Baking Sunday.

Hello Friends and Followers.

Sunday and I have been watching the runners doing The London Marathon. I have total admiration for anyone who runs that race. I do not have the knees or legs for running, let alone doing a marathon, so well done to everyone who took part. I hope you all raised a lot of money for your charities.

My Sunday was much more sedate. I began my morning with the usual things, I then put a coat of blue gloss on the pigeon box, which is coming a long nicely now.

Painting done, it was time to bake. I made fruit scones and a coffee sponge, so we will eat well this week. I enjoy baking, but I do not do as much as I used to. There is something nice about baking my own cakes.

The flowers my friend gave me are still going strong and the smell is sublime. We have the scent of the flowers and my baking permeating around the boat.

Whilst putting the paint from the pigeon box away in our bunker, I discovered we had lodgers in the form of Wasps. I find their constructions incredible, but sadly it could not stay in our bunker, so Keith took the nest down. I hope they find a better home else where.

I was out with my camera and spotted the first baby Robin in the Arm this year. I had seen the parents close by and then spotted this little one. You can see the rest of my photographs from today on my other BLOG.

I always think of Sunday as a day of rest, but in fact I think we all probably do more than in the week. I suppose it is a day when you can relax and do the things you want to do and not have to think about work. I am fortunate I do not have work to go to, but I still keep myself very busy, so Sunday is a day to relax and enjoy some me time.

What a Birthday.

Hello Friends and Followers.

Well that is it for another year. I am now a year older and whether I am wiser we will see over the coming, days, weeks and months. One thing is certain, I had a lovely Birthday.

During the morning we went to Wylies Tearoom, because I felt as it was my Birthday I needed cake and Wylies Tearoom does some of the best homemade cakes. I went for their Lemon Drizzle Layered Cake and Keith had Coffee and Walnut Cake and we were not disappointed. We have been in Warwick for over 3 years and this was our first visit to the tearooms in the centre of Warwick. It will not be our last.

Wylies Tearoom is tucked away down a tiny side street. It isn't shabby chic or faux vintage, it is genuinely old, complete with original range odd shaped rooms and peeling paint, but what a find. Yes it's small, unsuitable for buggies etc, and the toilet is outside but the excellent service and a food. In the background the theme to Dr. Finley's casebook and Steptoe and sons is playing in the background, I loved it.

You can keep your Costa’s, Starbucks and Nero’s Wylies is the place to go.

After a quiet afternoon of doing nothing, we headed out for the evening to Warwick Spice. down Smith Street.

This Indian has an excellent reputation and as we like to try new places we thought we would give it a go. It is definitely advisable to book as we did, because it gets very busy.

The food was sublime and the service was excellent. We both had the House Special Biryani as our main and oh my goodness it was amazing. It had Prawn, Chicken and Lamb in it and the Lamb just melted in the mouth. Dessert was a chocolate and mint pudding all washed down with a bottle of White wine. A fantastic evening was had and we will be going again. Warwick Spice is popular with celebrities. In May Willie Thorne the snooker player will be there to help our Molly Olly’s Wishes Charity. Warwick Davis has also eaten at the restaurant, although no celebrities were in last night.

 

For my Birthday I had some lovely cards and these flowers from my good friend and adopted Sister Jack. Keith and I do not bother with presents these days as we only have so much room on our boat and there is no room for useless things. But we always enjoy a nice meal out.

We share a Birthday.

Hello Friends and Followers.

Today I share my Birthday with the Queen, so I wish her Majesty a Very Happy Birthday. I do not have all the pomp and ceremony she has to go through, but I will be making the most of my Birthday.

I am not getting older, I am just getting wiser and happier in my shell. I think a woman grows with age, she becomes more confident and takes no crap from anyone. So if you share a Birthday with me and the Queen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY one and all.

Gardening and Pigeon Box.

Hello Friends and Followers.

Goodbye to the Easter break and hello to another week of stunning weather. It has been just like Summer on our mooring, the only let down has been the chilly nights. But I will take the sunshine at the moment, because I have gotten a lot of gardening done, although the ground is now very dry, so I am having to water. If I could order the weather, I would ask for it to rain at night when I am fast asleep and then the rest of the day we have warming sunshine. I do not want blistering heat, just enough to warm my ageing bones. Unfortunately ordering the weather has not been invented yet, so until it is we will all just have to put up with what we get. The garden is now pretty much weed free until tomorrow, when I just know weeds will have grown overnight and will be stand large and proud announcing they have come to ruin my flower patches. Have you ever noticed that weeds always grow no matter the time of year?

Today I had a plan to do a bit of painting. Our pigeon box had been bugging me, because it was going rusty in places and needed attention. I kept looking at it and putting it off, but today I could look no more without actually doing something about the rust, so after lunch I began stripping it down.

One of the pieces of glass had a large crack across it, so Keith and I removed the porthole surround and glass. Underneath the surround it was rusty, so that got a good rub down with my small triangular sander. I then rubbed down the rest of the pigeon box, making sure the rusty spots got special attention.

The inside of the box was painted with Hammerite Smooth Black paint, which is what I have taken to using on the inside. It covers up a the rusty bits really well and is long lasting and that is my excuse and I am sticking to it. Once the two coats had dried, I began painting Red Oxide on the other remaining rubbed down part of the box and tomorrow I will begin undercoating the Pigeon box and hopefully bringing it back to life. Of course with painting the Pigeon box, I then started looking at the slide, which also needs painting, but that will have to wait until the Pigeon box is done. With no Pigeon box on the roof, I found a piece of board to cover the hole and some tarpaulin to cover the board, in case it should rain.  That was my job done for the day.

News on our poorly Generator. It is still poorly, but we are making progress I think. Simon came and looked at it yesterday. He did some tests on the circuit board and he thinks it is definitely electrical, but needs to confirm it with the stockists down in Plymouth. With it being Easter we suspect they are on a weeks break, because no one is answering their phone, so we will have to wait a bit longer before we head off out again. It is just as well Keith and I are patient people .

Bank Holiday Monday and Allergies.

Hello Friends and Followers.

So how was your Easter?

My Easter was quiet and most definitely not action packed, which is kind of nice, but then we all like some excitement in our lives. The most exciting thing that happened to me was going to the pub quiz. There were six of us on our team and for a few rounds we were leading the other 5 teams. But then on the last category which was sport, four teams played their jokers and therefore over took us. Hey ho never mind 5th was not to bad, at least it was not last. We played a blinder on the picture round, having got 23 out of 27 right. I am pretty good on the picture round although I do say so myself. One of the questions in the Music round was about dances in song titles and who sang the song. So it went like this ‘Yes Sir I can ………’ the answer was of course BOOGIE, but then I was struggling with the group. The only way to remember it was to sing the song and eventually it popped out of thin air into my head that the group was Baccara. It is amazing the information I retain in my distant memory. Long may that bit continue.

Did you over indulge on the Easter Egg front?

I only ate my chocolate bunny, I still have my egg to go and I should not forget the chocolate buttons. I should not eat to much chocolate because of my Nickel allergy, but with it being Easter, I will indulge a little and probably pay for it later. Oh you did not know that there are copious amounts of Nickel in Chocolate, the same goes for tea as well, they are the two biggest offender.

How do I know this you ask?

I have an allergy to Nickel. Many people have a Nickel allergy. You know that you can have a reaction to wearing cheap jewellery or the buttons on jeans etc, well that is a Nickel allergy. Mine is more pronounced, because I have it internally as well, which makes my insides very sore and therefore makes me poorly. This was diagnosed back in the early 2000’s, when I had a skin reaction to something, which covered Seventy percent of my body, I was quite a sight. Anyway I had thirty six patch test done on my back and within half an hour my back was raw due to the micropore tape and my allergy to that as well. It was then they also discovered I had this pronounced Nickel allergy with three other things. I was given a diet sheet by the nutritionist, which told me what I could and could not eat. There was nothing exciting on this list to eat, it was bland, bland and more bland. So Keith and I went on a mission to find out what foods I could and could not eat.

The list that I could not eat, was much greater than the list I could eat, which was a little depressing, because I loved most of the things on the No No list.

Chocolate/Cocoa Powder. ...
Cashews. ...
Kidney Beans. ...
Green leafy vegetables. ...
Legumes especially dried beans and lentils.
Bean sprouts also have a high nickel content.
Whole wheat and multigrain flours are high in nickel content. ...
Nuts almonds, hazlenuts and peanuts.
Tinned food uncooked, such as fruit.
Spices and Herbs
Porridge Oats.
Tea.
Low Fat Spreads.

The list was endless and this caused a problem, because what was I going to eat. The Nutritionist came up with my diet sheet and then agreed it was so bland and uninteresting, so we came up with a compromise. I could eat small amount of all the things I love, like chocolate, curry etc, but not all at once and every day. So if I have a Porridge for breakfast, Curry for lunch, Chocolate and lots of tea in one day I will be seriously sore for weeks, but if I spread them out of weeks, that is fine and it has pretty much worked over the years. As for the skin side of it, I still get flare-ups every now and again, but on the whole I have it under control. But there are of course a lot of things in every day life which has Nickel in such as money, kitchen utensils, cutlery, scissors, needles, pins, belt buckles, jeans buttons again the list is endless, but I have learnt to live with it.

So chocolate at Easter is a treat for me. I used to eat a lot of the stuff, but these days I am a good girl. For anyone with allergies you learn to cope and live with it. I do not let my allergies rule my life. In the test done they also discovered I am allergic to Cobalt, Thiuram and Neomycin.

So, where might you find cobalt?
Cobalt-colored glass
Cobalt-colored varnish
Cobalt-colored porcelain / pottery
Cobalt-colored enamels
Metal objects (anything from kitchen utensils to items in the medical field)
Vitamin B12
Polyester resin
Cement
Wet clay
Antiperspirants
Magnets
Batteries
Tattoos
Hair dye (light brown shades)
in minerals (smaltite and erythrite).

Thiuram, which is an accelerator used in the processing of natural and synthetic rubbers.

So, where might you find Thiuram ?
Balloons
Elastic bands
Garden hoses and gloves
Kitchen gloves
Pillows and mattresses
Rubber gloves
Rubber handles (e.g. bicycles, car steering wheel)
Rubber kitchen utensils
Elastic in underwear and swimwear
Rubber boots
Sport shoes
Slippers
Rubber insoles of shoes
Elasticised waistbands.

Again the list is endless, but you live with it. I even have my own gloves for the dentist to use when I go for an appointment.

Neomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic found in many topical medications such as creams, ointments, and eye drops. This all adds up to fun when you go into hospital. For anyone going through allergies, it becomes a way of life. In the 1990’s I spent three weeks wrapped up like a mummy because of my allergies and whilst I laugh about it now, at the time it was not funny at all, but that is a whole new story.

Back to Bank Holiday Monday. It was been a busy day boat wise, with boats coming and going. There has been a lot of walkers as well enjoying what has turned out to be a dry and warmish day. It all gets back to normal tomorrow.

Happy Easter.

Hi Friends and Followers.

I hope your Easter Sunday is proving to be a lovely one?

My Easter Sunday is a very relaxed affair. I have an Easter Bunny and a Chocolate Egg to indulge in later on. I am not a particularly religious person, but one cannot help but think of the reasons behind Easter and its celebration. It is not all about Chocolate eggs, despite what the shops would have us think. Like Christmas, Easter has become way to commercialised for my liking. But that is just my opinion.

Who watched Britain’s Got Talent?

If you did not, I suggest you go and watch it on catch-up, because it was totally amazing. Those to look out for are The Missing People’s Choir, which had me in tears, 8 year old Ned Woodman was very funny, Sarah Ikumu gave a rendition of And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going and blew the judges away, she is extremely talented. The whole program was very good last night, including where the dogs decided to wee on stage. There always has to be a dog moment.

Being a Sunday and Easter, I have done very little, I did bake some Scones, because our cake box is empty. But a part from that, I ate chocolate and watched TV. I know boring, I will try and post more exciting things.

Could you live on a Canal Boat?

Hello Friends and Followers.

It is Easter Saturday, have you bought your Easter Eggs and Bunnies?

What does Easter mean to you?

The title of this post is from an article The Daily Mail has written on their online page. I like to read these sorts of articles, to mainly pick fault with what they have written, because more often than not they have not done their research. On the whole this article is very good, but it does not tell the down side of living on a boat and it does not tell people to take a holiday on one first, before spending the persons hard earned money on a boat and then finding out they hate it, which I know has happened on many occasions. Like a car a boat goes down in value no sooner you move it. People should never think that living on a boat is a cheaper way of living, because it is not always the case. I would be interested to know what you think about the article?

Thursday’s mutterings.

Hello Friends and Followers.

What not to do?

Do not leave the toilet seat up when having a wash, because you will lose the soap into the toilet cassette. This is a note to everyone. Last night this is what happened to Keith. Our basin in our tiny bathroom is behind our toilet and whilst he was washing, the soap slipped out of hands and flew into the toilet and down into the cassette. Keith was all for fishing the soap out with a plastic bag over his hand, but I said don’t worry about it, I will get it out when I empty the cassette, which is what I did this morning when I emptied the cassette.

Being a Thursday it was food shopping day, so whilst Keith went off to Aldi at 9 am, I made a mental note on my to do list for the morning. First job after the usual morning jobs, was to give our freshly cleaned flue a brush, before making the fire up for the day. There is a keen breeze, so I am keeping the stove in for a bit longer. Second job was to empty the cassette and throw away the soap which saw fit to fly into the toilet. I then put the hoover round and washed the floors. Both Paddy and Marmite never like being anywhere near the hoover, when it is going. I have no idea why they do not like the hoover, because they have never been frightened by it, but both like to head for the back cabin whilst I do my clean-up. Once that was done, the floors then got a wash over with a damp cloth. The joys of having laminated flooring is the fact that they are easy to wash. I remember on our old boat, we had carpet in the saloon and lino in the galley. The carpet was a nightmare, especially when you have a wet dog and clothing and it was also hard to keep clean. We made the decision that with Hadar we would have laminated flooring throughout and lino in the back cabin.

I like to wear hair hands with my hair being long. I cannot wear the elastic ones, they never stay in place, so I buy plastic ones, usually from Claire’s Accessories. Last year I bought a material covered hairband, but have not worn it much, as it did not really go with what I wear and it had a bow on it, so I decided that I would recover it, with some fabric I had in my sewing box and I added a button for detailing. I am pretty chuffed with my effort and I will now wear it.

10 am coffee time, with the chance to catch-up on e-mails and Facebook.. I was never one who was into Facebook. Keith went on it first in order to keep in touch with his family, I then followed suit and set up my account. I must admit I do love the fact I can keep in touch with family and friends, it also helps when meeting up with boating friends. The one thing that drives me mad is people airing their political views. That is not why I use Facebook, so if people feel the need to push their political views on me, they will get muted. Also anyone who sees fit to air their hate for others who are my friends will get blocked. I am all for friendship and none confrontation where ever possible.

11 am Keith arrives home laden down with food goodies. I made him a much needed coffee and then I stowed the items away, which he caught his breath before lunchtime. During the morning along with my running jobs list, I also cooked meatballs in pasta sauce, which we would have with Spagetti. It is a favourite of ours. After lunch, Keith headed off on the bus to Tesco to get a few items that he could not get at Aldi. Marmite’s fish cannot be bought at Aldi and they had no Liver, so with his bus pass he went off again. Having a bus pass is an amazing thing, and I cannot wait to get mine. That is of course if they are still doing them when I reach 60 years of age. I know one should not wish ones life away, but it would be nice for us both to have them, so we can go out together for free.

After a busy old morning, I felt like being like Marmite.

This was her after lunch. Anyone would think she had worked hard. I took a leaf out of her book and lounged. Not on the shelf like her, but in my chair and watched films. Dwayne Johnson has come along way since he gave up wrestling. He was The Tooth Fairy. I wonder if this was what he had planned when he gave up the ring? To be far he is a pretty good actor.

It is the Easter Weekend and the roads and canals will be heaving, so I know where I am better off this weekend.

New Mops.

Hi Friends and Followers.

I have finished them. Two brand new mop poles and heads. I finished painting the poles yesterday (Monday) and today was head day.

The long mop head is made up from an old fleece which did belong to Keith, but was no longer any good. He has since bought another fleece, so he is not without a warm fleece. I like a bit of recycling. The small mop head was given to me by my neighbour Maria and has now also been recycled. The old mops will not be wasted, I will find another use for them.

A Certain Age.

Hi Friends and Followers.

On my Facebook page this morning, the picture below appeared.

What are your memories of typing classes? I remember it well, we had a Miss Lawrence for our classes and oh boy was she strict.  Asdfg. Now repeat she would bark. We would also have to type with the keys covered arghhh. I cannot remember what typewriters we used, but clearly those lessons taught me nothing much because I still only use two fingers to type.

This got me thinking about school days. I went to three schools. Two Infants schools and one Secondary school and I pretty much enjoyed my time at them all.

I was only at my first school for a short period of time, because there were not enough children attending, so the school was closed and we had to move to the school in the next village. The first school is now a dwelling. My second Infant school is still going strong and has expanded. We had a lovely head mistress I remember. Then it was time to go to secondary school and that was a huge shock, because of the size of the place and all the extra children and teachers. I did enjoy school even though I was not particularly academic, I am more of a hands on person. I had some nice enough teachers, although when you are being taught by them you do not always see it that way. Mr Pascoe was my English teacher, he was very much old school, so girls were known by their first name and boys by their surname. Mr Salter was my Maths teacher and try as he may, he could not teach me algebra, even with extra lessons, it went in one ear and out of the other and over my head. French was Mr Green, History Mr Rogers, Drama Mr Jones, PE Mrs Woolly, Music Mr Sawyer. My favourite teacher was Miss Hack who taught me Cookery in which I got an A+ and I will always be thankful to her for her support. I am still in touch with school friends, who are scattered across the world. I do not think I would want to be at school today, there are to many pressures on children and yet I am sure we thought the same when we were at school.

So here I am now in my mid Fifties and I have not done bad for myself, even though I did not do that well in my CSE exams. Once you hit Fifty some think you are over the hill and so you get adverts for incontinence pants, wrinkle creams, stair lifts and walking sticks. Fifty plus is most definitely not over the hill and I personally do not require any of the aforementioned just yet. I do not dye my hair, or need plastic surgery. I recently sent for my Pension Forecast and was told I need to pay in for another six years if I want to get the full pension. WHAT……. A few years ago, I was told I was fully paid up, but because of changes in the rules, I now have to give the government more money or be penalised when I retire at the age of 66, which should be in 2029. Oh my goodness, that seems like such a long time off, but it is actually getting closer and quicker than I think. There is actually petition ongoing to get the women’s retirement age bought back down to 60. The campaign has been started by Margaret Rimington . I am lucky that I do not work, I live off my husbands pension and we manage just fine, but why should women have to wait for their pension? After all many have worked all their lives to retire at 60 and then to enjoy what is left of their lives doing the things they want to do. The further away they push the retirement age, the more likely many women will not live long enough to receive their pension. I have signed the petition. Not just for me but for every woman out there.

Weigh-in Day.

Hello Friends and Followers.

After a stunning weekend of warm weather, today’s was such a contrast, it was cold and overcast to begin with. The cabin was a tad chilly when we woke up, this was definitely being felt by Marmite, because she was curled up on the bottom of the bed and looked sorry for herself. Mind you the expression on her face may have had something to do with her going walkabout yesterday evening. The evening film was Bad Bosses with Jennifer Aniston. What a load of rubbish that film is. Smutty, bad language and badly written comes to mind. It was so bad that I went to bed instead of watching it. Jennifer Aniston is so much better than this and has done way better movies. Why she lowered herself to this tat I have no idea. Money perhaps?

Come 7pm it was beginning to get chilly so I bought Marmite in and closed the boat up or so I thought. Over the galley doors I had a net curtain and I thought the perspex window was in, but it was not and so Marmite found a way out. It was not until about an hour later, I realised she was missing. I went out to see if I could find her. On calling her name, she came sauntering along the path as if nothing had happened.

I was just pleased she had not gone far, because we have a busy road along side the Arm. I picked her up and carried her back on to the boat, she was less than impressed at having to go inside. I just wondered what she had been thinking whilst she was having her wander around the Arm.

Anyway back to today (Monday). After a warming brew and a watch of the morning news, it was time to climb out from beneath a rather cosy duvet to take Paddy for his morning walk. On returning to the boat, one of my first jobs for the day was to rub down and undercoat a couple of patches on the bow, where we had taken the paint off going into or out of a lock coming down the Hatton Flight. With the paintwork left to dry, I got on and made some coffee and contemplated my next job. The back cabin needed a good old tidy-up. I have been putting it off, as the floor needs to come up to put the new prop shaft bolts on when they arrive, but I could not look at the dust and untidiness any longer, so I made a start on the back cabin before cooking us some lunch. Today was Chilli and Rice, with fresh fruit and yogurt for pudding.

The temperature outside was still not picking up and inside the boat it was even chillier, so having swept the flue yesterday (Sunday), I re-lit the fire, so that Keith could take his thick fleece off. Keith feels the cold much easier these days.

After lunch and doing the fire, I walked Paddy up to the vets for his weigh-in. He was last weighed in February when he came in at 16.1 kg, which is his heaviest since 2015. The walk to the vets only takes about 10 minutes if you walk along the towpath, but you have to go past a paddock with horses and their guard dogs. There is usually two Alsatians behind fencing and they always give me the Willy’s, because I am sure one of these days they will get through the fence. Paddy always ignores them, but I do wonder what I would do if they ever got out and came at us. Paddy loves going to the vets and he knows he gets weighed, so stands on the scales and waits to be told to get off. Today he weighed in at 15.6 kg, so a drop in weight, which I was not expecting. The problem with Paddy is, he will not over eat. I have tried putting his food up gradually until he was having two cups, but he got wise to the extra food and stopped eating it. I then had to bring it back down to the cup and a half and he was happy to eat it again. I am going to have to try another tack, to get him to eat more, because I do not want him losing anymore weight.

The rest of my afternoon was spent nattering, it is something boaters do so well. There is nothing nicer than chatting with like minded people, even if the conversation ends up with talking about toilets. You can always guarantee that you will also put the world to right.

My day will concluded with a nice hot shower, dinner, coffee and feet up for the evening.

Chim chiminey

Hello Friends and Followers.

One could be forgiven for thinking Summer has arrived, because Saturday was glorious and today Sunday has been amazing.

After a leisurely cup of tea in bed, it was hard to lie in bed looking at the sun shining through the pigeon box portholes and not be outside enjoying it. So 8 am it was up and about. Paddy got his walk first and then he and Marmite got fed. I was then off the boat sorting out the mop poles, which were ready for their final coat of white paint. Yesterday I put the first coat of white gloss on and today I wanted to get them finished, so I can add their heads. After the painting was done, I spent a good hour chatting to our neighbour, we of course managed to out the whole world to right and enjoyed a lot of laughs along the way.

After a much needed coffee, I decided that with the saloon stove out, it was the perfect opportunity to sweep the flue and clean out the stove, because we are having chillier weather next week if the forecasters are right. I climbed onto the roof of the boat and rammed the flue brush down. The thinner brush went down fine, but my larger brush, just would not go past midway. Brainwave was to sweep it from inside the boat. Hoover at hand and thinner brush pushed up the chimney, I hit a major snag. The brush was well and truly stuck and no amount of pulling and wiggling was going to shift it. Plan B came into mind, I would have to take the flue out and try and remove the brush on the pontoon. With Keith’s help we managed to get the flue out of the boat and onto the pontoon. To get the brush out of the flue, Keith put a piece of rope through the loop of the brush and pulled and wiggled and eventually the brush came out. To clear the obstruction, we tried using a crowbar and a chisel, but nothing was going to move the tar, well that was until Mike one of our neighbours suggest his piece of gas pipe, which had a splayed bit on the end. We place the flue on our work bench and I rammed the pole up and down. Hey presto it worked like a dream. We now have a clean flue and I have muscles like Popeye. I then put the bit flue brush up and down the flue a few times to make sure it was completely clear. Job done . We put the flue back in place and I cleared up and put some putty around the joint into the stove. We are now ready for lighting the stove when need be.

After lunch, I was washing-up and past the window flew a Flamingo. Cath and Alan had come into the Arm for gas and ended up staying. It was fabulous to see them and the boat. The day has been just like a Summers day, it is hard to believe that we are set for colder weather next week, so we will see what happens.

Busy Friday.

Hi Friends and Followers.

Today has been a busy day. With the knowledge that the sun was going to be out, I wanted to get my washing done and hung out and the mop poles painted, so up early and on with the jobs. The laundry was only a quick wash and was soon hung out to dry. The mop poles got another rub down, I had the Red parts to paint today, the Blue was finished yesterday.

Once that job was complete, I went and did some gardening in the Arm’s Sensory garden. The weeds from over the Winter were mounting, so it was time to tackle them, before they got any worse. There were still piles of dead leaves lying in pockets around the Sensory garden, which I swept up and put into the bug hotel. I hope the bugs appreciate them. Keith joined me to tackle the beds, his help was much appreciated, we had it conquered by mid-afternoon. We did stop for lunch and a coffee, before finishing the gardens off. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks, some new plants will be added to the beds, but I am hoping we will not be here to see it, I am hoping we will be off cruising again. As yet we still have not got the generator sorted, we are still waiting for someone to come and do it. Still it gives me time to get jobs done.

Whilst Keith and I worked Paddy relaxed in the sunshine.

Marmite made the most of the bench and blanket. She loves the warmth and sunshine.

The forecast for the weekend is hot, so I have let the stove out. No point burning coal, when it is going to be so nice.

I hope your weekend is a lovely one .

It’s Friday

Beautiful weather.

Hi Friends and Followers.

Isn’t it glorious. We have been blessed with some lovely warm sunshine, although it was chilly this morning. The blossom is out on the apple trees and cherry trees and the bulbs are all in bloom in the Arm.

Paddy and Marmite enjoyed being outside today on our pontoon, whilst Keith and I did some more weeding. The weeds never stop growing though. it seems like there are new ones every day. I had hoped to get some painting done today, but it was to chilly this morning, so I gave it a miss. I had to pick up my prescription from the chemist, so I walked up into town instead. It was not really until after lunch that it got warmer outside. There was a lot of bees about and the birds are nesting. I watched as a Blue Tit attacked Paddy’s fur which I have hung out in a basket. This Blue Tit will have a very cosy nest. I had hoped to add photographs, but for some odd reason, it is not allowing me to upload them, so I will leave it to your imagination.

Hopefully tomorrow, I can get on with some painting. I would like to get the mop poles done before we head off out again.

Lazing around.

Hi Friends and Followers.

What an incredible weekend weather wise. It was incredibly warm, which is making everything in the garden grow.

We are so pleased with the way our garden is coming along this year. Over the weekend we did a bit in the garden and the rest of it listening to the radio, because Wasps Rugby team were out in Ireland taking on Leinster, in the European Cup on Saturday. Sadly Wasps lost their Quarter final 32-17. But they still have a lot to play for at home. Then on Sunday Coventry City Football Club were taking on Oxford United in the Checkatrade trophy at Wembley. After a nail biting second-half, Coventry gave their fans something to cheer about by winning 2-1. Oh and I must not forget the boat race, which was won by Oxford for the men and Cambridge for the women. Phew I am exhausted just thinking about it all.

Monday morning and the sun was out again and we had another wonderful day. I got on with painting the mop poles, whilst Keith did a bit more in the garden. I then had to nip into town for a bit, before coming back and doing lunch.

Both Paddy and Marmite made the most of the lovely weather, by lazing about on the pontoon. Paddy normally spends all his time on the back counter of the boat, but of late he has really enjoyed being on the pontoon. I think he has finally realised it is his pontoon and he does not have to stay on the boat.

Marmite enjoyed lounging on a crochet blanket on the bench. Paddy decided he wanted a bit of comfort so joined her. In this photograph Marmite does look a little smug, because she has the blanket and paddy does not.

After doing a bit of gardening and lunch, Keith went into Leamington-Spa to buy a strimmer, to do the edges behind our garden. It gets very untidy, so we can now get it under control. We are proud of our bit of garden and like to keep it looking nice, after all we have to look out on it everyday when we are at home. The rest of my day was spent nattering in the office and to our neighbour, who had been to Ireland to see the Wasps match. All in all a pretty lazy Monday for me. Tomorrow will be different though.

Was the joke on you?

Hi Friends and Followers.

This is a joke free zone on April Fools Day, you have my word. Did you get caught out?

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month and no return. April is here and I guess we can look forward to showers from time to time. We can also look forward to warmer days and lighter nights, so that is a huge plus.

We were listening to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire this morning and Keith Wedgebury was at The Lord Leycester Hospital, in Warwick viewing their gardens.

It was then we learnt the gardens were open for free today, so we decided to walk down and have a noisy around the gardens.

Behind the ancient buildings of the Lord Leycester Hospital lies the tranquil oasis of the Master's Garden. They are beautiful.

The gardens are surrounded by the old town walls, you enter via a knot garden. The gardens are over 600 years old.

Features include a Norman arch, a sandstone urn dating back 2000 years, thatched summer house, gazebo and pineapple pit. It is worth a visit.

I particularly love the striking perforated steel sculpture of Warwickshire's emblem, the Bear & Ragged Staff, he is a handsome chap and beautifully made. The Bear & Ragged Staff sculpture is dedicated to David Eliot Mycroft (1970-1998) after his parents in Leamington sponsored the work of art in memory of their son after his death.

We enjoyed visiting the gardens, even though the weather was doing its best to rain on us. We ended up going to Wetherspoons for a late breakfast. The place was packed, getting a table was not easy, but we did eventually find somewhere to sit and enjoy a vegetarian breakfast and a cup of tea. On Saturday’s Warwick holds its market and today it was especially busy, which was lovely to see. I got approached by a young woman offering me a free hair cut if I was her model at a local hairdressers. Now to anyone else they would of jumped at the chance for a free wash, cut and blow dry, but I had to turn her down sadly. Because of allergies, I use my own shampoo and there only ever have a dry trim, so I was going to be of little use to this hairdressing student. I did thank her for asking me though. I love my long hair and so would not of wanted it cut off. First time that has ever happened to me.

On the stroll home from the town I always pass the old Leper Master’s House and Chapel.

The hospital, which was founded by Roger, Earl of Warwick in about 1135, is classified by English Heritage as a scheduled monument. The remains of two of the hospital buildings can still be seen on the site - a chapel and the 15th century, two-storey Master's House. They are both grade II* listed buildings.

What is so very sad, is that despite the Mater’s House being covered in Tarpaulins it is in a bad state of repair and nothing is being done to preserve one of the last remaining places of its type in England. In 2013, it was thought that a The Order of St Lazarus was going to take it on. The Order of St Lazarus dates back to the 11th century when its founders actually built a leper hospital outside the walls of Jerusalem. Sadly a complication meant they pulled out of taking the site on. I sincerely hope someone takes it on soon, otherwise the master’s house maybe lost forever.