Happy Christmas!

Nice Break.

Just had a lovely few days away with the Mr, in Wales. We stayed at friends of his who live in the gorgeous Clocaenog forest. I love it there, so peaceful and green. We were there to see one of the stages of the Welsh GB rally. It was great to watch, and after watching the first half from a safe vantage point, we decided to be a bit braver and stand nearer the track. I quickly decided maybe it wasn’t a good idea, when the first car hurtled out of the darkness of the forest, headlights blazing, straight for us! Luckily for me we were stood by a huge tree, that tree got my arms flung round it and I held on for grim death till the car roared past us! I did get braver with each car though, so the tree wasn’t hugged too many times. Just as I stepped away from the tree, a car flew past and splattered us both from head to toe in a mixture of grey mud and stones, we were covered! Mr even managed to catch one of the stones in his wellie boot!  We were in wet gear so it didn’t matter, just added to the fun of it all!

The Forest was magical, and I managed a few nice photos…

                    Click on images to enlarge.

  

The middle photo of the forest, looks like a film set, the colours were stunning, I only wish I had taken a lot more photos…I will next time!  

Liverpool.

 

We had a trip out to Liverpool in September, I am ashamed to say I have only now decided to blog about it! We moored our boats in the Salt House Dock for ten days and it was lovely! The River Festival was on and there was something to see every day. Wake boarding on the Dock, a demonstration by the emergency services, power boat racing on the Mersey, plus the Tall Ships which I have to say were my favourite.                            The Jet Ski’s on the Dock before going out onto the Mersey to race.

The Power Boats also waiting to go out on the Mersey.

One of the magnificent Tall Ships. Mark and I were lucky enough to see this one go out on to the Mersey at midnight. It was a great sight to see her plunging through the Lock gate on to the choppy waters of the Mersey, the only thing missing was the music from the Poseidon adventure. There was only Mark and I and the Waterways guys who watched her leave the Dock, I don’t understand why there were not more people there to watch her, it was amazing to watch, we got a wave off the crew too! 

The winners of the Power Boat Race.Night Scene at the Salt House Dock. 

We had a great time there, but only one thing spoilt it for us, well actually two things. The first being the rubbish in the Canal, I lost count of the amount of times we had to stop to clear the prop, it was disgusting. There were bed quilts, pillows, clothes, rope, and numerous sacks and bags that we had to remove from the prop, to say it became tedious would be a total under statement. The low lives that dump all this crap don’t stop to think do they? When their kids grow up, they won’t have the pleasure of a nice clean canal, they will just be left with a ditch full of rubbish, created by their careless behaviour. It wouldn’t put me off going through to Liverpool again, but it is a real pain! The second thing that spoilt things for me was this… This big black hideous blot on the landscape, who ever passed this needs their head testing! It does nothing at all to enhance any part of the Dock whatsoever, and as you can see from the angle of this photo, it totally blocks out the lovely Liver Building. I would quite happily enjoy watching this building being knocked down, it’s awful, but that will never happen will it? Sad really….

Lovely Day!

You know when you have one of those days when you are happy with your lot, well I am having one of those. I have a list of jobs to do, as always, but I am once again sitting all cosy by the fire, drinking coffee and wallowing in this, "feel good" mood. I have done washing, so I do't feel too guilty as I have at least done something to warrant this reward for sitting tapping away on my laptop!

Today is the first day of a week off work, ( probably the reason for my good mood ). The weather was glorious first thing, bright and crisp, and I swear I could smell snow in the air? or was that wishful thinking? It now has dulled, and could possibly rain, but my day isn't dampened by this sudden change in the weather.

So here we are into winter again. I don't mind the winter to be honest, it's only once a year after all! It can be tough on a boat, but not as tough as some people think. If I am warm have coal for the fire and food in the fridge I am happy, ok water can become a problem if the standpipe freezes but it isn't really a hardship. When I tell people I like the winter, they look at me as if I am crazy, ( they are not far from the truth ) It isn't my favourite season, but some people hate winter with a vengeance, I embrace whatever each particular season chooses to throw at me, to a certain extent anyway. I think becoming a boater does make you appreciate more in life, it has in my case anyway, it opened up a whole new world to me. Seasons used to come and go in my life and I didn't take an awful lot of notice, now I do, and it's lovely!

So.....I wonder what will pop my bubble,and the answer to that is hopefully nothing, as I choose not to allow my bubble to be popped. Minor irritations will arise, as they do, but nothing will ever change my mind about my decision to become a boater, and that it has been one of my better decisions in life!

For all you guys out there who are contemplating doing what I have done, DON'T, it's a terrible life really, there is obviously something in the coffee I am drinking that's making me ramble on about this idyllic way of life, it is hell on earth really, go buy a flat or a caravan, and leave us boaters in peace to wallow in our misery...

Mum's Birthday!!

It was my Mum's Birthday yesterday. I was in work so couldn't do much with her on her day. My Mum is a fan of my blog, ( someone has to be)! I think I may have given up writing one only for her encouraging me to carry on. My Mum is one in a million, drives me nut's at times, as I do her, but I would be well and truly lost without her. Always there when I need a hand, whether it be to give me a lift, or help out with finances. I would never have got through the troubled times in my life with out her. So the object of this post is to just let her know I love her lots and to say a HUGE thank you for all you do. Just in case you were wondering Mum,I am sober!! I will just add, this surely warrants one of your famous Minced Beef Pies?

Thought Provoking Blogs!

I have just read Takey Tezey's most recent post, ( Hi Heather).
This post got me to thinking, all these new fangled phones, laptops etc seem to do nowt else but stress us out, I gave up long ago trying to figure out how my phone works,I can ring, text or email people, send picture messages, that's enough!! Trying to figure out the hundreds of other things it can do makes my hair stand on end! I don't even use my washing machine to it's full potential for goodness sake! As long as it washes my clothes I am happy, now why would I want to set the damn thing to come on the next morning, then only to get stressed out in work that day, because I forgot to set my wash to wash???? Simple life for me thank you. Mind you there is no way I would go back to hand washing and a mangle, or to go back to a brick sized mobile phone or a computer that looks like a department in PC World...... I do admire you and others who do use the latest technology to it's fullest potential,me? no thank you very much. Now does that make me, thick, lazy or what, you decide, remember though I can go off people.

Now I am off to set my bread maker to wake me up with a nice freshly baked loaf in the morning.......now does that make me a hypocrite......

Rewind And Catch Up!

 

I haven’t blogged for a while, what can I say, busy, busy! I actually didn’t realise how long it has been, I admire the bloggers on here who find the time to post each day!

Well, first rewind is to August Bank Holiday, Mr, kindly offered to take me to Oulton Park for the day, now initially I did wonder whether it would be my thing, watching cars whizzing around a track all day, but to my surprise I loved every minute! It was made all the more interesting because the cars were all vintage, and to make me feel really old I recognised most of them! The old Mini’s, Cortina’s, Anglia’s, old Jaguars, Hillman Imps and the old style Formula 1 cars.

  They were all fantastic in their own right, lovingly polished by their owners.

 

 

 

My favourites though, were these guys, the Lotus Cortina Mk1 All looking really smart in their white livery with green flash!

 

       

Fabulous aren’t  they?  It was a great day!                                                                                                            

Fond Farewell....

This post is just to say we wish Leanne and Dale all the best for their forthcoming venture to Canada. We had a good get together last night, a kind of send off party, (thank you Kay and Tat). You will both be missed, thank god for Skype! At least you can keep us updated! Just remember. Live a lot, Laugh a lot, Love a lot and last of all have a BLAST and enjoy. Safe Journey.

Lots of Love Dad and Debbie xxxxxx

Wet, Wet, Wet!!

Not a good start to the Bank Holiday weekend. The Autumn is starting to creep in, as it does every year, making subtle changes that go unnoticed, until you suddenly realise it is no longer light till ten pm, and the bats start to come out a lot earlier than they did a few weeks ago!

It was my Grand Daughters First Birthday last Sunday, it really brought home to me just how quick time is flying by.

 

      This little sleeping  Beauty asleep on my Mum’s shoulder…..

 

 

 

 

Has turned into this gorgeous little Munchkin!

 

 

 

 

We all had a lovely day in Birmingham at Phoebe’s other Nan and Grandad’s, who laid on a lovely party for her, they did her proud, so a huge big Thank you to them!

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On a much sadder note, after writing a post about our impromptu air display courtesy of the Red Arrows, it really saddened me to hear of the death of one of the Pilots. Such a loss to his fellow team mates and his wife and family. I was impressed with the very dignified way his wife spoke of him on the news, when she must be going through the most difficult time of her life.

R.I.P. Flt Lt Jon Egging….

Made Easy For Thieves......

On reading Maffi's blog about the theft of his "Poo Pump", I felt the need to once again have a rant. It sickens me that certain individuals on this planet will use any opportunity, to just help themselves to other peoples property. Do they have that important part of their brain missing that gives them a conscience? or are they just pure evil?

As my title says, it's nice honest people, and I would like to include myself in that category, who do indeed make it easy for thieves. We believe that if we leave anything on our boats, without an armed guard, that when we return it will still be there, because we find it hard to comprehend that anyone would stoop so low as to take it. We naively think that because we wouldn't dream of helping ourselves, that nobody else would, but they do, because they are selfish, and really don't give a damn the repercussions that their sticky fingers create. So what do we do? I am a hundred percent behind what Maffi says in his post, be vigilant, keep a look out, report incidents to the police, but how sad is it that we have to? Will it make any difference, sadly I don't think so, only because, we will all do our bit, only to be let down by the judicial system yet again. Here is a case in point....

As most of you will know I work in a shop, a discount store. We are constantly fighting a battle against thieves. It never ceases to amaze me the calm way in which the pilferers will walk into the store and just help themselves. Now to my case in point, a man walked through my checkout the other day, claiming he had left his wallet on his push bike as you can imagine I was immediately suspicious, even more so as he had a back pack on that was obviously full. I asked my manager to go check the ctv camera's, sure enough this guy had filled his back pack with goods from our store.

This guy was a regular customer, so goodness knows how long he has been " free shopping" in the store. He came in two days later, this time the manager was ready for him.....he watched him on camera, and sure enough within minutes he was helping himself. The manager pulled him up and asked him to empty his bag, which he did with a, " sorry about that mate", he then left the shop with the managers voice ringing in his ears that he was now barred from the shop. Hello?? I was off that day and was gobsmacked to hear that the police were not called, and why? because I was told it was a waste of time, and sadly I can't help but agree. Our nearest police station is just over the road from the shop, most of the time it is locked up and unmanned?? You ring the police, who say they will be out as soon as they can, three hours later no sign, in the mean time what do you do with the thief you have apprehended? Lock him in a cupboard? Maybe show him the in store catalogue so he can plan what to pinch on his next visit to the store. Even if they are caught and sent to court, it's usually the same story, a slap on the wrist and don't do it again. Laughable isn't it?

We have a huge poster in our Canteen of well known robbers who frequent our store's, it does help because we do recognise them as soon as they come in, so they can be quickly asked to leave, it would please me more if they were asked to leave with a good hefty kick up the backside, but heaven forbid, the police would be there quick smart then, and we would be, "done"! Most of the mugshots on our poster are of repeat offenders, who are actually posing for the photo's with smiles on their faces, as if proud of themselves. One woman's mugshot looks as if she is posing for a bloody fashion shoot, another guy is nonchalantly reading a newspaper??

If I had my way , and I am sure Maffi would agree, these scumbags should be tattooed across the forehead, THIEF in bright letters that light up in the dark, also be tagged so that every time they walk into a shop or try and steal peoples property, the tag would deliver a nice painful electric shock, that could maybe have an after shock that would have them sitting on the toilet for a good few hours. Cruel? maybe, but not half as cruel as taking peoples belongings that they have honestly worked and paid for. The situation is never going to really change, until the punishment fits the crime....As far as I can see, at the minute, there isn't sufficient punishment for these," petty thieves", and who came up with the title "petty"? Far from petty if you ask me...

Why?

 

This is, as has been said, an act of pure spite.

Why on earth would anybody stoop this low just to prove a point?

This handy work was as a result of a dispute between genuine customers, Tom and Jan, and Ben Harp Narrow boats. You can read more about this sad state of affairs on Nb Waiouru blog site. I feel truly sorry for Tom and Jan, and I admire the fact that they have brought our attention to this despicable behaviour. I don’t need to prattle on, as the photograph speaks volumes about the individual that did this, a good advert indeed....enough said.

Free Show!

Mark and I didn't go to the Southport airshow, but we were lucky enough to see the Red Arrows display, from Tesco's car park!! I kid you not we had a great view of their stunts. We then drove around to Dobbies just in time to see the Arrows draw a huge heart with an arrow through it right over our heads, I didn't even know Mark had paid them to do that... It made my day, our impromptu air display! Typically though we didn't have a camera with us, but then again you don't expect to see the Red Arrows when you go to Tesco's for your weekly shop!

" Harper Seven" !!

No I am not telling you the time, or telling you the name of a new toilet cleaner, this is the name Victoria and David Beckham have chosen for their long awaited for Daughter. After a lot of thought I have decided to keep up with the trend and change my name by deed poll to, Debbie Eight, ( all the pies )!! Has a ring to it don't you think?

Joking aside, I actually quite like, "Harper" but it sounds more like a boys name to me. When all said and done though, it is entirely up to them what they call their new Daughter, all power to them for being unique! It makes me wonder what they would call a Narrow boat?

That got me to thinking, I heard someone passing a comment the other day that the name was odd, my Mum has told me I am odd at times, and to be fair she could be right!, but what is "odd"? To me "odd" is someone talking to a bacon sandwich, but then would that person think we were odd because we don't converse with our lunch? Is it being odd, or just being unique? not doing the same as everyone else, being different, which I think can be a breath of fresh air.On looking up "odd" in one of the many dictionary's on line, one of the definitions was," Beyond or deviating from the usual or expected", so yes Mum you are right I am odd! I am now off to discuss the weather with my cheese on toast!!

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As this is a boaty blog, I will just add that I have had confirmation of my Passage through to Liverpool in September for the Tall ships and Royal Naval visit, I am really looking forward to it. A two week stay in the Salt house Dock will make a nice change! I don't very often visit Liverpool so it will be nice to see what's happening there, oh and of course to party too! So if your in the vicinity at the time call and say hello, you may even get a cuppa!! I won't make you talk to your biscuit honest!

Odd and proud!

News Of The World...

I for one will not miss this paper, I refuse to call it a news paper as it wasn't news as such, just leeches feeding of peoples despair and suffering, to add insult to injury they stooped so low by invading peoples private lives by hacking into their phones, decpicable behavior. It won't change much though will it, closing the paper down, another one will take its place. The only thing in my eyes that will change things, is us the public refusing to buy such crap, such a waste of good paper and trees to be honest. To the person who masterminded the hacking, go crawl back under your stone, you disgust me.

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On a much lighter note, don't people say the funniest things? In work today on the till, a little old lady asked would I pack her shopping for her as she only had one leg?! I have yet to see anybody pack their shopping away with their legs!! For the record she clearly had two legs, and I would have packed her bags anyway!

Once shopping has gone through my till a lot of customers ask how much would I like? Well a couple of thousand would be great, but the £2:56p for their shopping will suffice.

Lastly, I have lost count of the amount of customers who have moaned about the rain, you know that fine stuff that gets you wet?? Compared to the heavy stuff that makes you dry I wonder!! It makes my otherwise boring day a lot more fun

Sunshine and Rain!

 

The weather as always, has gone mad. Gorgeous sunshine, then this…..

It started to dance down!  The photo above was taken from the side hatch, the rain got too heavy, so I had to take pictures of the rain through the window…..

The bank in this picture through the window, has changed its shape, due to the rain running down the window. The next picture gets even stranger, Mr Rain himself has made an appearance, bottom right of the photo, you can just make out a rain figure waving……

If you click on the photo you will see Mr Rain better, then maybe not, it could just be my very vivid imagination!

The view from my stern door.

The rain can be a right pain in the backside at times, but personally I love to watch it hammering down making bubbles on the canal and leaving grass, trees and plants lush and green. Doesn’t do much for the hairstyle though!!

Little Ray Of Sunshine!

 

The weather is wet windy and miserable at the moment, so I thought I would share my little ray of sunshine with you all…

       Phoebe, my Grand Daughter.

It's nice to know.....

I received this lovely email the other,day rather than explain I will show you, after asking the writer's permission.

Dear Debbie,

my name is Christine, I`m 45 years old and live in Germany and four days ago my life changed because I watched a documentary on german tv about people living on narrowboats. I never heard about them before, but strangely enough it immediately felt so familiar, that I thought, that`s the way I want to spend at least some years of my life. I spent hours on the internet, trying to find out more about that way of life and then found your wonderful blog. Another new thing for me, I made my way around blogs up to now, yours is the first one I am reading and it`s like doors opening up.

I`m so touched by the open and warmhearted way you share your life with other people. I printed out the first months and read them in my bed yesterday late at night. Thank you so much! What a enrichment this is for me! So today I got to June 2, 2009, where you wrote, that people could ask you questions about your life afloat, so here I am writing to you, wishing I could just come by for a cup of tea and learn to know you. Somehow I feel like I could belong to this community, isn`t that strange?

At the moment I take care of my dad and practically spend most of my time at home and can`t go for holidays. So I am dreaming of my future life. I am very drawn to England and Ireland, I had an english boyfriend for some years, and I don`t feel like staying in Germany later.
Can you tell me, if a woman alone can handle living (and travelling) on a small narrowboat? I`m not a very courageous person and thinking of the locks and all that I already feel a bit insecure. I wish someone would just take me along for some weeks, so I could learn everything. Is it just a dream, or could this really be possible?

So this afternoon I will go on reading, thanks again so very much.
If you have a bit of time, I`d be very happy to receive an answer from you.

Lovely greetings from Germany
Christine

I replied to Christine,thanking her for her email, and telling her I would help her with any questions she may want to ask. I also encouraged her to read all the other blogs too. Seems to me here's another person bitten by the boating bug! Welcome aboard Christine!

In the Pink!

After my last post, I had a few comments about Winnie the pink wheel barrow. One was off Chris, thank you, saying I will have to get pink wellies to match! Well as you will see from the photo below, I have them already and wore them in the snow last winter. May I just add at this point the left one now lets in water! Thank you very much Lidl for your crap wellies! I had to wade into the cut when I was blacking the boat on the slipway, and that was when I very quickly  discovered the leak in the left wellie, lovely!!

My life at the minute seems to be infused with Pink. The piccy at the head of my blog, this one below                         

is the gorgeous blossom tree I sit under while I wait for the bus to work, ( when I have no pedal energy you understand)!  You don’t see many bus stops as pretty as this one do you?

A Busy Week!

Quite a hectic week. Tickety Boo now has a nice new shiny black bottom! I took the boat out on to the local slipway, she was out for four days and I managed to get four coats on, one of red oxide and three of the black stuff! I couldn’t have done it without the help of Andy, who kindly jet washed the boat for me, and Mark who used the grinder with a wire brush to rid her of any rust before the painting started. Mark then helped with a couple of the coats, invaluable help indeed, and much appreciated!

Tickety, ready for her first coat.

I actually stayed on the boat while on the slipway, quite odd walking up a hill to get to the Saloon! Even more odd, getting out of bed and promptly running towards the stern door, not my intention! I did however compensate for the slant, I wore a flat shoe on one foot and a platform on the other and walked sideways for the duration of my stay! The only mishap, was when a four pint, yes I did say FOUR pint carton of milk fell off the work top, only to explode when it hit the floor and sent a river of milk cascading down the boat. You have no idea how four pints looked like two gallons, and the speed it ran down the boat. I was horrified, and prepared myself for the Farmers cheese market smell that would surely follow this catastrophe!  I raided the under sink cupboard, and every bottle of cleaner and disinfectant I could find was thrown on the carpet after the milk was soaked up with bath towels!! I can thankfully say the “Farmers Cheese Market” smell I was dreading, didn’t last long just a slight whiff of babybel now and again!! I have since scrubbed the carpet twice with carpet cleaner, and it has actually come up quite well!

All done and dusted! Thank you Mark for all your help x

Oh and talking of Mark………After working away for a couple of days, he said in a phone call he would bring me back a present, a bar of rock maybe, bottle of red? No, this is Mark we are talking about! He was fed up with the rusty old bucket of a wheel barrow I had been using for coal, shopping etc, sooooo here is my present……..

How gorgeous is that? So I now have a new addition to the Tickety Boo family, a lilac bike called Lilly, and now a pink wheel barrow, any idea’s on a name please?? I was thinking Winnie, but I am open to suggestions! Mark, as always, you are a star!

Mrs Puddle Duck and her brood!

This is the first family of Ducklings I have seen this Spring.  I counted eighteen all together!!

Surprised there are no yellow Ducklings as mum is so white!

I think she just counted them! Quite apt for Mothers Day!

Breaking News!!

This is just to let you all know that I have ridden "Lilly" the little lilac bike all the way to work and back today. I can honestly say, hand on heart, it nearly killed me!
I have also resigned myself to the fact I will now be walking like John Wayne for the next week or so, and boy is my backside tender....ooo ouch!! On the plus side though, I have saved Bus fair, plus it will get me fit, if it doesn't see me off first!

Ready for Spring!

 

Just when you feel you have had enough of dismal days, cold, going to work in the dark and coming home the same way, you get a glimmer of hope. You start to notice the changes slowly, it’s not so black when your alarm goes off in the morning, Daffodil shoots poking defiantly through the soil. Ducks pairing up and mating, a spectacle I don’t much enjoy watching as Drakes are not exactly gentle are they? Poor Mrs Duck ends up with a baldy patch where the Drakes grab her in a vice like grip, ( every year when I see this I think how glad I am I wasn’t born a female Duck!!)

The trees start to change from a murky brown to a hint of green as the new shoots start to grow, I think this every year…when the trees are bare it’s hard to imagine them green, and when they are green it’s hard to imagine them bare? It’s a nice time of year because you know it will just get nicer and nicer each day, greener, warmer and more sun hopefully!

Looking through my photographs taken at different times of the year, the transformations created by the seasons never cease to amaze me…

      From this….

                                                              To this…

From this….

To this…

From this…

To this…

Nice to look back on, it’s nice that photo’s can bring back cherished memories, and remind you what you have to look forward to, or not as the case may be!

A Sad Goodbye...

Yesterday I was very sad to hear that one of my friends from the boating community had passed away. A man I admired for his ability to speak his mind without causing offence, and always with a twinkle in his eye. Strong in his beliefs that to say it as it was, was his right, and I admired him for that. He will be very, very sadly missed, both by his many Boating friends and his Family. Rest in Peace Norman. My thoughts go out to his lovely wife Grace and his family at this sad time...

Surrounded by Virtual Farmers!

 

Apologies straight away if I offend anybody, but this is a rant, well maybe not a full rant just a “ Rantette” (new word for small outburst)

I am a Face Booker, there I’ve said it, me and thousands of others who like nothing more than logging in to see what our friends have had for their tea?? I couldn’t wait to enrol on this site, everybody but everybody are on Fb! Well maybe not everyone. If nothing else this site has enabled me to keep tabs on what my, grown up kids are up to! If I can’t get hold of them on their mobiles, Fb comes to the rescue to let me know what they are doing with their lives on that particular day! Sorted! Not much of a “Rantette” I hear you say, but I haven’t started yet…

FARMVILLE!! What is it with Farmville?? I have friends who I thought were quite sane, totally swallowed up by this phenomenon. Rushing home from work to check their crops, even worse, keeping tabs on how their artichokes are doing, on their mobile phones during the day! They can even take snapshots of the homestead to show off to fellow farmers! Hello??

Ok, ok everyone to their own, but come on, I turn Face book on to browse only to be met with row upon row of Farmville requests, NO I don’t want a brick for my new stable block, NO I don’t want a smoker for my Bee Hive, No I don’t want to adopt a calf that’s wandered on to your farm, you should have kept your gate shut!! and NO I don’t want some unwither spray for my crops, not unless it works on my face ok?

“Rantette” over! I have recently acquired new face book mates, people I have known and admired for a while who are now on my Fb friends list, or should I say Farmers list! You know who you are, Farmer Sha, Les, Jodi, and Jordan! I love you all dearly send me one more request and I cannot be held responsible for my actions….

What do I get for all this trouble not so much as a bag of spuds!!

Right I am off, apparently my hen house is full of eggs that need collecting….

This WAS my farm, ( say nothing Jordan) I have now moved on to a Ranch in Arizona with three thousand head of cattle!! Four hundred horses and a calf that wandered on to the Ranch, yes I left the gate open!!

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I am off work this week, going to stay with my Daughter and gorgeous Grand Daughter for  a couple of days, then spend the rest of my time off doing “boaty” chores.

It’s blowing an absolute hoolie here, the boat is getting buffeted all over the place, I love it! A lot of people don’t like the wind, obviously it does cause problems when you need to sail somewhere, but I quite like the way it really makes you feel your on a boat. It also rocks you to sleep at night, providing it is blowing in the right direction. I am just thankful I don’t suffer motion sickness!

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Just before I go, BIG thank you to L and J for looking after Bobby for me, he loves his holiday in, “Doggy Pontins"!

Bobby…

 

Who couldn’t love this little face, my soul mate x

An Ooops moment!

Sitting in work on the checkout, I happened to look up and glance out the window, and spotted a dreaded Traffic Warden! As I was looking at him I shouted to my fellow cashier behind me, " hope you haven't got your car on the yellow's at the back of the shop"? Only to turn back and look straight into the eyes of the biggest female Warden I had ever seen! Well you know when your watching a cartoon and the character lets out a loud gulp!

To my total and utter surprise, she smiled at me. Was this the smile of a laughing assassin or was she actually human after all? As it turned out she was actually nice, unheard of I know, but the law of averages dictates that there must be nice ones amongst the mini Hitler's who stomp around our back streets ruining our quick dash to the shops or Bank!

We did actually end up having a good old giggle, she told me that she had a slip on the ice that morning and went flat on her back, ( yay there is a God), only for a little old lady to help her up, now obviously this little old lady didn't know about traffic wardens, they weren't about in her day were they? How many other people would help a traffic warden in distress, I can bet my bottom dollar most would have stepped over her with a wry smirk on their faces, even she agreed about that one.

Anyway the moral to this story.....don't judge a person by their uniform, oh and before you spout your warning that there is a traffic warden in the vicinity look around to make sure their partner in crime isn't standing over you!!

If by chance you are reading this Miss Traffic Warden, I think you do a wonderful job, mmmm...

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Well it's Saturday morning, my first day off in ages. I have a list as long as my arm of jobs to do, and what am I doing? Sitting in front of a lovely fire with a hot cuppa, catching up on my fellow bloggers post's....bliss. I will make a start soon, honest!

Mum’s little visitor!

 

My Mum has a lovely garden and is lucky enough to have lots of wildlife that visit on a daily basis, from Pheasants, Squirrels, numerous wild birds and occasionally a fox!

This little guy has to be the favourite!

                 After lot’s of day’s encouraging the little Robin with tasty titbits, Mum’s patience finally paid off!

  He will now, quite happily feed from your hand!

  He is getting quite cheeky now, coming right into the conservatory to have a nosey about!

                                                                                                   Trying the armchair for comfort…

Even posing in front of my Daughter’s photographs,

  looking for all the world like a little ornament, placed carefully for effect!