Whether you are near or far, I wish you all the very best for 2017. May it bring you joy, health and happiness.
We do not go over board for New Years Eve. We will celebrate it on the boat with a glass or possibly two at midnight, well that is if we can stay awake. Long gone are the days when we would want to go out partying. To be honest I cannot remember ever going to a New Year's Eve party. Neither of us are the partying type. I can see no reason to go out and get drunk, which then means you feel rubbish New Years Day and you cannot remember what you did the night before. Of course this could be an age thing, I like to think I am just sensible 😁.
On the 1st January our boy turns 13 years old. In doggie years that would be 91 years old. He nearly died on us a couple of years ago, so to still have him with us now is amazing. Of course he is looking his age.
Only last night he stood in the galley and was away with the fairies for sometime. This appears to be happening more and more of late. He is happy and still doing well on his feeding. His weight has gone up a little and so whilst he appears to be doing alright we will keep him with us. There will be no celebration treats for Paddy though, because he has a delicate tum, but he will know its his Birthday.So here we are New Years Eve and it is just another day. This morning I got off to a late start. I did not wake until 8 am, so was behind before I started. Paddy got his walk and I then fed him and mog, before we had toast for our breakfast. The stove in the saloon had been smoking a bit and the CO alarm was showing read when I open the door to stoke up the fire, so I decided to check the flue. Now with it being New Years Eve, I decided to wear a skirt, so cleaning the flue in a skit was going to be challenging. I did manage to climb up on the roof with the flue brush and began the job of trying to clean the flue, but the brush was going no where, so there was only one way of doing it and that was to put my arm up the flue from the inside, to see if I could feel the blockage. With the fire still going, this was not only a warm task, but also a smokey one. I opened all the doors and windows before getting down to find the blockage. Having taken out the baffle plate, I soon discovered that there was a soot blockage, which was restricting the flue. The smoke not only filled the room but my eyes as well. Yeah I know the sensible think to do, would have been to let the fire go out, but since when have I ever been sensible 😃. I managed to clear the blockage, but ended up smelling like a flue and covered in tar. I then climbed back onto the roof of the boat and got the flue brush all the way down the flue, hooray job done. Of course with any mess comes the clear-up, which was soon done and I then got myself sorted out. With that job done, I then did a laundry wash in the Arm's laundry. I got to sit in peace and quiet for 30 minutes. We have a good selection of books in the laundry, so I got to look through some and came home with a nature and wildflower book.
With the time pressing on, we decided to then walk into town to pick up a couple of things and to have lunch in Wetherspoons, this saved me cooking lunch. Back home the Tv went on, feet up and time for New Years Eve films.