Thursday 14th January and still the ice is hanging on. This morning I should have been going to Harlow but, as the outlook was rather foggy, it seemed to make more sense to stay. With a bit of luck and if the weather warms up as promised, I should get there for a Sunday lunchtime drink.
Yesterday, even though it was snowing at the time, we decided to get into Loughborough for a bit of shopping at Morrisons. This was the first time of going since our pre-Christmas shopping, so was something of a treat as I have not been getting much exercise of late. Besides which, we really do like their meat pies. That’s the triangular shaped ones I’ve mentioned before, which are really quite delicious and which we’re having this evening.
It was on the 5th of this month that I saw the consultant surgeon at Glenfields Hospital in Leicester. When we left him he was dictating a letter to my GP regarding my Haemoglobin level which, apparently, was a little bit low and leaning towards anaemia. Would you believe it but, after more than a week his letter had still not arrived. I’m beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, this was a ruse to delay my operation. There’s more than one way of fiddling figures.
We’re still awaiting the arrival of the pump-out and diesel barge and, even as I sit here typing, young Mark has been gamely trying to get round to us through the ice. It seems though that he’s not had a lot of luck, because last time we saw him he was backing up and, quite obviously had given up trying. Hopefully, if the milder weather continues, he’ll make it tomorrow. We are not only in need of the pump-out we also need to top up with diesel. During this cold snap we’ve really been slaughtering the central heating.
Tuesday 19th January and, at last, we have some milder weather, which is just as well, because it’s market day at Melton Mowbray and we are in dire need of some decent sausages.
But first, a couple of Soap-Box moans.
Firstly, and I have taken a particular interest in the subject, so much so that I have three books about it, and that subject is Global Warming. Quite a few people, especially those who rule our lives – and I don’t mean just here in the U.K. – actually believe the crap put out by the IPCC, that’s the International Panel on Climate Change. Personally I have always believed it to be just a load of scare-mongering, but the so-called “experts” seem to hold sway over politicians.
Anyway, having read up on the subject, I am even more convinced of the arrogance of these people, who seem to think that we humans are somehow to blame for the way this planetary home of ours controls our living conditions.
Thankfully some of the real experts are now speaking out against the IPCC and, with a little luck, that ridiculous organisation will eventually be shut down. You, my dear reader, must come to your own conclusions, if you haven’t done so already. In this regard, if you really want the truth, I would urge you to read “The Real Global Warming Disaster”, by Christopher Booker.
The second moan is about that utterly- butterly, stupid heart expert, who goes by the name of Shyam Kolvekar, who now suggests, that this ancient spread should be Banned!! I wonder what our hard-pressed dairy farmers have to say about that idea. Believe me dear reader, if he was aware of the rubbish that goes into the manufacture of the alternative spreads, he wouldn’t dare to even put his head above the parapet. That’s another so-called ‘expert’, trying to tell us what not to eat and drink. The next and obvious item of food he would suggest banning, is cheese, then yoghourt and cream and, as he has already suggested, red meat, etcetera and Blah! Blah! Blah! God help us and save us from these morons.
Now, Sunday was my latest visit to Harlow and the first since before Christmas, in fact as early as the 3rd of December. I managed to find time to pay a visit to my friend Les and her daughter Colette before calling in on Alan. Les is the lady who accompanied me on the school bus run, as did Colette when mum couldn’t make it.
After a cuppa with them; unfortunately husband and father Dave was in the Lake District, so I couldn’t have a few words with him, but I certainly enjoyed the short visit; I made my way round to Alan’s place.
My short visit to Les and Colette was followed by an enjoyable couple of hours at the Emperor and a quite delicious dinner of roast duck and the usual trimmings. All in all a pretty good day. The run home on Monday morning was also plain sailing and I made the trip in something less than two hours.
Wednesday 20th January and a rather dull start to the day, but this did not stop us from going shopping at Morrisons.
Now, just yesterday I mentioned that stupid medic who suggested butter should be banned. That was first thing in the morning. When we returned from Quorn with the Daily Mail, who should have a full page spread but Clarissa Dickson-Wright and, oh boy, did she lay into that poor man. It just so happens that CDW’s Godfather was the founder of the ‘alternative spread manufacture’ Van den Burgh andJurgens, a company whose fire alarm system I once had the dubious privilege of servicing.
When Clarissa was a child her kindly Godfather made her promise never, ever, ever to eat margarine. And, when she asked why, his reply was, “Because you do not know what goes into it”. He, however, was well aware of the rubbish it contained and, to this day, our dear Clarissa has never, ever, ever touched the stuff.
Also, and I was not aware of this, there is no proof whatsoever that eating such a delightful, and natural product, makes any contribution to high cholesterol, as most doctors would have us believe. Clarissa herself, who admits to using butter quite extensively, has a cholesterol reading that “a five year old would be proud of”.
Keep spreading that butter!!
Friday 22nd January and, according to the weather experts, we can expect bucketsful of rain today. This is a pity, because, just yesterday, we spotted a rather large crack in our car windscreen. Obviously, not wishing to tempt providence, I called our insurers and they advised me to call in Autoglass, who advised me that, with the size of crack I described, we would need a new screen. Sadly this has now cost us £60, which is the excess on our policy. Happily £60 is just a fraction of the actual cost of the screen, which is probably somewhere around £400, but I’m only guessing here.
Wednesday 27th January and a week has flown by since I last updated this blog. This means of course that nothing much of interest has happened since. What a boring life we lead.
Of course, we’ve done the usual things, like shopping at Morrisons and pubbing it on Sunday, etcetera and ad nauseum, but nothing untoward.
However, as I may have mentioned a while ago, we now have two radiators with pinholes in, a fact that does concern us somewhat. Some few days before Christmas, I spoke to Andy, the engineer from Redhill Marina, who promised to install our expansion bottle and he popped in yesterday to have a decko and to see what extra bits he needed. The upshot was that he will now install said item on Monday. He will also price us up for new radiators and, hopefully, we’ll get them sorted out soon.
I also asked him about servicing the engine and he quoted £100, which is a far cry from the £200 + that we paid last time. He also said that, since we’ve asked him to carry out the plumbing work, he’ll throw in the extras for the engine for free. I think we’ll take him with us next time we go cruising!
On the matter of my legs, I’m still waiting to hear from the hospital. My GP still has not received the promised letter and it is now three weeks since my visit. He was actually dictating the letter as we left, which doesn’t say much for his secretary. Personally I think it is simple delaying tactics, since most hospitals and NHS Trusts find it impossible to keep to government targets.
And that is just about it for this entry. I must apologise for the delay in updating the blog, but I’ve been up to my eyes in the recipe book. Yeah, I know, what the heck is keeping me? The truth is that I’ve not been happy with the idea of issuing it in four small volumes rather than one single one. So, despite the makers of the programme telling me to limit it to no more than 100 pages or so – and mine is about 400 – I’ve decided to give it a try and publish it as one book. So far, I’m happy to say, it seems to be doing what I want but, since I’m having to go over everything as if it was a new project, it’s taking some time.
Saturday 30 January and, once again I have nothing special to report. One thing I do know though, this Toshiba Laptop is not a patch on the Acer. Comparing both as new computers this one is much slower. However, when the Acer was new it came at almost twice the price of the Toshiba. Still, I would have expected a little better performance, because this one is only a couple of months old and has a dual core processor. It just seems so slow in reacting to my commands.
For example. Opening an existing document seems to take forever. The cursor turns onto a whirling circle and, several seconds afterwards, up comes the script. Then, when I type into the document, the response isn’t always immediate. The same thing happens when I close it, the blue screened, blank document; which really should be white, sits there for several seconds with a whirling cursor. I really don’t know what to make of it.
Also, when I open my recipe book in order to do a bit of editing, I get a message at the top of the screen telling me it is not responding. But, after a while the book does open up for me. And, once again, the same thing happens when I save the work I’ve done. It really is annoying.
I’ve tried re-installing the book programme, but I still have the same problem. It’s as if the machine just doesn’t know where to find the item I want and, when I’ve finished, it doesn’t know where to put it. This really is a slow witted computer, but I suppose I’m going to have to put up with it, because I can’t afford to buy another one.
Now, today is Saturday, the weekend is upon us and we have been promised some much colder weather. There’s no point in me trying to post this blog later today, because everybody and his uncle will all be scrambling to do their own thing online. So I guess I’d better try posting it now.
Before I do though, I thought I might mention the fact that I’ve been looking at an online book publishing site called Lulu. This site will do all the work necessary to compile and publish your book, be it as an eBook or paperback or even hard cover. All you need to do is submit your files and they will do the rest. Well, I’ve had a look at some of the recipe books they have produced and, I must say, my attempt so far looks pretty weak.
So, since it seems necessary to include proper photographic images of food within the pages and on the cover, I sent off for a disc full of same. Would you believe it, when I opened the disk on screen, of all the available folders in there, I was unable to open four of them which contained, in total, over 70Mb of photographs. I am still awaiting a reply from the seller who, by the way, has a good reputation on eBay.
Have a good weekend folks.
Luv and stuff from,
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
Friday 29 January 2010
Tuesday 12 January 2010
Pillings Lock Marina 2010 #1
Hi Folks, well, it’s been a while since last I posted. An old year has gone and a new one has begun. So, this is the first of the new year and, I hope, not the last. Here’s to you and yours.
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Well now, how are you all now that another end of year festivities are over? We’re fine too, thanks for asking.
When I posted the last blog of ’09 earlier today I had something of a problem logging in to my Google Account. Goodness knows why because I’ve been using the wretched thing for long enough now.
Anyway, with Wifey looking over my shoulder and me becoming more and more impatient (a sure sign I’m on the mend after the ‘bug’) I went through all the rigmarole and folderole of re-setting my password. The first thing they do at Google is send an email with info on how to reset your password. This, in itself, simply does not work. What they don’t tell you, anywhere at all on either page, is that you have to wait for another email to finish the process. This I duly did, but why can they not send the password once they know you are the right person to send it to, instead of going around the houses to get there?
Tomorrow is shopping day, only three days late but we’ll get there in the end. Sunday will, of course, see us at the Quorndon Fox for lunchtime tipples. Tuesday is Glenfield Hospital in Leicester for a knee inspection. Thursday I’m off to Harlow for the next jam session at The Purple Emperor. Naturally I’ll keep you up to date on happenings as they happen.
Today is Saturday 2nd January 2010 and at last, after four days of discomfort, my tummy has settled down, although I don’t think it is sufficiently settled down for our Sunday lunchtime tipple tomorrow. But that’s no problem really as I’ll be sure to enjoy Thursdays one even more.
Today we awoke to freezing temperatures, by 10 o/clock it had brightened enough to go into Quorn for supplies, by 10.45 it was snowing and around 2 o/clock it had started raining, so don’t let anybody, anywhere in the world, tell you that they have more weather than we Brits.
By the way before I forget, our cousin Pauline, for whom I asked those readers of a praying disposition to say one for her, is now on the mend and home with her family. I’m sure a full recovery will take some time yet, but we all wish her well.
Now, back in about February of last year I purchased a programme called GMX Photopainter, which converts photographs to art in all its many styles, including watercolour, oils and even pen and ink drawings, which is the style I intend to investigate. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I always keep registration details of any programme I purchase, this one seems to have gone missing. Over the Christmas period I emailed the company but, so far have had no reply. Hopefully, now that everybody is back at work, even those living in Brazil, which is where the programme originates, another email should do the trick. And that’s what I’m about to do. Cheers for now.
Tuesday 5th January 2010 and we have snow – not a lot, but it’s a start.
On Sunday, despite the nasty, threatening weather, we did go to the pub as usual. Can’t keep a good man down you know!
Monday we managed to get over to Morrisons for our half weekly shop; half because I really didn’t feel up to it on Saturday, and so we took a short run into Quorn instead.
Today was the occasion of my trip to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, to have the surgeon take a look at my knees, when he would decide what needs doing. Having studied my X-rays and given them both a good wiggle, he declared them both to be about as bad as each other and that, if I wish for more freedom of movement and mobility, the only thing to do would be to replace them. When I asked if they could both be replaced at the same time, he said he would be happy to do so just so long as the Anaesthetist was happy with my state of health. That’s a big whoopee then!
In order to decide if I was fit enough to go under the knife sometime in March, he sent me off for a blood test. Unfortunately my Haemoglobin is a little low – no doubt as a direct result of my recent tummy bug – so I have to see my GP to have that normalised first. He then gave me a card that effectively gives me a six month open invite to book in again and set a date. I now await an invitation from my GP, where I’m sure the appropriate medication will set my blood on the right track. Meanwhile, assuming the weather is kind to me on Thursday I shall pop off to Harlow and force myself to imbibe a few pints of the Irish Girder, thus ensuring a goodly level of iron in the blood. Hic! Hic! Hooray! I say.
Wednesday 6th January and we’ve had snow, according to my better half, about an inch of the stuff. But that was last night, we don’t know if we’ve had any more whilst we slept. So, it looks like my trip to Harlow is, once again, a no no!
No particular plans for today, except to chase up the GMX Photoart people who still haven’t replied to my first or second emails and, of course, re-working the recipe book and correcting my big mistake.
I don’t believe I’ve explained how this book editor and compiler works, so I’ll give it a go. If and when you ever receive a copy of the finished work you will find that, on your computer screen it actually opens like a book. Each recipe is set in a double sided page and it has an intro and contents page and, well, everything you would expect to see in a physical book. It really is quite cute.
The reason it is taking so long to complete is because, unlike some folks I didn’t read the full instructions pertaining the double sided templates. As a result, whilst I was thinking it had double sided pages upon which to enter two separate recipes, in fact each recipe should take up both pages.
The table of contents will allow you to click on any recipe and go straight to it, or you can follow the arrows at the top and wade through the book that way. All in all there are almost 340 recipes from almost all the English Counties that existed before the 1974 reshuffle of boundaries. All except Middlesex that is, and this is because most of Middlesex was absorbed into the newly created County of London. Although that alone should not mean there are none from Middlesex, it’s just that I have been unable to find any that do exist. Fear not dear friends, I will have another look on the Internet before I finish.
Friday 8th January and, I don’t know about you lot, except perhaps Wee Mac Sis in Scotland, but we still managed to get out for a bit of shopping yesterday.
There are two things that present problems to us boaters during these freezing days, and they are the questions of pumping out our waste tanks and filling up our water tanks. On the Shiralee our water tank, which holds just under 100 gallons, will last us about a week. The waste tank is a little less predictable, especially with my latest tummy upset, but it holds 75 gallons and, under normal circumstances, last about two weeks.
Hopefully, come Monday Paul will have had our pump-out barge repaired and we can empty the waste and top up with diesel, but water is another matter. As marinas go Pillings Lock is quite big and each bay has a stand pipe with which to top water tanks up. In this cold snap though, all the pipework is frozen and it is not possible to use them. Fortunatel, with a little arm twisting, Paul had Steve go off and pick up some extra pipes and fittings so that he could lay it all out and reach most boats from his own water outlet by the office building.
Now, it has to be said, that our Paul has something of an attitude problem towards us boaters. I can’t imagine why because, after all, we are his bread and butter. But it shows itself in small ways, such as his preferring the company of outsiders to the restaurant, where he charges them £3.40 for a pint of, rather inferior, Italian draught lager.
Or, take the example of yesterday when Brian advised him that we were all becoming desperate for water, when he kind of shrugged it off as of no consequence. Eventually he has to do something, that’s if he doesn’t want a riot on his hands. From what we’ve been told, his father, who used to run the place, wanted it for the boaters and leaned over backwards to help. I suppose it all points to the fact that bhe doesn’t actually live on a boat, unlike the staff at many other marinas that we’ve used on our travels. If he were to give it a go, even for just a year, he would appreciate us more, I’m sure.
Anyway the cold snap looks set to continue for at least another week, but at least we are not snowed in up here. The weekend is upon us and I really would like my usual Sunday pint or three.
Saturday 9th January and we have snow.
This morning, at my dearly beloved’s suggestion, we decide to go into Quorn a little earlier than normal; around 8.30 instead of 10 o/clock. This was not a very good idea as it turned out because, despite the fact that Flesh Hovel Lane had been salted by our esteemed marina manager, the road outside it had most decidedly not been gritted by local council. As a result our wee Alfa was not very steady on it’s feet and, after due consideration, the aforementioned dearly beloved suggested I drop her at the roundabout and leave her to do the shopping, whilst I returned to the boat. I have to confess, I was most happy to comply.
The roundabout in question is at the bottom of the hill and only a couple of hundred yards from the end of the lane, and that fact was not in my favour, especially as the ABS had frozen up, which limited my control even further. Also, I had a darn great bus bearing down on me from behind – a fact I neglected to advise Wifey about – so the question of where to stop to let Wifey out did give me pause for thought. However, the judicious application of the hazard warning lights must certainly have given the driver of said charabanc cause to ponder his options.
Naturally I came to a stop as soon as I could, which just so happened to be to my left and half way across the immediate left exit road. Did I really see a slight wobble in that bus, or was it my imagination? Whatever, the bus and following cars safely negotiated the roundabout and I went home and left my dear wife to trudge through the snow. Do you know, she even called me from Quorn to ask if I’d arrived back without problems? And me a professional driver as was!!
It is now 2 pm and it has been snowing, on and off, for most of the day. Looking out of the window towards the other boats, I have some difficulty believing I am actually in a marina, because all I can see is a huge expanse of snow, around which there is a half circle of narrow boats. It really is a peculiar sight.
If the weather stays as it is and we get even more snow, it’s very doubtful that we’ll be pubbing it at lunchtime. However, should it stay bright; which it is at the moment; and if it doesn’t drop any more snow, come lunchtime the roads should be safe enough to travel.
Monday 11th January and it is still pretty cold, but nowhere near as cold as the forecasters have predicted. Certainly, in the northern parts of Scotland, they have been experiencing some horrendous conditions, with temperatures down to – 10 or more (or, should that be less?). Yesterday we even saw some more snow, but we also saw the ice starting to thaw, so we do not believe we have another week or more of this big freeze.
This is our first time of living in a marina community, but we are fast discovering just how helpful boaters are towards each other, and that’s more than can be said for the manager of the place, as I have already reported.
Yesterday however, after discovering that the extended pipe-work could not reach all the boats, it was down to the rest of us to offer up our on board hose reels in order to extend the marinas new pipe. They even Shanghaid our one, blooming cheek! And, not surprisingly, the thing returned when finished with. Hooray for common sense.
There’s nothing our wee pooch likes more, than to frolic in new laid snow. Unfortunately, as with most dogs, she also tends to gobble it up and, as a result, finds herself with an upset tummy and unable to eat. But, being our Rusty she won’t be told and, as usual, we had a moaning Minnie of a dog, who wandered around the boat yesterday, in great discomfort and unable to settle. Eventually, just before time for bed, she found her appetite again and settled down for the night. This morning she is her normal, bouncy self, thank goodness.
Now, I’m pretty sure I had something else to report, something of great importance, I’m sure, but I’m hanged if I can remember what it was.
However, here’s something you may be able to help me with, but only if you have Windows 7 and the latest version of MS Word. To my recollection, having had several versions of this programme on past computers and laptops, when writing to MS Word it has always been possible to save the new document to the Desktop. Not so with the new one. Well, it may be possible but, as at this moment, I can’t seem to do so. Perhaps it simply needs setting up correctly, but I am unable to discover how to do so. Your help would be most appreciated.
Actually, as I have just discovered having downloaded a programme from the Internet, I cannot save anything to the Desktop, not even downloads. What the heck is happening here? I was certainly able to do so last time I tried.
Tuesday 12th January and it is still quite cold, although the ice around us seems to be thawing a little. Whether that is a sign that the big freeze is coming to an end, is a different gether altomatter!
Yesterday we did get into Quorn for a little bit of shopping and, when we returned, we bumped into Brian and asked about the computer whiz that he knows. Lo and behold, the very man was approaching us from behind. Anyway, having asked if he knew what the problem could be regarding ‘saving to desktop’, his opinion was that Microsoft had probably made a bit of a boo boo and would, eventually, come up with a patch to put it right. We can only hope. Later today and, with luck and a tail wind, I’ll be able to post this blog. It is now nine pages long, so it will give you all a five minute break from routine.
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Well now, how are you all now that another end of year festivities are over? We’re fine too, thanks for asking.
When I posted the last blog of ’09 earlier today I had something of a problem logging in to my Google Account. Goodness knows why because I’ve been using the wretched thing for long enough now.
Anyway, with Wifey looking over my shoulder and me becoming more and more impatient (a sure sign I’m on the mend after the ‘bug’) I went through all the rigmarole and folderole of re-setting my password. The first thing they do at Google is send an email with info on how to reset your password. This, in itself, simply does not work. What they don’t tell you, anywhere at all on either page, is that you have to wait for another email to finish the process. This I duly did, but why can they not send the password once they know you are the right person to send it to, instead of going around the houses to get there?
Tomorrow is shopping day, only three days late but we’ll get there in the end. Sunday will, of course, see us at the Quorndon Fox for lunchtime tipples. Tuesday is Glenfield Hospital in Leicester for a knee inspection. Thursday I’m off to Harlow for the next jam session at The Purple Emperor. Naturally I’ll keep you up to date on happenings as they happen.
Today is Saturday 2nd January 2010 and at last, after four days of discomfort, my tummy has settled down, although I don’t think it is sufficiently settled down for our Sunday lunchtime tipple tomorrow. But that’s no problem really as I’ll be sure to enjoy Thursdays one even more.
Today we awoke to freezing temperatures, by 10 o/clock it had brightened enough to go into Quorn for supplies, by 10.45 it was snowing and around 2 o/clock it had started raining, so don’t let anybody, anywhere in the world, tell you that they have more weather than we Brits.
By the way before I forget, our cousin Pauline, for whom I asked those readers of a praying disposition to say one for her, is now on the mend and home with her family. I’m sure a full recovery will take some time yet, but we all wish her well.
Now, back in about February of last year I purchased a programme called GMX Photopainter, which converts photographs to art in all its many styles, including watercolour, oils and even pen and ink drawings, which is the style I intend to investigate. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I always keep registration details of any programme I purchase, this one seems to have gone missing. Over the Christmas period I emailed the company but, so far have had no reply. Hopefully, now that everybody is back at work, even those living in Brazil, which is where the programme originates, another email should do the trick. And that’s what I’m about to do. Cheers for now.
Tuesday 5th January 2010 and we have snow – not a lot, but it’s a start.
On Sunday, despite the nasty, threatening weather, we did go to the pub as usual. Can’t keep a good man down you know!
Monday we managed to get over to Morrisons for our half weekly shop; half because I really didn’t feel up to it on Saturday, and so we took a short run into Quorn instead.
Today was the occasion of my trip to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, to have the surgeon take a look at my knees, when he would decide what needs doing. Having studied my X-rays and given them both a good wiggle, he declared them both to be about as bad as each other and that, if I wish for more freedom of movement and mobility, the only thing to do would be to replace them. When I asked if they could both be replaced at the same time, he said he would be happy to do so just so long as the Anaesthetist was happy with my state of health. That’s a big whoopee then!
In order to decide if I was fit enough to go under the knife sometime in March, he sent me off for a blood test. Unfortunately my Haemoglobin is a little low – no doubt as a direct result of my recent tummy bug – so I have to see my GP to have that normalised first. He then gave me a card that effectively gives me a six month open invite to book in again and set a date. I now await an invitation from my GP, where I’m sure the appropriate medication will set my blood on the right track. Meanwhile, assuming the weather is kind to me on Thursday I shall pop off to Harlow and force myself to imbibe a few pints of the Irish Girder, thus ensuring a goodly level of iron in the blood. Hic! Hic! Hooray! I say.
Wednesday 6th January and we’ve had snow, according to my better half, about an inch of the stuff. But that was last night, we don’t know if we’ve had any more whilst we slept. So, it looks like my trip to Harlow is, once again, a no no!
No particular plans for today, except to chase up the GMX Photoart people who still haven’t replied to my first or second emails and, of course, re-working the recipe book and correcting my big mistake.
I don’t believe I’ve explained how this book editor and compiler works, so I’ll give it a go. If and when you ever receive a copy of the finished work you will find that, on your computer screen it actually opens like a book. Each recipe is set in a double sided page and it has an intro and contents page and, well, everything you would expect to see in a physical book. It really is quite cute.
The reason it is taking so long to complete is because, unlike some folks I didn’t read the full instructions pertaining the double sided templates. As a result, whilst I was thinking it had double sided pages upon which to enter two separate recipes, in fact each recipe should take up both pages.
The table of contents will allow you to click on any recipe and go straight to it, or you can follow the arrows at the top and wade through the book that way. All in all there are almost 340 recipes from almost all the English Counties that existed before the 1974 reshuffle of boundaries. All except Middlesex that is, and this is because most of Middlesex was absorbed into the newly created County of London. Although that alone should not mean there are none from Middlesex, it’s just that I have been unable to find any that do exist. Fear not dear friends, I will have another look on the Internet before I finish.
Friday 8th January and, I don’t know about you lot, except perhaps Wee Mac Sis in Scotland, but we still managed to get out for a bit of shopping yesterday.
There are two things that present problems to us boaters during these freezing days, and they are the questions of pumping out our waste tanks and filling up our water tanks. On the Shiralee our water tank, which holds just under 100 gallons, will last us about a week. The waste tank is a little less predictable, especially with my latest tummy upset, but it holds 75 gallons and, under normal circumstances, last about two weeks.
Hopefully, come Monday Paul will have had our pump-out barge repaired and we can empty the waste and top up with diesel, but water is another matter. As marinas go Pillings Lock is quite big and each bay has a stand pipe with which to top water tanks up. In this cold snap though, all the pipework is frozen and it is not possible to use them. Fortunatel, with a little arm twisting, Paul had Steve go off and pick up some extra pipes and fittings so that he could lay it all out and reach most boats from his own water outlet by the office building.
Now, it has to be said, that our Paul has something of an attitude problem towards us boaters. I can’t imagine why because, after all, we are his bread and butter. But it shows itself in small ways, such as his preferring the company of outsiders to the restaurant, where he charges them £3.40 for a pint of, rather inferior, Italian draught lager.
Or, take the example of yesterday when Brian advised him that we were all becoming desperate for water, when he kind of shrugged it off as of no consequence. Eventually he has to do something, that’s if he doesn’t want a riot on his hands. From what we’ve been told, his father, who used to run the place, wanted it for the boaters and leaned over backwards to help. I suppose it all points to the fact that bhe doesn’t actually live on a boat, unlike the staff at many other marinas that we’ve used on our travels. If he were to give it a go, even for just a year, he would appreciate us more, I’m sure.
Anyway the cold snap looks set to continue for at least another week, but at least we are not snowed in up here. The weekend is upon us and I really would like my usual Sunday pint or three.
Saturday 9th January and we have snow.
This morning, at my dearly beloved’s suggestion, we decide to go into Quorn a little earlier than normal; around 8.30 instead of 10 o/clock. This was not a very good idea as it turned out because, despite the fact that Flesh Hovel Lane had been salted by our esteemed marina manager, the road outside it had most decidedly not been gritted by local council. As a result our wee Alfa was not very steady on it’s feet and, after due consideration, the aforementioned dearly beloved suggested I drop her at the roundabout and leave her to do the shopping, whilst I returned to the boat. I have to confess, I was most happy to comply.
The roundabout in question is at the bottom of the hill and only a couple of hundred yards from the end of the lane, and that fact was not in my favour, especially as the ABS had frozen up, which limited my control even further. Also, I had a darn great bus bearing down on me from behind – a fact I neglected to advise Wifey about – so the question of where to stop to let Wifey out did give me pause for thought. However, the judicious application of the hazard warning lights must certainly have given the driver of said charabanc cause to ponder his options.
Naturally I came to a stop as soon as I could, which just so happened to be to my left and half way across the immediate left exit road. Did I really see a slight wobble in that bus, or was it my imagination? Whatever, the bus and following cars safely negotiated the roundabout and I went home and left my dear wife to trudge through the snow. Do you know, she even called me from Quorn to ask if I’d arrived back without problems? And me a professional driver as was!!
It is now 2 pm and it has been snowing, on and off, for most of the day. Looking out of the window towards the other boats, I have some difficulty believing I am actually in a marina, because all I can see is a huge expanse of snow, around which there is a half circle of narrow boats. It really is a peculiar sight.
If the weather stays as it is and we get even more snow, it’s very doubtful that we’ll be pubbing it at lunchtime. However, should it stay bright; which it is at the moment; and if it doesn’t drop any more snow, come lunchtime the roads should be safe enough to travel.
Monday 11th January and it is still pretty cold, but nowhere near as cold as the forecasters have predicted. Certainly, in the northern parts of Scotland, they have been experiencing some horrendous conditions, with temperatures down to – 10 or more (or, should that be less?). Yesterday we even saw some more snow, but we also saw the ice starting to thaw, so we do not believe we have another week or more of this big freeze.
This is our first time of living in a marina community, but we are fast discovering just how helpful boaters are towards each other, and that’s more than can be said for the manager of the place, as I have already reported.
Yesterday however, after discovering that the extended pipe-work could not reach all the boats, it was down to the rest of us to offer up our on board hose reels in order to extend the marinas new pipe. They even Shanghaid our one, blooming cheek! And, not surprisingly, the thing returned when finished with. Hooray for common sense.
There’s nothing our wee pooch likes more, than to frolic in new laid snow. Unfortunately, as with most dogs, she also tends to gobble it up and, as a result, finds herself with an upset tummy and unable to eat. But, being our Rusty she won’t be told and, as usual, we had a moaning Minnie of a dog, who wandered around the boat yesterday, in great discomfort and unable to settle. Eventually, just before time for bed, she found her appetite again and settled down for the night. This morning she is her normal, bouncy self, thank goodness.
Now, I’m pretty sure I had something else to report, something of great importance, I’m sure, but I’m hanged if I can remember what it was.
However, here’s something you may be able to help me with, but only if you have Windows 7 and the latest version of MS Word. To my recollection, having had several versions of this programme on past computers and laptops, when writing to MS Word it has always been possible to save the new document to the Desktop. Not so with the new one. Well, it may be possible but, as at this moment, I can’t seem to do so. Perhaps it simply needs setting up correctly, but I am unable to discover how to do so. Your help would be most appreciated.
Actually, as I have just discovered having downloaded a programme from the Internet, I cannot save anything to the Desktop, not even downloads. What the heck is happening here? I was certainly able to do so last time I tried.
Tuesday 12th January and it is still quite cold, although the ice around us seems to be thawing a little. Whether that is a sign that the big freeze is coming to an end, is a different gether altomatter!
Yesterday we did get into Quorn for a little bit of shopping and, when we returned, we bumped into Brian and asked about the computer whiz that he knows. Lo and behold, the very man was approaching us from behind. Anyway, having asked if he knew what the problem could be regarding ‘saving to desktop’, his opinion was that Microsoft had probably made a bit of a boo boo and would, eventually, come up with a patch to put it right. We can only hope. Later today and, with luck and a tail wind, I’ll be able to post this blog. It is now nine pages long, so it will give you all a five minute break from routine.
Friday 1 January 2010
Pillings Lock Marina#7
Pillings Lock Marina 2009#7
Boxing Day 2009 and at last the ice is melting, which means we can now go out and buy a paper and a loaf. Bread is, as they say, the staff of life and you would expect on large loaf to last a pair of old wrinklies like us for several days, wouldn’t you? But then the vast majority of wrinkly olduns are not surrounded by ducks and moorhens, and I simply cannot resist the little darlin’s. Sometimes, when we do a big shop at Morrisons or Tesco, we buy a small, sliced, white loaf just for them. Well, what is life all about, if not for sharing?
Last Wednesday, when we dined at the marina restaurant, I went out of my way to ask the manageress there if all tables had been booked for Christmas Day. She assured me that, although the 3 pm sitting was fully booked, they had left some spaces in the 12 noon booking, although she didn’t say why they had done so. “That’s good” said I, “that means we’ll be able to come over for a couple of drinks before we have our own dinner” “You’d be more than welcome” she replied.
Armed with her blessing, or so I thought, we popped along yesterday just as they were opening the doors and, what did we find? Yes, you guessed it, all tables were laid out for dinners and, as a consequence, we were obliged to sit outside. Naturally I reminded the nice lady of our previous conversation but, as you would expect, saving time and making money were the order of the day and, on this one, special day of the year, residents of the marina could make do with a cold seat outside. We had one drink and went home. Needless to say the restaurant has seen us for the last time.
Other than that we had a really good day and made sure that, just for a change, we maintained a sensible level of food consumption. Wifey bought me a couple of CD’s whilst I purchased for her a new watch, which will need about four links removed because she has such slim wrists.
Today we can look forward to a mixture of turkey and duck with our bubble and squeak, along with pickles, which is our usual Boxing Day fare. Oooh! I do like my cold meat and pickles on Boxing Day.
And that, as they say, is that. It’s all over for another year and life can return to normal, whatever that is!!
Monday 28th December 2009 and we’re off to find Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, which is where I have an appointment on 5th January. This is to see a specialist about having a knee replacement, but first, having been warned about limited parking on site, we need to recce the area for alternatives. According to the nice liaison lady I spoke to a few days ago, most people go there by public transport and so we also need to check out bus time-tables. The board on the bus stop at Quorn showed times of departure but, for some stupid reason, neglected to tell us when they arrive. And, in any case, they only go into the town, which means we also have to discover when they leave Leicester and when they arrive at Glenfield.
Yesterday, after our usual Sunday visit to the Quorndon Fox; which showed a much reduced client base; we returned to a chill-out afternoon. For our late meal we once again dived into the turkey and duck leftovers. This time my beloved wife’s offering included pasta with an Italian sauce. Pretty good actually. Today it will be the turn of a meat pie containing more of the leftover birds, and we’ll follow that on Tuesday with a leftover bird meat curry. We will finally run out of the stuff on Wednesday when we have the second half of the pie, this time with a pile of chips and to hell with the blood sugar levels.
Talking of which, I’m still awaiting a home visit from a so-called expert on the condition to determine whether an alternative Insulin regime would bring my readings under better control. It’s very true what they say about Insulin dependency, the amount injected seems to be forever increasing. From my original 40 units I am now on 50 units, twice a day and with no improvement whatsoever. Even though I do not overdo the carbs, my readings still hit double figures most days and, short of going on the Atkins Diet, I’m at a loss as to what to do for the best. Cutting down on carbs would probably do the trick, but the experts tell us we shouldn’t do so but, if I don’t hear from this person soon, then that’s what I’ll have to do.
At this point I was going to give my take global warming, but I’ve changed my mind. It really is such an emotive subject and gets me steaming, that I’m quite likely to call the so-called experts a few choice invectives. So, for now, I’ll put it on the back burner.
Tuesday 29th December 2009 and, with it being market day, we trotted off to Melton Mowbray, a trip that is now becoming something of a habit.
Listening to the news and weather forecast before leaving, we were undecided whether to make the trip or do our weekly shopping at Morrison’s. However, since Wifey’s Christmas present needed a few links taken out of the wristband, and since, despite the website telling us they do exist, there are no jewellers in Loughborough, we decided to go.
Later today, or so they would have us believe, we can expect heavy snow showers which, apparently, will be coming in from Wales, a wee principality that lies to our west. Strangely, the clouds I now see scudding across the sky are actually coming from the east. We have had a few drops of rain but, at present, the temperature is hardly conducive to snow. So, we shall have to wait and see. Tomorrow we will go shopping although, should the 10 inches or more of snow actually appear overnight, that adventure is not a foregone conclusion. Wifey has kindly informed me that, even should we be confined to barracks for a few days, we won’t starve. Now that’s a comforting thought!!
My long awaited recipe book is now in the final process of compilation and, with luck and a tail wind, after adding a few essential web links, I should have it finished by the weekend.
Friday, day 1 of the new year of 2010, and I’m afraid I have been unable to post this latest blog because I have, yet again and it’s the third time this year, gone down with a bout of food poisoning.
On Tuesday, after returning from Melton Mowbray, I partook of a sausage roll, not thinking for one minute about how long since they had been baked, which was on Christmas Day. Later that day the tummy started playing up, very much the way it did on that last and best forgotten day earlier in the year.
So, out went the rest of the sausage rolls, to feed the ducks and fishes, as did the rest of the pie. Today I am almost back to normal although, in order to reach this happy pass, my bottom has been firmly planted on the lavatory seat, which has succeeded in limiting the amount of sleep I have been able to enjoy of late.
I am now firmly sworn off pork pies and sausage rolls, along with most other savoury and spicy dishes, I just don’t see that my innards are happy with them any more.
OK. You can consider this the last blog of 2009. 2010 has started out very cold with a sheet of ice covering the marina although, when Wifey took Rusty for her midday walk, the canal itself was clear.
More later and meanwhile, for the second time, we all wish you the best for 2010.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
Boxing Day 2009 and at last the ice is melting, which means we can now go out and buy a paper and a loaf. Bread is, as they say, the staff of life and you would expect on large loaf to last a pair of old wrinklies like us for several days, wouldn’t you? But then the vast majority of wrinkly olduns are not surrounded by ducks and moorhens, and I simply cannot resist the little darlin’s. Sometimes, when we do a big shop at Morrisons or Tesco, we buy a small, sliced, white loaf just for them. Well, what is life all about, if not for sharing?
Last Wednesday, when we dined at the marina restaurant, I went out of my way to ask the manageress there if all tables had been booked for Christmas Day. She assured me that, although the 3 pm sitting was fully booked, they had left some spaces in the 12 noon booking, although she didn’t say why they had done so. “That’s good” said I, “that means we’ll be able to come over for a couple of drinks before we have our own dinner” “You’d be more than welcome” she replied.
Armed with her blessing, or so I thought, we popped along yesterday just as they were opening the doors and, what did we find? Yes, you guessed it, all tables were laid out for dinners and, as a consequence, we were obliged to sit outside. Naturally I reminded the nice lady of our previous conversation but, as you would expect, saving time and making money were the order of the day and, on this one, special day of the year, residents of the marina could make do with a cold seat outside. We had one drink and went home. Needless to say the restaurant has seen us for the last time.
Other than that we had a really good day and made sure that, just for a change, we maintained a sensible level of food consumption. Wifey bought me a couple of CD’s whilst I purchased for her a new watch, which will need about four links removed because she has such slim wrists.
Today we can look forward to a mixture of turkey and duck with our bubble and squeak, along with pickles, which is our usual Boxing Day fare. Oooh! I do like my cold meat and pickles on Boxing Day.
And that, as they say, is that. It’s all over for another year and life can return to normal, whatever that is!!
Monday 28th December 2009 and we’re off to find Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, which is where I have an appointment on 5th January. This is to see a specialist about having a knee replacement, but first, having been warned about limited parking on site, we need to recce the area for alternatives. According to the nice liaison lady I spoke to a few days ago, most people go there by public transport and so we also need to check out bus time-tables. The board on the bus stop at Quorn showed times of departure but, for some stupid reason, neglected to tell us when they arrive. And, in any case, they only go into the town, which means we also have to discover when they leave Leicester and when they arrive at Glenfield.
Yesterday, after our usual Sunday visit to the Quorndon Fox; which showed a much reduced client base; we returned to a chill-out afternoon. For our late meal we once again dived into the turkey and duck leftovers. This time my beloved wife’s offering included pasta with an Italian sauce. Pretty good actually. Today it will be the turn of a meat pie containing more of the leftover birds, and we’ll follow that on Tuesday with a leftover bird meat curry. We will finally run out of the stuff on Wednesday when we have the second half of the pie, this time with a pile of chips and to hell with the blood sugar levels.
Talking of which, I’m still awaiting a home visit from a so-called expert on the condition to determine whether an alternative Insulin regime would bring my readings under better control. It’s very true what they say about Insulin dependency, the amount injected seems to be forever increasing. From my original 40 units I am now on 50 units, twice a day and with no improvement whatsoever. Even though I do not overdo the carbs, my readings still hit double figures most days and, short of going on the Atkins Diet, I’m at a loss as to what to do for the best. Cutting down on carbs would probably do the trick, but the experts tell us we shouldn’t do so but, if I don’t hear from this person soon, then that’s what I’ll have to do.
At this point I was going to give my take global warming, but I’ve changed my mind. It really is such an emotive subject and gets me steaming, that I’m quite likely to call the so-called experts a few choice invectives. So, for now, I’ll put it on the back burner.
Tuesday 29th December 2009 and, with it being market day, we trotted off to Melton Mowbray, a trip that is now becoming something of a habit.
Listening to the news and weather forecast before leaving, we were undecided whether to make the trip or do our weekly shopping at Morrison’s. However, since Wifey’s Christmas present needed a few links taken out of the wristband, and since, despite the website telling us they do exist, there are no jewellers in Loughborough, we decided to go.
Later today, or so they would have us believe, we can expect heavy snow showers which, apparently, will be coming in from Wales, a wee principality that lies to our west. Strangely, the clouds I now see scudding across the sky are actually coming from the east. We have had a few drops of rain but, at present, the temperature is hardly conducive to snow. So, we shall have to wait and see. Tomorrow we will go shopping although, should the 10 inches or more of snow actually appear overnight, that adventure is not a foregone conclusion. Wifey has kindly informed me that, even should we be confined to barracks for a few days, we won’t starve. Now that’s a comforting thought!!
My long awaited recipe book is now in the final process of compilation and, with luck and a tail wind, after adding a few essential web links, I should have it finished by the weekend.
Friday, day 1 of the new year of 2010, and I’m afraid I have been unable to post this latest blog because I have, yet again and it’s the third time this year, gone down with a bout of food poisoning.
On Tuesday, after returning from Melton Mowbray, I partook of a sausage roll, not thinking for one minute about how long since they had been baked, which was on Christmas Day. Later that day the tummy started playing up, very much the way it did on that last and best forgotten day earlier in the year.
So, out went the rest of the sausage rolls, to feed the ducks and fishes, as did the rest of the pie. Today I am almost back to normal although, in order to reach this happy pass, my bottom has been firmly planted on the lavatory seat, which has succeeded in limiting the amount of sleep I have been able to enjoy of late.
I am now firmly sworn off pork pies and sausage rolls, along with most other savoury and spicy dishes, I just don’t see that my innards are happy with them any more.
OK. You can consider this the last blog of 2009. 2010 has started out very cold with a sheet of ice covering the marina although, when Wifey took Rusty for her midday walk, the canal itself was clear.
More later and meanwhile, for the second time, we all wish you the best for 2010.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
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