Saturday 8/11/14 to Friday 14/11/14
Saturday 8/11/14
I have been seriously considering opening a Twitter account and,
instead of writing up this blog every day – surely some of you are becoming
tired of this drivel? – I can send the occasional tweet.
Family and friends are invited to offer up their views on this course
of action. I’m assuming here that some of you are still reading this blog.
Today we’ll be taking a run over to Daventry, figuratively speaking of
course. Primarily this is to buy food for Alex, who will be coming home with us
tomorrow morning.
We also need a piece of flat but strong wood, upon which to mount the
new WiFi aerial. Hopefully this will give us a stronger signal. Of course, had
I been able to sign on to the local WiFi, this course of action would not have
been necessary. But, since we have been allocated a different password to when
we were here last winter, I have been unable to use it. Mind you, it was about
time we upgraded to 4G, which should give us better signal strength when we’re
cruising, especially with the new aerial.
Tomorrow we’ll be driving over to Kenilworth for the last time and,
after the pep-talk, we’ll be bringing our new companion home.
Sunday 9/11/14
Yesterday we drove over to Daventry and bought food for Alex. We have
been advised by Dog’s Trust that he doesn’t like vets, and that he will bite
him/her. In this case, they say, we should buy a muzzle for him and familiarise
him with it over time, so that he doesn’t object when we put it on him. Of
course, being a Jack Russell he’s not daft and will soon realise where we’re
going when we put it on him.
Anyway, Pets at Home do sell muzzles, but only the soft looking ones.
What we’re after is the ‘cage’ variety that you see on Greyhounds and such.
We’ll take advice from Dog’s Trust later today when we collect Alex.
We also called in to Homebase for that piece of wood and some screws.
We were lucky enough to find a pack of 5mm screws, one of which will go through
the wood and attach to the back of the new aerial. It didn’t take long to drill
the necessary holes in the wood and stain it, after which I attached the
aerial. Sadly the rain was still coming down, so I’ve left the task of erecting
it until later today.
I’m hoping that by erecting the aerial above my dinette window; which
is where I always use the laptop; run the cable through that window and use the
power from the laptop to run the WiFi unit. At present the WiFi is mounted near
the TV and is plugged into the 240 volt supply. This is the only position where
we get a decent Internet signal. The new aerial is, I hope, going to improve
matters.
Of course, the main reason for going through all this trouble with a
new aerial is to enable Alan’s son Ellis to help speed up the laptop. I’m
assuming he’ll be accessing this machine remotely because, if he’s not going to
do so and plans on talking me through this procedure by phone, we might have a
problem. I’ll just have to wait and see.
Next Saturday, with good weather and a settled-in pooch, I’ll be paying
a visit to Alan in Harlow.
Monday 10/11/14
We finally collected Alex yesterday morning, after a rather lengthy
pep-talk. No doubt his many farts were a result of travel stress, but at least
he didn’t drool or throw up, so he’ll probably get used to travelling.
We walked him up to Crick Ex-Servicemen’s Club at lunchtime, where he
was made a fuss of by one of the member’s, who also has Jack Russells. Alex,
like just about every dog I’ve ever come across, enjoys crisps and
Mini-Cheddars, so I don’t suppose we’ll ever get a packet of either to
ourselves.
We were told by staff at the kennels that he doesn’t like to be made a
fuss of and that he is definitely not a lap-dog. Well, as you can see from the
photos below, he’s happy to be indulged in both. What do they know?
Tuesday 11/11/14
We two live-aboard boaters have put on weight whilst cruising, which is
what happens when we don’t get enough exercise. Sheila has ensured that, now we
have a new pooch, we’ll be getting out more. Just so you know what I mean, we
walked Alex up to the club on Sunday and around the marina later in the day.
Not a great stretch of the legs, I grant you, but still a nice bit of exercise.
Yesterday however was a totally different story. After 34 years of
marriage I have now discovered that my bosom pal is a masochist. First thing in
the morning, just to lull me into a false sense of security, we walked to the
Post Office for the paper. Then just before lunch she dragged me and our poor
pooch around the fields and along the towpath. Finally, to add insult to
injury, she dragged us both up to the surgery to collect prescriptions.
This last walk wasn’t really necessary, as we’ll be driving past there
later this morning on our way to Daventry. This is necessary to dispose of junk
to the local tip. But, whilst we’re there we’ll be taking a walk around the
local park. At this rate I’ll be a shadow of my former self in no time.
Meanwhile, we now have the laptop and aerial all set up and receiving a
strong Internet signal. At last I can go online without fear of it dropping out
at inopportune moments.
Yesterday evening I received a call from Dog’s Trust; a follow-up call
to see how our Alex is doing; just a few questions to see how he’s settling in,
which he is.
When dogs are adopted from this trust, they are sent with a special
collar, which is coated with pheromones, designed to keep the dog calm and
relaxed. Alex is definitely relaxed. He’s so laid back and accepting of his new
situation that he belies all they said about him. “He’s not a lapdog”, they
said. Oh yes he is! “He doesn’t like being made a fuss of”, they said. Oh yes
he does! “He can’t stand having his feet touched”, they said. Well, he didn’t
seem to mind it yesterday when I untangled his lead.
I’m beginning to wonder if they’ve given us the right dog!!
Wednesday 12/11/14
Yesterday morning, since we had some old pots and pans to dispose of,
we took a drive over to the Local Amenities Centre in Daventry. And, since we
had to take this trip, we decided to take Alex and walk him around Daventry
Country Park.
The car park there costs £2.00 and allows for an all day stay. There’s
also a café on site and so, once Alex had enjoyed his walk, we stopped for
coffee and biscuits. Thankfully the café has an enclosed, sheltered area,
because the wind was quite strong coming across the lake. The site itself is
managed by Canal and River Trust and looks to be kept pretty neat and tidy. No
doubt we’ll be back on a clear and crisp day. That was a pretty good morning,
it has to be said.
Wifey is going into Rugby this morning, for an eye test at Boot’s, so I
have the place to myself for a couple of hours. This will give me the
opportunity to dig out some old stuff and put it up for sale on eBay.
Thursday 13/11/14
Now, although I have a decent camera, an Olympus E5, I’ve never taken
the time to actually learn about all its functions. Indeed, I find this camera
somewhat cumbersome to carry around. O.K. I’m lazy and prefer it when Sheila
carries her small Fuji Fine Pics, which has a small strap that hangs on the
wrist. Simple!
So, when going through items to dispose of on eBay, my Olympus was the
first thing to consider. Checking it out on site I think I can command well
over £100 for that and the bits that go with it. It has two zoom lenses and a
2x telephoto, plus charger and 2Gb card.
We also have a telescope, which we bought with the intention of
studying the night sky. In addition we have a Yashica half-frame, 35 mm camera,
which is quite rare and we have a Megxon camera; something I bought Sheila some
years ago. You’d be hard pressed to find one of these on eBay.
Finally we have a pair of fold-up mini binoculars. They’re only worth a
few quid but, since we also have Sheila’s dad’s binoculars, we really don’t
need the mini ones.
And there we have five items to dispose of and which will gain us some
extra storage space. Not much, it has to be said but, any gained space is
always welcome on a boat.
Normally I would list any items we have for sale on a 10 day auction,
which would be done on Thursday and end on Sunday; supposedly the best day to
end an auction. However, since I do have rather a lot to do here, I’ll have to
leave it until next week.
Friday 14/11/14
Our new pooch is psychic (physic?). For a start, he doesn’t
particularly like to go out early, when I get up. However, at about 4.20 this
morning I woke up to a call of nature and, much to my surprise, there was Alex
walking towards me. Hmmm, I thought, perhaps he wants a pee also, so I quickly
dressed and took him out. Better that than pee, or something worse on the
carpet.
Sure enough, he needed to pee. But, that’s not what makes me think he’s
psychic. Oh no! I had no sooner jumped back into bed – well, gently crawled is
more like it – than the heavens opened up. Either he knew heavy rain was on the
way, or he knew I was about to get out of bed and decided to take advantage of
my good nature. Who knows?
This morning, sometime after 9 am, we’ll be leaving him alone for the
first time while we go shopping. Hopefully he won’t object and tear the place
apart in frustration. Watch this space for an update.
Meanwhile, since I’ll be in Harlow tomorrow and on my way home on
Sunday morning, I’ll post this now, before I make Wifey and me a cuppa.
Take care and have a gr8 weekend.
Dave, Sheila and Alex
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