Down to -10C.

Hi Friends.

Brrrrrrrrrrr it is freezing outside, but very cosy inside the boat. Sunday night it got down to -10c, which is perishing. Wales saw -17c, I wonder if anyone can beat that?

Yesterday may well have been Sunday, but customers still require coal, especially in this weather, so I was up early delivering coal to a boat on the towpath. Customers then began arriving for their coal, some regular customers and other new to us. We are iced in good & proper at Market Harborough, but I am really not bothered. Over the past few days it has got thicker and thicker, so we will not be moving anywhere. Having got here on Saturday we will now stay put, as there is no way we can wind in the basin at the moment. If the ice gets thick enough we could think about organising an ice skating competition in the basin. I guess I could call it Dancing on Ice the sequel. Or Dancing on Ice with a wing and pray, because you can bet your bottom dollar someone would end up on their behind and that someone would be me.
On a serious note. The ice will not get thick enough to ice skate on or to infact walk on, so PLEASE do not go out on the ice, because if you fall through you could die, as the cold water will kill you or worse you could drown. If your out walking your dog near a river, canal or lake PLEASE keep your dog on a lead, so it cannot run on to the ice. If however you feel the need to let your dog off of the lead and it runs on to the ice for goodness sake DO NOT go out and try and rescue it. Your dog is perfectly capable of saving itself. I may sound stern with my warnings, but I really do not want to hear of someone dying trying to save their dog this Winter, there was way to much of that last Winter. A couple of days ago a couple who did have their dog on a flexi lead, were in such a position when the dog saw a rabbit on the otherside of the canal, so it tried to run across the canal. Thankfully the ice did not break and because they had the dog on a lead they were able to pull him back on to land. It scared the living daylights out of the owners.

As lunchtime approached yesterday I put the Closed sign up and we got dressed up for lunch at the Waterfront, where we met up with boating friends, Merleen, Paul, Ann and Doug, who had driven over from Warwick. Apparently the roads were fine. We spent a pleasant afternoon eating and drinking with them at the Waterfront. The food was fantastic as always and the conversation with old friends was even better. Three hours flew by before we realised it was almost 4pm and they had to make tracks back to Warwick.

Back on the boat Keith and I settled in for a cosy evening in front of the TV. Keith had a sandwich for tea, but I only managed a packet of crisps, as I was still full up from lunch, I am not used to eating a 3 course meal, goodness knows how I am going to manage with 7 courses at our Christmas meal. Anyway whilst I watched X-Factor the result and some of 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here', Keith slept in the chair. I was so pleased that finally sense has prevailed and Wagner and Katie have left the X-Factor. The competition can now begin in earnest. I am overjoyed that Mary Byrne is in the semi-finals, she has a wonderful voice and she is staning tall for the more mature woman, so good on her. As for 'I'm A Celeb. I thought it maybe Britt to go last night along with Alison. Kayla showed she was made of sterner stuff, so good on her. I am waiting for the next battle between Shaun and Gillian. Shaun held his temper so well past night. I am sorry Gillian is a pain in butt. But I do think she has been put up to it by the producers. I am sorry if your reading this bit and do not watch either program. We watch them because what else is there to do on a cold night hahaha.

So today is Monday and I have been out and delivered coal to the basin by trolley. Keith has gone down the town to buy a new laptop, because his has died. I am going now to get some boat jobs done, so have a good day, but please stay safe.

Boat Chores and Photographs.

Hi Everyone.

Sunday is drawing to a close and it has been a day of doing the boat chores. But first we had to wake up and this happened at 6.30am this morning, which for us was not to bad. I made us a brew and we sat in bed drinking tea and nattering about computers. Keith's laptop has thrown a wobbly. We are not sure whether it is a virus or it has died. We cannot do much about it until we get back to Market Harborough, so he is having to use my laptop for the time being. It is at times like this when you realise you should back everything up on the computer everyday. We are normally pretty good at backing up our files, but Keith had let it slip a little and now with his laptop poorly he has realised that his canal planner is out of date.
Once up and about. I took Paddy for his walk. Brrrrrr it was cold as we stepped off of the boat, with a cold wind blowing down the canal. With the last few leaves remaining blowing off of the trees, the towpath has a gold carpet, which hides nasty secrets in the form of dog poop. With many dog owners not picking up after their mutts, the poop gets covered up by falling leaves and ambushes walkers or responsible dog owners. This I found to my cost, I was so annoyed to find that I had stepped in another dogs mess GRRRRRRRRR.
Back on the boat, I made us some nice warming porridge for breakfast and then laid out my plans for the morning. 1st job of the morning was to wash the boat off. It was covered in soot from another boats engine exhaust, which came past us a couple of nights ago very late. With a bowl of hot soapy water and a sponge, I set about washing the cabin and roof off. I then rinsed it off with canal water. I realise the boat will only stay clean five minutes, but at least it looks clean for the time being. 2nd job of the morning was to make a sausage casserole for tonights dinner, which we will have with potatoes and veg. 3rd task was to sweep the saloon and galley floors and then to get on my hands and knees and wash them. The floor's looked like the army had trudged through with their muddy boots on, when in fact it was only Keith and I, oh and of course there were Paddy's paw prints everywhere. Thank goodness we have laminated flooring, I dread to think what carpets would have looked like. We had carpeting on our other boat and it was a nightmare at this time of the year. By the time all this had been done it was lunchtime. Keith had spent the morning loading his backups into my laptop, so that he can do his canal planner etc. I took a break and went out with my camera. I managed to get this photo of a European Nuthatch. It was knocking seven bells out of the tree trunk hunting for bugs. A very pretty little bird.
Lunch was cheese on toasted muffins and a hot mince pie, all washed down with a coffee.
As the afternoon has worn on, it has been getting colder and colder, so I was not in the least surprised when an ownership boat pulled in for some coal. Both gentlemen onboard look very chilly and were pleased to be able to purchase a bag of coal.
I enjoyed a lovely chat with a friend on the phone. She is not in the best of health at the moment and is under going radiotherapy for lung cancer. Cancer does not discriminate between the good and bad people in this world and I find it hard to understand why someone as lovely as my friend should be going through this battle, but I am sure she will win, as she is a strong lady. She has many friends and of course family behind her and a husband who adores her.
Time to wrap up my posting for the day and put my feet up. There are films on and of course the X-Factor result. I thought Mary was the best overall last night. Everyone else seemed very nervous and then of course their is Wagner, who made a fool of himself once again. After that it will be I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here'. I sincerely hope that Gillian decides to walk, because I am finding it all a little boring now. I think the program makes need to change the voting format. Once you have done a task you are then taken out of the voting until everyone has done a task. This will stop people being voted for multiple times and would actually make for a better program. I find Gillian's situation very chringe worthy, but hey what do I know. It is all getting very much the same old as far as I can tell. Ok enough said I am off, so have a great Sunday evening.