Gawd it's cold

We set off this morning around 9:45 I walked the first couple of miles as there are so many locks and swing bridges close together.

We saw some people on motorised boards catching fish, they were doing a survey on the fish count from Midgham to Thatcham. They caught some huge fish but said that the numbers were very low, they had someone from CRT with them. I asked if the water quality was to blame for the low numbers but they seemed to think predation was a more likely cause.
They helped us through the last lock and when we reached Thatcham we moored up and I made lunch. 

I made spicy lamb soup for lunch and to my amazement  CHS ate it, he's not keen on soup unless it comes out of a tin of packet. As this was made from the leftovers from yesterday's roast dinner it included cabbage and peas so it was a rather unprepossessing shade of green but it was very tasty.

After lunch we caught the train back to Woolhampton and collected the car. The car is now parked near the boat so I can drive to DD2'S tomorrow to look after dgd. DD2 will then drive me back to the boat and I will leave the car on her drive until we return on Monday.

I will do a load of washing at DD's tomorrow whilst I am there.

There is no cure for stupidity

CHS had three small lottery wins, I'd been carrying the winning tickets around for a few weeks but today I remembered to cash them in.
One was for £5.50, one £5 and one was for £6.50.
The person on the till was completely unable to work out the total amount that I was owed.
I said that the three tickets came to £17, the assistant disagreed, explaining that as the amounts included 50p the total must also include 50p.
So I shut up and waited whilst the queue behind me got longer and longer.
Eventually the manager came out, cleared the queue and then asked what the problem was.
He also seemed unable to add up the amounts but did at least suggest giving me each of the amount separately, so I finally received my £17.

Whilst I was out CHS received a phone call from one of his brothers, it seems he had done a DNA test after seeing a TV advert. He phoned because he was confused, two of his cousins were showing as his nearest family match. He wondered why CHS was not his nearest match and was quite worried about the implications of this. CHS reassured him, explaining that as CHS has never done a DNA test he wouldn't be on the database to appear as a match!

Rinse and repeat

ALT57, we've been aboard for a year now and we have central heating as well as the log burner.

Another busy day today, I went to DD1's this morning to help her get her twins to preschool.
From there we drove to Bicester to collect a birthday cake for her grandma who is 90 at the weekend.

My phone rang whilst we were collecting the cake, it was DD2 asking if I could babysit from 3 until 6.

We left Bicester and collected the twins, we all went back to the boat for lunch, all the children love being  on board.

After lunch we all went to DD2's and all the children played together.

DD1's husband collect Ted her an the twins at 5, I stayed at DD2's until it was time to collect CHS.

Been busy

Our boat is listing as we have a deep draught and the canal is shallow, especially near the bank. We are wedged on a small bank of gravel, hence the list.

DD1 needed a lift to A&E this morning, nothing broken fortunately, just sprained, painful but manageable. She's been advised to rest, fat chance with 5 kids and a dog.

I dropped DD home, collected CHS and took him to work, then back to the boat for a shower. Last night CHS was cold and I hadn't lit the fire, this morning CHS lit a FIRE, 6 firelighters, half a bag of kindling, half a bucket of coal and a couple of logs thrown on for good measure. It's a man thing I think, he cannot build a small fire. The boat is like a sauna.

There was a boat moored behind us earlier, a hire boat just setting off for a weeks travel. The man was hitting the tiller with a hammer, I asked if everything thing was ok and he told me the tiller was broken.
I explained that the tiller was ok, it was the same as mine. He informed me that my tiller was broken too! It isn't, but he had a hammer and a willy so obviously he knew more than me, I left him to it.

Then on to DD2's, parents evening, could I babysit might as well as CHS won't finish until 9:30.

Tomorrow I'm off to Bicester to collect a 90th birthday cake for my ex mil, DD1 ordered it but cannot drive so cannot collect it.

No jam and no Jerusalem.

I want to make some jam, I have the fruit and sugar but the boat keeps listing badly and it wouldn't be safe. It's bad enough managing a kettle of boiling water, boiling jam would be much more dangerous.
It's bad enough when they drawers keep flying open and bashing me without the added complication of sticky red jam.

I'm still on a quest to find something to do and enquired about the local WI, unfortunately it is not at a convenient time.

I have signed up to an online course about edible wild plants, it's proving very interesting but I can only download it when the WiFi is amenable which is rarely.

I may try to download it next time I visit one of my DD's as they both have unlimited WiFi.

Rude awakening

It's chilly here and raining, I didn't go for a walk today. I looked after dgd3 this morning and once I'd taken her home and dropped CHS at work I returned to the boat and turned the mattress over.
That, I decided was enough exercise for one day, making the bed is hard enough in a confined space. Turning the mattress in the space is torturous, I had to have a rest after struggling with the mattress before I remade the bed.
After lunch I lit the stove and settled down in my chair for a snooze. CHS isn't finishing work until 9 or 10, it takes about an hour to get home and unwind and I'm up in the morning by 6, I don't have to get up that early I just can't sleep any longer.
Anyway I digress, so there I was snoozing gently when I was awoken by an almighty clatter. A boat had gone past and into the lock, when the lock emptied my boat lurched to starboard and one of my kitchen drawers, the one CHS has filled with assorted metal work, bolt, handles, tools etc flew open. I shot up out of my chair all ready to repel borders. What a rude awakening that was.

Water

It rained heavily last night but if there was thunder I slept through it. It's been another beautiful day today, we've done very little.

We moved to the water point to fill our tank and then we moved back to where we were moored.

We also went shopping, not for much, just stuff for CHS's lunches next week and some drinks for the fridge.