Serendipity!

 

After going through a bit of a topsy turvy year where my emotions have been all over the shop, I have just had a weekend that has lifted my spirit no end. I already have had the lovely gift of my Grand Daughter, Phoebe, but have since had another great surprise.

To cut a long story short, (or maybe not so short, bear with me)!I have been on a dating site for a while, may I just add this is not for the faint hearted or for anyone of  gullible nature! This is something I thought I would never do, but then I didn’t think that at the age of 51 I would be on my own! After my relationship broke down 12 months ago, the last thing on my mind was meeting somebody else, I was too busy licking my wounds and feeling sorry for myself!

That was until one day I decided I was the only person who could change my life around. I soon discovered being alone and having to pay all the bills myself didn’t leave enough in the kitty to go galavanting to meet people.

A friend recommended a dating site, my first reaction to this suggestion was to shake my head and say that wasn’t for me, oh how quickly I changed my mind!

I was cautious to begin with, but once your on there you soon get chatting to people. Peoples first reaction when you say you are meeting someone off a dating site is take in a sharp intake of breath and say how dangerous it is and to be careful. Granted you do have to be careful and sensible before committing to a date, but to be honest meeting someone off a dating site is safer than meeting a stranger in a pub on a night out, you don’t know their number, their email where they live, and you certainly wouldn’t have a photo of them!

Anyway, to fast forward a bit, over the last few months I have been on a few dates, all of which I must admit have been enjoyable, you tend to know you will get on after chatting on msn for a while, so your groundwork on getting to know them through chat first helps break the ice!

Like I said the dates I have been on have been good, but nothing I wanted to pursue, but two dates in particular  were absolutely brilliant. The first was with a guy in Inverness! Me being me thought if I chatted to someone who lived so far away it would be safer, silly I know but hey I was really green on this dating site malarky! Well after chatting for a long while over the weeks I was invited to Inverness to meet, what was really exciting for me was that the guy I was meeting lived in a cottage over looking the Caledonian Canal!

Peters gorgeous cottage, overlooking the Caledonian Canal.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             We had a great weekend, where he lived was beautiful, he was kind enough to show me around Inverness and the canal, it was really nice that we had interests in common, with boats the canal etc. I was amazed how gorgeous the Caledonian Canal was, and how huge, made our canal look like a stream! ( oh dear I can hear it now, “how dare she say that about our canals”, but you know what I mean)! I have always loved Scotland anyway so to be invited was brilliant, and the Canal connection was a bonus! There were more yachts on the section of the Canal where I was staying, but I believe they do have Narrow boats there too!

My trip to Inverness was back in June, I have had a few dates since, all of which were good fun!

Just recently though I got talking to a guy on the site, it turned out to be a real “ serendipity” moment! Neither of us had put in our profiles anything about boats, but on chatting we were both  amazed to discover we both lived on one! What was even more mind blowing for me was that his boat is a 90ft Dutch Barge, that he lives on in France! Well that was it we spoke for hours on Skype, we had lots to talk about, as we had so much in common, we hit it off straight away, so much so that to my utter amazement he invited me to Dinner in Paris! Well to say I was gobsmacked would be an under statement, things like that don’t happen to me! Once over the shock and after sleeping on his fabulous invite, I decided I would be mad not to accept. once I told him I would love to meet him in Paris, he had booked and confirmed the flight within the hour!

So last weekend I was whisked off to Paris, and I have to say it was fantastic, Bob is a lovely guy and made my visit really special, I was well and truly spoilt, from drinking champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower, to cruising along the river Seine taking in all the sites, not to mention the fantastic Lunches and Dinners I was treated to, and the great company, we hit it off really well and had a fun filled weekend! This was the figure head on one of the Barges on the Siene, I thought he was great!

I am sure I will be meeting up with Bob again, as we got on so well and have lots in common it would be mad not to! Not to mention the fact I would love to see his boat, she sounds huge, 90ft long and 16ft wide, wow!  Tickety Boo is a Dinghy in comparison, a very much loved Dinghy I hasten to add! Bob has also said he would love to see her too.

        Bob’s Barge! Moored in Dijon.

So for anybody out there contemplating going on a dating site to meet people, go ahead you never know when your Serendipity moment will be! Nothing ventured nothing gained, and who knows where all this will lead for me, do I believe in fate? Hell yes!

Introducing...Phoebe.

On Saturday the 21st of August, at 10:30am, my beautiful Grandaughter, Phoebe Alice was born, weighing in at 81b 3 and a half oz. I was honoured to be there at her birth and it was an experience I will treasure always. Only all you Nan's and Grandad's out there will know just where I am at the minute, total and all consuming love for this little bundle of loveliness, a love that was instant the moment I saw her arrive! Since then, nothing else really matters I am on Planet Phoebe and loving it!

A big big thank you to Kirsty and Ian for giving me the great privilege of sharing this special time with them, and for producing the most gorgeous baby girl ever!

My life will never be the same again, its been totally enhanced now Phoebe is in it, I feel so lucky! I am just wondering....just how small can you get sailor suits made?

No apologies for being gushy and sentimental, its allowed, I'm a Nan!

A Lesson for Mr Andrew Denny…

On reading Granny Buttons blog, “The Hair Of the Dog”, I was horrified, yes horrified to see that Andrew, has mistaken a lovely little West Highland Terrier, (Westie), for a Scottish Terrier, (Scotty), so just for you Mr Buttons here is the difference…

On the left, is my dog, Bobby, a Scotty, on the right his little friend, a Westie! Just to make it a little easier for you to tell them apart, the Scotty's are usually black, and Westie’s white, but to be fair to you Andrew you can get cream Scottys, which  I imagine would be confusing! Scotty's are usually more heavy set than the finer Westies, and their faces are quite different too, as you can just see in the photo, Bobby’s face is quite a bit longer than his friend the Westie’s, as your face must be now you have been told off! I did notice on your blog comments, that a lady, Ann, also pointed out your mistake, never mind it can happen to the best of us he he.

                WESTIE

                                      SCOTTY

Here endeth the lesson. Oh just one more thing I agree with you hole heartedly, it must be annoying looking through a veil of fur, so as you can see I keep Bobbys fringe cut so he can see! Just as annoying as having your tail lopped off when a puppy, but there by lies another tail…

Oh, and Bobby’s reaction to your faux pas…….

Have Bike, will travel!

Bikes seem to be the flavour of the week here in blog world! Towpath Townie and Cesca have both mentioned them in their blogs recently.

Not to be left out, I want to tell you about my bike! Yes I have just been given a lilac mountain bike! How chuffed am I? Not too sure about the colour , but hey I'm not knocking it, I couldn't afford to buy one right now, so was more than grateful to be offered one for nothing.

A girl in work said she knew somebody wanting to get rid of the bike, and would I be interested. I have been toying with the idea for a while, biking it to work instead of walking or going on the bus. I must just add at this stage, I haven't ridden a bike in years, so was about to find out if its true what they say......

I left work and jumped the bus to where the bike was being kept, had a quick chat with the guy who was glad to see the back of it, thanked him very much and then went on my merry way. Now, I was about two miles from home,so decided very bravely to cycle home, after furtively glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, I got on the bike and was off! Not brave enough to go on the main road, I chose the tow path route. To my amazement I managed to ride the bike without falling off, not even any wobbling, oh ok maybe when I first hit the brakes and I feared for a split second they were going to fail me, to be followed by a sploosh as I took a nose dive into the cut! Thank fully that didn't happen! I got home in one piece, really proud of myself that I hadn't fallen off, quite surprising really as the bike has a pedal pad missing, so just had one foot on a metal bar!

You know how they say you never forget how to ride a bike? Well I now truly believe that, however you DO forget just how uncomfortable the saddles are! Blimey, when I got off I felt like I had been riding on a razor blade, god my bum hurt! I also for the first couple of minutes after dismounting, I couldn't straighten my legs and walked with them bowed for a while! All in all though I am pleased with my little lilac bike, first thing to do is buy new pedals, oh and more importantly a new saddle, I fancy one of these gel ones for a more comfortable ride. I will post photos soon, maybe not of me on the bike, as I don't really want to be reminded of how daft I look, but the little lilac bike will be making its debut soon!

Thunderstorm Sunset.

After having yet another thunderstorm and heavy downpour, the compensation for this miserable weather was a glorious sunset. The sunset managed to sneak under the storm clouds!

 

Storm clouds looming.

It really was this orange!

Trick of the eye, or Spirits?

On reading one of Cesca’s posts titled “Ghost Boat”, it reminded me of the odd experience I have had occasionally.

I always have the side hatch open on the boat, weather permitting and as I potter about I will look up when passing the hatch and wave to passers by, either on the towpath or fellow boaters.

As I pass the hatch sometimes I will look up to wave to somebody I have seen in the corner of my eye, only to find there is nobody there…..

I thought it was just me being slightly bonkers, but my ex John said it would happen to him too!

Is it just eyes playing tricks or are these indeed spirits from the past going about their daily business?

As I have mentioned there is a ruin of a chapel close by, (as photographed in previous post),when this happens on a Sunday I often wonder are these apparitions of people making their way to chapel for the Sunday service?

Ok, I will come quietly, just don’t tie the Straight Jacket too tight… 

There once was an ugly Duckling?

Well actually these are Cygnets, but as the song goes……the ugly Duckling turns into a Swan, oh go on!

This was Mum and Dad in the Winter. The Cygnets above were just a twinkle in their eyes then!

After the heavy thunder storms earlier that provided much needed rain, the sky was magical…

Every cloud has a silver lining…

Show Off!

 

I had a lovely day out with my Mum and Daughter, we had a nice Roast Dinner lunch at the recently reopened, Scarisbrick Arms, we were lucky to get a table as it was Fathers Day so it was really busy. The Pub has been refurbished to a high standard and is well worth a visit. The staff are lovely, pleasant and nothing is too much trouble. The Scarisbrick Arms is canal side and is situated at Downholland Bridge on the Leeds Liverpool (Bridge 20A). If you are travelling through to the Liverpool link its a nice place to moor for the night and have a nice meal.

After the meal we stopped off at the local farm shop, this too is a nice place to visit, its a lovely fruit and veg shop, with a cafe and gift shop. There is a Duck pond and many species of birds wandering about the place. I quite often buy my fruit and veg here, but have never been lucky enough to see these show offs at their best……

They are gorgeous arn’t they?

       click on images to enlarge.

After shaking their booties for all they were worth, they gave up as the hens didn’t look in the least bit interested!

We moved on to have a look at the old Lydiate Hall ruins, I have visited the ruin on many occasions but still find it facinating, I got a lovely photo of Mum and Kirsty too….

 

We then moved on to another ruin near by, of  St Catherines Chapel, I can always imagine seeing all the people sitting at their pews on  Sunday morning in years gone by, here too I got some nice photos

It was a lovely day, to think next time we visit we will have a baby with us!

Who eats all the bird food?

As I have mentioned before, I work in Discount store. One of the most popular lines we sell is Bird food. In fact we sell that much of the stuff I am wondering how the birds around here manage to leave the ground! Would it be worth my while starting up a weight watchers for birds?

I can't help but smile to my self when I hear people in the checkout que talking about how quickly the bird food they put out disappears, if only they knew......

Many of the customers are heard to say, " I put food out every day, I don't know what they do with it all?". Well granted the birdies do indeed get through quite a bit of it, but I think all the customers who buy Bird seed, nuts, fat balls, sunflower seeds, don't realise its not just our cute little feathered friends who are feasting on the goodies!

Squirrels, rats and mice are the culprits!! I have a bird table on my mooring that I used to fill with bird food, its one of those ones you can hang from railings. When I first put it up, it was quite close to my shed, I actually saw a rat climb on to the shed and then on to the bird table and devour copious amounts of the birds dinner! To out smart them I moved the bird table right away from the shed to deter them using it as a ladder, only to watch in amazement as a rat climbed up the railing, without the use of a rope too!

Now I know all creatures have to eat but this was taking the biscuit, or should I say Bird food!

Once when the canal was frozen, I had thrown bread out for the ducks, only to look out later that night and see the rats dining alfresco on the ice eating the ducks bread.

The best ever site I saw, was a rat swimming across the canal dragging with it a whole fat ball, no mean feat as they are quite heavy!

I love all creatures great and small, but when washing the dishes on the boat one night, I looked up to see a rat peering at me through the window! waiting for dinner no doubt, needless to say I don't put food out now, they can go scale someone else's railings!

So to all you people out there who think all the birds have mammoth appetites, its not them who eat all the bird food you buy, because when our little feathered friends are all tucked up in a tree for the night some where, that's when the other creatures dine and polish off the lot, and here was all you lot thinking it is the birds dawn chorus in the morning, they arn't singing, they are screaming and shouting that some bugger has eaten all their Breakfast!

Long time no blog!

Thought it was about time I wrote a post. Been busy working, as I am the sole breadwinner now there isn’t much time to sit and blog these days!

Had a great May Bank Holiday weekend at Parbold, a load of us boaters got together for a good old drink and catch up, we all moored at the disused lock at Appley Bridge, and a fine time was had by all!

          Arriving at Parbold.                All moored up and ready to party!                                 

We all had a great weekend, including Eight very well behaved Dogs that came with us, here are four of the little cuties!

Out of the blue!

 

After a real hectic week in work, is was bliss to get home last night, ( Friday ) and look forward to the weekend. The weather forecast looks good which makes the weekend all the more enjoyable.

All you retired people out there, ( jealousy rearing its ugly head me thinks)! who are living just one long weekend, will have forgotten the buzz you get on a Friday, when you come to the end of the day and wallow in the fact, that for two whole days you don’t have to go to work! Now wouldn’t you all love to go back to work to have that feeling again? Yea right!

Anyway on arriving home I take Bobby for his walk,put all the shopping away, light fire, ( as its still quite chilly in the evening), light candles, feet up and nice glass of red!

I made myself a nice sweet chilli chicken noodle dish for tea, and then sat to read and reply to emails I had let build up over the week.

Just as I was starting on my second glass, I heard an engine running outside the boat, resisting the urge to jump up and see who it was, I sat trying to recognise the noise. Was it a Dinghy? Was it a Helicopter? I knew it wasn’t a a narrowboat or cruiser. My curiosity got the better of me, so I went out on the back deck to see what was creating this noise, to be met by the site of this……          

It was my Brother, John, flying passed the boat on his Paramotor! He flew low enough to give me a wave and then flew up in to the blue again. I wasn’t expecting to see him, so it was a lovely surprise! Personally I think he is mad flying around with a hairdryer strapped to his back, but it must be fantastic to be flying around up there like a bird, all be it a quite noisy bird. Would you ever get me up there? Not on your nellie!  I prefer to have my motor firmly under my feet, chugging me along the Cut!

Problems?

As you can see I am having problems with the layout on my blog pages, there is a HUGE gap before you can see any of my blogs!.
Can anybody help?

Make molehills out of mountains!

I need to make all the mountainous tasks I have ahead of me into molehills! I keep going into absolute panic mode when I think of all the things that need to be done!

So instead of worrying how on earth I will climb those mountains I need to tackle them like they are little hills. Does that make sense?? If it does please let me know!

So as soon as I stop being the proverbial Ostrich, and make a start, the sooner I will have something to blog about. Its too easy just to sit and make excuses why I can't do something, too cold, too windy, too tired, too can't be bothered!!

Right pep talk over. I have wasted a couple of weekends now not doing anything, which just won't do, now I need to give myself a hefty kick up the back side and get myself motivated.

Now where do I start? Have you seen the size of that Mountain..........(sorry, molehill)!

Bobby has a new friend!

Bobby was two years old when we got him, so we didn’t know much about how he was as a pup. He was quiet and a bit confused about what was happening to him. He soon settled in though, and now he is a fantastic little dog!  

I was walking down the tow path with him today, when a cat decided to come and say hello, my initial reaction was to brace my self for the scrap that would surely take place, blood and fur flying everywhere!

I needn’t have worried……They were lovely with each other, I was lucky enough to get a picture of them, how cute!

Spring Clean!

Lovely sunny day today, so many things to do, where to start?  After having breakfast, toast and marmalade, shared with Bobby, I decided to get stuck in.

I am one of those people who starts doing one job then move on to another without realising it! I end up doing six different jobs in one go, bouncing from one to the other, I think it’s what you call organised chaos. Eventually it all comes together and the boat is all nice and clean.

Where did spring cleaning originate, is it to start the new season off all clean and tidy, or is it just that the sun comes out and shows up all the dust and dirt!

One pitfall of having a coal fire, is the dust it creates, but it is worth putting up with the dust to have a nice fire burning away in the corner.

Bobby spent all day outside today in the sun, just now and again reminding me he was still there by plopping his tennis ball into the canal then barking at it, to let me know he needs it scooping out, yet again! I swear he has a grin on his face when he accidently on purpose drops the ball in the water!

Well its the end of another weekend, how quick do they go? Back to the grind tomorrow, to get the pennies together for Tickety Boo’s paint job in the summer She is looking really tatty at the minute, and unloved. The harsh winter has given the blacking a bashing and she is desperate to have her bottom redone! I am happy with the inside of the boat for now, so my main aim this summer is to get the outside looking better!

One of the nicer jobs I did today was putting new bedding on for the summer, gone is the cosy cream and gold…..

  

To be changed to a nice cream and duck egg blue for the summer

I love this colour, the cushion was from a great shop called, Dun elm, an Aladdin's cave of curtains, bedding and accessories, bliss!

 

 

 

Best Laid Plans....

I did have plans to maybe jump the bus in to Liverpool today, its Chinese New Year, so quite a bit going on. It would have been even nicer to have the boat down there, at Salthouse Dock, so you could just fall back on board after the celebrations.

On waking this morning, those plans were quickly rearranged, as we have snow again!
You may ask where my sense of adventure has gone, in answer to that question, it is sitting right next to me, keeping warm by the fire!

Irony again!

Just a quick one to add to my last post. Why is it that, just as you sit down and start to eat your tea, they put the advert on tv for the bloomin, 'Pedegg' you know that thing you use to get rid of all the dry skin on your feet. Not satisfied with just telling you what this little mirical can do, they show you the damn thing being emptied into a bin! doesn't go down well when you are just about to put a forkful of food in your mouth, yukkety yuk yuk!

Ironies!

A music track I really love is, Alanis Morrissette, Ironic. For those of you who haven't heard it, here are the first couple of lines.
An old man turns 98, he won the lottery and died the next day,
Its a black fly in your chardonnay,
its a death row pardon two minutes too late.
Anyway, you get the drift, if you haven't heard it, You Tube it, the lyrics are really clever. It got me to thinking....
Why is it that when you are two minutes late, your bus is two minutes early?
Why is it that the very day you leave your brolly behind it rains?
Why is it you always bump into an old friend, who looks fabulous, and you look
like you have been dragged through a hedge backwards, twice!
Why is it that when you are out on your boat alone, you steer, turn, moor up
and manouver perfectly, only to make a right prat of yourself when you have
freinds on board?
Why is it that the cruise you have planned in advance starts on the very day
it decides to blow a Hoolie and you merrily go on your way down the cut side
ways?
Finally, why is it that when you have just climbed into bed and got warm,
your automatic bilge pump decides it doesn't want to be automatic
any more and jams on, so if you ignore it it will either burn out or flatten
your batteries!

I could go on, as I have many more, 'Why is it thats' but my tum is telling me its tea time, just when I am on a role writing my blog, now, why is that?.....

Introducing..My Little Grand Bump!

   

       Ok so they all look like little beans all cosy in there, but this little exceptional Bean, is my first Grandchild! Mum to be, my Daughter Kirsty, is having a great pregnancy with no morning sickness, which is a blessing.

The only problem I have had is nearly falling off my chair when she told me how much the Pram is! After gaining my composure, I asked did it make tea, and babysit?

I am so out of touch with all that now, mind you, my baby, Heather, is twenty in April, so a long time since I looked at pram prices!

The pram is aptly named, Bugaboo, ( sounds like your swearing, and then giving someone a fright)!

So when I am babysitting on, Tickety Boo, I can take baby out in the Buga Boo! Sorted!

     The lovely Mummy to be and the equally lovely Daddy to be!

( Kirsty and Ian )

Just a quick apology to the Men who read my blog. Not very boaty I know, but I promise to make my little Grandchld a narrowboat fan. I have an orange box on order as we speak. As soon as the little mite is big enough, He/She will be taught to steer the boat, and shown the Ropes,pun intended! (Just don't tell Mummy and Daddy to be)!

A Photo to Share

After reading Heth’s blog,(Takey Tezey Tales) and seeing her swan photo’s, I couldn’t resist posting this gorgeous photo that was sent to me in an email.

Straight Jacket required!

I have a great Mum, who on many occasions has helped me through difficult times. It wouldn’t do to tell you all how old she is, she would kill me. So to give you some idea of her age, I am fifty and Mum is twenty two years older, oops!

When we had the real bad weather, snow and ice, you would think a lady of her years would be wrapped up warm indoors, with a nice hot drink and swooning while listening to her Daniel O'Donnell Cd, but oh no not my Mum!

Here is the photographic evidence of what she got up to, if any of you were in any doubt as to where I got my streak of madness from, here is your  answer!                                                                                                                                                                          My Mum just got this overwhelming urge to go out in the garden and build this lovely Snowman!

   

       Not content with letting the neighbours know how mad she is, Mum decided to throw herself on the floor to make a snow angel, this would leave onlookers in no doubt that action would have to be taken………….

              Straight Jacket on order!!

Joking aside, Mum is one in a million, and I won’t hold it against her that she has passed her, loopy genes on to me!

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you

After reading one of the Blogs I follow, ( Lesley, Nb Caxton) about us all pulling our weight to clear litter from our waterways and towpaths, I left a comment on her Post agreeing with everything Lesley had said.

How much nicer would our towpaths be without litter, left by rude people who dump it and then go home to their litter free gardens! Well the towpath is our garden and we don’t want your litter, thank you very much!

About ten minutes after leaving my comment, I looked out of the window to see this……………..

I have seen this man before on numerous occasions. He gives up his time to litter pick on the tow path opposite Tickety Boo. I don’t know who he is, but I am very grateful to him for the thorough job he does!

As you can see from the two big bin bags of rubbish, there are still people who think it is acceptable to just dump litter anywhere they like.

A very BIG thank you to you, our mystery litter picker, just to let you know your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, and is really appreciated. 

Dancing on Ice!

Triple Axel, Double Toe Loop, and Spiral, and that was just me trying to walk down the towpath! I did admit I love the snow, that doesn’t include the ice.

I was really happy when the big thaw kicked in, it was becoming a bit tedious, walking like a constipated duck!

The ice was a nightmare to walk on, I lost count of the amount of times I nearly went, just about saving myself by throwing my hands up in the air and letting slip from my mouth the, s--t word! Then to look around sheepishly to make sure no body saw my slip, or heard my expletives!

Anyway thankfully its all melted away now, but who knows it could be back.

I loved the snow when it first fell, we all got great photos to remind us of winter 2010. I think we have had quite enough of that weather now thank you!

The Canal is thawing out nicely and I am looking forward to seeing the water moving again. Its fascinating to see the canal frozen, but it then,  becomes a bit eerie. Its good to see the ripples back, oh and the Ducks!

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best Christmas Present Ever!

I have been keeping a secret since Christmas day, its been hard but I was sworn to secrecy, but now I can share my news! My Daughter Kirsty and her lovely partner Ian, gave us the fantastic news that they are having a baby! I am to become a Nan in August and I am ecstatic, can’t wait!

When needs must!

I have no problem with the weather being cold, nice warm and snug on the boat. The only thing spoiling my “ smugness”, ( there’s that word again Pickles no 2)! is the fact I have no water! I do have some in the tank and I am being very frugal with that, but once that goes I don’t quite know what I will do.

You can’t really take water for granted on a boat as you do in a house, you only have water at your disposal when you keep your tank topped up, in this weather that is nigh impossible! All the water taps on this mooring have been turned off as we have had a few bursts, sooo , there is no water to replenish the tank.

Strip washes at the moment and a trip to Mums for a shower. I have been scraping snow off the roof of the boat and heating it to wash the dishes, very, “ Little House on the Prairie-ish”! it does save using the tank water though which I would sooner use for cups of tea and cooking. Heth, ( Takey Tezey) was worried I might scrape up snow that Bobby may have earlier used as a toilet!, but I assured her that was why I was taking it from the roof, as he doesn’t, do “it” up there. Mind you I can’t say the same for birds that fly over! Anyway all the snow I scraped up was as pure as the driven…… you know how it goes!

I am heating the snow on top of the wood burner in a pan, very boaty I must say, but its all good fun. I don’t want to be a fair weather boater, so I will take any challenges that are thrown my way, ( within reason )! This cold spell is set to last according to the weather forecast, so we will see how I feel about these," challenges” after being without water for a few weeks!

I am sure I will be able to organise some containers of water from somewhere if the situation gets really bad.

Earlier on today I was filled with horror to see two lads playing with a ball walking down the middle of the frozen canal!. My heart was in my mouth watching them, they were totally oblivious to the danger they were in, if they were to fall through the ice into the water….. it just doesn’t bear thinking about.

Well must go, my snow is boiling! 

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!

Yes I am one of the mad people who loves the snow! Yes it causes havoc, disrupts the traffic, closes schools, makes people land on their backsides in a very undignified manner, but hey, lets enjoy it, it doesn't happen that often. It looks gorgeous on the mooring. 

                                                                                                                                          I couldn't wait to get home from work to take these pictures before it got too dark. 

                                               

                                                Bobby loves the snow!         

                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                           Click on images to enlarge.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              There are still Roses on the mooring, trying their best to bloom in the cold weather.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Ok let me in I’m freezing!                                            

Brass Monkeys!

Its freezing, the canal is hard the grass is crispy and I have a bruise on my backside, (don’t laugh)!

I slipped on the ice, flat on my back, legs up in the air, very lady like! Well to be honest I had called in to the farm shop with my Mum, and managed to fall over, I didn’t hurt myself, thankfully, I just felt like a right plonker!

Bobby my dog goes out on the back deck every morning and takes up his position, looking for dogs coming down the opposite towpath. He was a bit confused when he looked at the frozen canal, but after looking at the solid mass for a while it was soon forgotten when he spied a dog coming!  He loves being on the boat watching the world go by, he sits for hours. I have let his coat grow for the winter to keep him warm! He looks a bit like a hippy, but I love him like that.

Well, according to the weather forecast we are in for more of the same, more snow and ice. Its funny the amount of people who ask me am I warm enough on the boat. I can understand them thinking that. The boats do look quite cold and uncosy from the outside, but if only they could see the inside, its toasty warm, in fact I would go as far as to say its warmer than any house I have lived in. So as long as I have plenty of wood and coal for the fire, the cold weather isn’t a problem!

I will hopefully be even warmer next year as I want to get an Ecofan, and thanks to Halfie saying how good they are, it will be top of next winters shopping list!

   After such a cold day this was the gorgeous view from the side hatch, of the sun going down.                                                                                                                                                  click on image to enlarge

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all, Love, Luck and Happiness in 2010! I could have added "wealth" to that list, but to be honest peace of mind is more important, and to be happy with your lot! Have fun in the following year, as I intend to!

Back at last!

I was going to wait till the New Year before I started blogging again, but why wait?

Hope you all had a great Christmas, I certainly did. We had a nice xmas dinner and then a very enjoyable evening at my Daughter, Kirsty's. We played on the Wii, and I have to say I haven't laughed so much! My Mum being the one who made me laugh the hardest! We insisted she joined in, and to be honest she did really well. The funniest moment was when Mum played the football game, where you have to head the balls that come flying at you, the first ball she headed was done with such force, I thought she was going through the flat screen!

Anyway, just quickly I have to tell you all my news! After trawling through loads of boats for sale, it suddenly dawned on me I would never get a boat as nice as Tickety Boo, not for the money I could afford anyway, so with a lot of help from my Brother, ( Thank you John ) I decided to buy out John and keep Tickety! I am so happy I didn't have to let her go to somebody else, not after all the hard work we put in to her.

So now the crew of Tickety Boo is down to two, me and Bobby the Scotty! It took a while to get used to being on my own, but I very soon realised there is a lot of advantages! The main advantage being more storage space, and pleasing myself what time I eat, sleep etc.

I am relieved I don't have to change the name of my blog too, any other name just wouldn't have been the same. I am working more hours now, for obvious reasons, but I hope to blog on a regular basis, so for all of you who thought you had got rid of me waffleing on, apologies but I am back! I can honestly say it feels good to be back in blogging world! Bring on 2010.

I should have been back at work today, but without too much information,I will just say that anything I eat or drink at the minute is doing its utmost to leave my body as soon as possible! Nuff said!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.Back to blogging in 2010, take care till then Debbie x

Update.

I have taken up residence in Limbo here for a while. Just thought I would let you all know I am ok. Should have some good news to tell you all soon. Watch this space!

Keep up all the good blogging.

They don't sell postcards in Limbo!

They don't sell them honestly! If they did I would send you all one. You will have to settle for a post instead.

Being in Limbo isn't all bad, just a bit scary, a kind of inbetweeny land. In a funny way I can put up with being here for a short while, I am looking forward to my "new chapter" its just taking a while to turn the page! None of my doing either, like everything else, the more impatient you are to get things sorted, the more things stand in your way!

I am so looking forward to getting my life back on track, getting my teeth stuck in to my life afloat again, making whatever boat I end up on, my own. I have lots of new things I want to try in my new abode.

I am looking at the hundreds of boats for sale on the many sites, and finding it quite mind boggling! There are so many out there! Many gorgeous ones that are way out of my price range, but also quite a few that I could possibly manage to buy. I have a good imagination, I can visualise how nice the interior of a boat could look with a bit of hard work, just as well really as some of the boats are awful! Even Bobby my dog would turn his nose up at them!

My main priority is making sure I get one that has a sound hull, the inside I can work on over time to make it a cosy home. Quite looking forward to that!

What I can't get over is the state some of the boats are in. You would think that if people wanted to sell their boat they would at least tidy up before they took the photo for the advert! One such boat which will remain nameless, made me gasp when I saw the photo, you couldn't see any space on any of the surfaces, probably under all the mess there was a nice boat lurking, I am sure many people would just bypass the boat and go on to the next advert!

Anyway, I would be grateful if anybody knows of any reasonably priced boats out there I would be very interested to hear from you.

In the meantime I will try and enjoy my stay in Limbo, Wish you were here and I wasn't!

I am confident it wont be forever, but I have to say it doesn't surprise me that Limbo isn't listed on any maps, you wouldn't visit here through choice!!

Even here my glass is very much half full!