Up at 7:30, use the warm water that's been in the kettle on the stove overnight to have a wash. Boil the rest of the water to make Steve a cuppa. Refill kettle place back on stove ready for when Steve needs it. Walk Beano, come back, either Steve or I will add coal to stove, riddle stove, empty ash, fill coal bucket. I feed Beano then make breakfast.
After breakfast I wash up using the last of the water from the kettle and Steve opens the cratch cover which is the front cover then we both drop the pram cover which is the back cover. We haul the boat back on to the water point, get the hose out and fill the water tank. This takes over an hour, 65 new houses have been built nearby, they are supplied the existing pipework so the flow rate is very slow.
We then cast off and move down to the marina where we get the black water tank emptied and buy four bags of coal and a bag of kindling.
From there we pootle on to find another mooring place. We try to find somewhere where we will get some solar. If not we will have to run the engine for a couple of hours a day to keep the fridge and lights running. We moor up and get the cratch and pram covers back on just In time as it starts to rain.I
By now it's mid afternoon so I make a sandwich then walk Beano again, a short walk as Beano doesn't approve of rain.
I spend the afternoon reading and working on my crochet blanket.
I fall asleep whilst reading, only for about 20 minutes.
I cook our evening meal, walk Beano again and then it's back to my book, I'm reading Blessop's Wife by Barbara Gaskell Denvil.
I can't crochet in the evening as it's very dark on the boat as the lighting is very dim. I have a bright light on a stand but cannot run it unless we are plugged in to shore power.
8 comments:
Interesting your day. Decided I am too old and decrepit. But I can still be envious!
You only mentioned Beano. Do you still have your other little dog?
Busy day. I bet there is never a dull moment where you are!
It's a good simple day on days that you have the energy to get all this done and pootle through at the pace needed. But sometimes the simple life feels harder when there's so much to do just to survive doesn't it.
So many think that living on a boat is a 'relaxing 4 miles an hour, ambling along waterways and generally drifting through life' kind of life, it's good that you can put forward the real picture.
Is Beano enjoying being your only dog again now that the other one has returned home? Ours do like the one to one time with us.
The start of this post reminded me of when I lived at home many years ago. Mum would put the kettle on the paraffin heater to warm the water for a wash. We had an old range that needed to be attended to with coal etc.
All sounds cosy but hard work.
Briony
x
Thinking about your crochet - my daughter has just bought a hook which has a light on it and is easier to use when using dark wool and you can also see what it is doing. It does have a set of hooks to fit on the basic holder. I think she got them from Amazon. Do you think that would be any good for you.
When I read this post I was tempted to copy it for a couple of friends who have always longed to live on a barge. (Two separate friends). I think it might encourage them to remove the rose-coloured glasses!
When I was a kid (in the late 80s/early 90s) we had a coal fired stove in the corner of our kitchen which was for heating our hot water tank in the autumn/winter/early spring months (ran an electric immersion in the summer months as otherwise the kitchen was too hot!)
Once my mum got it lit it was my job to keep it going until it was time to let it out. Daily topping up, riddling, adjustments and ash emptying in all weathers - I remember all those things well Sue :)
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