More changes.

Hi Folks.

The one thing about the weather declining into winter, it gives me chance to do lots of yummy cooking in the back cabin stove. I get to cook lots of comfort food. Yesterday after lunch, I cooked up some beef mince, with onions, garlic paste and an oxo cube, after it had cooled I made up a batch of pastry and made us a meat pie for dinner, which was cooked in the back cabin stove.

I also made up some drop scone batter, and made a dozen drop scones for pudding, which we enjoyed with lemon and caster sugar.

I can see we will be putting on a few pounds over this winter if we are not careful. I can feel lots of walking happening on cold crisp days. The evening was spent watching TV with my feet up and Marmite on my lap. At 8pm I laid the bed out, so it could air before bedtime. The fire was allowed to die down, otherwise we would have been sweltering all night.

Both Keith and I had a splendid nights sleep, as I woke up this morning, alls I could hear was the sound of silence. I do so love it out in the countryside. I got up and made us our first cuppa of the day and we sat in bed discussing our options for this winter as far as cruising is concerned. We have not made any fixed plans, but Coventry and the Ashby look like they maybe on our cruising list. I was enjoying a bit of a lie in, but Paddy soon put pay to that. He kept running in and out of the engine room, which meant only on thing, he needed a wee. So I had to get up and take him out, so we went for a stroll down the field. By the time we got back Keith had laid up my breakfast. I relit the back cabin stove after I had swept the chimney. It was then I got on with the days jobs list.

1st job of the day was to rub down and paint the portside galley doors to match the starboard side.

First of all I masked them all up then applied the undercoat. Whilst I waited for the paint to dry, Keith made some running repairs to our front fender.

We are hoping it will last out the winter, we will then put our new fender on for the start of 2012.

After lunch the paintwork was dry enough to put the first coat of red gloss paint.

With the gloss paint drying it was time to do the 2nd job of the day. We both climbed into the hold to make final preparations for our coal delivery this coming Friday at Welford. The delivery will be loose coal,  as we can no longer sell coal, and as it is just for our use, we have decided to buy it loose, rather than bagged, no point in us paying the extra for it to be bagged. We are going to see how it goes. We are hoping that being loose it will fill the hold more efficiently giving us more spare space for storing other things, because we have plans for something else to go into the hold, but need room for it first. I will post on that thing another time, when it happens. We also think it will look better when we attend the “Village at War” weekend at Stoke Bruerne next year, as we doubt very much that coal was bagged in plastic bags during the War! Not only that if we do go to other rallies it will look great.

So that was it for the jobs list today, short and sweet just how I like it. I have tidied the boat and cleaned the bathroom, but as our bathroom is only 2ft x 4ft, it does not take long to clean.

With an hour going spare with nothing to do before cooking dinner, I went out with my camera to see if I could find the family of Kestrels which have been flying near the boat, but despite me walking a good old distance, I could not see them at all. Hopefully I may get a glimpse of them before we leave the mooring tomorrow.

It is now 4.40pm and I have to think about tonight's dinner, so I am off now. Chat soon xx