Another day closer.

Hi Folks.

Are you ready?

Is the shopping done, because we are another day closer to Christmas. Christmas came early on board Hadar, with an early present.

Oh dear it seems I snore arghhhhh. I am not known for my snoring normally, but Keith prodded me twice in the night, because apparently I was snoring. I can only put it down to the fact I am a little bunged up at the moment due to the damp weather. Keith it has to be said was also snoring, but instead of prodding him, I just turned over, which made him move as well. I come from a family where my father snored very loudly, so loud that he could be heard from one end of the house to the other and when I was a child we lived in a long house. I remember my mother taped him one, to prove to him that he snored, but he would still not have it that he made such a din. Gosh tapes, who remembers those? They were a flippin pain when the tape got tangled up and you could always guarantee that it would happen you your favourite tape. CD's is a huge improvement, as it the MP3 player. I am not into the i-pod thingy. Anyway enough of that, having woken up later this morning, I heard a boat go past with a lovely sounding pop, pop engine this was about 8am, so as I was awake I got up and made us both a cup of tea, which as per-usual was enjoyed in bed, I also sorted out the back cabin stove.

Talking of stoves, remember to regularly sweep the chimney and also check that your smoke alarms and CO2 detector alarms are working properly. Yesterday a boater had a lucky escape, when their dog kept barking frantically up and down the boat trying to wake them up, which eventually he did. Through the night smoke had been seeping into the cabin. If it had not been for their dog, neither of them would be here today. So do not delay do the checks, it may just save your life. I also read in the new Towpath Talk that a boater had a lucky escape, having removed the batteries from their alarms. Life is way to short as it it, why make it even shorter???

With all the morning jobs done, Keith and I went off to see Tony and Paul Redshaw to discuss silencers for our inbuilt generator. The silencer we have does the job, but we would like to get it a little quieter if possible. We spent about an hour chatting to Tony and Paul about all sorts of things, including the silencer which will be looked at in the new year. We then went on to Midland Chandlers to have a look for a few things, whilst there we asked about a freezer we had seen on their website. Now whilst they did not have what we were looking for, they did have another freezer which would do the job, they were also prepared to do us a good deal on it as it is Christmas. Having ummmmed and arghhhed we came to the decision it was exactly what we wanted, so I did the deed and paid the Philco PHCT36FZ.

We said we would collect it after lunch with our trolley. On the way back to the boat, we called on Keith and Ann on NB Oakfield, but there was no one about, hopefully we will see them before Christmas. Back on the boat I made us some lunch, we then got on with moving the tumble drier from its home and into the hold, because the new freezer was going to take its place. Keith then put in the wiring for the new freezer which runs off of 12volt. We then made our way round to Midland Chandlers, collected the new freezer and made our way back to the boat, where we unpacked the freezer from its box. Keith and I then man handled the freezer into the engine room and through to the galley. Keith wired it up, switched it on and now we are waiting for it to freeze. The new freezer is such a welcome edition to the boat, because it means I can take on more frozen food, which means more supplies. We already have the Shoreline fridge/freezer, which has been excellent, but I have always wanted extra freezer space and now I have it.

I spoke of Towpath Talk earlier in the posting, well I sent them a photograph of ice on the canal and it has appeared in their gallery, so thank you to them for posting it.

With the new freezer purring away, I then got on with cooking some Liver and Onions for dinner, this will be had with mashed potato and vegetables.

Chat soon xx