Every little helps

My local hospital has an Amazon Wish List, I bought them some face masks and hand cream.

I've also signed up to For the Love of Scrubs, I've ordered fabric, tape and the pattern.

I can't do more as I think we will be stuck in the marina for the entire year, which means mooring fees of £300 a month.

Late 1960's

In the late 1960's I was living in a bedsit near Wandsworth prison I was 16.

My parents divorce was relatively amicable but I was "not wanted on board". When the marital home in Wimbledon was sold  they both moved on with their lives. I was considered old enough to fend for myself.

I had been training as a hairdresser, I had no interest in this, it had been my mother's decision. I expect she fancied saving on her hairdressing costs.
My wages were £3, I worked in a salon in Knightsbridge once I was on my own I couldn't afford a bedsit in Knightsbridge nor could I afford the train fare to Knightsbridge so I found a bedsit and a job near Wandsworth prison.

My wages were  now £4 per week and my rent £3 10 shillings, £3.50 in today's money. I had a gas and electricity meter I don't think I ever put any money in the gas meter but I put a few pennies in the electric meter. I just sat with my coat on in the winter and washed in cold water most of the time. There was a shared bathroom, I was allocated to have a bath on Wednesdays. It was a race between the three of us who were on the Wednesday list to get the first bath when the water was hot. This was not really much of a hardship as I'd grown up with no hot water and no central heating. 

Once I'd moved in I bought one item every week when I got paid, a sheet,  a blanket, a plate and a cup, a knife, fork and spoon all from the local market, I bought the bare minimum so I could have some home comforts.  Apart from that I bought only food, soap and toothpaste. A loaf of bread, a tub of margarine, a lump of cheese. One meal a day, a cheese sandwich, fortunately we got free tea and coffee at work. At home I drank water.

I walked to and from work, it was about half a mile. I had little social life as I had no money to go out but occasionally a friend would visit.

Ouch

Still bitterly cold here.

Still wearing my  shrug with the crispy edge.

Beano only wanted very short walks today.

Steve's got a cold and feels unwell, mainly panic I think.

Couldn't find anything interesting to watch on tv so did way too much tapestry and now my thumb aches like buggery.

I can't watch catchup tv as we only have a limited mifi.

I did a load of washing, what a boring post.

I'll try harder tomorrow.

Shrug on fire

It is bloody freezing here, it has been for a few days but it was sunny until about 10 this morning.

I went to the kitchen to put the kettle on, I use a kettle on the hob not an electric one.

Usually I take my shrug off before I go near the hob but I was so cold I left it on.

Yeah, you guessed it I set fire to my shrug, bugger.

Lockdown

I went shopping today for us and four other boaters. The queue to get into Sainsburys was an hour and ten minutes. It's ok once you are in and most shelves are stocked. I bought an Easter egg on the way round the shop, another customer was extremely rude to me when I let an elderly chap across to get a pack of butter. I cheerfully told her to fuck off but I thought the poor checkup staff must get this all the time.

I spent £140, but between five it's not too bad.

We still cannot leave the marina, most of the Red Boarding is over as the water level has reduced but all unnecessary journeys are banned. This means we are forking out £300 a month in fees. Whilst the sun is shining we are using solar power instead of shore power.

Steve's very stressed so I'm getting shouted at a lot, this morning it was because the plates I served breakfast on were cold, I have no way of warming them with no hot water and the stoves not lit. I also got shouted at because he put some paint in a jar and then couldn't get the jar open.

I worry about my youngest son, he is driving Blues and Twos when he's not on shift.

Mantra

I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who have a mantra.

I have two currently.

One is "I'm sure it would count as justifiable homicide".

The other is "Up through the clean, down through the dirty".

It's a long time since I did tapestry so I have to keep reminding myself of this.

One for all

The marina has now closed to all weekend and holiday boaters, everyone was notified today, some people immediately announced that they were coming anyway as they were planning on doing some maintenance on their boat, they have been told they cannot.

There is just us few liveaboard boaters here now, we shouldn't be here but the canal is still Red Boarded, so here we stay.

Today has been sunny and warm, we have walked Beano around the marina, we have avoided the towpath as it is very busy with joggers and cyclists.

One of my boating neighbours went shopping today she shopped for other people too, she got me a loaf of bread. She went to Waitrose where they were giving away their flowers, so she gave me a bunch.