Early to rise?

Morning Friends.

It is a Tad windy this morning, but this was forecast by the Carol Kirkwood on the BBC1 weather this morning. More exciting though, she also forecast snow, but whether we see any is any other thing. I am really hoping the snow munchkins leave a covering of the white stuff, so I can get some snow photographs.

Blimey what a start to my morning.
It all began with a really weird dream. I had been in hospital for a knee replacement operation, which had been only a day operation. The hospital needed the bed, so I was asked to go home, but because they had no transport for me, I would have to find my own way across town. So without crutches, I hobbled out of the hospital and began to make my way across town, but which ever way I went I could not get to my destination. I ended up on a building site wading through cement, none of the builders on the site offered me any help, it was as though I was not there. After some time trying to get out of the building site ended up turning round and heading back to the hospital, where I begged someone to help me, but due to no beds I was turned away. It was at this point I woke up and the time was 8.10 am, which is late for me.
I got up and made us both a brew and whilst enjoying the first cuppa of the day, there was a knocking on the boat. Without even thinking I dived out of bed to answer the engine room door and standing there was a delivery driver, he had bought us our new laptops. What I did not think about what what I was wearing. I was in a t-shirt and underwear, not that I think he was to bothered, I dare say he has seen far worse or better, depending on your point of view. Anyway we have two new laptops. They are both Dells and wow so much quicker than my old one with Windows 7 on it. I am now a Windows 10 girl.
Having gotten dressed, walked Paddy, fed the animals, walked to do the recycling at Sainsbury and made up the fire, we settled down to work out our new laptops.
Before I guide you through the working out of the new laptop, what is it with people, who take their recycling to the bins, but they never actually put their recycling in the bins provided, they just leave it in bags down by the bins?
I call this down right laziness. The bins were not full, so there was absolutely no excuse. Having been into Sainsbury to get a loaf of bread, I stopped at the bins to put the left bags of recycling in the bins. Someone had left clothing which I duly put in the appropriate bins and came away with a couple of bags for life, so win win situation. I just cannot understand why you would not put your recycling in the bins, when you have taken the trouble to take it there.
You should know now, I am not great with technology, so having a new laptop to tackle was going to be a game and a half. Keith and I agreed to do it side by side as he is more tech savvie than I am. All was going well until we tried to load in Adobe Photoshop. It loaded on to Keith's, but my laptop would not have a bar of it. The disc is an old one and has some scratches on it, so I am guessing that is the problem, so after trying to get it to load for more than an hour, I gave up on that and loaded on other stuff instead. We literally spent all of the afternoon working on both laptops and by the end of it I was mentally drained. Still I have most things in place and of course I can update the blog, so that is a bonus.
I dare say over the coming days I will have laptop woes, because I am not good with new things, my brain tends to shut down when I have to work new things out and that is why I only have an old mobile phone and not an up to date i-phone. So watch this space for the disasters that will no doubt occur.
I am overjoyed this evening to find that with Windows 10, I have Open Live Writer back hooray. I have so missed it. It used to work on Windows 7, but then they stopped supporting it and so I could not used it for a long time, but now it is back.
On that happy note I will leave you to go and have a cuppa.

Getting your just desserts

Hi Friends.

It has turned very middle over the past couple of day, but that is not set to last with a cold blast coming in towards the end of the week. I personally prefer the cold frosty days and if we can add some snow into the mix that would make me even happier.

There has been a media storm going on in Warwick for a few days now and it is over posters put up all around Warwick.

This is the poster which has caught the media attention. It began with the local press, but even the national press have heard seen the posters. They say a woman scorned is a dangerous person to cross and clearly Graham crossed the barrier and Linda has gotten her revenge. At first it was thought this was an advertising ploy by the company on the bottom of the poster, but the company who did the posters have said that Linda is a real person and she did have the posters made.
Have you been cheated on and what did you do to get your revenge?

I am not a vengeful person and so not sure I would have the guts to do what this lady has done. I think you do have to be careful, but on the other hand go girl go. One thing is certain, it has not done Warwick any harm or the company who made the poster.

I still have not begun my cross stitch, I have been far to busy playing with the family tree. It has been all absorbing and addictive. The joy has been finding birth certificates and marriage information of family members.  Yesterday pretty much my whole day, was taken up with doing the tree before my 14 days free trial ended. Having gotten all the information together, I then closed the trial down because £119 for 12 months is a lot of money to pay. I can understand why people would pay it, but for me it is to much.

So here we are on Tuesday and it was a mild dull start. I did not wake up until 7.30 am and that was only because Keith was stirring. We had our first cup of tea of the day before getting up and taking Paddy for his morning stroll.
That dog sure knows how to sleep, he never gets out of bed until he hears me getting dressed. After feeding him and Marmite, Keith and I had our breakfast and then the days chores began. Firstly I went and did a laundry wash and had a natter with our neighbour. The laundry is always a great place for a chat and usually where you see some of the other winter boaters. I wanted to clean the saloon flue and fill the water tank, so with Paddy needing his weight checked, I got Keith to walk Paddy to the vets and I got on with cleaning the saloon flue again. Thankfully it was not to bad this week. After putting the brushes away, I then got the hosepipe out, connected it to the tap which is up the path from our boat. To fill our water tank, I have to climb onto the bow of our boat, because the water tank opening is on the port side of the boat. Hosepipe in the tank and water turned on, I left it to fill away, which I got on with hoovering the boat out and washing the floors. Keith and Paddy were back from the vets and Paddy's weight has stayed stable, which is good news.
Lunch today was the remainder of the Chicken and Banana Curry, which was lovely. We had fresh fruit salad with yogurt for pudding. This whole eating healthy lifestyle does make you feel better, but there is absolutely no reason why we cannot have treats as well.
With no other jobs to do, the afternoon will be spent doing very little and who knows I may even do some cross stitch.

Something New.

Hi Friends.

Yes it is Friday and the first week of January is almost done with.

Decorations away yet?

I did mine the other day, because I was fed up of looking at them and the dust, which was gathering around the boat. That is one of the joys of having coal stoves.

I did not make any New Year Resolutions as I told you in a previous post, but this morning I felt the urge to do something new. On the Television they have been advertising 'The Art of Cross Stitch' and despite the fact I have never been that keen on it, I have decided that this will be my new thing to try in 2017. I figured with the first issue being only 99 pence, it was worth a go. I decided all of this in bed this morning, whilst drinking my first cup of tea and watching the BBC news. It is amazing what goes through my head first thing in the morning. So with a purpose to my morning, I was soon up and out with his nibs Paddy. It was another chilly and frost walk, with the temperature having gotten down to -5 C overnight, but there was evidence of a thaw and rain forecast for the afternoon.
Back home and Paddy and Marmite got fed, Marmite as usual shouting the loudest for her breakfast. Anyone would think she never gets fed. There is always dry food in her other bowl. Yes Marmite is a two bowl cat, three if you count the water bowl, but she shares that with Paddy. It is always funny when there is very little water in the bowl, because Paddy will just lick the bowl dry, but Marmite will sit looking at the bowl until I realize she wants water. She refuses to drink what is left in the bottom. Cat's are so strange, but she always makes me smile.
Anyway mog and dog sorted out, I got on and did a laundry wash, because I like to keep the laundry down minimum if possible, as we do not have the room to put it. Whilst my 32 minute quick was on the go, I headed back to the boat to clean out the saloon fire and make it up for the morning. I always get this job, so it is a matter of getting rid of the ash and then making it up with fresh coal from the hold.
Time to put my jacket on and walk up to Sainsbury to see if they had the Cross Stitch magazine in and they had every other magazine for crafts in but not the one I wanted, so I walked into town to WH Smith's to see if they had a copy. I looked and looked again, but could not see it, so asked one of the assistants. He very kindly checked the stand and although there was none on display, he did go and check out the back and came back with a box full. His question to me was "How many do you want?"

I actually bought two, because if I enjoy it, I can give one cross stitch away as a gift. If my memory serves me well, the last time I did cross stitch was when I was at secondary school, to many moons ago to count and I remember not really liking it then, but as those moons have past and I fancy doing something new, this has caught my eye. I have a very good friend who does it and it looks amazing. So I will give it a go and yes you will be seeing my progress.

10 am and it was coffee time and time to think about what we were going to have for our lunch. The decision was to make a Cornbeef and Onion pie. I fry some onions off, add a tin of Cornbeef, which I have chopped into cubes (not the tin silly the cornbeef inside the tin). I then add some Worcestershire sauce and mix together. I then make my pie case and add the filling, put the pie lid on and bake. 

Cornbeef pie was a hit as always and I have opened the Cross Stitch packet, so that is a start. The rest of my afternoon was taken up with doing my family tree. I am going to become obsessed I just know it. But it is exciting finding new relatives. It looks like the frosts have gone for at least a couple of days, because it is now raining, but that did not stop me relighting the back cabin stove, to help keep the damp weather out. 

Keith made himself useful, he got on with drilling a hole through the bulkhead into the hold, really for the electrical cable to go through. This is all preparation for his railway layout.You can check up on his progress so far at this BLOG. Both of us are eager to start, but we must take it a step at a time. 

Right time to stop writing the blog and get back to the family tree. See I told you I am addicted. :-)

Getting addicted.

Hi Friends.

Chilly start to Thursday. The temperature got down to -5.3 C over night, so it was lovely and crisp out this morning. It would have been so easy to stay beneath the duvet, but when you have a dog, then it has to be walked. I am not one of these boaters who just opens the door of the boat and lets the dog walk itself.
Up and wrapped up against the cold, Paddy and I had a lovely walk in the frost. The air was so cold, that it took my breath away at times. I always think the air is always so clean and pure when it has been cleaned by a frost. It did amaze me that the morning traffic were clearly not driving to the conditions on the road. The beeping of horns and screeching of brakes we all to evident this morning. I was just thankful that there were no accidents, and even more thankful they did not knock me over. It makes me so glad that I am not a driver. I did try to learn twice, but realized it was not for me. I always said, I did not want to be the cause of someone else's accident. I have always been been careful around roads and this stemmed from the death of my Gran. My 80 year old Gran was crossing the road outside her home, when she was knocked over by a car. The driver of the car was not to blame, my gran just stepped out into the road. This has always stayed with me and so I am extra careful.

I am getting addicted to family research. I am on Ancestry.co.uk now researching my family and it has really gripped me. Keith wanted information on his family and because his brother-in-law is on the same program, I signed up for the 14 day free trial to get the information Keith needed. Whilst I have the 14 days, I will do as much research as I can about my family. Having spent most of the morning on the laptop, whilst Keith was out shopping. After lunch I needed a break, so walked down to Sainsbury to do the recycling and then on to Torry's the hardware store to pick up Keith's drill bit, which had come in. It was good to stretch my legs and get some more of the frosty air.
Late into the afternoon, I was back on the laptop doing more research and finding out more fascinating information. I can see this becoming a passion of mine, especially as I have very little information on my Mother's side of the family.
We have another hard frost this evening, the temperature is already down to -2.5 C, so the canal will be frozen over again in the morning, although the weather forecast is set milder.

Hi Friends.

Day 4 of 2017 and how is it going so far?
For me it is pretty much as it was in 2016. I look on a New Year as just another number on the calendar really. The only thing I need to remember is that if I write a cheque or anything requiring the date I put 2017 and not 16.

Last night was interesting. You may remember from a few posts ago, I bought the first series of Game of Thrones for a couple of pounds and thought if I did not like it, I had not dished out to much money. Well we began to watch the 1st series and I think I am already hooked. We watched the first disc which had two episodes on it and are half way through the second disc. I had heard so much about Game of Thrones and of course some of it could have been hype. I really enjoyed watching it last night and cannot wait to watch more, so I think it will be worth investing in the other series at some time. I will be keeping an eye on Ebay and the Charity Shops to see if I can get the other series at a reasonable price.

This morning we were minus a frost and therefore, it was a warmer start to Wednesday. Today was the day Keith was having his eye's tested again, because he has been suffering headaches for a few weeks. The appointment was at 10.40 am, so having done all the boat chores, we locked up the boat and headed off into town. Before Keith's eye appointment, we went and bought me a new pair of slippers, because my old ones gave up living after Christmas. At the optician's I sat and waited whilst Keith had all the tests and it turned out he needed glasses for watching the TV. His reading glasses were still alright though. Having picked out his new glasses from the £39 range (we never go expensive), he was told they would be in around a week to ten days. So he may have to put up with a bad head for a few more days. We left the opticians and went down to Torry's the hardware store to buy a new flue brush for the back cabin flue, which is a different size to the saloon flue. For a small flue brush it was £7.50, which is a lot for a brush, but with the old one almost without any bristles now, we handed over the money. It had better last a long time. It was now 11.30 am, so we decided to go to Wetherspoon's for a breakfast, because we had not had any on the boat. As usual the Vegetarian breakfast was really very good, as was the cup of tea to wash it all down.
Back home on the boat, Marmite was making sure we knew she was cold, even though the stove was sending out some lovely heat.

Marmite does not do cold, she does not even do chilly. If she could have got any closer to the stove she would of. I re-lit the back cabin stove and Marmite spent the rest of the day up there on the side bed.
Keith went off on the bush to Homebase to get a storage box and a fan heater, which they have on offer. He wants the heater for his railway layout room, when it is built. He decided to buy the heater now, because Homebase were selling them for £8. The Homebase webpage said they had the heaters and boxes at the Warwick branch, but when he got there, they had neither, so he caught the bus into Leamington and got what he wanted there. Oh the joys of having a bus pass. Whilst he was away, I got on with tidying the boat and stoking the fires. I also sat down and did some more to my family tree. It is growing on my fathers side, but my mothers side is not getting very far as yet. The family is a mystery.

This evenings sunset was a stunner. We are in for a cold night, with the forecasters saying the temperature could get down to -6 C, so we will stoke up the fires and snuggle down beneath the duvet.

Year of the Tiger.

Hi Friends.

Brrrr chilly old start to Tuesday, this will be the first day back at work for many. Over night it was -4.0 C here and we have ice on the cut again this morning yippee, I love it. 

On my Facebook page this morning a friend put this Chinese New Year calendar on her page.

I was interested to read I was born in the year of the Tiger and actually reading the post on it does kind of apply to me.
People born in the Year of the Tiger are deep sensitive and in-tune with their emotions, thus making them awesome lovers or partners. They seek balance between their domineering and strongly competitive nature and their immense need for love, which both drive them towards seeking independence from love; hence, they both bring passion and open candor into any relationship while also expecting the same in return. They have amazing confidence, though they can be quite shaken or depressed by criticisms at times. They can also be inherently restless. Tigers are best know for their ability to bounce back from negative occurrences, and they are dignified and courageous in facing any challenges, making them great leaders.

I am not particularly sensitive to this type of thing and I most definitely would not live my life by this or horoscopes, but it does interest me when they really do know my personality.

As I said at the beginning it was a cold old start with a severe frost, which brought me lots of joy and smiles, because I love this sort of weather. It does however cause issues for us all, whether we live on the water or land. Thankfully I filled our water tank the other day and it will last us up to 3 weeks before I need to refill. Coal is in the hold so no need to struggle getting coal in. I did go and do a laundry wash in the Arm's laundry. I happily sit in there and while away 45 minutes, whilst I do a quick wash. I got to have a chat with a couple of the Winter moorers we have in till March. Lots of catching-up is had whilst waiting for the laundry to do. Washing done and catching-up complete, it was back to the boat, to hang the washing up to dry in the back cabin and engine room. With both stoves going, the washing never takes long to dry.

After a quiet morning, I took Paddy out for an afternoon walk. Having put on a few pounds over Christmas, I have decided to up my walking and today Paddy was my companion. We walked up the towpath towards The Cape of Good Hope Inn over the bridge and walked back along the road. It was a brisk walk in the cold, I really enjoyed it, but Paddy was worn out by the time we got home, he really finds walking to far a chore these days.

On the radio today, they were talking about a study which has revealed the average Briton is in a bad mood for 1 year and 8 months of their life, which equals out at 5 hours a week!
Really?
What makes you grumpy?
I guess the things that make me grumpy are:
1. Bad manners.
2. Litter dropping.
3. Dog poo left on the ground.
4. Swearing.
5. The media exaggerating the news.
Need I go on, but I cannot see me being grumpy for 5 hours a week, life is way to short to be that grumpy surely?

Back to normality.

Hi Friends.

That is it then, we are on day to of 2017 and for me life has returned to normality. We have always put our Christmas decorations up on the 1st of December and they then come down on the 12th day of Christmas, but not this year. Yes the decorations went up on the 1st of December, but this year the decorations have been returned to their box on the 2nd of January. For those of you who think it is bad luck to take the decorations down early, I am tempting fate as I am a believer in we make our own luck. Of course if we have a year of bad luck, I may have to eat my words. To be honest , I have gotten fed up with the decorations being up collecting dust, which there is always a lot of on a boat when you have a fire going.
After taking Paddy for his walk on what was a cold and frosty start, he and Marmite got fed. Neither Keith or I had breakfast, Keith because he does not eat breakfast on Monday, Wednesday or Friday's, for me I just did not feel like it, I think I was still full from last nights nibbles. I made a start on taking the decorations down. Firstly the paper chains came down, I am hoping we maybe able to use them again this coming Christmas (not wishing the year away). Keith then helped to take down the fairy lights. I then deconstructed the Christmas tree. Everything went back into their boxes and life was back to normal on board. Of course with the taking down of the decorations, comes the dust and glitter, so I put the hoover round, washed the floors and dusted all the surfaces. It actually felt a bit like having a Spring clean. I really just wanted to get rid of all the clutter.
Talking of clutter, at this time of the year I always go through my clothes cupboard and draw and get rid of things that have not worn or used. I began with my cupboard, because I have lost weight, there were jeans I can no longer wear because they are to big. I even took them in and they are now to big again, so they along with some unworn jumpers are going to be recycled. We do not have any hanging space, so all our clothes are in one cupboard each and a draw each for our clothing, so neither of us has a lot of clothing. I will be honest and say I have more clothes than Keith, but I think that is a normal woman thing. I am not a shoes and bag woman. I have shoes a couple of boating shoes and everyday shoes. I think in my shoes box are probably five pairs of shoes and two pairs of boots and that is it. Clothing clutter all sorted out and put in its place, I then got on with thinking about something for lunch, the plan was to have the lasagna I had made on New Years Day. I think it always tastes better on the second day.
Lunch was had, before we donned our coats and headed off out for a walk. We had planned on doing it New Year's Day, but the weather was so wet, we postponed the walk until today, which was crisp and sunny. We decided that the towpaths would be to muddy, so we set off down to St. Nicholas Park long side the river Avon. We were not the only people out for a walk, every man, woman and their dogs were out for a stroll. I guess most will be back at work tomorrow.

West Gate.

There was a lovely view of Warwick Castle, which can only be seen at this time of the year from the park, because the leaves are off the trees.

There was a feeding frenzy on the river with people feeding the ducks and gulls.

The ducks were hardly getting a look in. The gulls were like grease lightening and noisy with it. 

I really enjoyed the stroll around the park, it was nice to blow the cobwebs away after the Christmas festivities, such as they were. 

Back on board, the kettle was already boiling on the back cabin stove, so I made us a coffee and we then sat down to watch 'Operation Crossbow' starring George Peppard and Sophia Loren. The film was made in 1965 and is a classic wartime film. 

Tomorrow the world and his wife will be back to work and the whole cycle of living will continue. 

Well It Is Here.

Hi Friends.

2017 has arrived. Did it come in with a bang for you?

Our New Years Eve was spent on the boat, with drinks and nibbles and a tot of Whiskey at midnight. Yes we made it to midnight and this year I was wide eyed and bushy tailed for a change. I think it helped that we were watching 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2' until 11.30 pm. We then watched Robbie Williams performing in London until the bongs of Big Ben and the countdown to 2017. As always Robbie Williams was incredible. I think he gets better with age and it was so lovely he performed with his Dad Pete. The firework display in London was amazing and was clearly all about Britain and how we are open for business. I am not one for crowds, so there is no way I would have wanted to be in those crowds. We probably got a better view, by watching them on the TV. Keith and I toasted in the New Year, wished Paddy and Happy Birthday and then went to bed at 12.30 am, with the knowledge that we were in a brand spanking New Year.

I wonder what it has in store for us all? 

I know some of our friends will be putting up the biggest fight of their lives as they battle Cancer and I wish them all the healing thoughts I have at this time. I also know that some of our friends are leaving the cut and moving back on to dry land and I wish them well with their new adventures. We all have the break from Europe to cope with and we can but hope that goes smoothly. 

I am not sure what 2017 is going to bring me, I do however hope that health wise things settle down, so we can go out cruising and we manage to get our generator fixed. Keith is hoping he can begin his railway.

Today is our boy's 13th Birthday. It is incredible to believe we have had Paddy for 12 years now. Paddy has been an angel through out his life with us and to think we almost lost him a couple of years ago, when he became very poorly. He still has days when he thinks he is 2 years old again, but these most of his time is spent sleeping. He is a happy relaxed soul, who has given us much joy.

Having had a disturbed nights sleep, with listening to bumps on the boat ( I think Marmite fell of something) and the fireworks going off, we were finally awake at 8 am and I did the usual morning thing and that is to make a cup of tea. The news was on and already there was tragedy. The changing of the year, does not change the disturbing news around the world. 8.30 am up and dressed, Paddy was still lounging in his bed, so I had to ask him if he wanted to go out for his wee. He leisurely climbed out of his pit and jumped up the step and onto the back counter. It was miserable out with rain splashing on the surface of the canal. We walked up to unlock the gates and then got back on the boat. Breakfast for mog and dog first and then Keith and I had our toast.
I got on then with riddling the fire and making it up for the day.
I had defrosted some mince over night and so got on with splitting it in two to make half the mince into a Cottage Pie and the other half into a Lasagna. In my Lasagna I like to add lots of veg, so we had some onions, carrots and sprouts in the fridge plus some manky mushrooms, so they all went into the Lasagna, along with a pasta sauce, pepper and a teaspoon of Marmite. Yep Marmite is lovely in pasta sauce. If I had had a bottle of Red Wine on board, I would of made my own sauce, but sadly there was non to be had, so a jar of sauce had to suffice. Into the Cottage Pie, I added onion, mushroom, chopped carrots, garlic, beef oxo cube, pepper and a splash of Worcestershire Sauce. The pot was then put on top of the stove to cook slowly, whilst the Lasagna went in the oven.
We had some of the Lasagna for lunch with veggies and although I say it myself it was yummy, which is more than I could say for the weather. It did not stop raining all day, so with nothing much to do, I watched films and did more to my family tree. It is certainly growing now and the more I do it the more I find out. I just wish some of the sites did not charge so much, because then I could find out more. Most of my afternoon and evening were spent researching my family tree, but there are still huge gaps and my grandfathers are a mystery still.