First wives club - You don't own me

This is my favourite song at the moment. I heard it a few weeks ago on the House of Fraser advert and I could not think for the life of me where I had heard it before, then a friend told me that it was of course in the film 'First Wives Club'. I actually prefer the version done by Bette Midler, Goldie Horn and Diane Keaton.

Marmite is missing something.

Hi friends.

A few weeks ago Marmite and Paddy went to the vets for their check-up and vaccinations, which they have yearly. On checking Marmites teeth it was discovered she had Gingivitis, which explained her smelly breath for the past few weeks. Marmite has a combination of wet and dry food, this is because if she has dry food alone, it upsets her stomach and whilst we have kept her wet food down to a minimum, it appears this has aided the Gingivitis. The vet gave Marmite a long lasting antibiotic injection and told us if her breath stopped smelling we did not need to take her back. After a few days her breath was smelling much sweeter, which was a great improvement on what it had been like, although because she eats a fish diet, her breath is never wonderful. Her tooth fell out at the beginning of the week and so far she seems non to bothered by the lack of her tooth.

We reckon she will need to go back to the vets in the New Year for some dental work, as she has another lose tooth at the back, but we will keep an eye on her.

Marmite's reaction to losing a tooth, was to sleep on the side bed in the back cabin where the stove would keep her toastie all afternoon. She is not one for being cold or even the slightest bit chilly, so if the stove is lit the back cabin is where you will find her.

 

Wet and windy Thursday.

It is a tad breezy and now raining hard. Great day for doing the inside jobs. I have done the washing, which today was the bed linen. We sleep in our back cabin cross bed, so yes we sleep in a cupboard. It is wonderful, because every morning, I roll the bed up and push it into the cupboard and shut the door. There is no making the bed for me. It is however fun trying to make the bed up having stripped the bedding off for washing. I can see in my later years I am going to have to find new ways of doing the job, but for now I get on with it on my hands and knees. 

Washing done and hung in the back cabin, which now looks like a Chinese Laundry, I then turned my attention to cooking the dinner. Stewing steak, with Mushroom and Carrots. Later on I will add dumplings, which is a must during the Winter months. There is nothing nicer than dumplings all plump and fluffy on top of a stew. Having fried off the Onions and meat, I added the carrots, stock, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Covered it and put it in the oven. The Mushrooms will be added later along with the dumplings. I wish this blog had a smelly button, so you could experience the smell wafting around the cabin right now.

Next task was to put the broom through, to brush up the tumble weed of dog hair floating along the floor. With Mog and Dog shut in the back cabin, I gave the floor a wash as well. The Other half had gone into town, so with the boat to myself, it was great to get these jobs done before he comes home. 

So with my morning sorted out, the afternoon was a lot quieter. I sat knitting my dishcloths and watched films. Mog has lost a tooth and looks a little sorry for herself. 

May I please ask if you are kind enough to leave me a comment, that you put your name on it, because I do NOT publish anonymous comments.... Thank You. 

Happy Hump Day.

Wednesday and we are half way through the week and Christmas is getting closer. I still have cards to finish, but there is plenty of time. Actually there is 16 sleep till Christmas I have just been informed, so maybe I need to get a move on :-). 

This morning I got on with boat jobs. I checked under the floors and put down new disposable nappies to keep the condensation to a minimum. It is amazing how much difference it makes. After that I was in the hold sorting coal out and putting back the shelf under the cratch, which fell down a while ago. With the fires stoked and pets fed all was well in my world. 

It is at times like these, I am so glad I live on a boat. I watched the news with sadness in my heart for all those who have been flooded. Of course living on a boat does not mean we do not have issues when flooding takes place, but at least we float. I cannot imagine what the people flooded out are going through this close to Christmas. My thoughts are with them.

Christmas has arrived in the Saltisford Arm.

Today the Christmas tree went up in the Saltisford Arm. Ian our site manager put the tree up and decorated it. Thank you to James at Barn Close Nurseries for the beautiful tree.

Christmas comes on board.

Hi Folks.

It is that time of year again when the decoration come out on the 1st December and the boat gets decorated.

This year we have a new smaller tree. Sadly our old 3ft tree died at the end of the festive period last year and so this year we have a new 2ft tree. I adore Fairy lights and now we are on a landline over the Winter, I can have them all on over the festivities. 
We always put our decorations up on the 1st December and the festive mood begins to kick in good and proper.