The going's on......

Love Is...

being a good neighbour.

The going's on in my life, can best be described as a little boring at the moment. But that is just how it is. I wish I could say we were moving on and setting the system a light with the sound of our engine. But unfortunately that is not the case, and will not be the case for a while whlist K is unwell. So I am having to make the best of our time here. The weather for the past two days has been , what can only be described as glorious. We have had two very frosty morings, which have turned into fantastic sunny days. Yesterday I cleaned the boats brass and smoothered a layer of Vaseline over it to stop it tarnishing so quickly. I also got the usual boat jobs done. March usually see's people beginning to move and so yesterday C and R slipped their winter mooring, leaving for their summer cruising. It was sad to see them go, because it has been nice to have some company. No sooner they left, I and I arrived on the towpath, they had come to get some shopping done, before they were moving off to pastures new. A and K arrived later in the afternoon and are stayingg a few days, so we will have a chance to catch up.

Today I walked a long the towpath with the mutt and said good morning to a Kingfisher,  Squirrel, Magpie and the Swans. A long with the sunshine, seems to come good cheer from everyone I met. My jobs today have included painting the mushroom vents on the roof. I have done three of them to cut down on the amount of brass I have to clean. I washed the boat down and spent a good couple of hours chatting to people in the basin. At the moment I have a green curry cooking in the back stove for tonights dinner. We will have that with some rice. So life is a little boring right now, but I am content with my life.

I was saddened to hear the news of the death of Kristian Digby. Kristian presented the TV program To Buy or Not to Buy with Dom Littlewood. At 32 years old his life has been cut short to soon. My thoughts are with his friends and family.

Todays Survey of the Day.

74 year old people are the most what in the population?

Now of course there could have been many answers to this survey, but the answer was Contented.

I am contented with my life right now. I have happiness and the love of a wonderful man. Of course there are things I wish I could change, but it does not stop me from being contented. I am pretty much happy with my life

What have you done with your day today??

My day began with Marmite walking over me, having slept on the bed all night. We went to bed at 10.30pm having watched the Winter Olympics. Geesh those people who do the Ski Cross are compltely barking mad. It is fantastic viewing though, which made me cringe, when there were falls. So it was off to bed, Marmite decided that she was going to join us. At the foot of the bed, she scrabbled and fussed to get the crocheted blanket as she wanted it, before finally settling down. On closer inspection this morning, Marmite had made it into a nice cosy bowl, which she had curled up in. With the bed rolled up and the cupboard door shut, it was time to have breakfast and a nice cuppa. Oh for those that do not know about boatmans cabins beds. They are in a cupboard which you pull down into a bed. There is no need to make and tidy the bed every morning, you just roll it away and close the door behind it. Yayyyyyyy easy peasy.
Paddy as always got his walk, but this time I took him on another route, which completely cofused the poor darling. Paddy is coming up to 6 years old, and this past couple of weeks I have noticed that he stands in the middle of the room and goes off into his own little world. It is almost as if he does not know what to do with himself. I wonder if this is a sign of getting older?
Boat jobs were the order of the day, these included emptying the toilet cassette at the sanitary station. We also needed to empty the bins and get rid of the fires ash. Whilst emptying the rubbish, friends Mo and Nessa on NB Balmaha arrived on their boat to fill their water tank. Of course we stood around chatting whilst their water tank filled. it is always wonderful to catch up with such good friends. I invited them around for coffee, and they said they would come later in the afternoon. So I swiftly put the hoover around, as the dog hairs were beginning to build up yet again. Once the boat was tidy and lunch was eaten, Mo and Nessa arrived, which ment the chocolate cake came out and coffee was made. We spent a couple of hours catching up on news, gossip and travel plans. it is always fantastic to see them. All good things must come to an end and Mo and nessa headed off back to their boat on the towpath, with a bag of Supertherm to try. I like to get feedback from customers. It enables me to decide what I am going to stock or not. Whilst getting this bag of coal out of the hold hubby managed to lose another pair of glasses. They fell from his waistcoat pocket and fell into the water, never to be seen again. We did try and fish them out with a strong magnet and a fishing net, but to no avail. This means he will have to visit Specsavers again and get another pair. This is the second pair he has lost in the past month arghhhhhhhh. Men what can we do with them???
Later in the afternoon Ann a facebook friend arrived. We have corresponded on facebook, because she and her husband have a working boat, infact they have three boats and sell coal and diesel. it was wonderful to meet Ann. We discussed business and the idea of selling some of their products, which we will be doing once we know what is happening with hubby. Working boaters try and help each other out when they can. So we look forward to getting to know them better and doing business with them. Dinner tonight has been late, due to a busy day with visitors. It has been fabulous to have friends these past few days visiting us.

The survey of the day today is 94% of people do this in the car?
Now there are quite a few rude answers I can think of, but the answer was Daydream. Which I find a little worrying, because it means the person is not concentration on what they are doing. Maybe this is why there are so many accidents on our roads. I am so glad I am not a driver, not even a back seat one.

Snow and more snow.

Good afternoon.
As you can see from the photo above Marmite knows exactly how to get comfortable in our back cabin. She will always find the warmest place like most cats. She did spend some of yesterday afternoon watching the snow fall. it kept her entertained for ages, as she tried to chase it down the perspex window.

The snow fell pretty much all afternoon and evening and we were left with 6 inches. I love the snow and everything about it, so was so pleased when it began to fall. I am a child when it comes to snow and would love to spend all my time outside playing in it.
This morning when I took Paddy out for his walk, it was not snowing, but the sky looked full of it and it was not long before the heavens opened once again. Hubby and I were up early after another restless night, as he had an appointment with the GP. We took a steady stroll down to the surgery and got in to see our GP on time, which was an added bonus. unfortunately he had no real good news for us on hubbys situation. We will have to wait like the rest of the queue, unless of course he gets called in on a cancellation, which we have to hope for. We did ask about changing hospitals, but like the GP said that would just mean starting the process all over again and that will take up more time. So hubby remains in pain and we remain stuck. It is beginning to look like we will not be cruising at all this year, which is a real shame. But at the end of the day hubby's health is far more important.

The snow has stopped for the moment and the sun is trying to pop out. I have been out and swept the snow awat from the hold, just in case people should need to come and collect coal. Last night a couple came to collect a bag of coal, on their way home from work and it took them over and hour to do less than a mile, conditions were so bad on the roads. There is a lot of slush on the roads and pavements at the moment, which could be really awful if it freezes tonight as they predict. I have just baked a chocolate cake in the back cabin stove and it smells yummy. I will post a pic of that tomorrow if I remember LOL.

Survey of the Day. 42% of Brits, say they would like to do what?
The answer was emigrate. That is such a sad reflection, on what people feel about this fabulous country. I can honestly say I would never emigrate, but I have never been abroad anyway, so I do not know if I am missing anything. I think personally every country has it's faults and problems, so really your leaving one problem for another. Every country has its ups and downs and just because we are economically going through a bad patch, does not mean we should abandone the boat just yet. (No pun intended). If I were to go abroad for a holiday I would love to go to Canada and New Zealand, but I really cannot see me ever leaving Britain for good. I love the life I have in this wonderful country and there is still so much of it that I have not seen yet.
Would you emigrate?

Blood beginning to boil.

Good afternoon.

Before I blow a blood vessel, I am going to have a massive rant. Hubby is in a lot of pain as I think I have written before due to what has been described as a rare condition. We saw the consultant last week and were told they wanted him urgently for an exploritory operation, to see what could be done. Having not heard anything for a week. I rang the hospital to find out what the situation is, to be told that he is 13th on the list and he will not be seen until April/May. So that is their Urgent arghhhhhhhh. Apparently the consultant is away much of March and April. Why bother to tell us it is urgent if this is going to be the situation. I completely understand that there are people far worse off than my husband, but they are not watching him in tremendous pain. Not only that I am worried about the amount of Morphine he is on, as it is addictive. No sooner I got off the phone with the hospital, we made an appointment to see the GP in the morning, to see if there is anything else that can be done. I bet if we were to go private and money was to pass between us, they would have him in quick smart. I am so annoyed grrrrrrrrrrrr arghhhhhhhhhh.
At the moment it is snowing here, but does not look likely that it will settle. So I will have to keep watching the Winter Olympics to get my snow fix. I am loving every moment of the Olympics. Watched the women's downhill last night on BBC2 and was so impressed with Chemmy Alcott, who skied really well and came home 13th overall in the Downhill after others failed to stay upright. Will be watching her in the combined later. There is something so magical about the Winter Olympic Games.

Today's Survey of the Day. Men spend 83 minutes doing this while women take just 79 minutes?
The answer was getting ready to go out.
I thought that women always took longer than men. It must mean that men are taking better care of themselves. It may came as a surprise. But it seems that men are spending longer getting ready to go out than women. Shock horror. Apparently, men spend 83 minutes a day on personal grooming, including cleansing, toning and moisturising, shaving, styling hair and choosing clothes. I reckon it just the fact that us girlies have got it down to a fine art. When I say us girlies, I cannot really put myself in that same bracket, because I very rarely doll myself up to go out. If you were to see me right now you would go arghhhhhhh. My hair is scraped back into a pony tail and I am not wearing makeup. I never wear much makeup anyway and I do not moisturise. I usually wear mascara and eye shadow and thats it. My nails are ummmm in a dreadful shape, but that is due to the coal dust and soot from the chimney. The other half does not moisturise either, infact he does not do much at all, but always looks well groomed when we do go out. I reckon between us we do not spend more than 20 minutes getting ready, I am not indcluding a shower in this though.
Does your man spend longer than you getting ready???

Becareful what you say.

Good morning followers.

When I say good, I say it through gritted teeth, because not only is it raining, when they promised snow, I did not get a huge amount of sleep again last night. Lets tackle the first point about the rain. Last night on the local weather forecast, they said we would be getting snow. So we have ended up with rain arghhhhhh. There was I hoping to go out with the camera. No point taking photos of the rain, that would be way to boring. Now to my second point, the lack of sleep again last night. This was due to the other half, not feeling to well and announcing that he felt sick. We both sat up for a while, whilst his stomach decided whether it wanted to throw back its contents. I was so glad that it decided not to bother, as I am not great at deal with the contents of someone stomach in the washing up bowl. When I was pregnant I always hated having morning sickness. I just don't do being sick. Having sat up and had a cup of tea, we both crawled back into bed for some needed kip. He has got up this morning and feels ok now. I reckon he over ate last night, and his stomach was complaining. Whilst he was not feeling his best, our cat thought yippee everyone is up, so this must mean I will get fed. She kept walking over us both whilst we tried to get back to sleep. In the end she gave up moaning and curled up between my feet.

I have been listening to the local radio and the survey of the day is 1 in 5 workers hate what??
It appears that they hate their work colleagues. It would seem that they may greet you with a smile and ask how you are. But behind your back they are being everso slightly nasty. Life in the work place is not all sweetness and light. it is rife with back-stabbing and women are worse than men. The claws come out when it comes to getting on with other women colleagues. Now why does this not surprise me?
I used to work for a very well known store. I was taken on as Christmas staff to begin with, but after the festive period was over, I was offered the job on a perminant basis. Oh boy then I really found out who I could trust. I was asked to take charge of the early morning fill, and that was when the claws came out. Some of the women felt, they should have been given the job, as I had been there five minutes. I told them to take it up with the management. The job entailed making sure staff had their areas to stack, and they had give me the tray tickets after they had stacked the shelves. It was supposed to help with productivity. The only thing it helped with was to get their backs up at me. At one point I was being bullied by an older member of staff, so badly that I spent an hour in the toilets crying. One of the women I got on with very well, made sure that I went to the manager, who was young enough to be my daughter. Warning were issued to the bully, but it was never the same after that. I felt I was being talked about behind my back. I was just doing the job I was asked to do, but in the end it was made impossible for me and I asked to be taken off of it. Funny how they scraped that post completely after I left it. I love the job and the customers were fantastic, but some of the staff were cruel.
A typical female employee will spend around 20 minutes a day moaning about someone they work with, either by email or by instant messaging online they say.
I like to live and let live. I am not a confrontational person. I would rather get on with people, than argue with them. Life is to short I feel. If I have something to say about someone, I would rather say it to their face. Get it out in the open and then move on.

So what will I be doing today. Ummmm not a lot if this rain continues. I really want to clean the brass, but no point in the rain. I have hoovered and tidied, stoked the fires and got rid of the rubbish, walked the dog, fed the cat, who had no food in her dish, which in her mind is a complete disaster. With the way that she creates anyone would think she is never fed. So made a little progress, even though I feel washed out today. I certainly hope you have a wonderful day.

Hugsss and love to my best friend Tina, who had an operation on her knee on Monday xxxxxxxxxx

Survey of the Day.

Hi friends.

This survey really did surprise me, knowing how people seem today. The survey on the local radio this morning was:

68% of men say they always do this for women??

Now whether they were telling the truth or porky pies, the answer was Open doors was the answer :-).

Your wondering why it surprised me. Well in this day and age, people seem to be in so much of a hurry and have little repsect for others. But it seems Oh thee of little faith. My other half always opens doors for me, but then he is of the old school, when people had better manners. There was a day when gentlemen always opened doors, and pulled out chairs for their loved ones. I do however wonder if generations to come will keep up this tradition.

After the past couple of days, it has been a blessing to have a quiter day today. I did get a better nights sleep, even though I woke up early hours, I did manage to get back to sleep. A nice cuddle from hubby did the trick. When we did get up at around 8.30am, it was business as usual. Fires stoked, dog walked and breakfast eaten. We then started a clean up, as we had a guest coming to see us. I put the hoover around, whilst hubby got rid of the rubbish and emptied the toilet cassette. Because we have a cat and dog, there is always hair everywhere. Our collie seems to moult all year round and his hair gets into places we rather it did not. So being able to use the hoover is an absolute gift. When we are on the move I only use a dustpan and brush. So it is a luxury at the moment. After hoovering it was time to give the floors a wash. That bit does mean I have to get down on my hands and knees. These days that is done with a groan and a lot of creaking. Our guest was due at midday and we were more than ready for him, when I got a knock on the boat for coal. Taybrite and Housecoal were hauled out of the hold and money exchanged hands, as our guest arrived. We always enjoy inviting people on to our boat. Those who have never been on a boat before, are always amazed at how warm we are and how much room we have. I suppose you can look at it as living in a long thin flat, but this one moves and is harder work. Our guest left at 1.30pm and we immediately had some lunch. I then had to go and collect more tablets for hubby. I hope he comes off of them soon, because it is costing us an arm and a leg. At £7.20 per item and he had three items, you do not need me to tell you it was expensive.
The weekend is almost here and of course Valentine's Day. May I wish you all a wonderful weekend and if you celebrate V Day, have a lovely one.

Damp and Dank.

Hi Folks.

Why is it, when the weather is miserable, it can make you feel the same way?
This morning it has been so miserable, with low cloud, causing drizzle. All around is damp and dank, and no matter who you look at they look miserable. It has been a busy coupld of days for me, what with selling coal to new customers, who are always welcome. The hold is now looking a little empty, so hoping my new delivery of coal arrives soon.
Yesterday I took the opportunity to black the boats bow, which is now sitting very high out of the water, due to being almost empty. It is now protected against the elements, when it goes back down in the water, once the coal is onboard. The blacking got chipped off, as we ploughed our way through the ice before Christmas. I kept hoping for a half decent day to apply a coat of blacking and yesterday was my chance. I did however have to warm the backing up first, as it was stuck in the tin. Still all done now thankfully and I can forget about it for a while. I also took the opportunity to clean the back cabin chimney, as the fire was getting a little sluggish. I could see why when I checked the chimney. it was particially blocked by the tar from the coal. So it was time to strip it all down and give it a good going over. I ended up looking like a coal miner, but the chimney was clean and the stove was then relit. During the evening it seemed to go into overtime and would not shut down properly, so it was a rather warm night on our boat.
Today as I said before started out damp and dank, but jobs have to be done. So first of all it was walking the hound. Then we sat down for breakfast with a nice warming cuppa. With the cupboards and fridge looking so pitiful. We donned our coats and rucksacks and headed for the supermarket. I am sure food prices are going through the roof. We just do not seem to get much for our money these days. Back onboard the boat. I put the shopping away, whilst hubby went and paid for the mooring we are using at the moment. Whilst eating some lunch, I was listening to the local radio. Everyday they have a survey of the day. Today's was 36% of men admit that they have no what? Some of the answers were.
No Idea what to do with a ladys nether regions.
No romance. As in are not romantic.
Idea where babies come from.
Personal Hygiene.
Pension.
The answer was Dress Sense.
It got me thinking. Does it really matter how someone dresses?
Do you really care what your other half looks like?
To me someones dress sense is not important. It is the person under the clothes that matters. If anyone was to look into my dress sense, they would propbably die, because I spend most of my time dressed in cord trousers and shirts. I do however dress up when we go out, but again that involves trousers. I don't own a dress, because we have no hanging space, everything is kept in draws and cupboard and anyway I am not a girlie girl. I hate pink but love blue. I dress to be comfortable and not to keep up with the fashion of the day. So to me a man's dress sense is not important. The first time I met my now husband, he was wearing dark blue jeans, a white shirt and a yellow fleece and I thought he looked fantastic. We are getting way to vain I think. But thats just my personal opinion. I do not dress for anyone else but myself. I guess I am lucky my husband loves me, no matter what I wear, and the same goes for him. I would still love him if he wore a bin bag.