Thankful.

Hi Folks.

I am thankful for the life I live and the friends I have a round me.

I am lucky enough to have many small joys in my life, and you may be blessed with them also.

With the joy of the Menopause an unbroken nights sleep is one of them.

Waking to hearing rain dancing on the roof and knowing I am snug in my bed is another.

The warmth still felt in the boat, because the stove did not go out. Always brings a smile to my face first thing.

Once up and about a walk with our collie dog, who is showing his age, but can still muster some energy to chase a ball. He is not a well boy and goes a bit lame in his right leg, but no sooner it is there, it passes.

The dawn sun breaks over the arm and shines on the winding hole annoucing that another morning has begun.

The Mandarin Ducks come calling for their breakfast, brings me great joy because I know they are still with us (We have lost three)

I know and relish the fact that Spring is coming with the rasping sound of the Wren who has over wintered nearby and the call of the Robin who is hoping I will put food on the bird table.

With the sound of Spring around the corner the dreary winter is coming to an end. It’s drenched us, and depressed us, and brought illness and enmity. But it cannot last much longer, and it seems to be on the way out.

So, here’s to the coming Spring! Raise your glass to the Wolf Moon tonight, and face the adventures it offers with courage and hope. Look to the future and forget the past, because we are all blessed with joys in our lives. All these things make me thankful.

Cold and frostie.

Winter is so welcome, because it has definitely been confusing as far as the weather is concerned this past few weeks.

This morning it was –4.5 c after a very heavy frost. We also had a layer of ice on the surface of the canal. I do so love this sort of weather.

We had to visit the vet’s again this morning with Marmite. She was seeing the vet who took Marmite’s teeth out last week. So we packed her into her basket and walked to the vets surgery. The vet was very pleased with how well Marmite’s gums had healed and said to now just feed her her normal diet. I had been soaking her biscuts and then mixing them with her meat, but she can now go back to dry biscuits and meat. Marmite is managing very well with out her teeth and can still bite with the few she has left.

Once back at the boat, Marmite was only to happy to get out of her basket. She headed for the back cabin and the side bed, where it was lovely and warm.

Tonight is going to be another chilly one, with the temperature already dropping like a stone.

The Tooth Fairy is needed.

If you have read a previous posting about Marmite losing a tooth, then it will not surprize you to hear that she had to go back to the Vets last week to have some dental work done.

We had to take her to the Vets for 8am and collect her at 3.50pm, well that is what we were told. 8am we left her with the nurse, signed the paperwork for the dental work to be carried out and then waved her goodbye.

The boat was very quiet without her, even Paddy noticed Marmite was not around. Lunchtime we got a phone call from the Vets to say could we collect her at 5.30pm, because Anita the vet wanted to speak to us and do the hand over.

We were there for 5.30pm and were called in to see Anita. Marmite was very quiet in her basket, but then so would I have been quiet, if I had had 11 teeth removed. Yes poor miggy moo had 11 teeth removed and she had already lost 4 teeth apparently, so Marmite now only hs 15 teeth left. This has all been caused by an auto-immune problem Anita reckons and there is no cure, so it is quite possible, Marmite may lose her other teeth in the future.

Back home on the boat, the only thing Marmite wanted was food, so I fed her some of her tinned meat. Having enjoyed a small meal, she headed into the back cabin to sleep, which is what she did the following day as well. A few days on and she is absolutely fine and back to herself.

The tooth fairy thankfully did not come, she probably realised it was going to cost her a fortune, so declined to leave Marmite any money.

Winter finally arrives.

The Winter thus far has been so incredibly mild and of course wet, which so many can testify to with the floodings around the country.

Finally Winter has decided to put in an appearance..

We woke this morning to the sound of snow falling. It was tip toeing on the roof as if in ballet shoes.

Yippee snow.

Ok it was not a huge dumping of the white stuff, but it was still exciting. Yeah I know I am a grown-up and I still get excited about snow.

When I took Paddy out for his walk and to un-lock the gates to the arm, it was wonderful to walk in the covering of snow.

My hope is we have some more, but of course that is dependant on the weather.

First wives club - You don't own me

This is my favourite song at the moment. I heard it a few weeks ago on the House of Fraser advert and I could not think for the life of me where I had heard it before, then a friend told me that it was of course in the film 'First Wives Club'. I actually prefer the version done by Bette Midler, Goldie Horn and Diane Keaton.

Marmite is missing something.

Hi friends.

A few weeks ago Marmite and Paddy went to the vets for their check-up and vaccinations, which they have yearly. On checking Marmites teeth it was discovered she had Gingivitis, which explained her smelly breath for the past few weeks. Marmite has a combination of wet and dry food, this is because if she has dry food alone, it upsets her stomach and whilst we have kept her wet food down to a minimum, it appears this has aided the Gingivitis. The vet gave Marmite a long lasting antibiotic injection and told us if her breath stopped smelling we did not need to take her back. After a few days her breath was smelling much sweeter, which was a great improvement on what it had been like, although because she eats a fish diet, her breath is never wonderful. Her tooth fell out at the beginning of the week and so far she seems non to bothered by the lack of her tooth.

We reckon she will need to go back to the vets in the New Year for some dental work, as she has another lose tooth at the back, but we will keep an eye on her.

Marmite's reaction to losing a tooth, was to sleep on the side bed in the back cabin where the stove would keep her toastie all afternoon. She is not one for being cold or even the slightest bit chilly, so if the stove is lit the back cabin is where you will find her.

 

Wet and windy Thursday.

It is a tad breezy and now raining hard. Great day for doing the inside jobs. I have done the washing, which today was the bed linen. We sleep in our back cabin cross bed, so yes we sleep in a cupboard. It is wonderful, because every morning, I roll the bed up and push it into the cupboard and shut the door. There is no making the bed for me. It is however fun trying to make the bed up having stripped the bedding off for washing. I can see in my later years I am going to have to find new ways of doing the job, but for now I get on with it on my hands and knees. 

Washing done and hung in the back cabin, which now looks like a Chinese Laundry, I then turned my attention to cooking the dinner. Stewing steak, with Mushroom and Carrots. Later on I will add dumplings, which is a must during the Winter months. There is nothing nicer than dumplings all plump and fluffy on top of a stew. Having fried off the Onions and meat, I added the carrots, stock, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Covered it and put it in the oven. The Mushrooms will be added later along with the dumplings. I wish this blog had a smelly button, so you could experience the smell wafting around the cabin right now.

Next task was to put the broom through, to brush up the tumble weed of dog hair floating along the floor. With Mog and Dog shut in the back cabin, I gave the floor a wash as well. The Other half had gone into town, so with the boat to myself, it was great to get these jobs done before he comes home. 

So with my morning sorted out, the afternoon was a lot quieter. I sat knitting my dishcloths and watched films. Mog has lost a tooth and looks a little sorry for herself. 

May I please ask if you are kind enough to leave me a comment, that you put your name on it, because I do NOT publish anonymous comments.... Thank You. 

Happy Hump Day.

Wednesday and we are half way through the week and Christmas is getting closer. I still have cards to finish, but there is plenty of time. Actually there is 16 sleep till Christmas I have just been informed, so maybe I need to get a move on :-). 

This morning I got on with boat jobs. I checked under the floors and put down new disposable nappies to keep the condensation to a minimum. It is amazing how much difference it makes. After that I was in the hold sorting coal out and putting back the shelf under the cratch, which fell down a while ago. With the fires stoked and pets fed all was well in my world. 

It is at times like these, I am so glad I live on a boat. I watched the news with sadness in my heart for all those who have been flooded. Of course living on a boat does not mean we do not have issues when flooding takes place, but at least we float. I cannot imagine what the people flooded out are going through this close to Christmas. My thoughts are with them.