Another week has begun.

Scones for lunch anyone?

Hiya Friends.


So how was your Sunday?


Mine was a rather quiet affair to be honest. It all began very quietly and pretty much stayed that way. It was so quiet infact that I did some baking. Yep I got out my rolling pin, scales and ingredients and made some fruit Scones. I just wish I had bought some Jam and Cream to go with them now. During the Winter month's I like to do a lot of baking. My school cookery lesson's have never gone to waste. Thank you Miss Hack for being my inspiration ;0).
For a Sunday there was nothing much on the TV either, which I thought was a poor show. The only decent film's were on Channel 5, which we cannot get here grrrr. So having done my baking and cleaning up, we resulted to going through the DVD collection. I thought we should watch a properly Sunday afternoon film, so plumbed for "Ben Hur" with Charlton Heston. We have good old dependable movies in our collection "Ben Hur" is one, we also have the likes of John Wayne movies, and Clint Eastwood movies, plus the old war time movies such as Tora, Tora, Tora. These I see as the old dependables. "Ben Hur" took up a few hours and before we knew it, it was 6pm and time for Paddy's walk and for our dinner. Time flies when your having fun.
With dinner done and dusted, it was time for 'Dancing on Ice' (CLICK) woooo hoooo, at last something entertaining to watch. For anyone reading this who has never heard of or seen the program, I will do my best to describe the program. Basically Britain's best-known ice-skating duo and former Olympic champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean help to train the aspiring dancers who are celebrities from TV, films etc. The celebs are partnered by profession ice skaters and every week they have to perform live to the nation an ice dance routine. A panel of judges gives them marks and the public then decide who goes and who stays. It is of course not without its accidents, because after all these celebs are trying to dance on ice on knives, but it does make for great entertainment. Of course I am easily pleased and I dare say some would find it boring. This year's series is a little different, because there are Sixteen celebs starting out and for the first two weeks two people are voted off. Last night Angela Rippon and Nadia Sawalha were the first two celebs to leave the program, which in Angela's case was a real shame. The Inspirational story of the night was from Johnson Beharry VC. Johnson Beharry was awarded the Victoria Cross after his actions in 2004 whilst in Iraq. Beharry drove a crippled Army vehicle to safety and then he extracted his wounded comrades from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. Also in 2004 Beharry's vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. Beharry suffered received serious shrapnel injuries to his face and brain. Despite life threatening injuries, he managed to get his vehicle out of danger. He required brain surgery and nearly did not make it. But after an amazing recovery Johnson is now dancing on ice with the other celebs. He is a true inspiration to us all and I wish him well. So I now have twelve weeks of fun and games, laughter and tears to look forward to yayyyyy. I am sure it will be just as good as the previous years. My evening's TV watching ended with 'That Sunday Night Show' with Adrian Chiles, where he and other's take a light hearted look at the weeks news. It seemed a little short at only 30 minutes long, so a little hurried in my opinion.

So here we are and it is another Monday. The canal had another covering of ice on it, this was due to the temperature getting down to at least -2c overnight. All the usual thing's happened like every other morning. Fire's stoked, dog walked, breakfast eaten and e-mails checked. I then donned my rucksack and walked down into the town to buy our fruit and veg. I like to go to Frutas in the town, they have a wide range of fresh fruit and veg, where you can select your own, which is what I love to do. On the way back I called into the basin office to see if we had any mail and had a chat with Deb. When we hopefully move on Wednesday, we will check on her hire boat which is still stranded out in the sticks. If the ice is not to bad I will let Deb's know, so she can go and bring her boat in. Whilst walking back to the boat, I got chatting with our customers about taking on coal before we go on Wednesday. I like to make sure everyone is supplied with fuel, in case we get stuck out in the wilds. Back on the boat, it was then time for lunch, which consisted of Malt Loaf, Cheese and Pickled Onions mmmmmm. As I type this posting I am also looking at the news.

News today.

Congratulations to David and Victoria Beckham who have announced they are expecting their Fourth child. Speculation now is rife as to whether it will be another boy. I would think neither of them will mind as long as the baby is well. (CLICK)

Edinburgh Zoo is to get a couple of Giant Panda's. They will be the first to live in this country for some 17 years. I am sure they will being in a huge crowd. (CLICK)

Haiti one year on from the earthquake and there has not been any changes it seems. Where has all the money donated gone, because the country is still living in rubble. (CLICK). We are living in the 21st century and yet se are still unable to sort out support for a country in desperate need WHY?