Strong winds and first fire.

Hi Folks.

Ohhhh dear the day has come when I have lit the back cabin stove. We woke up to a very chilly back cabin this morning. It was so chilly that I think neither of us wanted to get out from under the duvet. But Paddy does not walk himself and things on the boat do not get done unless I get out of bed. So I had to get up as did Keith who had to go for blood tests.

I see the lighting of the back cabin stove as an indication that Autumn is clearly drawing ever closer. I pulled the Winter chimney out of the hold and removed the Summer chimney from the fire, where it had been all Summer. We have two chimneys. The Winter one is a double skinned chimney and the Summer one is just a single skin. Having a double skin chimney for the Winter, , means that the tar and soot from the fire does not run down the side of the boat, which can be very messy. Every year when I light up the back cabin stove, I do get quite excited, because I actually love having the back stove to cook on all through the Autumn and Winter. I also keep a kettle on there ready for cups of coffee and who knows we may get people calling by for a coffee and a piece of cake. Talking of cake, I have made a Victoria Sandwich and a Bread and Butter Pudding, this is a sure indication that the temperate has dropped lol. I am a huge fan of the back cabin stove for cooking on and in. There is nothing more wonderful than cooking a casserole whilst on the move, although the smell coming from the oven does make us feel hungry as we are cruising along. So stove lit and it was not long before the cabin was nice and cosy. So cosy infact that Paddy and Marmite moved into the cabin and lounged on the side bed.

Whilst Keith was off having his blood tests done, I prepared a coal order for a boater friend. I was just about to unload the coal from the hold when Keith came back, so he gave me a hand to get the coal off, I then put it on the sack trolley and wheeled it up to their boat. It is wonderful to see our regular customers and to catch up on all their news from the past few months.

I have no plans to do much this afternoon as it is still rather windy outside. Although I should be sorting the hold out really. It is time to put the Summer clothing away and to get the Winter clothing out. Time to pack away the shorts and T-shirts I think.