Holidays

I've always hated going on holiday, as a child my holidays consisted of being dumped on assorted relatives so my parents could work. I hated staying with people who were strangers to me, most had only adult children. The one cousin that was nearer to me in age was 5 or 6 years older than me and a spiteful bully who made my life an absolutely misery. I was too scared to sleep as I never knew when an attack would happen. I preferred it when I was sent to my grandparents, they were kind and had a dog. There were no alterations to their lifestyle to provide me with entertainment but I did have a doll.

We occasionally had days out as a family, we went to the beach, Brighton beach! We sat on the stones  and fried, no paddling or swimming allowed, just sunbathing. I never tanned, just sweated through the day.

Once I was working I was occasionally invited to holiday with friends but could never afford to go as I was living in a bedsit and had rent to pay.

I didn't holiday again until I was married with children. We always went with the brother in law, his wife and their children. The wife always developed a migraine the first day which lasted until the end of the holiday. So whilst the men spent the day getting drunk I spent time with the children. We went to the beach, the park and any other child friendly activity available. It was hard work as there were seven children to care for but I tried hard to ensure they had a good time.

Steve and I have had some lovely holidays, somewhere with interesting architecture or lots of history so I no longer dread going on holiday.

Bees, birds and bread.

Thanks for all the suggestions about proving the dough when I make bread. Steve won't eat soda bread, I like the hot water suggestion but I don't have hot water on tap and I'd have to boil the kettle so many times to fill the sink and I don't have an electric kettle. I will try Athene's suggestion of leaving it overnight.

I belong to some FB boating groups and I get quite envious when people write about cooking with an airfryer or Ninja, I think many of them live full time in a marina with an electric hook up. I don't have any sockets in the galley, so no toaster kettle or microwave for us. Because of where we are moored we are currently walking a couple of miles most days to top up with water and empty our black water.

My daughter took me food shopping yesterday so I'm no longer having to count eggs or bread to make the food stretch. I also managed to buy shoes to wear to the wedding, £10 from Sainsbury's.

They are grey and will go with the dress I'm wearing.

Janf, I'm very grateful for all the support from my readers.

I have three troughs of flowers, French marigolds and pansies, and herbs on the roof of the boat they are swarming with bees.

Yesterday at 5am we were woken by a crow, it was walking along the gunwhales and banging on the window. Beano was not impressed and barked but the crow carried on. It walked from window to window, cawing and banging.

It visited again this morning but at the slightly more acceptable time of 7:30. It walked along the length of the boat, across the prow and along the other side, it was here for about an hour and a half. At 3:30 this afternoon it returned and again stayed about an hour.

I know that crows are believed to be messengers but they aren't birds of ill omen. We also have a large flock of Greylag geese nearby.

Comments

 Thank you for all your kind comments.

I was in a foul mood as there were a couple of outings that had been arranged and then were cancelled.  These were belated birthday treats from November so when Steve announced that we wouldn't be cruising with friends it was the icing on the cake.

Steve feels that the double locking until we get to the Thames will be too much for me. He is always very aware that I am slower than he is when doing the locks and is embarrassed by my shortcomings. Because we have a widebeam weren't get both boats in one lock so in effect we do each lock twice.?

JanF,  Steve has bought new trousers for the wedding I shall wear a summer dress that I bought from Global Mandala, I've hardly worn it so it looks new.

Witch Hazel, life would be so much easier if I had a support network but constantly moving means that I don't. I'm hoping this will be our last year of being constantly on the move.

Flis, yes it is very disheartening.

Thank you Wendy, Ellen, Patsyann, Chris, Deb and Pam.

Kate, Steve's enthusiasm far outweighs his actual abilities.

Rambler, one of my daughters is giving us a lift to the station and caring for Beano on the day. The brother that is getting married doesn't drive so his GF and family drive him around, Steve is desperate to go to the wedding so we will have to try. It is Steve's brother getting married but it's my daughter that is helping us. We get no help from Steve's family at all.

Fail

Steve thinks cruising with friends would be too much for us and he could be right. Personally I think the cruise he has planned will be too much as well.

Another failed loaf!

I used to be able to make nice bread but I seem to have lost the skill.

I find it really difficult to find a way of proving the dough, it needs to be somewhere warm. I can assure you there is nowhere warm on my boat!

Sorry

I'm struggling with a couple of things at the moment haven't felt like blogging.

I was really looking forward to a few weeks cruising with friends, Steve has decided he doesn't want to do this now and I'm very disappointed.

I'm also dreading a forthcoming wedding, well not the wedding, I'm sure that will be lovely. It's the reception, I can see it being a nightmare. I can't see well enough to be able to recognise people I hardly know and I won't be able to hear what people are saying. I shall try to find a quiet corner to hide in!

What day is it?

The days all run into one another, I think it's a Wednesday and if so it's cooked breakfast for Steve this morning.

We moved on Sunday, we went into the marina for a pump out, filled our water tank and got a Tesco delivery, this took until 1ish.

In theory it should have been an easy trip, just one lock but the couple at the lock couldn't move the lock gate. It is heavy but I can manage it. They both of them pushed the gate but couldn't budge it so the husband  climbed back on the boat! Steve and I went out and helped with the gate, eventually they were through the lock, a widebeam followed with very few crew so we helped them and finally it was our turn. By now I'd got the shakes and was desperate to moor up and rest but it was another hour and a half before we got through the lock and swing bridge and found somewhere to moor.

I'd arranged to meet up with a fellow crafter, she is running a craft creche at Glastonbury. I'd offered her all my leftover yarn,  40+ balls, she came over to collect it, she gave me two big bags of super chunky yarn and some size 10 needles to see if I can use them.

I'm wondering how many strands of super chunky I'd need to make jumbo yarn for arm knitting?

Monday some idiot left the lock paddle up, so at silly o'clock in the morning all the cupboard doors flew open, the boat was listing badly. There's about 6 or 7 boats in the same predicament but of course Steve's now in full on panic mode and I'm getting yelled at. I went back to the previous lock and let the water out plus some extra and we were soon floating again.

Yesterday I took my daughter out for a birthday lunch, it's not her birthday for a while yet but she happened to have a free day.

Beano makes a friend.

I gave Beano a shower yesterday, much to his disgust but now he is clean and fluffy.

He always stands by the shower when I'm in there, I'd had a couple of attempts to get him in but couldn't get hold of him so I stripped of and got in the shower my self. Once he was lulled into a false sense of security I stepped out grabbed him and have him a wash. Once I q was semi dried and dressed I sat on the back deck in the sun to dry Beano. He sulked for ages but eventually decided to sit on my knee, I'd put a towel on my lap which soaked up most of the water.

We took him for a walk about 5 o'clock, we went along the towpath that is part of a pub garden. There was a mother with a baby sat on the grass. The baby's face lit up at the sight of Beano and he started to crawl towards him. Mum grabbed the baby and I asked if the little one wanted to stroke him. We called Beano over and he stood there wagging his tail while the toddler beamed and patted him. Steve explained that Beano was used to children as we have so many grandchildren.

I always let children pet Beano as he doesn't jump up and he doesn't lick them. Left to his own devices Beano will ignore almost everyone adults and children alike.

Marina

We have been very lucky so far with our marina, we only pay when we are actually there. They have been getting gradually busier and busier after a change of management and greatly improved services. The jetty we usually use is very short, it only reaches to our back deck so it is the last jetty to be filled. This year we may have to pay to keep our place or we may lose our place altogether to some alterations being made. 

Some marinas are residential and boaters pay council tax, some marinas turn a blind eye to liveaboards but tend to be expensive. I believe Tingdene in Caversham charge between £10,000 & £12,000 per annum mooring fees then there electric, Wi-Fi and pump out fees on top.

You can book in advance or turn up and hope for the best. It is first come first served if there are vacancies but all the local marinas have huge waiting lists.

I like the security of being in the marina during the winter in case the weather is bad  but my mental health is better out on the cut. At least I get to speak to people on the cut even if it just the pub handy man who comes to strike Beano or the shop assistant I buy bread from. 

We went through one lock and one swing bridge today, helped by volunteers so it was nice and easy. We have about an hours cruise tomorrow morning to get a pump out and collect our shopping, then we have to move on, hopefully to near the wharf cafe.

Moved again.

We moved again today, tomorrow I will buy bread and milk from the little village shop, we may have a pub lunch.

We are hoping there are volunteers on, on Saturday but if not we'll manage

Sunday we are booked into the marina for a pump out. We cannot stay as they are rammed solid.

Once we have emptied the black water and filled the water tank we will be on our way again.

Moving on

We have moved on again, we stayed long enough to watch the River Rescue guys break up and remove a boat that was hit by a falling tree, had fish and chips and very nice they were too.  Then we visited the nearby Co-op, bought milk and bread and set off.

We were warned that there was no room at Midgham and assumed we'd have to travel further but luckily there was a space and we moored up near Mark and Julie from Weir on the move, they have a YouTube channel.

We had a bit of excitement last night, there was a message on FB asking if anyone was near lock 92, a boater had been taken Ill and an ambulance had been called but was having trouble locating the boat. We walked to the road to flag it down. I don't like the particular boater he's sexist, misogynist, racist and dirty and he's been on his current mooring for 5 months despite it being 14 day. He constantly overstays and is a thorn in the side of CRT. However we went to help as there was obviously a problem. He is currently in hospital and I'm hoping to get an update in a few days.