Friday 15th April and we’re off to Weston or Stone. The final mooring spot for today depends upon whether or not we can get in at Weston. If we can then we’ll stop the night there and move on to Stone for the weekend. If not, then we’ll have to go on to Stone today and try to moor up on the five day moorings. But first we have to fill up with water and pay a visit to the local marina for gas and to empty our cassette loo.
Left Great Haywood at 0800 and arrive Weston at 1030. On previous occasions we’ve had problems finding a mooring spot here, but we are still in the early part of the boating season and, to our surprise, the place was deserted. Not a boat in sight.
Last time we visited; when I had my old knees; it was a bit of a struggle to walk to the local shop. This time, no problem at all. I really am getting rather good at this walking lark.
After our walk, with doggy in tow, naturally, it was simply a case of settling down for the rest of the day, with visions of Stone for the weekend.
Saturday 16th April and guess what, off we go cruising again. But we don’t cruise at weekends!!.
Anyway, we made an early start at 0730 and, with just two locks and six miles to go and not too many other boats about, we were moored up and drinking our first cuppa at Stone by 1015.
Now, whilst I have walked into the town before, it was only really to visit the pub on Sunday. There are two such within easy walking distance, one is The Star, which is right next to the lock and the other is The Swan, which is just across the bridge.
This time however we not only walked through the town, but right around to Morrison’s and did a good bit of shopping. And most enjoyable the walk was too.
Sunday 17th April and another lovely day, plenty of sunshine and as calm as can be.
On our previous visit we were so disgusted with the service at The Star that we had just one drink and crossed the bridge to The Swan.
This time was different, but only by good fortune. We left the boat a wee bit early and, in the belief that pubs don’t open until 12 noon, we sat by the lock for a while. However, much to our surprise we saw people already drinking at The Star and, since the place looked much improved, decided to give it another crack.
It seems the place has had a complete refurbishment since our last visit and, what’s more important, enough staff to cope, that we sat in the garden and whiled away a good hour and a half.
This was not such a good idea, bearing in mind my diabetes. On Sundays, if we are able to get to a pub, I usually take a reading before going out then, when I return, I take my Insulin. In this instance the reading was taken at about 1130 but, since we stayed a while longer than normal, we arrived back at the boat somewhat late and, as sometimes happens, I forgot my injection until about 2.30 or so. We then had a bite to eat, just a half sarni each and simply sat around for a couple of hours.
Around 5.30 we decide on an early dinner and that dinner was rather low on carbs. So, having taken another reading – I do this four times a day by the way – we had dinner and I again gave myself my usual dose of Insulin.
If you know anything about diabetes you can imagine what happened next. Yep! A Hypo and not just a minor one either. I broke out in an awful sweat and felt most peculiar. It took a few Jelly Babies and some Dextro Tablets before I was anywhere near normal again. What a bummer and what a plonker. And all because I injected only about three hours after my lunchtime one.
Monday 18th April and we decided to stay in Stone for another day. This is because we need to arrange to pick up some mail from the Post Office on Wednesday at Barlaston and also need to give Alan time to post it. The moorings there are only 48 hour so we’re leaving on Tuesday morning so as to pick up our mail on Wednesday.
Wednesday 20th April.
Left at 0800 yesterday morning and arrived Barlaston at 1130. The water point just past our moorings at Stone, which is just before the first lock, had two boats tied up there so no hope of topping up at that point. This is really infuriating. Everybody knows the rules. You do not moor up overnight at water points. Such ignorant pigs should be shot.
Fortunately water points are not scarce and we topped up at the next lock along our route. We also allowed a working boat to pass through that lock ahead of us. They had to get to Etruria that same day. (Don’t ask, I have no idea where Etruria is)
So, even though we had four miles and eight locks to go, and we had let another boat through the lock, and we had a holiday boat ahead of us as well, we still made Barlaston in 3 ½ hours. Not bad going at all.
I am getting so much better at walking long distances that I said I would go with Wifey to the Post Office. Had I known and had she remembered, that there was a pretty steep hill involved, I probably would have left it to her. As it was though, and much to my surprise, I made it there and back without difficulty. I can’t wait to get to the end of the Llangollen Canal and walk down to Horseshoe Falls and through the town as well.
Thursday 21st April and it looks like being another lovely day. I’m sure we’ll pay for it later, the weather people reckon we’re in for a very wet June.
Today, according to the resident slave driver here, we have six locks and eight miles to get to our next stopover at Westport Lake, which is about a half mile short of Harecastle Tunnel and about two miles north of Stoke on Trent. This should take about 3 or 4 hours, assuming we don’t have holiday boaters fouling things up for us.
The south side of the tunnel is clear water but, due to the rock strata which, I do believe contains lots of iron, the north side is a pretty orange colour. Also, with it being almost 3,000 yards long and not controlled by lights, it has an attendant at each end to monitor boats going through. When traffic is passing from one end to the other, a gate is closed so that boats are prevented from entering from the other end. This, presumably, is so that the tunnel keeper doesn’t have to stand around waiting for boats to clear the tunnel, before sending the next lot through. Anyway, we should be at the lake by midday.
Etruria, by the way, is just past the junction with the Caldon Branch of the T&M.
Friday 22nd April and today we are going to brave the rigours of the 3000 yard Harecastle Tunnel. The rigours of same because, being almost 1¾ miles long and with several fans extracting diesel fumes along the way, it can be pretty chilly going through there. Also, it being only just wide enough for one narrowboat, it becomes necessary to take it a wee bit slower than normal cruising. It can therefore – if my maths is correct – anything up to a half hour to pass through. Blooming ‘eck, one could go down with hypothermia in that time!!
Anyway, after the tunnel we have Kidsgrove with plenty of shops, including Tesco’s and, we hope, a DIY store. Having taken the back off the telly yesterday, I have decided to buy a soldering iron and solder and try to correct the problem myself. I’m pretty much convinced that the aerial socket has a dodgy joint. After all I was once a TV engineer and that, as you all probably know, is how I met Wifey. I was working for Granada TV and went round to her flat to repair her ancient B/W set, spotted she was not hitched up to anyone in particular and the rest, as they say, is history. We have now been together for over 30 years. A spectacular triumph of hope over experience!!
Saturday 23rd April.
Yesterday was a real fun day and, considering the fact that we are now enjoying a Bank Holiday weekend or, if you like, depending upon the cut of your cloth, a religious festival, the weather remains very pleasant.
We headed for Harecastle Tunnel at about eight am and, upon our arrival found that five boats had recently been sent through. This meant a wait of almost an hour before we could be on our way, along with the two boats that arrived soon afterwards.
During our enforced wait I had a chat with the Tunnel Keeper and mentioned that the boater behind us, who regularly used the tunnel, experienced problems with his boat ‘fishtailing’ through the part of the tunnel that narrows down a bit. His immediate answer to that was, “He’s going too slow. In order to prevent this happening in any tunnel, you should keep your speed to 3 to 4 mph”.
Now, we’ve been through many tunnels, including Harecastle, and we’ve never experienced this kind of problem. Perhaps we have been doing it right all along. Whooppee!!
Anyway, knowing that we were faced with parts of the tunnel that were a bit narrow and also with a lower ceiling, we removed our ‘window boxes’ and flower pots before going through and it’s just as well we did because, had we not done so, we would surely have lost them. As it was, we didn’t have much clearance above the top box.
All went well apart from me forgetting to don a decently warm coat. This tunnel, being almost a mile and three quarters long, is prone to some heavy diesel fumes, especially when several boats go through together. There are heavy duty fans inside that remove as much of the fumes as possible, as a result of which it can be pretty cold inside. It took us just 30 minutes to reach the other end and nobody was more pleased to see daylight than yours truly.
As I believe I mentioned earlier, we have been experiencing problems with the telly. In short, little or no reception, either digital or analogue. Yesterday I finally nailed down the problem, the aerial lead in the back of the set.
When we stopped off at Kidsgrove I had intended to walk to the nearest shops and try to purchase a soldering iron and solder, because I felt sure the problem was a dry joint on the socket. However, the shops were too far away for even me with my new knees, so we gave it a miss.
As luck would have another boat moored up behind us at Red Bull Basin and, later in the day whilst talking to Bob and Jane, I recounted our problem. What a nice man, Bob had a soldering iron and solder and, without further ado, he loaned them to me. Sadly, after stripping the wretched thing down and toching a wee drop of solder to the offending article, we ended up with no reception at all.
Bob then came up with an alternative plan that, he thought, might solve the problem, a Digi-Box. My experience with television repairs, which ended soon after I met Sheila, did not prepare me for modern electronic technology. However, our new friend offered to show me how it worked and, after much jiggery-pokery, discovered that his idea would not work.
Unfortunately, despite all the added plugs and sockets and scart leads that abound with media units these days, using the Digi-Box would still have meant using a co-axial lead as well, which also meant running through the TV tuner which, as you now know, is totally defunct.
Our only option now it seems, is to see if I can track down a new tuner, which may be a wee bit difficult. If that doesn’t work I’m afraid it’s a new telly. More expense.
Later in the evening we heard rumbles of thunder which, as you would expect, were followed by a smattering of rain. Indeed we were treated to quite a downpour for a while but, luckily for Sheila, it had stopped by the time she took Rusty out for her last walk of the day.
Today we are off to Rode Heath, which is just two miles away, on a stretch of the T&M that we haven’t travelled before, with a total of nine locks on the way. The weather is dry but a little overcast, so it should be a good trip and should take no more than a couple of hours.
Good morning good people on this Easter Sunday, 24th April 2011, I do hope you are having as enjoyable a weekend as we are.
We left Red Bull Basin at about 0745 and were all moored up, here at Rode Heath by 0945. That’s just one hour to complete two miles and nine locks. Incidentally, the formula for calculating the time it will take to get from point A to point B is locks + miles divided by 3, so 9 + 2 divided by 3 = 3.66 hours. Two hours for the trip yesterday is pretty good.
The pub for today’s lunchtime repast is called The Broughton Arms and is, according to my pal Alan’s wife Chris, the better of the two. This is just as well since we have no idea where number two is located. Lucky old us we are only a few minutes walk away from said watering hole and, judging by the noise coming from there yesterday evening, it’s a popular place. Hopefully, with it being Easter and the majority of family types are away with the kiddies, it won’t be too busy.
Apart from said pub the village of Rode Heath has a Post Office cum mini market and of course the other pub. It also enjoys a quite idyllic village setting, with a line of houses across from us on the canal side and a lock just a few yards further along. Indeed, this stretch of the T&M is the final stretch for us and, when we get to the Middlewitch Branch on about Wednesday, we would have completed the Trent and Mersey, at last.
I can’t say I’m particularly lost without the television, we really don’t watch that much anyway. But I have really been looking forward to watching ITV’s offering at 9 o/clock on Monday evening. The programme is called “The Suspicions of Mr Whitcher” and is a murder mystery base upon a true story, as recounted by Kate Summerscale in her eponymous book.
So now, having sought help in the matter from my dear brother who, in this instance has failed me miserably, is there anyone else out there who can record said programme for us???? We really would be most grateful. We might even grovel a bit.
Now, having completed nine pages of this marathon blog, I feel it is time to post. Please, please, do consider my plea for a recording of “The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher” very seriously. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. We might even have to purchase a DVD of the thing, assuming ITV make one in the not too distant future.
Enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend.
Kind regards and all sorts of wonderful wishes.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Shiralee Cruise 2011 #1
Monday 4th April 2011 and it’s my 69th birthday.
With a little luck and a very light tail wind, we’ll be on our way this morning, just as soon as we have topped up with diesel and paid our extra mooring fees. We should have left on Friday, the last day of March but, with the strong winds, we decided to stay until the weather improved. At the moment it’s cool and calm out there, with a clear blue sky, so I’m hopeful. But, even if a wind does whip up, we’re going, even if that means mooring up at Willington, just for a day or two.
Tuesday 5th April
We finally left Mercia Marina yesterday at 09.30, having first topped up with diesel and paid our dues at the office.
Had I known it was going to turn into a really cold and windy day, I might just have decided to stay another day or two. As it is, we made the seven mile journey to Branston in just 3 hours. This is not a bad result considering the strong headwind and the two locks.
The real beauty of cruising at this time of year is the shortage of other boaters also travelling. We travelled for about 1½ hours before passing another moving boat. We were even more fortunate in that the rain kept off until we had finally moored up.
We had also intended to pay a visit to the local watering hole but, alas, this is one of those pubs that do not do food on Mondays. It being my birthday this was a small disappointment, which we will make up for today. We first intend to walk into the village – now that I have more or less full mobility, such a walk should not be a problem – and do a wee bit of shopping and, at the same time, size up the alternative hostelry, after which we will decide which to use.
Yesterday evening we decided to run the TV for a few hours, just to see what effect it would have on our new batteries. Before going to bed we checked the existing voltage, which then stood at 12.4. Considering the four hours of usage, this is a good sign that we made the right decision in having them changed. The next test will be to see if the heater will run and, if that comes on OK I’ll be a happy man.
Tomorrow promises to be a brighter day, according to the weather man, so we will stay her overnight and travel on in the morning.
Thursday 7th April and the weather is fine and dry with not a hint of a breeze. Hopefully it will stay that way.
Yesterday we took a walk into Alrewas for a little shopping and to remind ourselves of what the village was like. The first good sign was the William the IV pub, which we have used before and is very much deserving of a repeat call. The second good point was the butcher’s shop, which turned out to be far better than we remembered. The range of goods in his cold cabinet has to be seen to be believed. Not just joints and chops etcetera, but prepared bar-b-q and other meats, a veritable wonderland, we settled for some really tasty looking meatballs.
In this neck of the woods they are changing over to Digital TV and, as expected, we had some difficulty receiving the ITV channels and, since we really wanted to see the 2nd part of the Midsomer Murders, were pretty disappointed, especially since it was one we had missed on first showing. Yes, of course it was a repeat!! With the exception of the new series, and the new Barnaby, aren’t they all?
So, that almost put paid to watching any television at all, but not quite. We found a particularly interesting programme on BBC 4 about the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port, which ran for an hour and gave some very interesting info about that and the other one in Gloucester.
Today we will be walking into Alrewas again, but this time for a liquid lunch at the William IV.
Friday 8th April and it turned out sunny again, but just a wee bit chilly. Once we got moving though, we soon warmed up and, after just an hour and a half, we arrived at Fradley Junction, which joins up with the Coventry Canal.
We are just staying for one night then moving on to Handsacre, which is about 3 ½ miles and four locks away and still on the T&M. There we will stay for the weekend where, I hope, we will find a decent pub for Sunday lunchtime.
Meanwhile, on our arrival here, once we had enjoyed a coffee, we wandered through the nearby Nature Reserve, stopped for an ice cream at the shop, had another coffee outside the café and bought some cheeses from the very nice Canadian couple on Cheeseboat II.
We knew of one boat such as this, but we haven’t spotted this one before. Apparently they became friends with the people on Cheeseboat #1 a few years ago and, having fell in love with the boating, allowed themselves to be talked into opening another Cheeseboat, hence #2.
After lunch of our new cheeses and some Ryvita, we got stuck in to cleaning some of the boat, Wifey on the paintwork and yours truly on the brasses, of which we have quite a few, mainly plaques that represent all the canals, locks and tunnels we’ve been along, up, down and through. We are now chilling out for the rest of the day.
Saturday 9th April
We do not cruise at weekends but, having spent Friday at Fradley and wishing to get to Handsacre for the weekend, we had no choice. However, in order to beat the rush with so many boats about, even this early in the year, we made our way over to the water point by 8 o/clock this morning and were away by 8.30. With only 3½ miles and four locks to go, on a gorgeous day, we were moored up by 11 o/clock and ready for a cuppa, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
As soon as that was done we locked up and dragged Rusty on a walk to the shops, of which there are not many, just a chippy by the nearest pub; which is on the opposite side of the canal by the bridge; and quite a walk further up the road, a mini-market and paper shop.
From the noise coming from the local pub, The Crown, it’s a pretty popular place, so we’ll probably call in there tomorrow. If it’s as nice a day as today has been, we’ll be very brave and sit outside.
Sadly we are unable to receive full TV programmes, yet again, with ITV, Ch4 and 5 all failing miserably in their efforts to reach us. No worries though, we have loads of reading material and I have yet to test out the programmes donated by cousin Ian, so I could give that a go.
Wednesday 13th April and, with it being as black as pitch out there at 05.30, I have no idea what the weather is like. However, I do know it isn’t raining and there is no wind to speak of. Those nasty weather people did tell us yesterday evening, to expect rain this morning but, our next port of call is Great Hayward junction and, according to Wifey, that’s only about 1½ hours away, so we should be OK to cruise.
From Great Haywood we’re hoping to take the bus into Stafford, something we’ve not managed to do before.
Yesterday I had hoped to paint our pole; that’s the length of round wood we use when we get stuck and can’t move; something that doesn’t happen very often I’m pleased to say. I gave it a good sandpapering while we were at Handsacre but, when I tried applying an undercoat yesterday, the wind was so strong that it was blowing the paint all over the place, including me. At Great Haywood we’ll be more sheltered and so, if the weather is kind I’ll be able to start on that little job. We’ve only had the pole since we bought the boat!!!
We moved up to Great Haywood this morning and arrived about 09.30 although, because we were so closed in with trees, we decided to move through the next lock to an area that is more open. Not that the move did us any good TV-wise because, when we switched on and carried out a search, we had no Digital signal at all. It didn’t matter which way we pointed the aerial, there was nothing at all. Even the Analogue was missing ITV and the other four channels were weak.
Now, never having come up against this problem before, but being well aware that the TV companies are working on the switchover up here, I’m wondering if that’s all it is. If so, then we should know by tomorrow. If not and we still don’t get a signal when we move off on Friday, I will suspect the aerial first, after which we’ll be considering a new TV.
We have a little electronic gadget that is supposed to indicate which direction to point the aerial for the strongest signal. When I attached this to the TV, in line with the aerial, all I had was a weak signal, i.e. just one LED glowing and that was in all directions. So, we either have no signal available or, more likely, the aerial is naff.
On that note, since we have a very strong Internet signal, I will post this, our first blog for this cruise.
We all hope you are all hale and hearty and in good spirits.
Bye for now.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
With a little luck and a very light tail wind, we’ll be on our way this morning, just as soon as we have topped up with diesel and paid our extra mooring fees. We should have left on Friday, the last day of March but, with the strong winds, we decided to stay until the weather improved. At the moment it’s cool and calm out there, with a clear blue sky, so I’m hopeful. But, even if a wind does whip up, we’re going, even if that means mooring up at Willington, just for a day or two.
Tuesday 5th April
We finally left Mercia Marina yesterday at 09.30, having first topped up with diesel and paid our dues at the office.
Had I known it was going to turn into a really cold and windy day, I might just have decided to stay another day or two. As it is, we made the seven mile journey to Branston in just 3 hours. This is not a bad result considering the strong headwind and the two locks.
The real beauty of cruising at this time of year is the shortage of other boaters also travelling. We travelled for about 1½ hours before passing another moving boat. We were even more fortunate in that the rain kept off until we had finally moored up.
We had also intended to pay a visit to the local watering hole but, alas, this is one of those pubs that do not do food on Mondays. It being my birthday this was a small disappointment, which we will make up for today. We first intend to walk into the village – now that I have more or less full mobility, such a walk should not be a problem – and do a wee bit of shopping and, at the same time, size up the alternative hostelry, after which we will decide which to use.
Yesterday evening we decided to run the TV for a few hours, just to see what effect it would have on our new batteries. Before going to bed we checked the existing voltage, which then stood at 12.4. Considering the four hours of usage, this is a good sign that we made the right decision in having them changed. The next test will be to see if the heater will run and, if that comes on OK I’ll be a happy man.
Tomorrow promises to be a brighter day, according to the weather man, so we will stay her overnight and travel on in the morning.
Thursday 7th April and the weather is fine and dry with not a hint of a breeze. Hopefully it will stay that way.
Yesterday we took a walk into Alrewas for a little shopping and to remind ourselves of what the village was like. The first good sign was the William the IV pub, which we have used before and is very much deserving of a repeat call. The second good point was the butcher’s shop, which turned out to be far better than we remembered. The range of goods in his cold cabinet has to be seen to be believed. Not just joints and chops etcetera, but prepared bar-b-q and other meats, a veritable wonderland, we settled for some really tasty looking meatballs.
In this neck of the woods they are changing over to Digital TV and, as expected, we had some difficulty receiving the ITV channels and, since we really wanted to see the 2nd part of the Midsomer Murders, were pretty disappointed, especially since it was one we had missed on first showing. Yes, of course it was a repeat!! With the exception of the new series, and the new Barnaby, aren’t they all?
So, that almost put paid to watching any television at all, but not quite. We found a particularly interesting programme on BBC 4 about the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port, which ran for an hour and gave some very interesting info about that and the other one in Gloucester.
Today we will be walking into Alrewas again, but this time for a liquid lunch at the William IV.
Friday 8th April and it turned out sunny again, but just a wee bit chilly. Once we got moving though, we soon warmed up and, after just an hour and a half, we arrived at Fradley Junction, which joins up with the Coventry Canal.
We are just staying for one night then moving on to Handsacre, which is about 3 ½ miles and four locks away and still on the T&M. There we will stay for the weekend where, I hope, we will find a decent pub for Sunday lunchtime.
Meanwhile, on our arrival here, once we had enjoyed a coffee, we wandered through the nearby Nature Reserve, stopped for an ice cream at the shop, had another coffee outside the café and bought some cheeses from the very nice Canadian couple on Cheeseboat II.
We knew of one boat such as this, but we haven’t spotted this one before. Apparently they became friends with the people on Cheeseboat #1 a few years ago and, having fell in love with the boating, allowed themselves to be talked into opening another Cheeseboat, hence #2.
After lunch of our new cheeses and some Ryvita, we got stuck in to cleaning some of the boat, Wifey on the paintwork and yours truly on the brasses, of which we have quite a few, mainly plaques that represent all the canals, locks and tunnels we’ve been along, up, down and through. We are now chilling out for the rest of the day.
Saturday 9th April
We do not cruise at weekends but, having spent Friday at Fradley and wishing to get to Handsacre for the weekend, we had no choice. However, in order to beat the rush with so many boats about, even this early in the year, we made our way over to the water point by 8 o/clock this morning and were away by 8.30. With only 3½ miles and four locks to go, on a gorgeous day, we were moored up by 11 o/clock and ready for a cuppa, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
As soon as that was done we locked up and dragged Rusty on a walk to the shops, of which there are not many, just a chippy by the nearest pub; which is on the opposite side of the canal by the bridge; and quite a walk further up the road, a mini-market and paper shop.
From the noise coming from the local pub, The Crown, it’s a pretty popular place, so we’ll probably call in there tomorrow. If it’s as nice a day as today has been, we’ll be very brave and sit outside.
Sadly we are unable to receive full TV programmes, yet again, with ITV, Ch4 and 5 all failing miserably in their efforts to reach us. No worries though, we have loads of reading material and I have yet to test out the programmes donated by cousin Ian, so I could give that a go.
Wednesday 13th April and, with it being as black as pitch out there at 05.30, I have no idea what the weather is like. However, I do know it isn’t raining and there is no wind to speak of. Those nasty weather people did tell us yesterday evening, to expect rain this morning but, our next port of call is Great Hayward junction and, according to Wifey, that’s only about 1½ hours away, so we should be OK to cruise.
From Great Haywood we’re hoping to take the bus into Stafford, something we’ve not managed to do before.
Yesterday I had hoped to paint our pole; that’s the length of round wood we use when we get stuck and can’t move; something that doesn’t happen very often I’m pleased to say. I gave it a good sandpapering while we were at Handsacre but, when I tried applying an undercoat yesterday, the wind was so strong that it was blowing the paint all over the place, including me. At Great Haywood we’ll be more sheltered and so, if the weather is kind I’ll be able to start on that little job. We’ve only had the pole since we bought the boat!!!
We moved up to Great Haywood this morning and arrived about 09.30 although, because we were so closed in with trees, we decided to move through the next lock to an area that is more open. Not that the move did us any good TV-wise because, when we switched on and carried out a search, we had no Digital signal at all. It didn’t matter which way we pointed the aerial, there was nothing at all. Even the Analogue was missing ITV and the other four channels were weak.
Now, never having come up against this problem before, but being well aware that the TV companies are working on the switchover up here, I’m wondering if that’s all it is. If so, then we should know by tomorrow. If not and we still don’t get a signal when we move off on Friday, I will suspect the aerial first, after which we’ll be considering a new TV.
We have a little electronic gadget that is supposed to indicate which direction to point the aerial for the strongest signal. When I attached this to the TV, in line with the aerial, all I had was a weak signal, i.e. just one LED glowing and that was in all directions. So, we either have no signal available or, more likely, the aerial is naff.
On that note, since we have a very strong Internet signal, I will post this, our first blog for this cruise.
We all hope you are all hale and hearty and in good spirits.
Bye for now.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Shiralee at Willington #14
Wednesday 15th March
Had a really great visit with John and Colin and Sue Yesterday and Monday, when we paid a visit to John in the Nursing Home.
According to Sue, John was much more lucid than of late, he’s just not happy there. He did have a friend there in the early days, about three years ago, but he sadly died, and now he has nobody to hold a sensible conversation with. When I asked him to tell me truly how he was doing, he almost broke down. This is a very sad situation for a, previously, very active man, to find himself in and I find it hard to believe he’s actually still suffering it after all this time.
There but for the grace, etc.
We were fortunate with the weather too, it was fine all the way there on Monday and, although it started out the same yesterday morning, it soon clouded over and cooled down. Pooch was very pleased to see us when we picked her up at the kennels. I’m a bit miffed though at the two day charge when we were only a few hours late in collecting her. We are already booked in again for the family do, but for next time we’ll find another kennels.
Wednesday 23rd March
Had a great afternoon with Alan and Chris Oxley, who took us to a place called ‘Taybarn’s’, which, as Alan suggested, is an up market ‘Macdonald’s’. Although I have to say, the quality of food was of a much higher standard.
This is a self-service licensed restaurant, with just one set price. For the over 60’s it is £4.15p for all you can eat. Soft drinks from the machine are free but, over the counter beer and mixers are charged at normal rate. Except that, in comparison with normal pub prices, the Stella was cheaper by 30p per pint. What a great deal and, being next door to a Premier Inn, the food quality has to be good. I can’t remember when I last enjoyed a pub lunch as much as this one.
The place was pretty busy when we arrived at about midday, or a little after but, even though there were quite a few families there, the noise level was not unacceptable. Sheila amazed me by eating a salad, followed by another plate of cooked food, followed by a pudding. I pretty much amazed myself by gobbling down a good plateful of chicken, chips, gammon and roast spuds, followed by a goodly portion of apple tart and custard. Wow! Did my blood sugar level know about that!!
Anyway, a thoroughly good afternoon out, enhanced by the most excellent company. Must do it again next time our visiting times coincide, but perhaps a little later, when the crowd has thinned out.
Today we are planning to take Shiralee on a shake-down cruise to check everything is running smoothly, with special attention on the gear box. Linden adjusted the linkages when he carried out the service, but I feel he’s tightened them up a little too much.
As you all know, our mooring time is up at the end of this month, so it will soon be time for you to get the maps out again. Hopefully the weather will be fine when we do leave, if not we’ll simply moor up in Willington until it improves.
Saturday 26th March
Today we are off to Harlow and staying with Alan, ready for the family bash tomorrow. First we are calling in on my colleague from my school bus days, that’s Les and her family, then we’re off to the town centre for a bit of shopping.
Now, I must tell you about our ‘shake-down’ cruise on Wednesday. We set out at about nine o/clock, intending to head for Stenson Lock, which is about a mile and a half away, where we would turn around and head back. After all, we only wanted to ensure the gearbox was OK.
Just past the marina and immediately before the lock, is a winding hole, well, it’s supposed to be a winding hole but, because it was so badly silted up below the towpath, we were unable to turn around.
We now had to go through the lock and head for the next possible turning point at Swarkestone Lock, another three miles away. This was turning into a rather long day, even longer than we would normally attempt on any given day whilst cruising.
On arrival at Swarkestone and just opposite the BW office, is a sign telling boaters, that they must not use the entrance to the moorings as a turning point. According to our book, there is a winding hole by this lock but, as we found out, there isn’t.
So, be dammed if I’m taking Shiralee through another lock, which would have made a full day of it, I girded my loins and used the entrance to the moorings. Fortunately nobody gave us any grief and so we headed back to the marina.
Now, on the way down to Swarkestone, we encountered a BW dredging team going the other way. Guess what? Yes, we found them again on the way back, only this time they were straddling the canal and we had to hover in place whilst they finished their bit of work, after which we carried on to Stenson.
We went through this lock on our way here from Pilling’s Lock Marina but, at that time, we were with Brian and Marian, so we went through the lock together. However, we had forgotten just how strong the incoming water was at this one and, when Sheila opened the first paddle, the water came gushing in with such force, that the boat swung across the lock to the other side. This is not good and can be most embarrassing when there are loads of people watching, as they were at this time, it being a nice, sunny day.
Eventually we passed through the lock and, with no further mishaps, arrived back at our moorings at two pm. What should have taken us a couple of hours had taken five. Phew!!
We now have just six days before we will be obliged to leave here and set out on our cruise and two of those days will be spent in Harlow. With my brother Alan accompanying us back to the marina and staying until Tuesday, it is unlikely that I will be able to find the time for further entries to this blog. So, I will sign off now and post this, our final blog at Mercia Marina.
We’ve had a great time here and made many friends, not least of all our friendly, neighbourhood engineer, Linden. We know you read this Linden and would like to thanks you for all your hard work and help.
We very much doubt we will find another marina quite like this one, so we have put in a reservation for the same mooring spot for the winter to come.
That’s all folks! Will keep in touch whilst cruising, both by text and blog.
Kind regards and best wishes.
Dave, Sheila and the pooch!!
Had a really great visit with John and Colin and Sue Yesterday and Monday, when we paid a visit to John in the Nursing Home.
According to Sue, John was much more lucid than of late, he’s just not happy there. He did have a friend there in the early days, about three years ago, but he sadly died, and now he has nobody to hold a sensible conversation with. When I asked him to tell me truly how he was doing, he almost broke down. This is a very sad situation for a, previously, very active man, to find himself in and I find it hard to believe he’s actually still suffering it after all this time.
There but for the grace, etc.
We were fortunate with the weather too, it was fine all the way there on Monday and, although it started out the same yesterday morning, it soon clouded over and cooled down. Pooch was very pleased to see us when we picked her up at the kennels. I’m a bit miffed though at the two day charge when we were only a few hours late in collecting her. We are already booked in again for the family do, but for next time we’ll find another kennels.
Wednesday 23rd March
Had a great afternoon with Alan and Chris Oxley, who took us to a place called ‘Taybarn’s’, which, as Alan suggested, is an up market ‘Macdonald’s’. Although I have to say, the quality of food was of a much higher standard.
This is a self-service licensed restaurant, with just one set price. For the over 60’s it is £4.15p for all you can eat. Soft drinks from the machine are free but, over the counter beer and mixers are charged at normal rate. Except that, in comparison with normal pub prices, the Stella was cheaper by 30p per pint. What a great deal and, being next door to a Premier Inn, the food quality has to be good. I can’t remember when I last enjoyed a pub lunch as much as this one.
The place was pretty busy when we arrived at about midday, or a little after but, even though there were quite a few families there, the noise level was not unacceptable. Sheila amazed me by eating a salad, followed by another plate of cooked food, followed by a pudding. I pretty much amazed myself by gobbling down a good plateful of chicken, chips, gammon and roast spuds, followed by a goodly portion of apple tart and custard. Wow! Did my blood sugar level know about that!!
Anyway, a thoroughly good afternoon out, enhanced by the most excellent company. Must do it again next time our visiting times coincide, but perhaps a little later, when the crowd has thinned out.
Today we are planning to take Shiralee on a shake-down cruise to check everything is running smoothly, with special attention on the gear box. Linden adjusted the linkages when he carried out the service, but I feel he’s tightened them up a little too much.
As you all know, our mooring time is up at the end of this month, so it will soon be time for you to get the maps out again. Hopefully the weather will be fine when we do leave, if not we’ll simply moor up in Willington until it improves.
Saturday 26th March
Today we are off to Harlow and staying with Alan, ready for the family bash tomorrow. First we are calling in on my colleague from my school bus days, that’s Les and her family, then we’re off to the town centre for a bit of shopping.
Now, I must tell you about our ‘shake-down’ cruise on Wednesday. We set out at about nine o/clock, intending to head for Stenson Lock, which is about a mile and a half away, where we would turn around and head back. After all, we only wanted to ensure the gearbox was OK.
Just past the marina and immediately before the lock, is a winding hole, well, it’s supposed to be a winding hole but, because it was so badly silted up below the towpath, we were unable to turn around.
We now had to go through the lock and head for the next possible turning point at Swarkestone Lock, another three miles away. This was turning into a rather long day, even longer than we would normally attempt on any given day whilst cruising.
On arrival at Swarkestone and just opposite the BW office, is a sign telling boaters, that they must not use the entrance to the moorings as a turning point. According to our book, there is a winding hole by this lock but, as we found out, there isn’t.
So, be dammed if I’m taking Shiralee through another lock, which would have made a full day of it, I girded my loins and used the entrance to the moorings. Fortunately nobody gave us any grief and so we headed back to the marina.
Now, on the way down to Swarkestone, we encountered a BW dredging team going the other way. Guess what? Yes, we found them again on the way back, only this time they were straddling the canal and we had to hover in place whilst they finished their bit of work, after which we carried on to Stenson.
We went through this lock on our way here from Pilling’s Lock Marina but, at that time, we were with Brian and Marian, so we went through the lock together. However, we had forgotten just how strong the incoming water was at this one and, when Sheila opened the first paddle, the water came gushing in with such force, that the boat swung across the lock to the other side. This is not good and can be most embarrassing when there are loads of people watching, as they were at this time, it being a nice, sunny day.
Eventually we passed through the lock and, with no further mishaps, arrived back at our moorings at two pm. What should have taken us a couple of hours had taken five. Phew!!
We now have just six days before we will be obliged to leave here and set out on our cruise and two of those days will be spent in Harlow. With my brother Alan accompanying us back to the marina and staying until Tuesday, it is unlikely that I will be able to find the time for further entries to this blog. So, I will sign off now and post this, our final blog at Mercia Marina.
We’ve had a great time here and made many friends, not least of all our friendly, neighbourhood engineer, Linden. We know you read this Linden and would like to thanks you for all your hard work and help.
We very much doubt we will find another marina quite like this one, so we have put in a reservation for the same mooring spot for the winter to come.
That’s all folks! Will keep in touch whilst cruising, both by text and blog.
Kind regards and best wishes.
Dave, Sheila and the pooch!!
Monday, 14 March 2011
Shiralee at Willington #13
Thursday 24th February.
Well now, I can’t say much has happened of any interest since Saturday. Sunday, of course, we visited our local hostelry but, for some reason; probably mass hysteria; the place filled up and became somewhat uncomfortable and, with so many people crowding the bar, difficult to get served, so I only imbibed 2/3rds of my usual intake. Still, I can always make up for it at a later date, perhaps when Alan comes to visit prior to us leaving for our cruise.
Ever since replacing the pump-out loo for a cassette we have been promising to remove the waste tank, which would give us a lot more storage space under the bed. On Tuesday afternoon, with nothing better to occupy our minds, we gathered the necessary tools together and headed for the bedroom.
Of course, this is not something that simply requires the removal of bedding and mattress, this also requires moving said items to another part of the boat, the mattress to the loo and the bedding to the lounge.
So far, so good. Next come the boards that cover the tank, which are quite easy to remove and stack up near the back door. The next thing to do would have been to remove any attachments, after which out comes the tank. Yeah! Right!
Have you any idea how much one of these tanks weighs? No, neither do we, but it must be quite a lot because, even by taking hold of one of the pipe outlets, I could barely raise it more than an inch or so and I couldn’t really see how we were going to shift it. Which begs the question, how the heck did the fitters get the wretched thing in there?
So, we are stuck with a tank we don’t want and not as much storage space as we would like. Hmmm! Hmmm!
Yesterday, whilst checking out my mailbox, I noticed an email from eBay thanking me for my donation to “Help for Heroes”. This was a very pleasant surprise since I don’t remember ever having received such a message before.
I should perhaps explain what this is about. As you know, I am selling language courses on eBay and, whilst I’m doing so, I’m also donating 10% of the final selling price to this charity. What a nice man I am. Not any more I’m not.
On taking a second look I noticed that the charity had received £1.00 for the French course alone. This, I thought, was not right. So, I checked back on my listings and, to my horror, discovered that the minimum donation id set at £1.00. Well, since the courses are up for Buy Now at just £2.25, with free post and packing; which alone costs very nearly £1.00, what with the cost of envelope, stamp, blank DVD and plastic sleeve; I’m left with just £0.25p profit.
And so it came to pass, that this silly idiot had to go back to my listings; the fee for which is £0.40p per item, so I’m now £0.15p out of pocket; and remove all 16 languages and re-list them without the charity donation, and I still have to pay the listing fees from my previous listings.
What’s really annoying about this situation is that, unlike those listing fees, which all come out of my Paypal account, the charity donations come from our Debit Card and so I had no idea, until the arrival of that thank-you email, that I was paying out all that cash. “Oh yes”, says Wifey, “I’ve noticed those payments coming out, but I assumed you knew about them”. Go Figure, as those damn Yankees say!!
Thus far, since first listing all 16 languages, I have sold 25 and have made not a penny. However, looking on the bright side, “Help for Heroes” has made £25.
Yesterday, knowing how little time we have before April 1st, which is when we intend to be on our way towards Braunston and Welsh Wales, we paid a visit to the local vet to book our pooch in for her annual jabs. We also asked for a few addresses of kennels because, on 14th March we’re paying a visit to my very dear friend, John Barefoot and his youngest son Colin and wife Sue, down in Somerset.
We’re also meeting for the family do later in that month and will need to kennel her again. What with the price of petrol these days those two trips are going to be a wee bit expensive. But, after all that and the past six months at this marina, we should be able to catch up on our savings, which, due to all the unforeseen expense of late, are looking sadly depleted.
Wow, three pages at one sitting. How’s about that guys and gals??
Sunday 27th February
On Thursday we popped along to one of our local kennels, this one is just before the small town of Mickleover. The place is laid out quite nicely and the dogs are allowed to run free in a compound, but only one at a time. This is just as well because our Rusty would have no trouble making a few enemies. At just £11 per night we found that to be pretty reasonable; we’ve paid £20 per night in some places. So, our wee pooch is now booked in for the two occasions necessary.
During the working week we like to watch the local BBC News at 6 o/clock in the evening. Just recently we’ve been hearing about countless job losses across the region, as I’m sure everybody else has. One of the items has been about one of the big vehicle windscreen replacement companies, the name of which has suddenly ceased to exist in my memory banks.
However, we have a boater on this site who works for said windscreen company and, whilst I was walking our little tearaway yesterday morning, I spotted him at his company van which, I assumed, he was clearing out in order to return it for the administrators to deal with.
So, being the nosy bugger that I am, I stopped by and asked what he was going to do now that the company had folded. I was amazed to hear that, no sooner had the news of closure been passed on to the workforce, than he received a call from a company who have offered to take over some of the depots and had asked him if he would like to stay on.
It seems that this company, an insurance group I think, have offered up several million pounds for depots up and down the UK, along with the company logo and have cherry-picked the people they want to stay on, including our man on this marina. He is, by his own admittance, rather chuffed with this, having been with them for over 20 years. Not only has he kept his job, but he also has a raise in pay. They are also returning to their old system of working; a five day week with just one night on call.
It’s good to hear some good news for a change. Mind you, there are still several hundred without jobs, but at least some have been saved.
As usual we’ll be off to the pub at lunchtime, but this will be just one of the final three Sundays before we leave for “Cruise 2011”.
Saturday 5th March.
Yesterday evening my good wife was surprised to see frost on the ground when she took the pooch out. Damned stuff is still here this morning, which means she will have to take her out this morning also.
On Thursday, for the first time since the op, I managed the walk around Burton without the use of a stick. This means it has only taken a little over seven months for me to be able to dispose of the stick, which bodes well for our fast approaching cruise.
On Wednesday as promised, Linden came along and replaced our batteries and carried out an engine service. Whilst down in the bowels of the engine bay he also gave the engine a good clean up and cleaned out the bay itself, which was looking somewhat dishevelled, to say the least.
Of course, with the removal of two batteries; we are now down to four domestics instead of six; the boat is somewhat lighter on the starboard side, with the resultant slight list to port. Of course, if we could remove the now defunct waste tank, we would probably return to an even keel, so to speak. Instead I will have to rearrange the ballast, which, hopefully, will even things up a bit.
Since removing the charity aspect of my language sales pages on eBay, we suffered a week of no sales. At first we thought perhaps the charity aspect had contributed to sales volume, but then I realised the schools were on half term, which can have a seriously detrimental effect. Now that the little darlings are back, sales have started to pick up again.
So, apart from rearranging the ballast sometime today, this Saturday is going to go the way of most Saturdays and be a lazy day.
Tuesday 8th March and, believe it or not, we’ve had frost now for two mornings running. Mind you, I remember when we first bought the boat and, after our first winter at Keckys’s Far in Sawbridgeworth, we left in April and about a week later we had snow.
Yesterday Wifey took the bus into Derby, ostensibly to purchase a new top, but came back with dog biscuits. It now falls upon my broad shoulders, to accompany her into Burton to see if she can buy the right thing. We’ll probably do that on Thursday, today we have to buy some more coal and logs and tomorrow I have an appointment with the nurse.
We have only three weeks before we are due to set sail and we are both quite looking forward to being on the move again. Happily, my legs will be able to cope, but I’m still a little concerned about the aching calf muscles, but he knees are fine now and I’m even sleeping much better.
Monday 14th March and we’re off to Weston Super Mare today to stay with my old friend John Barefoot’s son Colin and his wife Sue. The main reason for the visit of course, is to pay a visit to John in the Nursing Home before we set off on this years cruise. I haven’t seen John for well over a year, so I am really looking forward to the visit. Hopefully we’ll get to take Colin and Sue out for a pub meal in the evening. Last time I visited they took me out, so it’s our turn to pay. Rusty will spend the night in the kennels at Mickleover, but she doesn’t seem to mind the short break although, she does come home with a rather hoarse voice.
When we get back from Colin’s our first job is to give our chimney a clean. For this job we have long, black brush on the end of a much longer, heavy duty, spiral bound wire. It is always a bit if a problem removing the brush because, as you push it down the bristles bend backwards, making it very difficult to reverse direction, as the bristles are reluctant to bend in the opposite direction. The brush is a very tight fit as you can imagine.
Anyway, talking to our neighbour Chris, who was cleaning his chimney a few days ago, he reckons that, by pushing the brush right down into the fireplace; keeping the door closed of course; it is really quite easy bringing the brush up again. I’ve always been a bit wary about doing this for fear the darn thing got stuck, but I’ll give it a try this time.
Well, it is a little over two weeks now before we set off again. Having waited 18 months this time, we’re both quite looking forward to going. For the most part we’ll be covering old ground but, with luck and a tail wind we’ll manage the Avon and Severn, at least as far as Stourport. Of course, we may start at Stourport and finish at Stratford on Avon and this all depends on which way Wifey decides to go. She can be a bit fickle at times.
Well, that’s it for this posting.
See you all at the bash.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty
Friday, 18 February 2011
Shiralee at Willington # 12
Monday 1st February and a right downpour we are getting. I still have to be a wee bit careful in wet and icy weather, so I have to leave Wifey to take the pooch for her call of nature when such weather comes about. Today is one of those days.
My body may be almost 69 years of age, but my mind is still somewhere in the lower teens. This puts something of a strain on my temper, as you can imagine. Not being able to walk over long distances without a stick is one such curse. Another is not sleeping as well as I would like. As a teenager I could sleep all day if mother would have allowed it. These days I’m up at least twice during the night and I’ve just about had it by 5 am and am on the laptop enjoying my first cuppa of the day before 5.30am.
I’ve been onto eBay this morning, checking up on the CD’s I listed almost 10 days ago. Of the nine I listed I have bids on just three. Oh, whoopee! The rest will probably go to a charity shop when next we go into Burton.
I’ve also been downloading stuff and managed quite a few Mb before it rained. Then, just as I was going through eBay, my connection dropped. How odd that it had just started that downpour. I am now going to change over to 02 for my Internet connection and cancel my account with Three. I’m aiming for a complete deal with 02 because I already have my mobile account with them. With a bit of luck I’ll save some money.
We plan on leaving here on 1st of April, assuming the weather is kind to us. Since we are going to be needing the car up until 27th March, if only for the family do, I’m hoping Alan will be able to sell it whilst we are cruising. This will also save us quite a bit if cash over the six or seven months we’re away. With the cash from the sale we’ll be able to buy another one when we moor up for the winter again.
Wednesday 2nd February
Well, of the nine CD’s I listed on eBay, five have sold and that’s not a bad result. Only one of them am I awaiting payment for. So, we’ll probably pop into Willington this morning to post four of them off. Rather than give the others to a charity shop; I do believe most of them are being far too greedy these days; I’ll put them back in the rack until further notice.
Amongst those I listed – and I really am pleased it didn’t sell – is a 6CD set of George Gershwin music. The first two discs, which come as a set, include songs sung by the likes of Fred Astaire and his wife Adele and also Judy Garland. There are also a few instrumental numbers by the great man himself on piano. The other four are orchestral arrangements played by The Hamburg Radio Dance Orchestra and include works by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Lerner & Loewe and Irving Berlin. Yep, I can safely say I’m pleased they didn’t sell.
Monday 7th February.
On Friday after shopping, we popped across to B&Q to buy a new lock for the front door but, having studied them and found them rather wanting in price, we settled for a hasp and staple type with an integral lock, to which they supplied two keys.
Having bought the new lock we then needed some wood with which to support the new shoot-bolts. These are necessary in order to secure the second front door.
Later in the day I decided to have a go at fitting the shoot-bolts. After all, how hard can it be? Sadly my temper got the better of me, as it often does when attempting a bit of DIY. I really don’t know why I bother sometimes, these sudden plunges into the depths of sod-it-I-can’t-be-bothered attitude, are the main reasons I usually do not do my own engine maintenance or any other essential maintenance work.
Anyway, knowing I was only going to make a hash of it if I continued, I downed tools, it’s a lot of years since I went out on strike, I can tell you.
Sunday, as you know, is my one and only beer day, and attempting such things after a couple of pints, well, you get the picture. So, just as soon as we’ve had breakfast, or maybe after reading the paper, I’ll have another go today.
Having survived over four years without a lockable front door, you would have thought we could well do without it, but it’s just one of those things we’ve been meaning to do and simply haven’t got around to doing. Actually it is lockable, but not from the outside and there are times when we would prefer to use the front.
We still have the dubious privilege of removing our waste tank and taking it to the tip, but that’s for another day. It’ll surely be fun though and I’m not convinced we’ll get it in the car.
I am still working on the recipe book and adding pretty pictures to some of the pages, but I have now decided to include a section that lists all the recipes under their relevant headings, such as meat, poultry, sweets and game, etc.
However, whatever I do now to complete this book, it’s doubtful I’ll have enough time to actually list it on eBay or Amazon, who now do electronic books, or so I’ve been told. As you know, getting online whilst cruising is not always easy and I would hate to have an unhappy customer, just because I was offline for a few days, which does happen and far more frequently than you would think.
The only sure way of getting this book out there, would be for me to set up a mini web site with a download page, and I might still do that. That would leave me in a position whereby I could monitor the site on a fairly regular basis. Ah well, we shall see what we shall see.
Wednesday 9th February.
I very nearly forgot to mention our wee faux pas on Monday. Why is Monday almost always washing day? Well, anyway, there was Wifey, diligently watching over a hot washing machine when, having had enough of staring at the whirling dervish behind the window, she decided to make a cup of tea. This lazy so and so was far to busy on the laptop to consider such a menial task.
All of a sudden the tap started spluttering and the pump was making a rather gasping and wheezing sound, all of which pointed to even more expense. After we started breathing again and I stopped pulling what is left of my locks out of my scalp, we calmed down and realised we had simply run the water tank dry. In more than four years of living on a boat we have never run out of water. Even in the icy weather, when outside taps tend to freeze solid, we still manage to keep enough water in the tank. So, that’s a first for us, never to be repeated, we hope.
Yesterday we drove into Burton for a few bits and pieces. Whilst there we also called into the 02 shop and asked about combining our phone and Internet in one deal. No deal available and, just for once, the nice lady behind the counter actually told us the truth. You see, I happened to mention that Three, the company we have our Mobile Broadband with, ride on the back of the 02 system, which is why we were looking to change to 02. “Oh no”, said the nice lady, “Three have their own masts and everything”.
So, off we then trotted to the Three shop and, without further ado, upgraded the dongle to a new one.
Today, simply because the new-fangled dongles only have direct attachment via a USB plug to the laptop; unlike the old one, which has another small socket at the opposite end, into which can be plugged an extension lead; we took the bus into Derby so as to buy another extension lead, this time with a USB plug at one end and a socket at the other. I can now hang the new dongle up at the window, thus ensuring clearer reception.
Tomorrow I will set the new dongle up and hope against hope that it is an improvement on the old one.
Sunday 13th February
Thursday I tried programming in the new dongle, with it attached to the extension lead we bought in Derby. Useless!! That’s the only word to describe it adequately. Of course, having tried the lead with the new dongle, I tested it with the old one and that didn’t work either.
Now, this lead only cost me £3 but, even at 3 quid, I think I have the right to expect it to work.
On Friday, which is our usual shopping day, we first did the Morrison thing and then we popped around the corner to PC World. When I explained our dilemma to the nice floor-walker, he was not in the least surprised that my lead didn’t work. His look said it all, “what can you expect for £3?” Anyway he led us to a rack that carried all kinds of extras, including a 3 metre Belkin extension lead which, he assured me, would indeed work.
So, on Saturday morning I attempted to programme in the new dongle, having first checked that the new lead worked with the old one. It did. But I could still not get online with the new dongle, even though it was connected.
I am not a happy bunny. I suspect that, because this is a new dongle the settings in Outlook and IE possibly need adjusting, which is a job for the customer services people, and that means a ‘phone call on Monday.
Funnily enough, when I called the shop in Burton to tell them that, even with an extension lead the new one wouldn’t work – not knowing the lead was duff – she offered to give me the ‘phone number of the Help Desk, but I turned her offer down. I was pretty convinced that the dongle was at fault.
So, tomorrow I’m going to have to call again for that number and hope the engineer can help me set it up properly.
Meanwhile, it’s Sunday, a rest day and pub day, so I’ll give it no more thought. At least the old one still works.
Thursday 17th February
Yesterday, being a nice day and all, we topped up with diesel. As expected, the amount of fuel we had used since our last top-up, confirmed our belief that our heating system uses just ½ a litre per hour. At 82p/litre, that ain’t bad. When we get to cruising in April, we will be able to calculate the combined usage of cruising and heating. This is because, as is our normal practice, we will keep a running check of hours cruising and heating. Simple!!
Unfortunately, and to our utter annoyance, the damn heating stopped working again, this was on Monday evening. Linden came along on Tuesday afternoon and discovered that the heater fuel-pump and stopped. Luckily all it needed was a sharp tap and it burst into life.
We now have a quote from Linden’s boss Justin for supplying and fitting 4 new batteries, the rewiring of same and a complete engine service. In total, including labour, we are looking at £575. Phew! Sounds a lot but actually, considering the price of sealed batteries and engine spares, this is pretty reasonable. We are still awaiting a quote for the same from Sam, that’s the bloke who tried to repair our pump-out unit, without success. Well, he probably would have succeeded had it not been for the fact that he was quoted £500 just for a new pump.
Today is a lazy day in that we’re not going anywhere, not even into Burton because, all the stuff we need can be purchased at Morrison’s tomorrow. Success on a plate and a saving on petrol.
The sale of language courses is doing quite well and I have another two orders to fill today. Whoopee!!
Friday 18th February and I am not a happy bunny. Why?
Well now, I have just received a message from Three telling me I only have 20% of my Internet allowance left. How can this be, I muttered to myself? I’ve not had a problem with Three since the huge debacle over the Data Card back in 2006. At that time, after only a few weeks of usage, and not very successfully at that, we were told we had used three times our allowance for the month.
However, as angry as I was at this latest piece of news; quite naturally thinking they were trying it on again, having only upgraded to three times our previous allowance; I had a chat with Wifey before flying into high dudgeon. It seems our new tariff of 15 Gb doesn’t come into force until tomorrow, the 19th of the month. So, that’s alright then? We shall see. On reflection though, I have downloaded an awful lot of stuff of late, so it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. With the new tariff though, it should all be plain sailing. Pardon the pun!
Saturday 19th February and the weather has changed somewhat, it’s now persisting quite heavily but, since we have no plans for cruising or shopping, all’s well with the world.
Sam phoned yesterday with the news that he cannot beat our price for batteries. We have now given the job to Justin at our local yard and Linden will carry out the work Wednesday 2nd March.
Talking about cruising, this is a fitting moment to appraise you lot of our plans for this year.
Weather permitting we will leave Mercia on 1st of April. If we experience sleet or snow; which has happened to us in early April before now; we will stay until it clears up to our satisfaction.
We are currently on the Trent and Mersey Canal and will proceed to cruise from Willington to Fradley Junction – Great Hayward – Stone – Kidsgrove and Middlewitch.
Then Shropshire Union to Wardle and Hurleston Junction and the Llangollen and Montgomery Canals.
Back to Shropshire Union to Autherley Junction and onto the Staffs and Worcester to Stourport on Severn
River Severn to Hawford and onto the
Droitwitch Canals to Hanbury Junction and the
Worcs. and Birmingham Canal to Worcester.
From there we will join the River Severn again and go on to Tewkesbury, where we will join the River Avon.
Next stop will be Stratford upon Avon, that’s assuming the Avon is not in flood.
From Stratford we enter the canal of the same name and plough on to Hockley Heath and the Grand Union Canal.
Onward and upward to Braunston and on to the North Oxford, which will take us to Hawkesbury Junction and the Coventry Canal, where we intend to visit Coventry first, then return to Hawkesbury and on to Marston and the Ashby Canal, which takes us down to Snarestone, which is the full extent of that canal.
This trip is only about 500 miles, so we might decide to investigate other options or, depending upon how much time we have left, return to Mercia or, if we have found alternative moorings, go on to those. However, if we do find alternative moorings, they will have to compare very favourably with Mercia pricewise.
Now, without further ado, I’ll post this latest scribe.
Luv and stuff from
Dave, Sheila and Rusty
My body may be almost 69 years of age, but my mind is still somewhere in the lower teens. This puts something of a strain on my temper, as you can imagine. Not being able to walk over long distances without a stick is one such curse. Another is not sleeping as well as I would like. As a teenager I could sleep all day if mother would have allowed it. These days I’m up at least twice during the night and I’ve just about had it by 5 am and am on the laptop enjoying my first cuppa of the day before 5.30am.
I’ve been onto eBay this morning, checking up on the CD’s I listed almost 10 days ago. Of the nine I listed I have bids on just three. Oh, whoopee! The rest will probably go to a charity shop when next we go into Burton.
I’ve also been downloading stuff and managed quite a few Mb before it rained. Then, just as I was going through eBay, my connection dropped. How odd that it had just started that downpour. I am now going to change over to 02 for my Internet connection and cancel my account with Three. I’m aiming for a complete deal with 02 because I already have my mobile account with them. With a bit of luck I’ll save some money.
We plan on leaving here on 1st of April, assuming the weather is kind to us. Since we are going to be needing the car up until 27th March, if only for the family do, I’m hoping Alan will be able to sell it whilst we are cruising. This will also save us quite a bit if cash over the six or seven months we’re away. With the cash from the sale we’ll be able to buy another one when we moor up for the winter again.
Wednesday 2nd February
Well, of the nine CD’s I listed on eBay, five have sold and that’s not a bad result. Only one of them am I awaiting payment for. So, we’ll probably pop into Willington this morning to post four of them off. Rather than give the others to a charity shop; I do believe most of them are being far too greedy these days; I’ll put them back in the rack until further notice.
Amongst those I listed – and I really am pleased it didn’t sell – is a 6CD set of George Gershwin music. The first two discs, which come as a set, include songs sung by the likes of Fred Astaire and his wife Adele and also Judy Garland. There are also a few instrumental numbers by the great man himself on piano. The other four are orchestral arrangements played by The Hamburg Radio Dance Orchestra and include works by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Lerner & Loewe and Irving Berlin. Yep, I can safely say I’m pleased they didn’t sell.
Monday 7th February.
On Friday after shopping, we popped across to B&Q to buy a new lock for the front door but, having studied them and found them rather wanting in price, we settled for a hasp and staple type with an integral lock, to which they supplied two keys.
Having bought the new lock we then needed some wood with which to support the new shoot-bolts. These are necessary in order to secure the second front door.
Later in the day I decided to have a go at fitting the shoot-bolts. After all, how hard can it be? Sadly my temper got the better of me, as it often does when attempting a bit of DIY. I really don’t know why I bother sometimes, these sudden plunges into the depths of sod-it-I-can’t-be-bothered attitude, are the main reasons I usually do not do my own engine maintenance or any other essential maintenance work.
Anyway, knowing I was only going to make a hash of it if I continued, I downed tools, it’s a lot of years since I went out on strike, I can tell you.
Sunday, as you know, is my one and only beer day, and attempting such things after a couple of pints, well, you get the picture. So, just as soon as we’ve had breakfast, or maybe after reading the paper, I’ll have another go today.
Having survived over four years without a lockable front door, you would have thought we could well do without it, but it’s just one of those things we’ve been meaning to do and simply haven’t got around to doing. Actually it is lockable, but not from the outside and there are times when we would prefer to use the front.
We still have the dubious privilege of removing our waste tank and taking it to the tip, but that’s for another day. It’ll surely be fun though and I’m not convinced we’ll get it in the car.
I am still working on the recipe book and adding pretty pictures to some of the pages, but I have now decided to include a section that lists all the recipes under their relevant headings, such as meat, poultry, sweets and game, etc.
However, whatever I do now to complete this book, it’s doubtful I’ll have enough time to actually list it on eBay or Amazon, who now do electronic books, or so I’ve been told. As you know, getting online whilst cruising is not always easy and I would hate to have an unhappy customer, just because I was offline for a few days, which does happen and far more frequently than you would think.
The only sure way of getting this book out there, would be for me to set up a mini web site with a download page, and I might still do that. That would leave me in a position whereby I could monitor the site on a fairly regular basis. Ah well, we shall see what we shall see.
Wednesday 9th February.
I very nearly forgot to mention our wee faux pas on Monday. Why is Monday almost always washing day? Well, anyway, there was Wifey, diligently watching over a hot washing machine when, having had enough of staring at the whirling dervish behind the window, she decided to make a cup of tea. This lazy so and so was far to busy on the laptop to consider such a menial task.
All of a sudden the tap started spluttering and the pump was making a rather gasping and wheezing sound, all of which pointed to even more expense. After we started breathing again and I stopped pulling what is left of my locks out of my scalp, we calmed down and realised we had simply run the water tank dry. In more than four years of living on a boat we have never run out of water. Even in the icy weather, when outside taps tend to freeze solid, we still manage to keep enough water in the tank. So, that’s a first for us, never to be repeated, we hope.
Yesterday we drove into Burton for a few bits and pieces. Whilst there we also called into the 02 shop and asked about combining our phone and Internet in one deal. No deal available and, just for once, the nice lady behind the counter actually told us the truth. You see, I happened to mention that Three, the company we have our Mobile Broadband with, ride on the back of the 02 system, which is why we were looking to change to 02. “Oh no”, said the nice lady, “Three have their own masts and everything”.
So, off we then trotted to the Three shop and, without further ado, upgraded the dongle to a new one.
Today, simply because the new-fangled dongles only have direct attachment via a USB plug to the laptop; unlike the old one, which has another small socket at the opposite end, into which can be plugged an extension lead; we took the bus into Derby so as to buy another extension lead, this time with a USB plug at one end and a socket at the other. I can now hang the new dongle up at the window, thus ensuring clearer reception.
Tomorrow I will set the new dongle up and hope against hope that it is an improvement on the old one.
Sunday 13th February
Thursday I tried programming in the new dongle, with it attached to the extension lead we bought in Derby. Useless!! That’s the only word to describe it adequately. Of course, having tried the lead with the new dongle, I tested it with the old one and that didn’t work either.
Now, this lead only cost me £3 but, even at 3 quid, I think I have the right to expect it to work.
On Friday, which is our usual shopping day, we first did the Morrison thing and then we popped around the corner to PC World. When I explained our dilemma to the nice floor-walker, he was not in the least surprised that my lead didn’t work. His look said it all, “what can you expect for £3?” Anyway he led us to a rack that carried all kinds of extras, including a 3 metre Belkin extension lead which, he assured me, would indeed work.
So, on Saturday morning I attempted to programme in the new dongle, having first checked that the new lead worked with the old one. It did. But I could still not get online with the new dongle, even though it was connected.
I am not a happy bunny. I suspect that, because this is a new dongle the settings in Outlook and IE possibly need adjusting, which is a job for the customer services people, and that means a ‘phone call on Monday.
Funnily enough, when I called the shop in Burton to tell them that, even with an extension lead the new one wouldn’t work – not knowing the lead was duff – she offered to give me the ‘phone number of the Help Desk, but I turned her offer down. I was pretty convinced that the dongle was at fault.
So, tomorrow I’m going to have to call again for that number and hope the engineer can help me set it up properly.
Meanwhile, it’s Sunday, a rest day and pub day, so I’ll give it no more thought. At least the old one still works.
Thursday 17th February
Yesterday, being a nice day and all, we topped up with diesel. As expected, the amount of fuel we had used since our last top-up, confirmed our belief that our heating system uses just ½ a litre per hour. At 82p/litre, that ain’t bad. When we get to cruising in April, we will be able to calculate the combined usage of cruising and heating. This is because, as is our normal practice, we will keep a running check of hours cruising and heating. Simple!!
Unfortunately, and to our utter annoyance, the damn heating stopped working again, this was on Monday evening. Linden came along on Tuesday afternoon and discovered that the heater fuel-pump and stopped. Luckily all it needed was a sharp tap and it burst into life.
We now have a quote from Linden’s boss Justin for supplying and fitting 4 new batteries, the rewiring of same and a complete engine service. In total, including labour, we are looking at £575. Phew! Sounds a lot but actually, considering the price of sealed batteries and engine spares, this is pretty reasonable. We are still awaiting a quote for the same from Sam, that’s the bloke who tried to repair our pump-out unit, without success. Well, he probably would have succeeded had it not been for the fact that he was quoted £500 just for a new pump.
Today is a lazy day in that we’re not going anywhere, not even into Burton because, all the stuff we need can be purchased at Morrison’s tomorrow. Success on a plate and a saving on petrol.
The sale of language courses is doing quite well and I have another two orders to fill today. Whoopee!!
Friday 18th February and I am not a happy bunny. Why?
Well now, I have just received a message from Three telling me I only have 20% of my Internet allowance left. How can this be, I muttered to myself? I’ve not had a problem with Three since the huge debacle over the Data Card back in 2006. At that time, after only a few weeks of usage, and not very successfully at that, we were told we had used three times our allowance for the month.
However, as angry as I was at this latest piece of news; quite naturally thinking they were trying it on again, having only upgraded to three times our previous allowance; I had a chat with Wifey before flying into high dudgeon. It seems our new tariff of 15 Gb doesn’t come into force until tomorrow, the 19th of the month. So, that’s alright then? We shall see. On reflection though, I have downloaded an awful lot of stuff of late, so it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. With the new tariff though, it should all be plain sailing. Pardon the pun!
Saturday 19th February and the weather has changed somewhat, it’s now persisting quite heavily but, since we have no plans for cruising or shopping, all’s well with the world.
Sam phoned yesterday with the news that he cannot beat our price for batteries. We have now given the job to Justin at our local yard and Linden will carry out the work Wednesday 2nd March.
Talking about cruising, this is a fitting moment to appraise you lot of our plans for this year.
Weather permitting we will leave Mercia on 1st of April. If we experience sleet or snow; which has happened to us in early April before now; we will stay until it clears up to our satisfaction.
We are currently on the Trent and Mersey Canal and will proceed to cruise from Willington to Fradley Junction – Great Hayward – Stone – Kidsgrove and Middlewitch.
Then Shropshire Union to Wardle and Hurleston Junction and the Llangollen and Montgomery Canals.
Back to Shropshire Union to Autherley Junction and onto the Staffs and Worcester to Stourport on Severn
River Severn to Hawford and onto the
Droitwitch Canals to Hanbury Junction and the
Worcs. and Birmingham Canal to Worcester.
From there we will join the River Severn again and go on to Tewkesbury, where we will join the River Avon.
Next stop will be Stratford upon Avon, that’s assuming the Avon is not in flood.
From Stratford we enter the canal of the same name and plough on to Hockley Heath and the Grand Union Canal.
Onward and upward to Braunston and on to the North Oxford, which will take us to Hawkesbury Junction and the Coventry Canal, where we intend to visit Coventry first, then return to Hawkesbury and on to Marston and the Ashby Canal, which takes us down to Snarestone, which is the full extent of that canal.
This trip is only about 500 miles, so we might decide to investigate other options or, depending upon how much time we have left, return to Mercia or, if we have found alternative moorings, go on to those. However, if we do find alternative moorings, they will have to compare very favourably with Mercia pricewise.
Now, without further ado, I’ll post this latest scribe.
Luv and stuff from
Dave, Sheila and Rusty
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Shiralee at Willington # 11
Saturday 15th January
We have woken up to a very strong wind, but no rain as yet; since we are not planning on going anywhere today, except perhaps to pick up some coal and a bottle of gas, this will not affect us greatly.
This morning I’ve been designing labels for the discs I will, hopefully sell. The take up of language courses has been slow, having only sold three from my first listing, but it’s early days yet. Of course the beauty of eBay is the fact that, if something doesn’t sell too well, you can simply look for other markets. I’m even considering software sales through drop-shipment, or even CDs and DVDs, but I’ve been there before and received more than my share of dissatisfied customers and was forced to sack my supplier.
I’m still working on that recipe book and have been gently pushed into finishing the project and selling it on eBay. I have to confess that, up until recently, I didn’t think it was good enough. It’s a nagging feeling that something is missing and not quite right about it. Of course, since the programme I was using was simply not up to taking so many pages, I have since converted the whole thing to PDF, but I still am not quite satisfied with the end result.
Now, bearing in mind that most of the recipes are fairly old and they are all English, I am now looking for late 19th and early 20th Century pictures of food and some of the towns from which some of the recipes originated. I’ve actually found some old stuff on Project Guttenberg, which is an American based public domain site, so I’m now hoping to find more of the same. As for old photos of old English towns and villages, that’s another story.
Tuesday 18th January
I can’t say I’m doing too will with finding old food images, although I have managed to download a whole load of old recipe books from Gutenberg, some of which contain pictures, most of which I have copied to a separate folder. I’ve also picked up some interest info from Wikipedia, which will come in useful.
The weekend went quite well and we enjoyed our usual hour or so at our local oasis. Monday we didn’t do much at all except to take the boat for a fill up of diesel. We think the engine must have been running on fumes, because we managed to cram 135 litres into the tank.
Over recent weeks because of the icy weather, we’ve been taking a couple of Jerry Cans around to the diesel pump as and when we needed it. We didn’t suspect for a minute that the tank was so low. It doesn’t pay to allow the level to drop too far, especially in warmer weather, because of the fuel bug and the build up of condensation. Fortunately, at the cost of goodness knows what, we’ll be replacing our batteries and having a full engine service.
We’ve also asked Sam, our engineer, to rewire the batteries whilst he’s here. The New Boat Company, from whom we purchased the boat, do not seem to have much idea about wiring batteries, it really is like a bunch of red and black spaghetti down there. It’s so bad that I have a great deal of trouble removing the caps when it comes time to top them up. Not that it will be a problem with the new ones, because we’re having sealed batteries fitted, and we’re going back to four domestics instead of the current six.
It seems that, although he meant well by the suggestion, the engineer who added the extra two didn’t thing to suggest a more powerful alternator. Even if he had done so, with the way the engine is laid out, it’s doubtful if we could have fitted anything more powerful.
Our neighbour has four 200Ah batteries, but only a 90Ah alternator, which means he has no hope of keeping the batteries charged up when they are cruising.
In future when cruising, we plan on mooring up in a marina every two weeks or so, just in order to keep the batteries as healthy as possible.
The sales of language Courses is just about managing to cover my costs, but I’m hopeful it will pick up the longer I keep them listed.
I’m still awaiting a price for a disc from my American friend Debra – she of Pirates of the Public Domain fame –which has to do with selling recipe books via blog. This information comes on a video which, as you all know, can be a bit of a pain when downloading on slow speed Internet access. Our Debra, unfortunately, does not now have the backing of Logan, who was her partner in the ‘Pirates’ enterprise, so she’s pretty busy. Last I heard she was awaiting a price from the originators of the video for putting it on a disc and posting to me.
Thursday 20th January
I think I’m cracking up. Wifey is certain of the fact. Finding it necessary to drive over to Shardlow for a new water filter this morning, we popped out to the car and grabbed the scraper for de-icing the windows. One side was clear because it had the sun on it, so I left Sheila to clear the other side.
I was about to climb in and start the engine when I noticed some gravel on the carpet. I hate it when I’m driving and can feel something under my feet that shouldn’t be there. Anyway, I quickly pulled the carpet out, gave it a quick shake to dislodge the offending article and replaced the carpet.
I then started the engine and had the surprise of my life when the revs shot up to 3000!! After a bit of stamping on the throttle it soon came down and I sat there waiting for the automatic choke to cut out. Well, it did so eventually, but it still continued speeding up all on its own.
Not to be beaten by a silly old engine, we continued on our way, with me cursing and swearing all the way to Shardlow and threatening to put the damn car up for sale at the earliest opportunity. I swore blind I would never, ever buy another Alfa.
That was, until we arrived at the chandlery in Shardlow, when, upon climbing out of the car, I noticed that the corner of the carpet was sitting on the throttle. What a plonker!!
Needless to say I am not now getting rid of my lovely little Alfa.
Saturday 22nd January and I have another stinking cold and cough. I really must get out more, I’m convinced that being cooped up in this boat during the icy weather is doing nothing good for my health. So, from today, regardless of the weather, I am going for a walk around the marina, or part of it, every day.
Now, I’m not one for reading my daily Horoscope. However, when we but the Daily Mail on Saturdays, Wifey does read Mr Cainer’s offerings and this Saturday was no different. Anyone reading his column on a regular basis will be aware that he has a sense of humour and so, without more ado, I give you Sheila’s horoscope for today.
Cancer June 23 – July 23.
“They say that what counts is not what you know but who you know. Yet what matters most is neither what you know nor who you know, nor even what who you know, knows. It is all down to who you know knows! With me so far? OK. This is where it gets tricky. If who you know knows what you know, they can tell what you know to who they know. But you want who they know to know you! So, don’t tell all you know to you-know-who. Just get them to tell you what they know about who they know! Remember that and this will yet be a surprisingly straightforward and satisfying week.”
I leave you to ponder!!
Thursday 27th January.
My, doesn’t time fly? As you all know, I’m an early bird, usually falling out of the pit at around 5 am. This means I’m on the laptop before 5.30 and have lots of time to investigate eBay and any sales I may have made with my Language Courses. It’s a bit slow I must confess, but I’m making a few bob.
Anyway, there was I burning French and Swahili to disc, when it suddenly occurred to me that it had been a while since I last posted a blog. In fact, looking at the start date of this one, which is already five pages long, it’s almost a fortnight ago.
But, five pages is not really that long and so, since it will only be a few minutes before Wifey rises from the murky depths and I have labels to print before I get breakfast ready, I will leave this until tomorrow or, just to make it the full 14 days, do it on Saturday morning.
We’re off to Burton again today, just to have a mooch around and possibly call in to B&Q for a Yale lock for the front door. We already have a lock on the inside, but that forces us to use the back door when we go out. With a proper lock on the outside front, we can slip out that way, which is more convenient whilst we are moored bow first in the marina.
I’m sure there are other things Wifey needs, otherwise we probably wouldn’t bother today. Besides, I do like Burton, and it makes a pleasant break for us both.
Monday 31st January
Well, so much for promises, it’s now Monday, the weekend has gone and I still haven’t posted this blog. No matter, the weekend went smoothly for us, as I hope it did for you lot.
Wifey received an email from Wee McSis up there in Haggisland to the effect that the family soiree will be on Friday 25th march. Why Friday I ask myself, and I think I’m cracking up.
Hey, I’m kidding, it’s really Sunday 27th. OK? Looking forward to it too. Mind you it doesn’t give us much leeway, only four days before we set off on our cruise to who knows where. Probably the Llangollen and Montgemery Canals to start with and then make our way south to the Rivers Severn and Avon, which we failed to complete way back when.
Our usual Sunday visit to our local went very well this week, being inundated as it was with yompers. They had walked from the other side of Repton – which was once the capital of the old kingdom of Mercia – and were staying for lunch. Mind you, I don’t think they were really serious about their walking as they were catching the bus back. Still, they were a happy bunch and certainly livened the place up for a change. The pub is normally quite quiet but they really had it buzzing.
Today is a chill-out day for us. We have nothing in particular that we want or need to do, so we’ll just toddle over to the shop for the paper and settle down for a lazy day.
Now, I’ll get this thing posted. But first another recipe.
As it is still showing signs of being winter, we have a quite heavy frost here, I offer you a warming meal from Devon.
Exeter Stew with Parsley Dumplings
A typical beef stew from Exeter in Devon
Ingredients:
2 lb braising steak, cut into bite size pieces
2 heaped tbsp flour, seasoned with salt and black pepper
4 tbsp dripping
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 pints beef stock
1 tsp vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
For the dumplings:
6 oz plain flour
3 oz shredded suet
¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¾ tsp dried mixed herbs
2½ tbsp chopped parsley
Milk to mix dumpling ingredients
Method:
Toss the beef in the seasoned flour and brown in the dripping in a large frying pan
Add the onions and carrots and cook gently until the onions begin to soften
Stir in the remaining seasoned flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously
Whilst still stirring add the stock
Add the vinegar and bring to the boil
Cover and simmer for about 1¾ hours over a very low heat
Mix the dumpling ingredients together and make into balls of size preferred
Add the dumplings and simmer until done
And there you have it, another blog complete and ready to go. Enjoy your week folks.
Luv and Stuff from
Dave, Sheila and Rusty, our faithful but belligerent pooch.
We have woken up to a very strong wind, but no rain as yet; since we are not planning on going anywhere today, except perhaps to pick up some coal and a bottle of gas, this will not affect us greatly.
This morning I’ve been designing labels for the discs I will, hopefully sell. The take up of language courses has been slow, having only sold three from my first listing, but it’s early days yet. Of course the beauty of eBay is the fact that, if something doesn’t sell too well, you can simply look for other markets. I’m even considering software sales through drop-shipment, or even CDs and DVDs, but I’ve been there before and received more than my share of dissatisfied customers and was forced to sack my supplier.
I’m still working on that recipe book and have been gently pushed into finishing the project and selling it on eBay. I have to confess that, up until recently, I didn’t think it was good enough. It’s a nagging feeling that something is missing and not quite right about it. Of course, since the programme I was using was simply not up to taking so many pages, I have since converted the whole thing to PDF, but I still am not quite satisfied with the end result.
Now, bearing in mind that most of the recipes are fairly old and they are all English, I am now looking for late 19th and early 20th Century pictures of food and some of the towns from which some of the recipes originated. I’ve actually found some old stuff on Project Guttenberg, which is an American based public domain site, so I’m now hoping to find more of the same. As for old photos of old English towns and villages, that’s another story.
Tuesday 18th January
I can’t say I’m doing too will with finding old food images, although I have managed to download a whole load of old recipe books from Gutenberg, some of which contain pictures, most of which I have copied to a separate folder. I’ve also picked up some interest info from Wikipedia, which will come in useful.
The weekend went quite well and we enjoyed our usual hour or so at our local oasis. Monday we didn’t do much at all except to take the boat for a fill up of diesel. We think the engine must have been running on fumes, because we managed to cram 135 litres into the tank.
Over recent weeks because of the icy weather, we’ve been taking a couple of Jerry Cans around to the diesel pump as and when we needed it. We didn’t suspect for a minute that the tank was so low. It doesn’t pay to allow the level to drop too far, especially in warmer weather, because of the fuel bug and the build up of condensation. Fortunately, at the cost of goodness knows what, we’ll be replacing our batteries and having a full engine service.
We’ve also asked Sam, our engineer, to rewire the batteries whilst he’s here. The New Boat Company, from whom we purchased the boat, do not seem to have much idea about wiring batteries, it really is like a bunch of red and black spaghetti down there. It’s so bad that I have a great deal of trouble removing the caps when it comes time to top them up. Not that it will be a problem with the new ones, because we’re having sealed batteries fitted, and we’re going back to four domestics instead of the current six.
It seems that, although he meant well by the suggestion, the engineer who added the extra two didn’t thing to suggest a more powerful alternator. Even if he had done so, with the way the engine is laid out, it’s doubtful if we could have fitted anything more powerful.
Our neighbour has four 200Ah batteries, but only a 90Ah alternator, which means he has no hope of keeping the batteries charged up when they are cruising.
In future when cruising, we plan on mooring up in a marina every two weeks or so, just in order to keep the batteries as healthy as possible.
The sales of language Courses is just about managing to cover my costs, but I’m hopeful it will pick up the longer I keep them listed.
I’m still awaiting a price for a disc from my American friend Debra – she of Pirates of the Public Domain fame –which has to do with selling recipe books via blog. This information comes on a video which, as you all know, can be a bit of a pain when downloading on slow speed Internet access. Our Debra, unfortunately, does not now have the backing of Logan, who was her partner in the ‘Pirates’ enterprise, so she’s pretty busy. Last I heard she was awaiting a price from the originators of the video for putting it on a disc and posting to me.
Thursday 20th January
I think I’m cracking up. Wifey is certain of the fact. Finding it necessary to drive over to Shardlow for a new water filter this morning, we popped out to the car and grabbed the scraper for de-icing the windows. One side was clear because it had the sun on it, so I left Sheila to clear the other side.
I was about to climb in and start the engine when I noticed some gravel on the carpet. I hate it when I’m driving and can feel something under my feet that shouldn’t be there. Anyway, I quickly pulled the carpet out, gave it a quick shake to dislodge the offending article and replaced the carpet.
I then started the engine and had the surprise of my life when the revs shot up to 3000!! After a bit of stamping on the throttle it soon came down and I sat there waiting for the automatic choke to cut out. Well, it did so eventually, but it still continued speeding up all on its own.
Not to be beaten by a silly old engine, we continued on our way, with me cursing and swearing all the way to Shardlow and threatening to put the damn car up for sale at the earliest opportunity. I swore blind I would never, ever buy another Alfa.
That was, until we arrived at the chandlery in Shardlow, when, upon climbing out of the car, I noticed that the corner of the carpet was sitting on the throttle. What a plonker!!
Needless to say I am not now getting rid of my lovely little Alfa.
Saturday 22nd January and I have another stinking cold and cough. I really must get out more, I’m convinced that being cooped up in this boat during the icy weather is doing nothing good for my health. So, from today, regardless of the weather, I am going for a walk around the marina, or part of it, every day.
Now, I’m not one for reading my daily Horoscope. However, when we but the Daily Mail on Saturdays, Wifey does read Mr Cainer’s offerings and this Saturday was no different. Anyone reading his column on a regular basis will be aware that he has a sense of humour and so, without more ado, I give you Sheila’s horoscope for today.
Cancer June 23 – July 23.
“They say that what counts is not what you know but who you know. Yet what matters most is neither what you know nor who you know, nor even what who you know, knows. It is all down to who you know knows! With me so far? OK. This is where it gets tricky. If who you know knows what you know, they can tell what you know to who they know. But you want who they know to know you! So, don’t tell all you know to you-know-who. Just get them to tell you what they know about who they know! Remember that and this will yet be a surprisingly straightforward and satisfying week.”
I leave you to ponder!!
Thursday 27th January.
My, doesn’t time fly? As you all know, I’m an early bird, usually falling out of the pit at around 5 am. This means I’m on the laptop before 5.30 and have lots of time to investigate eBay and any sales I may have made with my Language Courses. It’s a bit slow I must confess, but I’m making a few bob.
Anyway, there was I burning French and Swahili to disc, when it suddenly occurred to me that it had been a while since I last posted a blog. In fact, looking at the start date of this one, which is already five pages long, it’s almost a fortnight ago.
But, five pages is not really that long and so, since it will only be a few minutes before Wifey rises from the murky depths and I have labels to print before I get breakfast ready, I will leave this until tomorrow or, just to make it the full 14 days, do it on Saturday morning.
We’re off to Burton again today, just to have a mooch around and possibly call in to B&Q for a Yale lock for the front door. We already have a lock on the inside, but that forces us to use the back door when we go out. With a proper lock on the outside front, we can slip out that way, which is more convenient whilst we are moored bow first in the marina.
I’m sure there are other things Wifey needs, otherwise we probably wouldn’t bother today. Besides, I do like Burton, and it makes a pleasant break for us both.
Monday 31st January
Well, so much for promises, it’s now Monday, the weekend has gone and I still haven’t posted this blog. No matter, the weekend went smoothly for us, as I hope it did for you lot.
Wifey received an email from Wee McSis up there in Haggisland to the effect that the family soiree will be on Friday 25th march. Why Friday I ask myself, and I think I’m cracking up.
Hey, I’m kidding, it’s really Sunday 27th. OK? Looking forward to it too. Mind you it doesn’t give us much leeway, only four days before we set off on our cruise to who knows where. Probably the Llangollen and Montgemery Canals to start with and then make our way south to the Rivers Severn and Avon, which we failed to complete way back when.
Our usual Sunday visit to our local went very well this week, being inundated as it was with yompers. They had walked from the other side of Repton – which was once the capital of the old kingdom of Mercia – and were staying for lunch. Mind you, I don’t think they were really serious about their walking as they were catching the bus back. Still, they were a happy bunch and certainly livened the place up for a change. The pub is normally quite quiet but they really had it buzzing.
Today is a chill-out day for us. We have nothing in particular that we want or need to do, so we’ll just toddle over to the shop for the paper and settle down for a lazy day.
Now, I’ll get this thing posted. But first another recipe.
As it is still showing signs of being winter, we have a quite heavy frost here, I offer you a warming meal from Devon.
Exeter Stew with Parsley Dumplings
A typical beef stew from Exeter in Devon
Ingredients:
2 lb braising steak, cut into bite size pieces
2 heaped tbsp flour, seasoned with salt and black pepper
4 tbsp dripping
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 pints beef stock
1 tsp vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
For the dumplings:
6 oz plain flour
3 oz shredded suet
¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¾ tsp dried mixed herbs
2½ tbsp chopped parsley
Milk to mix dumpling ingredients
Method:
Toss the beef in the seasoned flour and brown in the dripping in a large frying pan
Add the onions and carrots and cook gently until the onions begin to soften
Stir in the remaining seasoned flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously
Whilst still stirring add the stock
Add the vinegar and bring to the boil
Cover and simmer for about 1¾ hours over a very low heat
Mix the dumpling ingredients together and make into balls of size preferred
Add the dumplings and simmer until done
And there you have it, another blog complete and ready to go. Enjoy your week folks.
Luv and Stuff from
Dave, Sheila and Rusty, our faithful but belligerent pooch.
Friday, 14 January 2011
Shiralee at Willington #10
Sunday December 26th
A good day yesterday, managed to get to the pub which, as you would expect for Christmas day, was very busy. Being sneaky of course, we arrived early so as to grab a seat.
We would like to thank everybody who sent us a card. Sadly some of you didn’t have our new address, which is strange because Sheila texted everybody with it quite some time ago. Also, some cards are ay Alan’s house and he will forward them just as soon as he can get to the Post Office.
Wifey, as usual, was very good to me; my presents consisted of a new waterproof cap, the latest book by Stephen King, a hone twizzler and a double egg cup. This last item because I have two boiled eggs for my Sunday breakfast and the twizzler because I also like hone and cinnamon on my toast and crumpets. For my sins and because I have found it rather difficult to get to the shops without her in tow, I settled for some CD’s, two by Chris De Burgh and one by Michael Buble.
For Christmas dinner the usual Turkey with trimmings, except that this time, as per instructions from the Hairy Bikers, steamed the carrots and sprouts in butter and oil. Whilst this method retained the flavour of both vegetables, it seemed to leave the sprouts less than crunchy. An excellent meal all the same and we have plenty of turkey left for today’s cold meat and pickle with bubble and squeek. This time Wifey will cook the b and s in a couple of chef’s rings. Sounds good to meee!
Having managed to get to the pub yesterday, despite the sheet of ice covering the marina perimeter road, we’ll probably do so again today. Well, it is Sunday and I’ve missed a couple of late.
Now that the shortest day has passed we’re looking forward to daylight lasting a wee bit longer and, once the ice and snow have gone which, hopefully, will be later in the week, I’m getting out there for some walks around the marina. Got to get myself ready for cruising in April; haven’t decided where we’re going yet, but we still have three months in which to do so.
Thursday 30th December and we are just two days away from another year.
I find it difficult to believe that 2010 has passed us by so quickly. Not only that, when you consider our arrival at Pillings Lock Marina in September 2009 and we only have another three months before we’ll be off cruising again, the time has raced by.
So much has happened in the intervening space of time. The main thing was having my knees sorted out. At times, I have to confess, I’ve wondered if it was worth the effort but, after just five months, I’m getting around much easier, sleeping better and no longer spending time in the armchair. Alright, so my time in bed is still not as comfortable as I would like, but I’m sleeping longer and not getting up so often, except for the usual old man’s problem.
Of course we’ve had our problems, not least of which has been the pump-out unit, the motor of which finally gave up the ghost. However, even that cloud had its silver lining.
Had it not been for our decision to remove the existing unit and replace it with a cassette loo, we would have been in serious trouble during the recent weeks of really cold weather.
We would have been forced to use our electric pump-out pump, empty some of the tank content into a plastic, 5 gallon drum, trundle it to the disposal unit, trundle it back and repeat the operation several times in a row.
Monday 3rd January 2011
So, what do you think of it so far? Apart from the change in TV programmes this year seems much the same as last. It’s still miserable weather wise and I’m still up and down like the proverbial bridge during the night. If it’s not my legs giving me trouble, it’s mother nature waking me up for a pee.
I’m still out of bed by 5.15 am on most days and I’m still pounding away at the laptop. Today I listed 16 language courses on eBay and they only cost me £0.20p each to list.
Today, in advance of the usual broody time of Spring, we had a bit of a clear out of the storage space under the dinette. We filled two carrier bags of stuff to take to the charity shop in Derby tomorrow and we filled a black sack with rubbish.
When the ice finally disappears from the marina, we’ll take the boat for a final pump-out of the now defunct tank. Then perhaps we’ll be able to remove the tank and create some more storage space.
My dearly beloved keeps a check on what books she reads. This morning after consulting her diary for 2009, she discovered she had waded her way through 70 books. Now, since I am a much faster reader than she is, I must have read at least 100 but, since I don’t keep count, I have no idea how many I have read. So, from now on I will be listing my finished books in my own diary. Watch this space for the end of the year.
Tomorrow Derby, to get rid of our junk to the charity shop.
Thursday 6th January and we didn’t get to Derby yesterday, instead we drove into Burton. The plan for Tuesday was to catch the bus in to town but, as the perimeter road was icy, we decided to leave it another day. By the time Tuesday morning came around, we had decided on Burton and managed to dispose of two shopping bags full of our junk. No doubt somebody else will find a use for it all.
Whilst in Burton we popped into the local Primark shop because I really could do with some new jeans. I have had to bow to the inevitable and go up a size to 38 inch waist. Anyway, at just £16 for two pairs – cheap and cheerful, that’s me – I thought they would do for sculling around the boat in. How wrong can you be? One pair, although labelled up as 38, were actually a very small 36, whilst the other pair were button up fly, which I hate.
Having missed out on Derby yesterday, Wifey will be catching the bus there this morning, when she will also return my jeans to the Derby branch of Primark. I don’t think I’ll bother shopping there again.
I won’t be accompanying Wifey to Derby today because I have a lot to do on the computer, mostly listing eBooks on eBay and catching up on emails. Talking about which, I’m having problems sending emails these days. There are times when they simply refuse to go and I get the nag screen at top left.
This morning I had the same problem and I had only just logged on. I have a feeling it’s an internal problem and so, just for a change, I’ve attached the modem to a different USB port and, so fat it seems to be working OK.
Friday 7th January and, lucky old me, I have a cold. Strangely my lungs have been feeling a wee bit congested of late and I was thinking of going to the doctor’s. But I suddenly realised that I had the beginnings of a cold, and so I grabbed the Beecham’s Powders and set to. I also am not too sparing with the Vick’s Vapour Rub on these occasions. In the past I have, on these occasions, suffered quite badly with breathing problems due to Asthma and now, if the quacks are right, COPD or Chronic Obstructed Pulmonary Disease.
Personally I think they are wrong on that diagnosis because, as has happened in the past, I have almost grown out of the Asthma. Indeed, it is now many years since I have suffered an attack, and that was prior to our buying the shop in Kent back in the late 80’s. Anyway, I am now fighting off a cold, not Man Flu, I hasten to add, just a simple snot-nosed cold with the accompanying cough. Lucky old Alan, he’s coming to visit tomorrow for a couple of days!!
Shopping today at Morrison’s.
Wednesday 12th January and I have to ask where the week has gone. Is it really five days since I pounded out my last missive on this blog?
Mind you, the cold didn’t give me much incentive for blogging and we had my kid brother down at the weekend. Naturally we took him to our local watering-hole and fed him with a rather delightful stew and dumplings.
That was on Saturday. On Sunday, without too much persuasion, Wifey agreed to a return visit. Bless her little cotton socks, all she has is a coffee then sits there watching me guzzle the Guinness.
On Monday we emptied out the storage box underneath Wifey’s side of the dinette and split it up into stuff for charity shop and rubbish. Thus far, since starting this clear out we’ve taken five full shopping bags to charity shops and three black sacks to the tip.
Alan kindly replaced a leaky radiator for us on Sunday morning, which we took to the Burton amenities site. The only thing left to get rid of is the waste tank from our defunct pump-out unit, but we can’t do that until we empty it out. All that’s in it now is water, which we’ll probably pump out just as soon as we can get to the pump-out unit. Once that job is done we can try removing the tank from under our bed and taking it to the tip. This will give us a huge amount of extra storage space.
Our next job is to sort through our CDs and dispose of the ones we no longer need, which means listing them on eBay, darned if I’ll see them go to a charity shop. Actually, since we tend to call in on them each time we go to Burton, we’ve noticed how much more expensive they have become. It’s nothing now to find ourselves [paying £2.00 or more for a paper back book. At other times we can still find them for as little as 99p.
I now have 16 foreign language courses listed on eBay, all for the princely sum of £2.25 each, with free post and packing. Thus far, for my first listing, I have sold three, but it’s early days yet. These courses originated from the Foreign Services Institute of America and were designed to teach their diplomats proficiency in the language of the country they were being posted to.
They were originally used in a classroom under the tutelage of a speaker of the language concerned and had student notes and audio tapes. These have been converted now into MP3 audio and include Student Notes in .pdf. You could pay hundreds of pounds for similar courses but, if you are looking for a good, basic grounding in the language, these courses really are ideal.
I also have a mass of other audio books that I’m almost ready to list, hopefully before the weekend.
Friday 14th January
Went to see the nurse yesterday for my annual COPD check up but, since I still had some congestion on my lungs from the recent cold, the obligatory flow meter effort was deemed superfluous. I now have to return in a couple of weeks. That will be another two weeks closer to getting some cruising in.
We’ve just read an article in one of the boating magazines, which has an eight page pull-out about the Chesterfield Canal. For those of you with a Waterways Map, you’ll find it running west off the River Trent at West Stockwith. We’re not normally too keen on tidal stretches of river because they can be somewhat unpredictable, but we might just give it a shot.
Alternatively, and if we’re feeling really brave, we might venture up to the Lancaster. Most boaters who have done this stretch of water, will tell you that it is a really pleasant run. However, there is the small matter of the Ribble Link. This is a stretch of tidal water on the River Ribble that joins the north and south stretches of the Lancaster Canal.
Passage along this part of the Ribble is limited to just once per day and it is necessary to book passage. Boaters are required to go in convoy and have a reliable means of communication, just in case of a disaster or two. A good anchor is also a necessity.
Of course, we could decide against either of these options, and we do have a rather good reason to consider this, because we may want to try finding next winters mooring a wee bit further south. It would be nice to be able to visit with family for a change. What with having my knees replaced, it took some considerable time before I could drive again and, even now, I’m rather reluctant to take long drives and Harlow is at least two hours away from here.
There’s also the matter of fuel costs to consider. We topped up today and, even though we still had a quarter of a tank full, it cost us just over £60, £40 of which would be used up driving down to Harlow.
We are also considering selling the car before we go cruising in April. Apart from the fact that it needs a little work carried out on it, such as brakes and transmission, there’s Road Tax, MOT and Insurance costs, not to mention depreciation. We think we’ll probably save over £500 if we sell it and keep the money until next winter, when we can look around for another one at a reasonable price.
Anyway, the weekend is now upon us and so I’m going to post this, the first blog of 2011.
Cheers for now.
Oh! Before I go, here’s a very nice little recipe from my own book.
Colne Chicken
A grilled chicken dish from the villages in the Colne Valley near Colchester in Essex.
The Colne Valley has a flood plain which spans approximately 385 ft by the time it enters Colchester. This area is used as pasture, as the river at this stage has no safeguards against it rising the two feet it needs to burst its banks, although it is split between two pasture areas in Spring Lane, Old Lexden. Roughly to the south of Colchester North Station, the river passes under a bridge and into a concrete-lined area that was used as an open-air bathing facility until the 1960s, and is now used by canoeists.
Ingredients:
Serves: 4
4 chicken breasts (boned and skinned)
8 rashers of streaky bacon
juice of one lemon
½ tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
grated rind of one lemon
Method:
Set the grill to hot.
Flatten the chicken breast with a wet knife and cut in half lengthways.
Brush the chicken pieces with lemon juice.
Mix together all the herbs and sprinkle each piece of chicken with the herbs and lemon rind.
Wrap a rasher of streaky bacon around each piece of chicken and grill until cooked.
Serve two pieces of chicken to each person with roast or sauté potatoes and a green vegetable.
A good day yesterday, managed to get to the pub which, as you would expect for Christmas day, was very busy. Being sneaky of course, we arrived early so as to grab a seat.
We would like to thank everybody who sent us a card. Sadly some of you didn’t have our new address, which is strange because Sheila texted everybody with it quite some time ago. Also, some cards are ay Alan’s house and he will forward them just as soon as he can get to the Post Office.
Wifey, as usual, was very good to me; my presents consisted of a new waterproof cap, the latest book by Stephen King, a hone twizzler and a double egg cup. This last item because I have two boiled eggs for my Sunday breakfast and the twizzler because I also like hone and cinnamon on my toast and crumpets. For my sins and because I have found it rather difficult to get to the shops without her in tow, I settled for some CD’s, two by Chris De Burgh and one by Michael Buble.
For Christmas dinner the usual Turkey with trimmings, except that this time, as per instructions from the Hairy Bikers, steamed the carrots and sprouts in butter and oil. Whilst this method retained the flavour of both vegetables, it seemed to leave the sprouts less than crunchy. An excellent meal all the same and we have plenty of turkey left for today’s cold meat and pickle with bubble and squeek. This time Wifey will cook the b and s in a couple of chef’s rings. Sounds good to meee!
Having managed to get to the pub yesterday, despite the sheet of ice covering the marina perimeter road, we’ll probably do so again today. Well, it is Sunday and I’ve missed a couple of late.
Now that the shortest day has passed we’re looking forward to daylight lasting a wee bit longer and, once the ice and snow have gone which, hopefully, will be later in the week, I’m getting out there for some walks around the marina. Got to get myself ready for cruising in April; haven’t decided where we’re going yet, but we still have three months in which to do so.
Thursday 30th December and we are just two days away from another year.
I find it difficult to believe that 2010 has passed us by so quickly. Not only that, when you consider our arrival at Pillings Lock Marina in September 2009 and we only have another three months before we’ll be off cruising again, the time has raced by.
So much has happened in the intervening space of time. The main thing was having my knees sorted out. At times, I have to confess, I’ve wondered if it was worth the effort but, after just five months, I’m getting around much easier, sleeping better and no longer spending time in the armchair. Alright, so my time in bed is still not as comfortable as I would like, but I’m sleeping longer and not getting up so often, except for the usual old man’s problem.
Of course we’ve had our problems, not least of which has been the pump-out unit, the motor of which finally gave up the ghost. However, even that cloud had its silver lining.
Had it not been for our decision to remove the existing unit and replace it with a cassette loo, we would have been in serious trouble during the recent weeks of really cold weather.
We would have been forced to use our electric pump-out pump, empty some of the tank content into a plastic, 5 gallon drum, trundle it to the disposal unit, trundle it back and repeat the operation several times in a row.
Monday 3rd January 2011
So, what do you think of it so far? Apart from the change in TV programmes this year seems much the same as last. It’s still miserable weather wise and I’m still up and down like the proverbial bridge during the night. If it’s not my legs giving me trouble, it’s mother nature waking me up for a pee.
I’m still out of bed by 5.15 am on most days and I’m still pounding away at the laptop. Today I listed 16 language courses on eBay and they only cost me £0.20p each to list.
Today, in advance of the usual broody time of Spring, we had a bit of a clear out of the storage space under the dinette. We filled two carrier bags of stuff to take to the charity shop in Derby tomorrow and we filled a black sack with rubbish.
When the ice finally disappears from the marina, we’ll take the boat for a final pump-out of the now defunct tank. Then perhaps we’ll be able to remove the tank and create some more storage space.
My dearly beloved keeps a check on what books she reads. This morning after consulting her diary for 2009, she discovered she had waded her way through 70 books. Now, since I am a much faster reader than she is, I must have read at least 100 but, since I don’t keep count, I have no idea how many I have read. So, from now on I will be listing my finished books in my own diary. Watch this space for the end of the year.
Tomorrow Derby, to get rid of our junk to the charity shop.
Thursday 6th January and we didn’t get to Derby yesterday, instead we drove into Burton. The plan for Tuesday was to catch the bus in to town but, as the perimeter road was icy, we decided to leave it another day. By the time Tuesday morning came around, we had decided on Burton and managed to dispose of two shopping bags full of our junk. No doubt somebody else will find a use for it all.
Whilst in Burton we popped into the local Primark shop because I really could do with some new jeans. I have had to bow to the inevitable and go up a size to 38 inch waist. Anyway, at just £16 for two pairs – cheap and cheerful, that’s me – I thought they would do for sculling around the boat in. How wrong can you be? One pair, although labelled up as 38, were actually a very small 36, whilst the other pair were button up fly, which I hate.
Having missed out on Derby yesterday, Wifey will be catching the bus there this morning, when she will also return my jeans to the Derby branch of Primark. I don’t think I’ll bother shopping there again.
I won’t be accompanying Wifey to Derby today because I have a lot to do on the computer, mostly listing eBooks on eBay and catching up on emails. Talking about which, I’m having problems sending emails these days. There are times when they simply refuse to go and I get the nag screen at top left.
This morning I had the same problem and I had only just logged on. I have a feeling it’s an internal problem and so, just for a change, I’ve attached the modem to a different USB port and, so fat it seems to be working OK.
Friday 7th January and, lucky old me, I have a cold. Strangely my lungs have been feeling a wee bit congested of late and I was thinking of going to the doctor’s. But I suddenly realised that I had the beginnings of a cold, and so I grabbed the Beecham’s Powders and set to. I also am not too sparing with the Vick’s Vapour Rub on these occasions. In the past I have, on these occasions, suffered quite badly with breathing problems due to Asthma and now, if the quacks are right, COPD or Chronic Obstructed Pulmonary Disease.
Personally I think they are wrong on that diagnosis because, as has happened in the past, I have almost grown out of the Asthma. Indeed, it is now many years since I have suffered an attack, and that was prior to our buying the shop in Kent back in the late 80’s. Anyway, I am now fighting off a cold, not Man Flu, I hasten to add, just a simple snot-nosed cold with the accompanying cough. Lucky old Alan, he’s coming to visit tomorrow for a couple of days!!
Shopping today at Morrison’s.
Wednesday 12th January and I have to ask where the week has gone. Is it really five days since I pounded out my last missive on this blog?
Mind you, the cold didn’t give me much incentive for blogging and we had my kid brother down at the weekend. Naturally we took him to our local watering-hole and fed him with a rather delightful stew and dumplings.
That was on Saturday. On Sunday, without too much persuasion, Wifey agreed to a return visit. Bless her little cotton socks, all she has is a coffee then sits there watching me guzzle the Guinness.
On Monday we emptied out the storage box underneath Wifey’s side of the dinette and split it up into stuff for charity shop and rubbish. Thus far, since starting this clear out we’ve taken five full shopping bags to charity shops and three black sacks to the tip.
Alan kindly replaced a leaky radiator for us on Sunday morning, which we took to the Burton amenities site. The only thing left to get rid of is the waste tank from our defunct pump-out unit, but we can’t do that until we empty it out. All that’s in it now is water, which we’ll probably pump out just as soon as we can get to the pump-out unit. Once that job is done we can try removing the tank from under our bed and taking it to the tip. This will give us a huge amount of extra storage space.
Our next job is to sort through our CDs and dispose of the ones we no longer need, which means listing them on eBay, darned if I’ll see them go to a charity shop. Actually, since we tend to call in on them each time we go to Burton, we’ve noticed how much more expensive they have become. It’s nothing now to find ourselves [paying £2.00 or more for a paper back book. At other times we can still find them for as little as 99p.
I now have 16 foreign language courses listed on eBay, all for the princely sum of £2.25 each, with free post and packing. Thus far, for my first listing, I have sold three, but it’s early days yet. These courses originated from the Foreign Services Institute of America and were designed to teach their diplomats proficiency in the language of the country they were being posted to.
They were originally used in a classroom under the tutelage of a speaker of the language concerned and had student notes and audio tapes. These have been converted now into MP3 audio and include Student Notes in .pdf. You could pay hundreds of pounds for similar courses but, if you are looking for a good, basic grounding in the language, these courses really are ideal.
I also have a mass of other audio books that I’m almost ready to list, hopefully before the weekend.
Friday 14th January
Went to see the nurse yesterday for my annual COPD check up but, since I still had some congestion on my lungs from the recent cold, the obligatory flow meter effort was deemed superfluous. I now have to return in a couple of weeks. That will be another two weeks closer to getting some cruising in.
We’ve just read an article in one of the boating magazines, which has an eight page pull-out about the Chesterfield Canal. For those of you with a Waterways Map, you’ll find it running west off the River Trent at West Stockwith. We’re not normally too keen on tidal stretches of river because they can be somewhat unpredictable, but we might just give it a shot.
Alternatively, and if we’re feeling really brave, we might venture up to the Lancaster. Most boaters who have done this stretch of water, will tell you that it is a really pleasant run. However, there is the small matter of the Ribble Link. This is a stretch of tidal water on the River Ribble that joins the north and south stretches of the Lancaster Canal.
Passage along this part of the Ribble is limited to just once per day and it is necessary to book passage. Boaters are required to go in convoy and have a reliable means of communication, just in case of a disaster or two. A good anchor is also a necessity.
Of course, we could decide against either of these options, and we do have a rather good reason to consider this, because we may want to try finding next winters mooring a wee bit further south. It would be nice to be able to visit with family for a change. What with having my knees replaced, it took some considerable time before I could drive again and, even now, I’m rather reluctant to take long drives and Harlow is at least two hours away from here.
There’s also the matter of fuel costs to consider. We topped up today and, even though we still had a quarter of a tank full, it cost us just over £60, £40 of which would be used up driving down to Harlow.
We are also considering selling the car before we go cruising in April. Apart from the fact that it needs a little work carried out on it, such as brakes and transmission, there’s Road Tax, MOT and Insurance costs, not to mention depreciation. We think we’ll probably save over £500 if we sell it and keep the money until next winter, when we can look around for another one at a reasonable price.
Anyway, the weekend is now upon us and so I’m going to post this, the first blog of 2011.
Cheers for now.
Oh! Before I go, here’s a very nice little recipe from my own book.
Colne Chicken
A grilled chicken dish from the villages in the Colne Valley near Colchester in Essex.
The Colne Valley has a flood plain which spans approximately 385 ft by the time it enters Colchester. This area is used as pasture, as the river at this stage has no safeguards against it rising the two feet it needs to burst its banks, although it is split between two pasture areas in Spring Lane, Old Lexden. Roughly to the south of Colchester North Station, the river passes under a bridge and into a concrete-lined area that was used as an open-air bathing facility until the 1960s, and is now used by canoeists.
Ingredients:
Serves: 4
4 chicken breasts (boned and skinned)
8 rashers of streaky bacon
juice of one lemon
½ tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
grated rind of one lemon
Method:
Set the grill to hot.
Flatten the chicken breast with a wet knife and cut in half lengthways.
Brush the chicken pieces with lemon juice.
Mix together all the herbs and sprinkle each piece of chicken with the herbs and lemon rind.
Wrap a rasher of streaky bacon around each piece of chicken and grill until cooked.
Serve two pieces of chicken to each person with roast or sauté potatoes and a green vegetable.
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