How much!

I know everything is going up in price so I was very glad when the coal we bought was still £14 a bag. The bottled gas had however gone up to £45, ouch.

The last bottle only lasted two months they usually last three months.

 I shall have to be more careful though we use more gas in the summer than we do in the winter because in the winter we have the stove lit 24/7. We keep the kettle full of water on the stove so it takes very little time for it to boil. My suggestion that we put less water in the kettle falls on deaf ears so I've ordered a vacuum mug to keep the water not once it's boiled. The water would mainly be used for washing up so if the jug affects the flavour of doesn't matter. 

I will try to cut down on making toast as well, it's often my go-to meal when I've cooked Steve something I don't like. Scrambled egg or  beans is an easy meal but I need to think of an alternative.

I used to batch cook but I don't now, partly because of Steve's fussyness and partly because I have no microwave. So anything I cook and freeze still has to be reheated in the oven.

Convoy

It was the second convoy or maybe the third so there were hundreds of firefighters involved.

This year we didn't  buy a single Easter egg, we've only ever bought small ones as a token but this year we didn't. 

What with having one grandchild who is diabetic and one who is lactose intolerant it seemed pointless. Instead each family was treated to a take away.

We have three birthdays  next month DD2 and the twins all have their birthdays in May.

Yesterday we treated our selves to fish and chips, today we went to the small supermarket for bread. I treated myself to some grapes.

I'm not sure if we are moving tomorrow, we can stay a week, it. just depends what Steve wants to do.

Just heard

 He's home!

Web page

 Lindsay, Fire Aid UK on Facebook is where I've been following the convoy, hopefully they are on their way home now.

New mooring.

 We moved again today, it's cold and overcast so not really pleasant travelling but we've made to a nice level mooring where no gangplank is needed. We are within walking distance of a shop where I can buy bread tomorrow. There is also a fish and chip shop so we may treat ourselves tomorrow.

We raced another boat to the last mooring spot but offered to let them breast up beside us as they only wanted to go to the pub for lunch. The river here is wide so they could moor without causing  a problem.

Sue Jay, I haven't heard from Chris, I've been following the convoy on FB, they have travelled 1400 miles, 700 on blue lights through 6 countries and delivered 20+fire service vehicles.

I've persuaded Steve to light the fire, he refuses to admit he's cold and will end up feeling unwell. I told him I was cold so he lit the fire.

The gubbins under the cratch

 The cover over the front of the boat is called a cratch cover.

Most boaters have chairs or cushions out there, we use ours as a shed, so if you think of what you keep in your shed ours is similar. There's buckets, tools plant pots etc.

Chris has reached his destination, there is a post on FB about it.

Yesterday didnt go to plan

We had a day of minor irritations yesterday, we couldn't moor where we wanted as there was no room, Steve got stung by a bee, I got my hand caught in a faulty gate, we ran aground because someone moored on a bend. We spent almost six hours travelling and ended up almost back where we started albeit in the offside so well away from the lycra louts.

The problem with such a long day is that Steve gets exhausted and starts talking bollocks. Everything becomes a whatsit or a thingummy and I can't follow his instructions because they don't make sense. Steve gets more and more enraged when he can't make himself understood.

Steve went to bed early but I had to stay up to let Beano out for a late night widdle, otherwise he'd get me up at 3am. I slept badly as I was cold, I got up at 2:30 and put an extra blanket on the bed.

Steve suggested that we stay put today and have a rest day, which we did. Personally I think the term  'rest day' is something of a misnomer. I stripped the bed and remade it, swept the boat inside and out planted four troughs of flowers and herbs, walked Beano five times, locked umpteen boats through the lock and blitzed the kitchen. Steve sorted out the gubbins under the cratch, got the stove ready for the next cold snap and hunted out some bracket to rehang a picture.

Tonight I'll make sure there are enough covers on the bed before I go to sleep.