved in a police chase!

We were on a wide beam, isn't she beautiful.

We were practising turning the boat around when we noticed two men running through the gardens of the houses that back on to the river.

One of the men jumped into the water and started to swim towards the boat, we cut the engine to be safe but he changed his mind and headed to the opposite bank

The other man was attacked by a dog in one of the gardens so he also jumped into the water but he held on to the bank as he didn't seem to be able to swim.

Our instructor phoned the police who were already nearby as they had been called to a burglary.

We collected the police from one side of the river and ferried them across to the other side so the could catch the one that got away.

When asked for a description we said he was a heavily built man wearing jeans and a red tee shirt and he was wet through!

Once he was caught we ferried the police officers back to the other side of the river so they could meet up with their colleagues.

All very exciting and gave me lots of practise at turning the boat around.

Oh bugger

Just when I think there is light at the end of the tunnel it turns out to be a fecking train coming towards me!

I was booked on a helmsmans course for the 6th June but it was cancelled, the next possible date was suggested to be the 13th June but the date was not set in stone.

As I'd not had confirmation by Friday I went ahead and booked to have the house sterilised on the 13th. I'm meeting the crew there at 10 to let them in.

Then I received a phone call asking me if I could collect two of my Dgd's from school at 3:15  on 13th as DD2 is going to hospital with DD1 who has an appointment about her hernia operation that is to take place soon.

At 9:30 tonight I received an email telling me that the course is going ahead and I'm to be there at 9:30 and the course will finish between 3:30 and 4:30.

I can't see work letting me have time off at such short notice even without all the other complications and I still feel like carp!

It's curtains for me

I finally made it to Dunelm to look for curtain fabric, I immediately found exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

 This is for the bedroom curtains, I'm not sure if you can see but it is little white stars I wanted something with a small print so there isn't too much wastage when matching the pattern.

 This is for the living/dining area curtains plus 2 quilts to fit between the doors and the glass of the side hatches, they will cut down the draughts in the winter. This is a slightly darker blue with small white spots, another small pattern to save on wastage.

I have a good eye for colour, not for putting them together, but I can shop for fabric that needs to match something I already have and I can pick the correct colour.
I bought some 2 inch header tape, I think 3 inch would be too deep for such small curtains and 1 inch doesn't have enough body.

These are two of our neighbours, Pancake and his wife Orange Sauce!

I shall have an early night tonight, I have a sore throat and I'm wiped out, we don't have any grandchildren staying this weekend, I need a rest and it wouldn't be fair on them to have them over and not give them a good time.

Knackered

The house is empty.

The tenant is expecting to exchange today.

The boiler service is booked.

The smoke detectors are in, so are the Co2 alarms.

The washing machine is ordered.

The tenant is nearing a nervous breakdown and so am I.

I'm totally knackered.

Solar panels

Fitted and working, all we need now is some sun!

Captain Hot Stuff had to hold the panels 

still in high winds so the engineer could fit them.

Cheap and tasty

I bought 4 chicken thighs yesterday, they were £1.49.

I boned them, rolled them up and sprinkled them with rosemary, oregano and garlic, then I roasted them.

I have a cupboard full of tinned food left from when we brought the boat back from Crick.

So I used a tin of new potatoes, 35p, I rinsed them well and put them on a tray with a little oil.

I put them in the oven along with the chicken thighs and also a lidded pot of frozen vegetables.

I made gravy with the strained juices from the chicken.

CHS & I had a thigh each, there is another one with the potatoes, veg and gravy for his lunch tomorrow and the last one will be sliced when it is cool and will go in my sandwiches for lunch.

I forgot to put the veg in before I took the pic.

Half term

As it's half term I had two of the DGD's with me for a couple of hours.
There's not much left at my house for them to play with as some of my toys have been given to them to take home and smaller stuff has been moved to the boat.
But there is a bucket of sand left over from a building project, lots of water from the tap and some trowels, voila, sandcastles on the decking!

Why is my time not important

My timekeeping is quite good, I'm not often late when I go somewhere in fact I usually arrive everywhere a bit early.

So why is it that everyone who has come to collect stuff from me via EBay, Freegle etc. feels it is acceptable to arrive at least an hour late?

The only person who arrived promptly came from Milton Keynes, everyone else has only travelled a couple of miles.

I know I have plenty to do at home but I have things to buy, collect, deliver as well.

I think it's very rude.