Monday, September 11, 2017

Water Water Everywhere!

Well a hectic couple of weeks! My Daughters hen party, then the following weekend my lovely friends 50th Birthday party! It was a fantastic weekend, Jools was more than welcoming opening up her lovely home to a close bunch of friends and seven Dogs, yes seven! All dogs were so well behaved, I was in doggy heaven being surrounded by wet noses and waggy tails! Having not met her friends I was nervous, I needn't have worried they were all lovely and as nice as I thought they would be! You all know who you are so thank you for accepting me into your circle of friends, you are a great crazy bunch and it was great fun celebrating Jools Birthday with you all!

With Kirsty and Ians wedding day fast approaching, you can imagine it's all systems go on getting organised! Kirsty is a marvel and has everything in hand, it is going to be a wonderful day and I can't wait! I have surprisingly managed to get a dress and shoes for the big day. Now this is no mean feat for me, I really don't do dresses very often and I am even less likely to be seen in heels! I hate clothes shopping, so a few weeks ago when Mum, Heather and I had a meal at the Panoramic, we decided to have a look in some of the shops for a potential wedding outfit for me. Not looking forward to the task, we entered the dress department in Debenhams. I immediately spotted a lovely teal maxi dress, I tried it on and bought it, just like that,  painless and a huge relief! I have finally found suitable shoes too...they will last for as long as they have to but I know for a fact they will be getting kicked off and replaced with a more comfortable pair to party in.


Sneak preview of my dress.



Getting back to the meal in the Panoramic in Liverpool. My Mum had been given a voucher to have afternoon tea and very kindly invited Heather and I to join her. It was a lovely afternoon, the views from the 30+ floor were amazing!

 I loved this view from the Panoramic, the first stretch of water you see in the middle of the photo, is the Salt house dock, where any of you who have been through to Liverpool will have moored for your stay.


       



Liverpool link, 'Sids Ditch' the thin strip of water top right of photo. I love this trip through to Liverpool. Never tire of it and can't wait to do it again.


My lovely Mum enjoying her tea.



 Yummy Panoramic Afternoon Tea! Oh ok and Cocktails!

You may be wondering at the title of this post, water water everywhere, well.... You know I have already said how pleased I am with being in the Marina, and I still am, very much so but...
My walk to the bus stop to get the bus to work is a mile walk from the Marina, now I actually enjoy the walk to work, now I am over the shock of how far the bus stop for my 300 bus is! On a fine day it's quite invigorating and enjoyable exercise, however on a wet blustery rainy day, it's another story!

The road I have to walk down to the bus stop is somewhat busy with cars, motorbikes and huge lorries going about their business. The side walks in places are alarmingly narrow but as I said I have slowly got used to taking my life in my hands and doing the trek the days I am in work, ( apart from the days Dan let's me have the car which I fully and truly appreciate). It took me a little while to realise just how flooded and waterlogged this road gets when we have heavy rain and as you all know that has been quite often recently.

So one morning last week I woke to torrential rain but knew I had to bite the bullet and go forth into the watery hell of the outside world. On starting my walk I soon, to my horror, realised I wasn't going to get far before I resembled a drowned rat, actually that is an understatement! As well as the rain pelting on my umbrella the lovely car/van/lorry drivers were kind enough to share the puddles they drove through with yours truly, not happy with just sharing the puddles with the bottom half of my body they decided to drench me from head to toe! I was stopped dead in my tracks after my first experience of a wonderful cascade of water flying with a whoosh into my body...it was cold and for a split second took my breath away. I valiantly carried on with the uneasy feeling of the dampness seeping through to every part of my attire, do they even do waterproof bras I wondered! Finally I made it to the sanctuary of the little wooden hut bus shelter, my bus shelter, as it's very rare anybody else would be daft enough?? After diving into the very welcome shelter I composed my soggy self and marvelled at just how much water my Primani trousers could hold in each leg, so much so I felt at least a stone heavier than normal! I knew I would have to pop my head in and out the bus stop to keep an eye out for my bus otherwise he would not see me and drive right past! I was just getting into the swing of popping my head in and out like a proverbial cuckoo in a clock, and thinking how clever I was dodging the water spray from the traffic when I heard the rumble of a huge lorry baring down on my wooden bus stop, ha I thought you won't get me in here, as I pressed myself to the back of the bus shelter with a smug grin on my face lets see you get me now...WHOOSH!! The lorry thundered past and threw the contents of the gutter flood into the hut, filled my only shelter wall to wall with a deluge of water from the top of my head to my soggy feet. The most shocking part of the dousing was the force in which the water hit me in the face, I swear it wiped every bit of mascara from my eyelashes!! So what did I do?? After using language my Mum would ground me for, I just collapsed into a fit of giggles at the humour of it all, is this really happening to me? Just then I spied my bus. Thankfully the lovely bus driver glided slowly through the water to a halt, not wanting to splash me...bit bloody late for that, If I had dived fully clothed into a swimming pool I couldn't be anymore wet. The bus doors opened and the bus driver just looked at the sorry state I was in. You know when you visibly see somebody biting their lip so not to inappropriately laugh, that was the look on the bus drivers face, my look of, ''Don't you dare laugh'' diminished the look pretty quickly, but then we both laughed.

I spent the rest of the day in work looking like a shaggy dog who had been swimming in the canal. I dried out surprisingly quickly but my socks remained soggy all day and my hair dried out to resemble a burst cushion, then again my hair looks like a burst cushion most days, so no excuse there then! I now have dry socks in my locker in work. Note to oneself, under no circumstances do I leave the boat on a rainy day without wellies and waterproofs head to toe!

I watched Cold Feet on TV the other night one of the characters , Adam met the same fate as me....


I sympathised with every drop of water that blasted him in the face...I was thinking, been there done that ha ha ha bet he didn't have to work in soggy socks all day!

Now because this is essentially a boat blog, I will leave you with these photos...




Tickety Boo, happy in her new mooring.



                                     View from stern door at Dusk.

                                           No place like Home..
                                       
                                         View from side hatch from my pontoon 
    
So that is me up to date! Lots to look forward to and as always happy with my lot! I swore I wouldn't light my first Autumn/Winter fire till at least October but I gave in yesterday! I love lighting the first fire after Summer. Cosy nights on the boat, with hot stews, soups and scouse cooked on the wood burner, with crusty bread to look forward to. Happiness is...the simple things in life...                                 

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