Rugby all the way.

Hi Friends.

What a fabulous weekend of sport. Of course if your not a rugby fan then it will have passed you by without any recognition. Saturday’s match Scotland v Ireland, was a brilliant match, with Scotland coming out the winners 27-22. Greig Laidlaw’s face said it all about the win and how much it meant to the team and fans. It was a great way to start the 6 nations. The England v France match in some ways was more brutal and not as pretty, but England kept up their winning streak with a 19-16. I cannot help but feel they will need to do better than they did against France though. Match three was Wales v Italy. the 33-7 score line does not really tell the story of an Italy who really were up for this match and how hard they worked, but in the end the number of penalties they gave away meant Wales got the upper hand in the second-half and a much needed win. If the games were anything to go by, we are in for a great 6 nations.

With the Rugby being on, all jobs got done in the morning over the weekend and then it was Rugby all the way, oh and films. Sunday evening we went and joined in with a pub quiz and got to the dizzy heights of 2nd place out of 7 teams. Last time we played we finished 4th out of 6 teams. The only problem with doing to well, is your expected to keep it up.

Monday morning arrived again, and because of us getting to bed at midnight, I was not awake until 8 am, which for me is late. With it being 8 am I still enjoyed my cup of tea in bed, whilst watching the morning news and weather. Mind you it was so nippy in the back cabin, I did not need Carol Kirkwood to tell me we had a heavy frost over-night and our temperature got down to –3.5 c. Just past 8.30 am Paddy began to stir, so it was time to crawl out from beneath what was a lovely snug duvet and climb into my boat working clothes, because today I was in the mood to get a few jobs done.

Back from walking Paddy, he and Marmite got their breakfast, and I got on with job one, which was to sweep both chimneys. It was a pleasant surprise to find both of them pretty clear. Job two was to take the nappies out from under the floor in the back cabin and in the galley. All the nappies were full of water and ready to be changed. I disposed of them and the cold ash from the stoves in the bin store. I always put our cold ash in old coal bags as we do not have anywhere to put it here on the mooring. Time for coffee and a thought as to what other things I could do. Lunch was put in the stove to cook, we were having left over Chicken stew and Dumplings. I always love Dumplings on a cold day. Whilst I did that, Keith got on with trimming Paddy’s paws. We keep the fir on his feet trimmed and his claws cut. We have done them since the day we got him, although I am thinking I may get the vet to do his claws next time, because he is getting non to happy with me doing them these days. I think it is his old age. Like all men he is getting grumpy (JOKING). With the remains of Paddy’s hair on the floor, it was time to hoover through the boat, which sent Marmite fleeing to the back cabin. She hates the hoover.

After lunch, which was scrummy, I got on with some crochet whilst watching Film4. Oh talking about films, I have become hooked on ‘Game of Thrones’. You may remember I got the first series from a charity shop. Having watched the first series, I decided to get the next three off of Ebay, they should be arriving this week. When we will go out cruising in March, we can sit and watch them as we do not bother with the TV when we are out. We have a large DVD collection, which keeps us amused on miserable days.

Today marks The Queen's Sapphire Jubilee.

It has been 65 years since Her Majesty acceded to the throne.

On 6 February 1952, King George VI sadly died following a prolonged illness. Princess Elizabeth immediately acceded to the throne, becoming Queen Elizabeth II and taking on all of the responsibilities which came with her new title.

In the photograph, The Queen is wearing a suite of sapphire jewellery given to her by King George VI as a wedding gift in 1947.

What an incredible reign this amazing woman has had. I love this new photograph of her, she looks so beautiful. Long may she reign.