*****Is going there and back to see how far it is.*****













Hi I am Jo…wife, lover, best friend and soulmate to Keith. Lover of all things to do with nature and the canals. I am passionate about the Waterways and its history.


I hope you will join me in my rambles and do please comment – I love to hear from and meet new people in blogland!

Life on the cut through my eyes.

Daisypath Anniversary tickers
*****Stay safe and warm out there..*****













Friday 16 July 2021

Happy Birthday Mum.

 

A Very Special Heavenly Birthday to my Mum. 

As you walk amongst the Angels, you will always be missed on earth.
May the winds of heaven whisper in your ear, how much you are missed your by family and friends ❤❤❤. 
I will always think of you, until we meet again xxx

Wednesday 14 July 2021

A painting day.

 

Hello family, friends and followers.

It has turned into a glorious day, after a cloudy start which suited me just fine, because today was fence painting day. 

Yesterday Keith cut some off the bottom edge of our small bunker door and whilst it was off he painted it Forest Green. 

I then went on to paint both bunkers Dark Brown. 
This morning I finished off painting the larger bunker, then we both painted the fencing around our pontoon and finally I finished off with painting the garden edging and giving the bench a much needed coat of Forest Green paint. 
It looks nice and fresh now. I love painting, but painting the fence is not at the top of my to do list normally, because it can be brain numbing. Anyway it is all done for another year. I may add a second coat to the bench tomorrow morning, but we shall see. 
Time for a sit down 🙂.

Pop back soon xxx




Friday 9 July 2021

Isn't it funny.

 

Dear family, friends and family.

This past couple of days have been emotionally fuelled, by the fact that no matter how much you try you cannot please all of the people all of the time. I am pleased to report that my daughter, who has been battling Covid-19 is getting better and can now taste things and actually did some work, as she is working from home. It is such a relief that she and her partner, have not had the virus really bad, although she was poorly. Covid-19 is deadly serious and no one should be taking any risks with their health. In our area the numbers are rising. Figures for this week show that we have 371.49 per 100,000 people and still rising. Masks, space and continue to wash your hands and do the right thing.

Today, I have pottered in the garden. 
I have been pondering which part I am going to tackle next and have decided that the bed closest to the patio area is in need of some attention and the bug hotel needs some attention. All I need now is some get up and go. For some reason, my get up and go had gotten up and gone. This may have something to do with how emotional have felt this past few days. I am hoping once I start a new project, it will spark something in me to make me feel 100% again. But I have a feeling that I need to address my emotions to get my mojo back. Anyway, the garden is looking pretty good. 
I am in the process of deciding what to plant along the bed which is at the top of our terrace staging. I want it to be low maintenance and yet looking lovely all year round. I also need to be able to cut the hedge, so I cannot have anything too high. It is another work in progress. 

The title of my post 'Isn't it funny' is because when not pottering in the garden or chatting to the neighbours, I have been working on the family tree. My family is so fragmented, I actually wonder sometimes why I am doing this. I am ever thankful that I have my girls, their partners and our grandsons in our lives, because the older members of the family who are still with us are not in our lives and sadly are never likely to be. I then think, I am doing the family tree, because I want to learn about the members of the family who were never mentioned or hardly seen. I only met grandad on my mum's side once and that was briefly and I can never recall meeting grandad on my dad's side. I knew both my nan and grandmother or so I thought, because whilst digging with the help of a friend, I have discovered that one of them was not as white as the driven snow and this in fact shocked me, because what she did, I would never have through possible of her. When I read the newspaper clipping, I had to see the funny side, but could not condone her behaviour and she was punished for her crimes. All I can however see is a grey haired, sweet old lady. They do say that you can dig up all sorts of things, including finding a few skeletons hiding in the cupboard. I have been learning such a lot about both families, which will be passed on to my children and grandchildren. We should all know our family history, whether it be good or bad. I know that family was hardly ever spoken about and photographs have come to light of great great- grandparents, which I knew nothing about, but have learnt a lot by doing their family history. If you want to learn about your family tree, please do talk to your family, if they will talk about it. I am learning the hard way to find out about my family, but I am getting there slowly. I am thinking about doing my DNA, because some parts of the family are proving hard to learn about. I am hoping the DNA test may provide me with some answers. 
Have any of you done your DNA? 
Are you doing your family tree?
There must always be an air of caution, that if you do not want to know about any skeletons, then maybe it is not for you. 
Doing my tree, has bought me new family members. I have discovered new cousins and an uncle who was never spoken about, although I knew of him. There is always a plus to a minus. 

Have a wonderful weekend.
Pop back soon xxx




Monday 5 July 2021

Thank You.

Dear family, friends and followers.

At the time of typing, I can say we are still negative and we do not expect that to change after our families brush with Covid-19.

Thank you so much for your lovely message, they have meant a lot. Again as I type this posting youngest daughter Steph is getting better. She has a nasty cough, which is making her breathless, but she say's she is improving. Dan her partner, seems to be having a milder case of this dreadful virus, which is a blessing. As a mother, it has made me feel quite helpless, because I could not be there to help them, but hopefully they are over the worst. 

This country of ours is expected to drop all restrictions on the 19th July. I am seriously wondering if this is the right decision? I realise that at some point, we need to get on with our lives and as some have said we need to learn to live with this, just like living with the flu. But this is not the flu and it has been a real killer. 

Today we are thanking our 73 year old NHS for all their hard work and wishing them a happy birthday, and I just hope we are not heading towards inflicting yet more work on them, with the virus getting out of hand again. It is amazing to think that our NHS is 73 years old. How incredibly lucky are we to have this wonderful service? I am incredibly humble and thankful for their help over the years. They saved my husband in 2014 and they helped to bring my children into the world over the years. They were there when my daughter and mother died and looked after them to the end. It is so easy to take what we have for granted. The Queen has awarded the George Cross to the National Health Services of the UK and it has been hard earned, especially over this past 18 months. I say and very sincere "Thank You" to everyone who works within the NHS.

Because Keith and I have been self-isolating, we have not really been out in the garden, although we can. Because we have a footpath alongside our mooring, which the public can use, we have chosen to stay inside for most of the time. Keith has done his walking up and down the pontoon, which he has to do for his back pain. I have been out late in the day to empty the cassette, take on water and get rid of rubbish, making sure we have kept away from the other moorers here, even though we know we are negative. I may venture into the garden later to do some dead heading and to check for weeds, because have had a lot of rain and thunderstorm this past few days. The rain was very much welcomed, but the weeds I can do without. I am looking forward to getting back out there and joining in with work in the Arm, because we have new fencing to put up and the gardens will require attention. The one thing being in self-isolation has got me to do and that is to get rid of my sewing and mending pile, so there is always a plus to a minus. I have shortened some dungarees, mended some shorts after they split, repaired Keith's old shirts and mended a boat flag. I actually fancy getting some material and making a quilt, so I may just have to have a nosey on Ebay for some fabric. 

Does anyone know anything about Fibromyalgia? 

The reason I ask, is because I have some of the symptoms. I have read the stuff online, but want to hear from anyone going through it, before I bother the GP, who I know is over run at the moment. I suffer with Costochondritis and have done for a few years, which I control with medication, but these other problems have come along and it is looking like Fibromyalgia. I would be interested to hear about it from someone who suffers.

Pop back soon xxx
 

Saturday 3 July 2021

Covid-19 comes a calling :-(

 

Dear family, friends and followers.

I am hoping that this posting finds you all keeping well?

The title of this post, tells you everything, but what took place to get to this point. Last Sunday 27th June, we had a much anticipated visit from our family and grandsons. We had all be so careful over this past 18 months and on the run up to their visit. 

The day arrived and I had been very busy baking, tidying and getting everything ready for the visit, which had been over two years in the waiting. We last saw them all in June 2019 at Foxton and so this was going to be so special. They all arrived not long after 11.30am and we enjoyed a walk around the Arm, chatter and laughter before lunch. I laid out a buffet lunch for us all, which we enjoyed on our patio. After lunch we then walked over to the common, so the grandsons could play and we could have a game of kick about. The family visit was over way too soon, when they left to go home just after 5pm. It was wonderful to see my girls, and to enjoy the company of everyone again. We are going on a boating holiday at the end of August, and the get together gave us a chance to talk about our hopes and plans.

Monday morning dawned and all was well for us all. I got on with some gardening and tidying up from the weekend. It was not until Tuesday, that Steph my youngest daughter began to feel unwell. Both she and Dan her partner did lateral flow tests and they were both negative. Then on Wednesday she rang me to say she was still feeling unwell and that her lateral flow test had shown a faint positive line, so they were both going to get a PCR test. All of us then did the lateral flow tests and we all came back negative. Poor Steph continued to go down hill and was feeling very poorly with flu-like symptoms and no sense of taste of smell. Thursday and it is confirmed she has Covid-19, which means we must all go into self-isolation. We had already done so on the Wednesday. Dan was still testing negative with his PCR and lateral flow tests, but as of this morning (Saturday) that has changed. Dan's lateral flow test, showed a faint positive test and he is now feeling poorly. The rest of us are still negative. Steph went over, and over where she had been on the run up to their visit and the only thing that singles her out for the virus is she visited a BP garage toilet on the way to us. They had been out on the Saturday, but none of their friends from then are poorly. So it looks like she caught the virus from a garage toilet. It just goes to show that not everyone is keeping up the hygiene rules through this virus. Keith and I are doing tests every couple of days as is Becky and her family, but none of us expects to get ill, because we were outside throughout their visit and did not have close contact. Steph only became contagious the following day from her visit. 

This virus knows no bounds and so first of all please get vaccinated when called and secondly take every precaution you can to stop this thing getting you. Where we are at the moment, we have some of the highest numbers in the country, because the virus is attacking the 11 to 25 year olds. The university students here are all isolating, because it has hit their campus and many of them have not been vaccinated yet. It does make me wonder if fully opening up on the 19th July is a good idea. I know we have to learn to live with this thing, but until everyone has been vaccinated, the numbers will continue to rise. 

Stay safe. Pop back soon xx



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