The Weekend is here.

Hiya Friends.

Last evening was most certainly the coldest we have had as the Autumn takes a grip. At least with the back cabin stove going, we had the chill taken off of the inside of the boat. As the evening drew on the sky cleared and a frost was on the cards. After dinner we settled in front of the TV for a night of entertainment. I have to say the most entertaining part of the TV schedule was 'The Paul O'Grady Show', on ITV at 9pm. I am over joyed that Paul is back on our TV screens, because he will always make you smile when your feeling down. Not that I am down right now, but you know what I mean. His guests were Kylie, Bob Hoskins and Jo Brand, with fun and laughter thrown in for good measure.
Before watching 'The Paul O'Grady Show', I had to make the back cabin stove up for the night, so the routine of half filling the stove with house coal, then sticks and finally ash was perforned as normal, with a hope that the fire did not go out during the night. This has only ever happened on a couple of occasions. Sliding beneath a warm duvet was so nice. It most definitely gets a good nights sleep off to the perfect start.
The first I knew of this morning was at 7.15am, when Keith climbed over me to go to the toilet, so I got up and stoked the back cabin stove, and raked out the ash to allow the fire to breath back into life. Hey presto the fire was roaring away once more and the back cabin was snug. I placed the kettle on the stove so that it would have a chance to heat up and hopefully boil in time for our morning coffee. As we were awake I got up and made us both a cup of tea and we lay in bed nattering about Eberspächer's and how economical they are. I know a strange thing to natter about in bed, but the boat in front of us has one, which was running and it made me question how economical they are running for hours on end. We have friends who had an Eberspächer on their boat and two Winter's running at the coldest time, the Eberspächer stopped working, meaning they had no heating at all. This was when they realised they should of had a coal stove as back-up. I can imagine that many people make the mistake of not having any sort of back-up heating, which is a huge mistake. I am so thankful we have two coal stoves, so no back-up is required. I am not saying that the Eberspächer does not have a use, but as an only source of heating, it could be a disaster. The salesmen will tell you what you want to hear when you enquire about how effective and economical they are. I bet they never say you should also have a back-up for your heating. Before signing on the dotted line, people need to check out all the options and speak to lots of other boaters before buying anything. Because what suits one boater may not suit another.
After getting up for breakfast, Paddy got his usual morning walk in beautiful sunshine, with a fine mist rising up off the canal, it was stunning.
I took off to the local Co-op for a few supplies. Crick Village is a pretty little place, set in the pleasantly rolling countryside of Northamptonshire. There is an excellent pub in the village called The Red Lion, which does very nice affordable food. Laden down with my rucksack full of goodies, I strolled back to the boat, where Keith was busy on his laptop. I made us a coffee and a Chicken Casserole, which we will have for tonights dinner. The Casserole will slow cook in the back cabin stove all day, so anyone walking past our boat is going to be hit with a delicious smell.
Having a coal stove of any description on a boat is invalid, because not only can it be used for heating the boat, you can also use it to cook on. So many people we chat to have never thought of using the top of their Morso Squirrel for cooking or keeping a kettle hot on. What ever your stove, you can cook a stew or casserole on it, by making it first thing in the morning and leaving it on the stove all day whilst you cruise. By the end of the day you have a nice warming meal already cooked for you to enjoy. The same goes for heating a kettle. It may not boil, but will be hot enough that you can finish it off on the gas, which saves you gas. The ash pan can be used to bake potatoes in as well. It is all about making the most of what you have. And yet many people never think of these things and are amazed when we mention these ideas to them.
The F1 qualifying is on this afternoon, so I will be watching that no doubt and then we will see where the rest of the day takes me. Have a great day.