Made a move.

I can now get on and paint the other side of the boat. Unfortunately our TV aerial does not reach so no Commonwealth Games for us for a few days. The DVD's will come out later. Both Paddy and Marmite are confused, especially Marmite she has been out and she cannot understand what has happened.

I can now get on and paint the other side of the boat. Unfortunately our TV aerial does not reach so no Commonwealth Games for us for a few days. The DVD's will come out later.

Both Paddy and Marmite are confused, especially Marmite she has been out and she cannot understand what has happened.

I know I have been a little amiss at writing of late, but life seems to take over and I forget to write updates.

Yesterday we said “Cheerio” to Sharon and Richard, who came back into the Arm for a few days, but now are off to pastures new. It was lovely to catch-up with them again.

We also had a visit from Laura and Robin off Miss Matty. We first met them both a few years ago now at the Little Venice Cavalcade. We won the trophy for the best dressed boatman and woman and the following year Laura and Robin won it. 

Laura and Robin were very fortunate to win it again this year, so they bought the silver plate back to show us and of course to have a cuppa and a natter with us. Such a lot of catching up with friends has been done over the past few months, it has been amazing.

I now have to go again “sorry”. I have paintwork which needs attention. I will however be back so do not feel to sad .

Made in into the Warwick Courier.

With the Arm winning the Community Gardens section of Warwick in Bloom. We all made it into the Warwick Courier.

http://www.warwickcourier.co.uk/news/local-news/warwick-puts-on-its-own-show-ahead-of-regional-competition-1-6185587

Congratulations to Team Saltisford Arm.

Tomatoes and a strange colour sky.

A while a go I said I would post photographs of our Tomatoes and so here they are so far. We are looking forward to them going Red and tasting them.

Having watered the garden and the pots, it began to rain and the sky turned an amazing colour.

With it came a Rainbow.

The extra water will not only do the gardens good but also the lawns here, because they are looking a tad dry.

Before retreating back into the boat, these visitors arrived on Wendy’s wheel behind her boat.

Then along came another mum with her one duckling.

It was their turn to stand on the wheel.

Nature is such a wonderful thing and I never get tired of seeing ducklings.

Saltisford Arm Wins Warwick in Bloom.

Today the Saltisford Arm won Warwick in Bloom Community Award.

I took over looking after the Sensory Garden and raised beds in the arm in October for something to do whilst we are not moving. With the help of Jack, Maria and others we managed to get the Sensory Garden and Orchard looking at its best for judging this morning.

Jack and I.

The chairman Nigel Hamilton was then rung with the news that we had won the category. As you can imagine we are so very excited.

This afternoon the local paper has been and taken photographs for the Warwick Courier which comes out Friday.

Warwick Thai Festival.

Last night at Warwick Castle it was proms at the castle and in the arm we were treated to the display by a Spitfire. Unfortunately it was raining lightly, but never the less I stood outside and watched the majestic plane swooping across the sky.

Today it was the turn of the Thai Festival.

With the Warwick Thai Festival East meets West once again as the popular annual event returns to the town centre, with Market Place filled with the spiced aromas of eastern cooking and music of the orient. It was our fist visit to the event and we will definitely go again.

The Mayoress officially opened the festival, having walked from the Castle up Swan Street and into the Market Square, where crowds had gathered to join in with the Thai celebrations.

Warwick has a long association with Thailand after helping with the tsunami appeal and in 2012 the Rotary Club was able to provide an extra dialysis machine.

During the day there was to be cookery classes, Thai Boxing and dancing with music also thrown in and of course lots of food.

There were plenty of craft stalls.

The food stalls smelt amazing, so amazing that we had lunch from one of them. Keith had Thai Green Curry with noodles and I had Chicken and Cashew Nuts with Rice, both meals were £5 and extremely filling. If you had never eaten Thai food before, it was a great way to sample the food.

There was something for everyone and none of it overly expensive, which makes a nice change when going to a festival. By the time we were ready to come home the Market Place was heaving with people, children and dogs. Why on earth you would want to take your dog to something like this I have no idea. They would have been much happier at home.

Our Birthday Girl.

Seven years ago marmite came into the world and 12 weeks later she came into our lives.

Since having her part of our boats crew there has never been a dull moment. Lots of laughter, scratching and of cause biting, especially every morning when we play fight on the bed as I try to but the bed away.

Happy Birthday Marmite.xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gentle walk and surprise visitors.

Our day began like most others of late with a cup of tea in bed and the BBC news on the TV. 8 am I was up and ready to take Paddy out for his morning jaunt.

After doing a few jobs, I suggested we take a walk over to the racecourse. We have walked down alongside one part of it, but we have never walked around it or on to St. Mary Lands. St Mary Lands, The Lammas Field and The Saltisford Common , have a recorded history going back at least 800 years. It is an area that Warwickshire District Council want to build houses on. It would be a shame to lose such a wonderful area of natural beauty. Various photos of views, flora and fauna. There is an on-line petition against this scheme.

We walked from the arm up to the Jubilee Wood, which took us on to the racecourse.

The site is a wonderful site it has around 57 acres of grassland with ridge and furrow areas and small ponds. 

There is a fabulous view of the town and racecourse. In the centre is the Warwick Golf Course, which was busy.

The jumps on the course are huge, but beautifully made.

The racecourse stands in the distance.

There is also plenty of wildlife. The Skylarks were singing over head, with the House Martins swooping along the top of the grasses catching bugs on the wing. Even though there were lots of dog walkers, golfers and the caravan club about, it was a haven of peace and tranquility.

It would be such a shame if all of this and more was lost forever.

After such a lovely walk, we walked back to the boat via the Jubilee Wood, over the railway and back into the arm. I made us some Chilli Chicken and Rice for lunch.

During the afternoon I was nattering to our neighbour and who should turn up.

It was Keith and Ann off of NB Oakfield. It was such a fabulous surprise, because we were not expecting them. The kettle went on and we sat out on the pontoon nattering away. I reckon we whiled away a good couple of hours, catching up on news and their trips. With us not moving this year, it is fabulous seeing so many friends and hearing all their cruising news. I think we also managed to put the world to right, but at no time were toilets mentioned .

All to soon it was time for Keith and Ann to go, as they wanted to go into the town, so we said our “Goodbyes” and waved them on their way. Hopefully we will see them again soon.

We have been so fortunate to have seen so many wonderful friends, who have taken the time to pop in and see us on their travels. It really has meant so much to Keith and I, because we are missing not being on the move. But look out for us next year, because we will be out on the cut.

Home grown for lunch.

Today we had some home frown Runner Beans and New Potatoes for our lunch. The potatoes were grown on our pontoon in a bag. Unfortunately it was not as successful as we had hoped, but still we have enough potatoes for three sittings, so not all bad. Hopefully the garden grown potatoes will produce more delightful produce.

Small beginnings and brand new jackets.

As your probably aware by now from reading my ramblings, the garden is my sanctuary this year with us not moving. I am so pleased to see we have Runner beans taking shape and if the amount of flowers is anything to go by, we will be eating Runner Beans till Christmas at least.

They are small at the moment, but it will not be long before I will be pulling them. Thankfully we have a number of Ladybirds in our garden, because the black fly seem to be in abundance at the moment.

We also have tomatoes growing, I will post a photograph of them when they are a little bigger.

Dwarf Beans are rampant at the moment and there are flowers on them as well.

Lettuce are almost ready for cutting and the Carrots and Spring Onions although a little thin on the ground are coming on nicely.

Keith’s Peppers are showing signs of producing a crop. They have taken a long time to get going, but finally we have something growing.

At the weekend myself and Jacky spent a day working on the sensory garden.

We planted grasses in touch garden.

More colour has gone into the colour section and scented plants in the scented area.

I staked all the Fennel in the taste garden.

The Aural garden still needs work on it, but it will do for now and we have the judging coming up next week for Warwick in Bloom. Jacky and I worked so hard and so we hope it was all worth it.

I still have the other raised beds to sort out, but I will just tidy them up and we will all tackle them over the Winter.

Today, Keith had his Physio appointment at the hospital. We got there early and Keith waited his turn. At 11am his appointment time he was called in. Warwick Hospital is amazing at keeping to their appointment times. The exercises he has always done for his back are still in fashion, but the Physio did give him some more to do. Afterwards we decided to catch the bus into Leamington Spa for some lunch at our favourite Chinese Buffet. We are both in need of new Waterproof jackets before the Winter and with the sales on we thought it was a good time to look. So we popped into Black’s which is closing down checked out their prices and then into Yeoman’s and Trespass. We then bought 2 jackets from Yeoman's, marked as £20 each, but got them both for £30, second half price deal. Now that is what I call a bargain. Nothing more to do we caught the buss back to the boat and sat down for a much needed coffee.