Summer 2015: Crick 4

Sunday 5^th July to

 Over the past couple of months I have noticed that, just after posting this blog I get Ian’s email returned as undeliverable. This morning, after many attempts at rectifying the situation, I finally realised that I had his old email address. This has now been rectified and so, I’m sorry to say, poor Ian will now be receiving this blog again. Happy days Ian!!

 The weather looks to be fair again today and, once everything has dried off after yesterday’s rain, I’ll try to get a lick of paint onto the toolbox.

 Only a few days to go and we’ll be out there cruising. Yippee!!

 Tuesday 7^th July

 The temperature here has cooled somewhat over the past couple of days, which means we have been able to complete the stern deck paintwork.

 Yesterday I rubbed down our toolbox, which is attached to a stern rail and which carries all the metalwork we carry with us when cruising. Items such as the tiller arm, mooring pins, hooks and chains etc. Today, after the car has been checked for timing belt and cooling fan functioning, and provided the rain keeps off, I’ll give the box a coat of paint.

 The next job before we go off cruising for a couple of weeks will be to fit some proper support brackets to the solar panel. We bought the panel back in 2007, soon after we moored at Bulbourne for the winter of that year and, since then it’s been screwed to a couple of thick lengths of timber. Over this period the wood has started to rot, so we’ve bought four corner support brackets on which to sit the panel.

 But first, before refitting the panel to the roof, I have to rewire it with new cable, and we’ll have to paint the space on the roof that the panel has covered all this time. I was pleased to note though, that this space is still free of wear and only needs a good wash before painting.

 We’re hoping to get all the above chores done by tomorrow and could be off and out cruising by Thursday morning. This all assumes that the weather doesn’t hold us up, although the toolbox could wait until we’re out there; the roof and solar panel both have to be done first.

 Happy days are here again!!

 Wednesday 8^th July

 The weather has changed over the past few days, so much so that we haven’t been able to paint that section of roof where the solar panel goes. Today I’ll fit the support brackets to the panel, and we’re going shopping this morning. But we will have to call into Homebase for a couple of small right angled brackets. These brackets will anchor the panel to the roof to prevent it ‘taking off’ in a high wind. But, if this intermittent rain continues, we won’t be able to paint the roof and won’t be able to fit the panel. And, until we re-fit the panel, we ain’t going nowhere.

 Thursday 9^th July

 Yesterday was a bit of a bummer where work on the solar panel was concerned. I only managed to fit two of the support brackets before the heavens opened up, by which time the tennis was on…….!

 Today looks like it may remain dry, in which case I can complete the brackets and then paint the roof area where panel will be fitted.

 We’re hoping to be away by the weekend, but it all depends on at least finishing the painting of the roof and fitting of the panel. It’s too big to bring inside the boat and is currently taking up space on the stern deck, so moving the boat is just not possible. Yet!

 We did at least get the shopping done yesterday, so the day wasn’t completely wasted.

 Friday 10^th July

 Having fitted the new support brackets to the solar panel a few days ago, and having painted the patch on the roof where the panel sits, I then re-wired it and, with Wifey’s help, put the panel back on the roof. Of course we waited for the paint to dry!!

 Anyway, once we had centred the panel, we realised that the brackets were unsuited to the roof of the boat, because Liverpool Boats have curved roofs, so the only part of the brackets that make contact with the roof, is the inside edge. The rest of the bracket sticks out and doesn’t look too clever.

 As it happens we had bought for small right angled steel brackets, which we would have fitted anyway, to ensure the safety of the panel in high winds. So, today we’ll remove the support brackets – thank goodness they were cheap – and just fit the metal ones at each corner of the panel.

 The main thing is that the panel has now been rewired and that roof section has been repainted.

 The stern is also finished and the wrap-around shroud has been refitted, so we can now leave here as soon as we like. Today we’ll pop over to Braunston and buy a couple of non-slip adhesive pads for the edges of the stern deck and that will be that, for now anyway.

I’m pretty sure that, if Wifey had her way we’d be going out today. But I would prefer to stay for the weekend and watch the rest of the tennis. We’ll see what happens today though and I’m pretty sure the captain of this vessel will have her way. She usually does!!

 Monday 13^th July

 After walking around the Crick stalls yesterday we paid a visit to the club, by which time it was pouring with rain. It continued to do so for the rest of our usual hour, so I felt obliged to partake of another pint, which I nursed until it stopped. It had almost stopped raining when we left, so I didn’t feel too badly about spending that extra £3.00 on the third pint of Guinness.

 We watched the men’s Wimbledon final and had intended to take the boat out after that, but a strong wind had sprung up by then, so we abandoned that idea. Unfortunately it is now raining quite heavily, so I’m not sure that we’ll get away this morning either.

 Tuesday 14^th July

 Yesterday started with light drizzle and quite calm regarding wind, so we wandered off to the Co-op for a few bits and pieces. When we returned to the marina, disposed of rubbish and returned to the boat, by which time – as you would expect – the rain was heavier and a wind had sprung up. We sat around doing sweet Fanny Adams until about 2pm, by which time the rain had stopped, although it was still pretty windy. Still, we said ‘bugger it’ and wound up our landline cable, lowered the TV aerial and WiFi unit, untied the boat and away we went.

 About an hour later, having covered just three miles, and with the clouds thickening up, we pulled in by bridge 26 and settled in for the rest of the day. By the time we had moored up down came the rain, so it was just as well we stopped.

 Today? Well, who knows how far we’ll get? We do have heavy cloud cover, but it doesn’t look too threatening.

 Wednesday 15^th July

 Back in February, as some of you may remember, I had a polyp removed from my bladder and was released from hospital the following afternoon.

 Speaking with the surgeon who performed this delicate op, I was told to expect a follow up appointment with the clinic in about three weeks’ time. February, March, April and May swiftly passed and, just as we were about to leave the marina for a couple of weeks cruising, I received a letter inviting me to the aforementioned clinic at the end of the month.

 Now, Northampton General has yet to drag itself into the 21^st century, so there’s no email address on their correspondence and, since telephoning from the marina is fraught with difficulties, I decided to write back, explaining that we would now be away until November.

 You can imagine my surprise when, a few weeks later I received another appointment, this time for July 29^th. So, once again I wrote back and, once again I explained that we would be away until November.

 Just before we left the marina my phone rang and, since it was an unknown number, I simply switched it off. NGH are nothing if not persistent and just a few seconds later my phone ‘pinged’, informing me that I had a Voicemail which, after much jiggery-pokery – I’m still not completely familiar with this 21^st century technology – Wifey discovered that my appointment for July 29^th had now been brought forward to the 22^nd.

 Well, now, we won’t be back from this short trip until the 24^th, at the very earliest and, since I do not have NGH’s phone number listed inside my phone and have not retained any of their letters, I am unable to phone or write to them. I suppose the next letter I receive will be to complain that I missed an appointment.

 We are now on our way to Market Harborough and, with luck and better weather than yesterday; we should be there before the weekend. Yesterday was a bit of a bummer weather-wise and we spent 1½ hours cruising in the rain. This is not something we normally do, but it was necessary because we want to back at the marina for Friday 24^th as I want to drive down to Harlow and Alex has an appointment with the vet on the following Monday. I also have an appointment with the podiatrist on the same day.

 Following on from all of that, we’re hoping to be away for a few months after those appointments; probably sometime during that week. We hope…..!

 Friday 17^th July

 We spent three very pleasant hours yesterday cruising the five miles to the bottom of Foxton Locks. We took a walk back from our moorings and sat on a bench with ice creams and then, on the way back from there I received a phone call. This was, once again, from NHG, confirming my upcoming appointment. I’m hoping that I’ve finally convinced them that I will be unable to attend.

 Today we’ll be cruising the final five miles to Market Harborough, where we’ll do some shopping and stay overnight, returning to Foxton Locks on Saturday or Sunday morning.

 Meanwhile, I think it’s time I posted this blog. So, without further ado, I’ll wish you all a great weekend.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex.

 

 

Summer 2015: Crick 3

Friday 5^th June to Sunday 5^th July

 Thursday 11^th June

 You will notice the time difference between this and the last blog post? Well, I have been beavering away at my new Cartoon Portrait hobby, and we’ve been spending time painting the stern deck, so the blog has simply been set aside, but not forgotten.

 Now, as far as the cartooning is concerned, I have been considering building a simple website, upon which I can display some examples of my work and encourage people to buy that “Special Present”, for “That Special Person”. Of course the person from whom I purchased this idea, has a website with all the bells and whistles, including videos and such.

 All I really want, however, is a site that depicts a few examples and invites orders for cartoons. If I make it simple enough to follow; rather than seven or eight pages of in-depth information, the whole enterprise will be much easier to control. I’m not looking for a full time income here; just a few orders here and there, which will give me something to pass the time and earn a few bob.

 We have now completed painting all the green on the stern deck, doors and side panels. Our next job will be applying an undercoat for the cream, non-slip deck paint. That’s Wifey’s job, since I am unable to get down on my hands and knees.

 Today we’ll be driving over to Braunston to replace the battery filler bottle top, that my so-called friend thought hilarious when I dropped it in the ’oggin. There are a few other things we need from there, such as more green paint and a couple more things.

 Sunday 14^th June

 So far we’ve managed to apply a couple of coats of paint to the back doors and surrounding panels, along with the tall unit that houses the control lever. However, brush marks do show through, so we’ve now bought some wet and dry paper with which to rub it all down, before applying a final coat using new brushes.

 I’ve almost finished writing up my eBay ad for Personalised Cartoon Portraits, and I’ll probably post that tomorrow morning. My first foray into the world of cartoon portraits will only be for a hand drawn cartoon on watercolour paper, which will be posted to the buyer in a hard backed A4 envelope. I will leave it up to the recipient to frame the cartoon and present it to his/her ‘victim’.

 Following on from this, I will write other ads for framed A4 and A3 portraits. But I want to see what reaction I get from the simple stuff first.

 Thursday 18^th June

 More painting on the stern deck yesterday; thankfully before the rain came. Today, if the weather stays dry, Wifey will mark out the base of the deck and apply undercoat for the cream, non-slip surface.

 I’m still undecided as to where to advertise my Cartoon Portraits. Mt mentor; one Alan Taylor; advertises on eBay and charges just £24 and sends the result by email in the forms of a .jpeg and a .pdf file, and leaves it to the client to print it out. How he gets away with the electronic mailing on eBay, I have no idea, because it’s strictly against their rules.

 I want to hand draw them on watercolour paper and frame them, but I’m not sure where to list them. There are many more sites than eBay, most of which deal with crafts of one kind or another. And then there local shops, such as our Co-op, which charges just £0.60p per week for a shop window ad.

 Look, I’m 73 years of age and don’t want to go back to ‘work’, so I have to be careful about the amount of business I attract.

 On Saturday I’ll be off to Harlow, after which we’ll be heading off for a few weeks in the boat.

 Friday 19^th June

 After applying undercoat to the stern deck yesterday, Wifey was hoping to apply a second coat this morning. Alas, the rain put a stop to that idea. However, it’s now 2 pm and the surface is now dry, so she’s outside painting that second coat.

 Monday 22^nd June

 My trip to Harlow went very well, although Les and Dave were away on holiday, so I couldn’t call in on them. However, I did get to visit Chris and Mal and help put the world to rights, along with the consumption of two cups of tea,

 Part of the afternoon was spent at the Admiral with Alan, but we had to go to his place of work later to see an engineer sort out a problem with electronically operated doors. After which it was a return to the Admiral.

 I also collected a Tablet that Alan bought for me; all I have to do now is set it up and find a use for it. Since loads of people have them I have to assume there are plenty of uses for them.

 Wednesday 24^th June

 Yesterday Wifey applied the third and final undercoat to the stern deck, after which we took Alex to meet the folks at the Vets in Hilmorton. He wasn’t that impressed because he made his liquid mark on the place.

 Today, since we are now only a few days away from our 35^th wedding anniversary and Wifey’s birthday, we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby for cards.

 Thursday 25^th June

 Yesterday was a great day weather-wise, but far too warm in the morning for any painting to be done. However, it did cool down later so Wifey did manage a coat of the final colour to the stern.

 We keep a Tupperware box of biscuits and treats in the cupboard under the sink. These are for Alex, not us and, up until yesterday we thought they were safe from prying doggie eyes. Not so!! He knows where they are and seems to have found a way to open the cupboard door.

 Yesterday afternoon I went to his box to give him a small treat, but the box looked to be rather short of biscuits, compared to the last time we looked. Obviously our little canine pal had helped himself, which was borne out by his obvious discomfort soon afterwards.

 Needless to say we have now fitted a lid to the box!!

 Friday 26^th June

 Yesterday we took a drive over to Daventry to stock up on dog food. We also took Alex over to the local park for a bit of a walk and an ice cream.

 Saturday 27^th June

 It’s another lovely day and we were planning on topping up the batteries and running the engine. Instead we took a walk up to the Post Office and had a coffee when we returned.

 I have now finished practising with the Cartoon making and have now listed on Etsy.com. Rather than attach photos of the cartoons I’ve done so far; which can be fraught with problems on Blogspot; if you would like to take a look you’ll find me at Shiralee Publishing on the Etsy site. I’m also on Folksy.com under DoneByDave and eBay, under Done-by-Dave.

 Tuesday 30^th June

 Many thanks to all who sent a Birthday/Anniversary Card; much appreciated.

 We had planned to take the bus into Rugby this morning, but it will probably be too hot for traipsing around the shops. Instead I’ll climb down into the engine bay and top up the batteries. No doubt I’ll wish I hadn’t done so, because I’m bound to climb out all sticky and mucky. I’m not sure which is worse!!

 Yesterday I removed the tool box and support bars from the stern, to enable Wifey to paint the deck behind the safety rails. I had suggested to my dear brother, that he might like to make a new box, just to give him something to do; as if he’s not busy enough!! However, the box still appears to be in good shape, so a coat of paint is all it needs. Not to worry Bruv, I’ll see if I can find you something else to do. LOL.

 Friday 3^rd July

 Since I last made an entry here we’ve been in the midst of a heat-wave. Fortunately we do have the benefit of any available breeze while we’re in the marina. Believe me it’s a totally different story when cruising and moored along the canal where, unless we’re under a tree, such weather can be unbearable.

 We watched Nadal take a bashing from Dustin Brown yesterday evening. What a surprise!!

 Sunday 5^th July

 This morning was much cooler than of late and we managed to walk up to the Post Office without working up a sweat. That’s me, by the way, Wifey just glows, as befits a lady!!

 We also walked to the Club and watched the start of F1, but didn’t stay to see Hamilton win – again.

 Tomorrow; now that Wifey has finished painting the stern deck; I’ll refit the toolbox and give it a rub down and new coat of paint. I’ll then be re-wiring the solar panel and taking a look at the state of the paint underneath it before refitting it on new brackets.

 During the next few days we’re hoping to finish painting the roof and, after a good bit of shopping on Wednesday, we’ll probably take the boat out for a couple of weeks.

 That’s about it for this blog. My apologies if the space between postings seems rather long but there’s really not much going on here and it seems pointless posting only 3-4 pages.

 Take care all.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex.

 

 

Summer 2015: Crick 2

Saturday 16th May to

 We have now been told that we have a choice of fields in which to park our cars while the boat show is going on, we can park near the gate, or we can park in the field behind the office. The gate is our best bet, because it is much shorter walking distance from the village.

 Already two huge marquees have been erected in the field nearest to where we will be parking our car. Quite a few boats have been moved from the main marina, some of them are now in our one, but not as many as we expected.

 The towpath opposite the marina has also been designated as moorings for the show. The show lasts for three days and, according to a boater we spoke to on the bus a few days ago, this is costing £150.00 per boat. What!! Fifty quid a day!! When we moored at Bulbourne some years ago, we paid that much per month.

 Yesterday we took the longest walk possible around the village, and boy, did I know it later. Today will probably be considerably shorter.

 Sunday 17^th May

 We’re off to Junction 1 today; where all the big stores hang out; for a look around Maplin’s to see if I can find the necessary stuff to extend the lead on the antenna. We also want to pop into The Range to see what they do by way of doggie stuff. It’s a beautiful morning and we hope it will stay that way.

 I’ve finished Alan’s cartoon, which means I can now plan a website and new blog and, with luck and a tail wind, perhaps I’ll make some money. Not too much mind, I don’t want to upset the taxman!!

 Monday 18^th May

 This Bank Holiday weekend sees the 2015 Crick Boat Show and what a show it will be judging by the amount of marquees being erected, in the field that was used for parking way back when we bought our boat. They are even building a temporary bridge across the canal, no doubt to give easy access to those boaters who have paid to moor alongside the towpath. We haven’t been to the show since 2006 and are quite looking forward to it, especially as we don’t have to pay.

  Wednesday 20^th May

 Yesterday was a right pig weather wise, with several big downpours of hailstones. Fortunately we weren’t walking up to the village at the time. However, I did have to ask Alex to cross his legs until it had finally passed over.

 We now have light rain, but that shouldn’t be a problem by the time we walk up to the shops.

 Friday 22^nd May

 We’ve had some heavy rain over the past few days and we’ve suffered several blasts of hailstones. Looking at the state of the field where we now leave our cars, it will soon be something of a quagmire and we’ll have trouble moving our cars.

 The Boat Show will be huge this year; there are so many tents and marquees about that delivery lorries are finding it difficult to turn around when they need to leave.

 I received message from Andy and Sandy saying that they’ll probably be along to the show on Sunday, and I’ve already had our quota of freebies, so they’ll have to pay their way. Goodness knows how Alex will react to their Collie Taz!!

 Today we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby, rather than move the car and risk being bogged down, otherwise we might have gone over to Daventry.

 Sunday 24^th May

 The first day of the Crick Boat Show went off well yesterday, with dry and sunny weather all day. However, according to the weather forecast it’s quite likely to rain today and, by the way those clouds are building up, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. Andy and Sandy are supposed to be coming down from Willington this morning, so I hope the rain keeps off until they’ve enjoyed the show.

 Tuesday 26^th May

 Well, the Boat Show is over for this year and all is now quiet. The only real problem we’ve had while it’s been going on has been the difficulty on accessing the Internet. We have our WiFi unit connected to an antenna; specifically designed for this unit; which sits on a 2ft pole on the roof, and still we have trouble. No doubt it’s affected by all the boats around us, but it’s still a darned nuisance.

 We usually experience problems with the mobile too but, whilst walking around the show on Saturday my sister phoned and we had no problems at all. Hopefully, once all the displays and ‘for sale’ boats have left and the boats in our marina have been moved back to the main one, all will improve, especially where the Internet is concerned.

 This Friday I’ll be going down to Harlow for the day and will enjoy a couple of drinks with Alan, who has managed to chop off the top of a finger. Now doubt he’ll tell me all about it when I get there.

 Wednesday 27^th May

 Our day by day breakfast looks something like this: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday – toast or cereal: Wednesday and Saturday – crumpets: Sunday – boiled eggs and soldiers. Today is Wednesday and, for the first time in living memory, we don’t have enough crumpets; Sheila has two and I have three, but we only have three. Disastrous, or it would be had Wifey not volunteered to have cereal.

 Yesterday we rubbed down the paintwork on the back doors and surrounding panelling, along with the big box that houses the gear lever. Sheila then applied rust preventative to the damaged parts, and she’ll do the same again today, ready for a couple of coats of green. Hopefully we will be able to complete the stern deck paintwork by the middle of next week, and then we’ll go off cruising for a few weeks.

 Friday 29^th May

 I’m going down to Harlow today and, I suppose I had to expect it, it’s raining. This also means Wifey won’t be able to continue with painting the stern deck. Still, I’ve no doubt she’ll manage to keep herself occupied.

 While I’m in Harlow I’ll be looking for a car battery solar charger, because I don’t want to be cruising for several weeks, only to find I have a flat battery when we return.

 Monday 1^st June

 Whooppee! Summer is here at last, although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Here at Crick Marina we have a cloudy sky and a chilly wind, what’s summery about that?

 Back in early February; the 2^nd of to be precise; I received an email from the lady who purchased a mobile phone from me. She was very happy with said phone, although she was somewhat concerned that it wasn’t unlocked from Vodaphone. So, although she seemed happy at the time, I thought perhaps that she simply didn’t want to take the time and effort in returning it, so I offered to accept it as a return. She declined and I thought no more about it, until this morning that is.

 Three months after receiving and accepting the mobile, she now tells me it’s faulty and is threatening to contact eBay for compensation. With the best will in the world I fail to see how I can be blamed for that state of affairs and, in an attempt at showing complete fairness, I have suggested she have the phone checked out. She’s even suggesting that the new screen I had fitted might be to blame. It should be interesting to see what happens next. Fortunately I have retained her earlier emails and, what’s more, so do eBay.

 Today we’ll be going shopping at Sainsbury’s and, I have no doubt, returning with a trolley and a couple of bags full of goodies. Our fridge is looking pretty vacant at present and we’ve been relying on the local Co-op during the Crick Boat-show and beyond, so it will be good to see a full refrigerator again.

 Thursday 4^th June

 Yesterday was quite a fine day, so we decided to carry out our monthly checks on the engine, batteries and heater. Naturally, that was after we walked to the C0-op for the paper and had our coffee and biscuits upon our return.

 The first job then was topping up the batteries with water. Now, when we paid a visit to the Crick Boat Show, we bought a battery filler bottle. This is made such that, by inserting the spout into the battery cell and waiting for the gurgling to stop, you know when that cell has enough water.

 So, I’m just about to top the bottle up to fill the last of the batteries, when the bottle top fell off the deck and into the water. That’s £18 up the Swanee!! As if that wasn’t enough of a problem, we also didn’t have enough water to complete the task, so we had to drive over to Halford’s in Daventry. I finally finished the batteries using an old hydrometer that I found in the engine bay.

 Job done, but at great expense.

 Friday 5^th June              

 Ever since I upgraded our dongle to a WiFi unit; sometime last year I think; we’ve had nothing but problems with the Internet and emails. We even bought an antenna to try and improve the situation, but that’s proved to be pretty useless.

 Yesterday morning, whilst Wifey was out having her hair cut, I tried setting up the old dongle, but that wouldn’t work with the SIM from the WiFi. I tried the dongle first, because it only needs to be connected to a power source, or the laptop, for it to work, whereas the WiFi has an on/off switch.

 Now, since it doesn’t seem to matter where the WiFi is positioned, inside the boat, or if the antenna is fitted to it, or not, I decided to attach it to the pole on the roof and see how that went. Whilst I do have to switch it on and off, it does seem to work better and faster. So, at least while we are here at Crick, that’s the arrangement I’ll be sticking to.

 There’s only one thing more to do to see how the WiFi behaves when I access the Internet, and that’s to try posting this blog.

 Have a great weekend.

 Cheers me dears.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex.

 

 

 

Summer 2015: Crick 1

Friday 24^th April to Saturday 16th May

 Tuesday 28^th April

 Upon our return to Crick last Thursday, I immediately contacted Dave, our engineer, to let him know we were home. After that it was simply a case of tracking him down and arranging for him to check our batteries out, which he did on Friday morning.

 It was then arranged for him to come by on Monday morning, so as to decide when to change to change the batteries over. As it happened, I tracked him down elsewhere in the marina, and he suggested I go along to Midland Chandlers at Braunston and buy the batteries, which we did later in the morning.

 I’m now expecting him to come along this morning and do the necessary.

 Wednesday 29^th April

 Dave came along yesterday and changed our batteries. So far, so good. However, when it came to checking everything was OK, it wasn’t. We had no indication of the state of the starter battery on our Distribution Panel. It took a goodly amount of time before he found a loose connection, which happens sometimes when playing with electrics. Eventually all was well and life returns to normal.

 In a couple of weeks he’ll be along again to connect up our immersion heater, which will save considerably on diesel.

 Saturday 2^nd May

 Took the bus into Rugby on Thursday morning then, in the afternoon, we had a good sort out of clothes. It’s surprising how old bit of clothing is replaced by new, but the old lies around for ages before it’s parcelled up and recycled. In this instance we have a black sack full to take over to the recycling bin in Daventry, which we’ll do sometime next week, on a day when we can take the car out and have some chance of getting back in the carpark.

 Yesterday we made a start on the cupboards and managed to throw out some useless items and fill a shopping bag with stuff for the charity shop. All in all a pretty successful couple of days.

Today, after lunch, we’ll make a start on our bookshelves, which are also overloaded with useless tat, all of which needs to be sitting on a charity shop shelf. We could be pretty busy next week.

 Sunday 3^rd May

 Yesterday was a pretty good day weather-wise, which is more than can be said for last night and this morning, when it’s been raining for most of the time. It has stopped now, but it looks like there’s more to come.

 We have a multi-shelf book case that sits behind our armchairs, and these are what we sorted out yesterday, after our coffee and biscuits of course. After completing this necessary chore, I was amazed at the pile of books we were throwing out. I was even more amazed when I compared that pile to the spaces left over. Somehow I didn’t believe all those books could have been in there!!

 Anyway, we took some of them over to the site wash room, which has book shelves and works on the basis of, take a book and replace it with another one.

 Now, as if that wasn’t enough exercise for one day, we decided to take a walk before lunch. The initial aim was to walk along the towpath to Crick Tunnel and then turn around and make our way back. However, being the adventurous couple that we are, we took a pathway leading up to some fields and followed the Public Footpath signs.

 This all looked innocent enough but, by the time we had completed the walk; which finished at our local Post Office; we had crossed five fields and six stiles. With my dodgy legs that was no mean feat, I can tell you. Still, we all need exercise, but I think I’ll give that particular walk a miss in future.

 Tuesday 5^th May

 Yesterday morning, after our usual walk to the shops for the paper, we set to and sorted out all the gumph under my side of the dinette, and what a load of gumph there was too.

 After re-packaging the books and such from yesterday’s effort, we now had a load more books to sort out. We also had quite a bit of junk too, which went into the skip.

 Today we plan on driving over to Daventry to dispose of the old clothing, along with books and such to the local charity shops.

 I’m not sure when we’ll be tackling Wifey’s side of the dinette, but I don’t suppose we’ll be in the mood for it after our trip to Daventry.

 Thursday 7^th May

 We’ve had two days of horrid weather but, at last it seems to have settled down now. We had a clear out of Wifey’s side of the dinette yesterday, and now we have to take it the stuff we don’t want into Rugby this morning.

 Dave Hull should be along on Monday to wire up our Immersion Heater.

 Saturday 9^th May

 Yesterday, with not much planned regarding clearing out the boat, we took Alex over to Daventry Country Park and then settled down for a lazy day.

 Sunday 10^th May

 We met Pauline as we were walking through the village and asked if she and Chris would like to join us at the club today. She said she would have words with Chris, but that it would mean staying longer than they had planned. Sadly they decided to get moving along. However, they will be back for the Boat Show, so we might see them again.

 Monday 11^th May

 Dave Hull should be coming around to connect up our Immersion Heater this morning. Although, having said that, there’s really no telling when that will be. He’s so busy and so popular that there’s no telling what else he has on today.

 Yesterday we ran into a bit of good luck; which makes a nice change when you consider the amount of money we’ve had to shell out of late. As usual, it being a Sunday, we strolled up to the club for a couple of drinks and some snacks. We had just sat down when, out of the blue, our barmaid came over and told us we’d won the meat raffle. This is drawn every week and I usually put in a couple of quid.

 So, we waited until we were about to leave and then called Wendy over and asked her to get our prize out of the freezer. Well, the last time we won anything there was a £10 voucher for the butchers shop in a village some distance away. This time however, we had won a 3.0Kg tray of huge pork chops.

 When we got them back to the boat and waited for them to defrost, we found we had eight of them. So, we now have a pork dinner for almost every day this week. Can’t be bad, can it??

 Today, after Dave has sorted out the Immersion Heater, we’ll probably take a run over to Daventry and dispose of the rest of our rubbish.

 With the Crick Boat Show looming we’ve all been told to remove our cars from our car park to the main one. It seems that the people setting up the displays need our car park for their trucks and things. Later on and prior to the show starting, everybody will have to move their cars to one of the outlying fields. Actually, we’re quite looking forward to the show. The last time we attended was when we found the boat we now live on.

 Tuesday 12^th May

 Dave turned up to wire in our Immersion Heater yesterday which, due to its awkward location, took him about two hours. We let it run for a further hour +, but still no hot water came through.

 At that point we switched it off and took Alex for a walk and, just as we were heading towards the gate, along came Dave and he wasn’t happy with the news. Mind you, that Immersion had been there since 2009, so perhaps it’s no good now.

 Later in the evening, just as we were climbing into bed, Sheila imparted some pearls of wisdom; which I have since emailed to Dave. She tells me that this Immersion Heater MUST be wired into the landline mains and CAN’T be used whilst cruising.

 Now, we know that he actually took a spur off the washing machine switch; assuming, no doubt, that this was also wired to landline mains, when in fact it is wired to the Inverter/Charger.

 These pearls of wisdom I have also imparted to Dave, who probably won’t be happy. It may well be that this makes no difference, but I have a sneaky suspicion that………….!!!

 Anyway, we’ll see what he has to say when he gets here this morning.

 Thursday 14^th May

 Dave arrived on Tuesday morning and discovered that the reset button on the immersion heater had popped out. This meant that, just for a change, the boating gods were smiling upon us, because we didn’t have to pay for a new one. Hallelujah brother!!!

 Yesterday we drove over to Daventry, topped up with petrol, disposed of a trolley load and a bag full of books, then popped into Tesco for a wee bit of shopping and the latest Eric Clapton disc.

 Today we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby to top up with books from charity shops.

 Already the people are arriving to set up for the forthcoming Boat Show. Our small car park has been taken over and we’ll all be moving our cars to nearby fields. We all hope it will be dry on the weekend of the show.

 Later…… Well, we popped into town, visited a few charity shops, did a wee bit of shopping, had a coffee and tea cake at our favourite coffee shop, and managed to catch the next bus back.

 It’s now 3 pm and raining quite hard, but we really do need to walk the dog and visit the office, so wet weather gear on and off we go.

 But first I’ll post this blog and wish you a very pleasant Friday and weekend.

 Saturday 16^th May

 Ooops! Our Internet signal wasn’t up to much on Thursday and I was unable to post this blog. I have since re-erected the antenna that goes with the WiFi Unit and it is now much stronger. I suppose that being surrounded by so much metal the signal gets bounced around. At present we don’t have a boat next to us on the antenna side, although that will probably change if many more boats are moved from the main marina.

So, without further ado I’ll wish you a great weekend and try again.

 All the best from Dave, Sheila and Alex.