An Awesome Lifestyle.

Hi Friends.

Before I begin rambling on as is normal for me. I want to say congratulations to Stacey Solomon. Last night she became queen of the jungle on 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here'. For those of you who have no idea who Stacey Solomon is, she is a 21 year old single mother from Dagenham Essex and she came third ITV's Talent Show, The X Factor. She was great fun in the jungle, with no airs and graces and I so pleased she won the show. Tonight we have the results for the semi-final of the X-Factor, that should be fun.

Another fabulous nights kip and there was I awake at just after 6am listening to Marmite complain that her food dishes were empty. As she had spent most of the night curled up near my feet, I kind of knew she would come moaning no sooner we showed we were awake. Having woke up with a touch of Sciatica, I decided I was better off getting up and about. So was up just after 7am and was stepping off of the boat with Paddy for his walk. It was more like a skating lesson than a stroll, because after some late rain last night and then a frost, the towpath is like a skating rink and extremely dangerous under foot. I kept to the edges of the towpath, where there was still some crunchy snow, whilst Paddy was all over the place. Due to the towpath conditions, we did not venture to far for our own safety, it would not be good if I fell over and broke something. We made it back to the safety of the boat, where Keith was cooking breakfast. Grilled Bacon, Poached Eggs, Grilled Mushrooms and Toast, all to be washed down with a hot cup of tea, that is the way to start a Sunday.
After such a lovely breakfast, I then had the fires to sort out and stoke up for the day. There is something so reasurring about a coal fire and its warm glow. Even if all around you is cold, you are always warmed up by the sight of a flame glowing in the fire.
My next task of the morning was to get Pink dye out of some porthole lace. The BW licence for 2011 is a dark Pink and due to condensation the dye has run into my porthole lace, which has really annoyed me, so I had to take the lace down and plunge it into bleach, whilst the bleach did its work, I took down the lace from the other four portholes and washed them out. Both the BW licence's were put above the stove to dry out. Thankfully I have a spare set of porthole lace, very kindly made for me by Pam on NB Mona Lisa, so that was the next job to thread the new lace on to the hoops and place it back in the portholes. With the Pink dye now bleached out of the porthole lace, it was washed along with the other four and hung up to dry in the engine room. Once dry they will be put away until needed. As for the Licence's, I am going to have to put them in plastic bags and seal them, before putting them back in the portholes. BW really need to come up with a better idea for their licence's me thinks. They do supply licence holders which stick to the window, but you still get a condensation problem and the licence then ends up a soggy mess. There has to be be a better idea.

This morning I was told, we have an awesome lifestyle and I have to totally agree. It really is a lifestyle which we embrace completely, but it is not for everyone, which many have found to their cost. We know people who have sold everything to buy a boat, only to find a couple of months down the line, they really hate it. Before anyone considers our lifestyle they need to do a lot of research and this includes chatting to people like us, who will give them the full story on living afloat. I always give people the plain and simple facts about living afloat. I never look at it through rose coloured glasses, because people need to know that although life afloat has a lot of wonderful things about it, it is also hard work and it is not all sunny days and lounging in the sunshine. With the weather we are experiencing at the moment, many first time liveaboards are finding out that Winter on a boat can be tough. For one couple it has been a baptisim of fire, as they have only been on board their boat for a few weeks. So I have been only to happy to offer my help and advice via e-mail to make sure they get through this Winter with as little fuss as possible. If they make it through this Winter then I feel they will have cracked it. For many the Winter time is a time to find a Winter mooring, which has all the facilities they need, for people like us, we like to keep moving, which can mean like now we are frozen in. Also because I am the coalwoman, I need to be able to cope with what ever the weather throws at me. I tend to have backups for everything, that way I feel I can cope with anything. Our lifestyle is awesome, but it is not for everyone. One thing people really need to think about is, do you get on with your partner really well or do you argue a lot?
If you argue a lot, then living on a boat is not for either of you, because one of you will end up walking the towpath a lot. I am fortunate that Keith and I never argue. Honestly we have never had an argument. Living in such an enclosed space, can really show up the flaws in a relationship, so before considering a boat, that should be one of your first considerations.
I think that I have said enough for now, so I am going to get a few jobs done. I may be back later if you fancy popping back. Have a wonderful day x.