Busy couple of days.

Hi Friends.

I have had a busy couple of days and no energy to sit and write a posting. My brain went numb to be honest and you really would not want to sit and look at a blank page.

Monday as you read on a previous posting was a bit of a washout weatherwise. Yesterday with no real plans to go shopping, this did happen after more coal deliveries to customers. Keith came up with a plan to eat out at the Angel Hotel with the voucher we were given at Christmas. I did a swift change of clothes, because the Angel Hotel is quite posh and I was covered in coal dust and mud. We sat down to lunch just after 12 noon and did not leave until 1.30pm, this was mainly due to waiting for our Waffle puddings. I never realised Waffles took so long to cook. The food was excellent though, so the wait was not to much of an issue.
After leaving the hotel, we then went to the Army and Navy store because I wanted a new pair of waterproof boots as my ones have developed a split. They did have the same boots I now have, which I absolutely love because they are so comfortable, but they have gone up by over £10 and I was not prepared to shell out £50 for a pair of boots, so we decided to go to the outdoor shop opposite, where hooray I found a pair of waterproof boots for £39, that was a real result and I left the shop with a huge some on my face. With living on and working the boat, I do like to make sure I have good footwear, but I am not going to spend a fortune on something which may only last a year. I am pretty hard on my footwear. We then had a trip to Homebase for some electrical items, so that Keith can put a new plug and socket in for our new TV. Before heading back to the boat, we picked up a few other items. On returning to the boat, I then got a call from a customer who needed coal, so having changed out of my posh clothes and back into my rags, Keith and I unloaded the order and wheeled it to the customer, who very kindly made us both a cup of tea. We enjoyed a lovely chat with Jill and Don, before going back to our boat. Jull and Don will be leaving their winter mooring soon, heading off into the wind bluew yonder, just like us. I cannot believe our coal run is almost at an end for this winter. Keith and I are looking forward to pastures new. Whilst we were down in the town, I spotted this road sign, which clearly needed putting up the right way. It did make me giggle. Maybe your supposed to stand on your head to read it properly LOL.

Today (Tuesday) began with an early wake up call at 5am. Our carbon monoxide alarm was going off in the back cabin above our heads. Keith leapt up and turned it off. I got up to investigate the problem, to find the chimney had become blocked. With the rain we had had, it had washed some of the tar down the chimney which had then set again, closing the gap in the chimney, so the fumes were coming back into the boat. I managed to clear the small blockage and vented the back cabin leaving the doors open for a while. We had a cuppa and then went back to sleep for a couple of hours before getting up properly. Even though I clean our chimneys regularly, it just goes to show blockages can still occur.
On leaving our overnight mooring we paid a visit to the sanitary station. We filled up with water, emptied the cassette and got rid of rubbish, whilst the water tank was being filled we delivered coal to Chrissie and Richard on NB Digitalis. Sadly they had decided to sell up and move to Norfolk. They will be very much missed on the canal by all their floating friends. We are hoping they may get itchy feet and want a trip out with us sometime.
On our way to Foxton, we supplied a couple more customers on route. We are now moored up at Black Horse Bridge waiting for Tesco to come out and bring our food order. Keith is fitting a plug and socket for our new TV and I am about to put the curry I have made in the back stove. Both mog and dog are out for the count, anyone would think they have worked hard this morning.

I am off now as things to do so chat soon xx