Wednesday

The marina staff took pity on us and moved the boat for us and we were able to get a pump out, also as we were so close to the elsan we were able to carry the porta potty and empty it.

Still windy.

Still very blustery here, so still no chance of a pump out, the porta potty is now full and Steve has put his back out and can't carry it. I'm now reduced to a bucket and some carrier bags.

We went for a 6k walk in an effort to aid Steve's back, it didn't work.

We spotted some one we know in the lock,  he's single handed so we did the lock for him. It makes me chuckle when I'm hauling on a gate and a chap comes to offer help. I always accept, they lean nonchalantly on the gate, assuming that as I'm short and old the gate must be easy to move. The look on their faces when they realise that they need to use both arms and a lot of strength to move the gate.

We helped the same boater pull his boat past a fallen tree, there was barely room so it was safer to pull it than use the engine.

I'm getting more and more typos in my blog, I need to be more careful as my sight deteriorates.

Gladys

Franklin is quietening down and now we are being threatened with Gladys, I really hope she doesn't amount to anything. I'm really fed up at not having proper toilet facilities.

Obviously we aren't affected by rise in gas and electric prices as we use mainly solar and the marina haven't put their electric  prices up yet. Smokeless fuel is £13 a bag and a bag lasts 3 days. Calor gas is going up so I'm trying to cook as much as possible on stove as that is lit anyway to keep us warm.

We won't be affected by increased council tax costs but mooring fees are going up. They vary £10 to £30 a night round here but I'm not sure about other places.

I took a photo of the latest crop of molehills.

Franklin

Storm Franklin has arrived and we've lost power on the marina. This means there is no water and no toilet facilities.

We have power on the boat as we are using. Our own batteries and we can use our engine if we need to.

We'd already eaten and washed up so the immersion heater had been turned off.

We can read this evening and see what is happening in the morning once it's daylight.

Eunice

 It's been noisy and rocky on the boat but as we have a widebeam it's not as rocky as a narrow boat.

We took sensible precautions, making sure we were moored safely, removing things from the roof and ensuring the doors and hatches are secure.

There was very little rain yesterday morning but the wind was incredible. I walked Beano on my own about 8ish but Steve came with me for the second walk as I had problems keeping my feet. As it wasn't raining Beano was keen to have a long walk but we had to dissuade him as there was so much debris flying about.

There were trees falling in the marina and out on the cut, one nearby boat had all four of its solar panels smashed to pieces. There were three trees down on the nearby stock fences,  fortunately a boater with a chainsaw was able to move the trees and stop the stock escaping. A lot of boaters have a chainsaw.

The marina didn't lose power despite having overhead power lines but our batteries were full anyway so we would have been ok.

The weather was calm and dry this morning so Beano had an hours walk but it has rained all afternoon.

The only thing we forgot was to bring forward our pump out. It's not due until next week but because we had visitors, Steve's brother and his GF, our black tank was filled up early. Then it was too windy to get across to get a pump out. We will use the porta potty until we can get across, it's still too windy to move today but hopefully the wind should die down soon.

Butter wouldn't melt.

 Ravylesley, I'll have a look at that wool.

Thanks Lyssa, Beano loves scritches.

It was mild and sunny today so Beano wanted to spend as much time as possible outside. It's on days like this I wish we had a garden.

I took him out for a couple of hours the morning and again this afternoon. During the afternoon walk Beano caught a rabbit, he often chases them but has not caught or before. 

The other little Jack Russell, Loulou once caught a rat, she was an expert. Grabbed it by the back on the neck, threw it up and broke its back. Instant death.

Beano was totally confused, he held the rabbit in his mouth for a few moments and then put it down. The rabbit moved and Beano picked it up again, and put it down again. I made a grab for the rabbit, it was uninjured. I put it down and Beano watched it hop away. He has a very soft mouth.

 Frugal IE I am definitely Pee'd off, which is why I've not blogged, there is only so many times I can post that I walked the dog and cooked a meal. I even bore myself with my posts! I did try using thicker yarn but still couldn't see.

Lindsey I'm glad your audiology depts are good. We used to have drop in centres but they closed during covid and we've been notified that they are not reopening, everything is appointment only.

Thanks Lyssa, I have bought The Kings Silver but haven't started it yet.

Thanks Chris, I certainly hope so.

PatsyAnne that is very kind of you but my craft cupboards are only empty because I'm giving everything away that I can no longer see to use. I am in the process of organising a library log on via my daughter's account and I will then be able to listen to free books once the cerushields arrive but thank you for your kind offer.

Before Gill left the marina she kindly gave me the contents of her fridge as she didn't want to waste it. There were mushrooms, tomatoes, lentils, new potatoes, three chicken breasts and two cartons of beetroot juice.

We didn't have any damage on the marina from last night's storm but today's is supposed to be stronger, we will wait and see.