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!

Nice Surprise!

I had a really nice surprise yesterday, a visit from Nb Cosy Toes, ( love that name ) and her crew. They were on  their way back from a trip through to Liverpool.

 

They had a great time, and really enjoyed the experience.  Sue Kindly showed me around Cosy Toes, she is a lovely little boat, immaculate and a credit to them all. It was great to meet them all, and I look forward to seeing  them all again.

Sue made me a cup of coffee, and then we came on board the boat I am staying on at the moment. We had a good old natter, then they headed off to catch up to Sue’s parents. They had gone on ahead on their boat, Cheshire Lad.

Cosy Toes had just pulled away when I noticed Sue had left her coffee mug on my boat! It will be a good excuse to go and see them to return the mug. In the meantime Sue, just so you know how your mug is doing……………..

                        Not a happy Mug!

            In fact he has threatened to report you to,

                 The Cruelty to Crockery Association!

An after thought!

Well I think I have mastered "Live Writer" its easier to upload photos and put them where you want them, ( kinda...)! I put a picture of Tickety Boo's Galley as it is now. I have now decided its not a nice photo. Soooo here is one I like better!

  Finally managed to get on Live Writer!

Well hopefully Heth on WB Takey Tezey, will be proud of me as I think I have finally worked out how to use Windows Live writer! It has only taken me a couple of months to work it out!

To be fair, I did try some months back only to give up, exasparated with myself, but now, here we are!

This post is just an experiment really to see how it all works. Apparently writing your blog with Live writer makes things a lot easier. When then does it get easier I ask myself.

Now that Tickety Boo is up for sale I think it would be a shame to let her go without letting you all see what I have been blogging about!

So now I will attempt to get some photos on here to show you.                                                                                                                                  Tickety being moved to the boatyard we rented, after our original builders went Bankrupt.

                                                                                                                                     

   Me adding last minute touches, before the boat was transported to her mooring.

 

 

 My Brother, John, driving the lorry taking the boat to the cut!

 

               

 

 

 

At last Tickety on the cut where she belonged!

 

 

             

This is what we were left with, after paying for a fully fitted boat. At least we now had the windows and doors fitted.

 

 

My Brother John, without him we would have been well and truly lost. He did all the plumbing and electrics, fitted the windows, the fire, central heating and numerous other things!

 

 

 The two John’s working in the Bedroom While the bedroom was being fitted, we slept on a blow up bed in the Saloon.

                         

                                                    The Bedroom as it is now, after sleeping on a blow up bed for months, it was bliss to get  into a proper bed!

 

Things were beginning to take shape slowly. Tickety was starting to look like the boat I had dreamed of.

            

                                       

From this empty shell, sitting on deckchairs…..

                                          To this,our cosy home!

  From this half finished kitchen, with the two ring camping stove …

 

 

                                        

                                                 

      To my “ Galley Slave” Kitchen!                                                                                                      

New Beginnings.

Well I did say I would be back! God I have missed blogging.

The break up of a relationship is never easy, I feel like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards! You tend to go through many phases, anger, sadness, loneliness and at a total loss as to where it all went wrong.

There is one thing I am certain of, there will be no going back. Too many things have been said and done to hurt me, things I will never be able to forgive, and that makes me so sad. I thought I had found my soul mate, but obviously I was so wrong.

Well that's enough of that. As I have done before, I have decided self pity and recriminations never helped any body. Even though this episode of my life has left me sad and confused, wallowing in self pity is pointless.

My way of life won't change, living on a narrow boat is my passion. I have been staying at my Mums in her bungalow, where I was made welcome and more than comfortable, but being back on land and ensconced in bricks and mortar fills me with horror!

For me to stay on Tickety Boo was out of the question. We did come to an agreement that we would each have alternate weeks on the boat, until she is sold, but devastatingly for me John went back on his word.

I think that's enough of washing my dirty linen in public!

I had heard rumour that somebody on our mooring was maybe selling a boat, when I enquired about it the owner very kindly said I could stay on their boat for a couple of months, how thoughtful was that? I will always be truly grateful for this opportunity, as its got me back on the cut where I belong!

The boat is slightly smaller than Tickety, and yes I am missing her, but this little boat is really nice, and I may even consider buying her myself.

I have moved on T.F.T.T.M., I wont divulge the name just yet, maybe later. I bet those initials will have you guessing! Answers in the post please!

I moved on the boat on the first of August, new month, new start! I spent all of the first day cleaning, not that the boat was in a bad way, it just hadn't been used for months. Most of my time was spent evicting the many spiders that had taken up undisturbed residence! Once all moved in, tidy and organised I sat with a well earned cuppa, and reflected on how lucky I was in the circumstances, to be once again afloat! Thank you so very much to P and C for the very very kind gesture of letting me stay on their boat.

Bobby is settling in well and has just accepted we are on a different boat. I am so grateful to have him with me and hope and pray that it stays that way. He is my little soul mate now, and I would be heartbroken to lose him.

Tickety Boo is sadly now up for sale. After all we went through to get her to this stage. I would like to think I could buy John out, but don't know if that will be possible just yet, either way I will still be living afloat, whether on Tickety Boo, T.F.T.T.M or some other boat!

When I started this blog a couple of months ago I wrote that I wanted to share my happy, sometimes sad stories with you, this chapter is rather sad but happier times hopefully are on the horizon. Goodness knows what my blog will be called, if I some how manage to keep Tickety Boo the name will stay the same, if I can't your guess is as good as mine!

This is the first post of my new life, I hope you will continue on the journey with me, knowing me it will be a bumpy ride! Hold on tight!

Another one of lifes challenges.

Without going into too much detail, my life has been turned on its head, and had the living daylights shook out of it! Not for the first time either. Some people have a sedate, "Merry Go Round" life, where I have a bloody,"Roller Coaster" life. Even after the ups and downs and the heartache, I couldn't ever have imagined choosing the Merry Go Round, so now I have to accept I chose the rougher ride.

Us Boaters are made of stern stuff I have faith that I will get through this bad patch, and once I get my head from out of my backside I will be fine, its quite dark up here but its getting lighter by the day!

I may not blog as much over the coming weeks, but believe me I will be following all your blogs and as Arnie said, "I will be back "...

Please keep up the good work. I hope to be back soon to share a brand new chapter of my life with you, Happy Boating!

Much needed Tonic!

I have been having problems of late that have really been getting me down. I have reached a turning point in my life, but not quite sure which path to follow. Any way needless to say I haven't really had much reason to smile, until that is I got my Tonic!

We have a great couple next to us on our mooring, they shall remain nameless but they read this blog, and they know who they are. Feeling really down yesterday and not feeling much like company, I was just pottering about when said neighbours turned up. Within minutes of them arriving I cheered up, they had me laughing at their antics, if they could bottle whatever it is they have, they would be millionaires!

The first thing that literally had me splitting my sides with laughter, was when Mrs Neighbour, passed me a cuppa out the side hatch and said she would come out and have a natter with me. I was already sitting outside, so watched her stepping off the back of their boat. I still don't know how she did it but she fell out the boat backwards, she then seemed to roll in slow motion on to the bank!. Well by this time I was laughing myself silly. Bless her, I was laughing so much I couldn't even ask if she was ok! Luckily she was fine, but the incident had me giggling all afternoon!

The second thing that had me laughing was when Mr Neighbour decided to take their two little Dogs for a walk, two gorgeous little Shitzu's. Mr Neighbour wears a straw hat on account of the sun, I commented that he looked like a french man with his hat on, he then started to talk with a french accent which really made him look french!

So without even realising it my neighbours had cheered me up no end!

Later that evening Mrs Neighbour had told me about Skype, you can download it and make free calls to other people who have Skype, I have heard of it but didn't realise just how good it was, not only can you call people you can see them too with web cam, brilliant! So after a quick run through of how to use Skype I downloaded it and made my first call to Mrs Neighbour. It was great I could see her, and hear her really well, only one problem, she couldn't see or hear me! So for the umpteenth time that day I was left screaming with laughter. I could see Mr and Mrs quite clearly looking into the web cam and saying over and over, " can you here me, are you there", and then having a conversation between themselves about me not being there! In actual fact I was still there but they couldn't see me! I then watched Mrs getting fed up and making a cup of tea!

We have vowed to try again later, so no doubt more laughter in store!

So just one more thing to say, A HUGE BIG THANKYOU to my fab neighbours for pulling me out of the doldrums, you two were just the tonic I needed!

Darling Fishermen!

Why when your happily sailing along on your boat do some fishermen glare at you? They have a look on their faces that makes me want to tell them to straighten their faces before they scare the fish away! To be fair most of them are great they give you a wave and a smile and appreciate the fact that you have slowed down for them, and I always say thank you when they move rods and poles so we can sail past.

You always get one miserable old git that moans, " Bloody Boats", as if we have a cheek being there! How very dare we make waves on their patch! When this happens and they moan, I politely ask them to remind me just how much they pay for their fishing license, I then politely remind them just how much I pay for mine!

To all you nice fisherman out there who are friendly and accept we all have a right to be there, Thank you, to all you miserable old gits out there, GO GET A LIFE,find another pass time, because fishing doesn't suit you, it makes you too damn narky!

That sure felt good. Rant over!

Thunder and frightening!

In the early hours of Wednesday we had a really bad thunder storm. Now normally storms don't bother me, but this one really scared me! It seemed to be directly above the boat, and when the thunder claps came the noise seemed to boom through the boat.

Because the weather has been so humid and sticky, we have been leaving the porthole stoppers out to let cool air in at night time. Big mistake when a storm comes along. The lightening lit up the whole boat, the port holes lit up like spotlights!

Since being on the boat that must be the closest storm we have had, which got me to thinking. What would actually happen to the occupants inside the boat if it were struck by lightening? Does anybody out there know? Do I want to know or is ignorance bliss?!

To lighten the mood somewhat, I was delighted to see John and Fiona passing by on Nb Epiphany on their way through to Liverpool. Its great when you actually see people who's blog you have followed. Here's hoping they enjoy the trip!

Great weekend!

We have just had a really nice weekend, we couldn't go too far, but that didn't matter, once you have pulled the pins and set off, your free!

We were supposed to be joined by friends but they had to back out last minute. So it was just Tickety Boo's crew of three. The plan was to set off Friday night but we thought we would wait and go Saturday morning instead. Best laid plans eh.

There have been quite a few guest boats staying on the moorings, waiting for their slot to go through to Liverpool. One such boat was a bright red wide beam with a creamy yellow roof. The boat is owned by Chris, we got chatting to him, and asked what the boat was called, he told us he was toying with the idea of calling it Rhubarb and Custard! Apparently that was the boats nickname on its mooring.

On Saturday morning Chris was moored opposite us on the public tow path facing toward Liverpool. He decided on the last minute he wanted to do a pump out before he left. The problem being the pump out was about quarter of a mile back the other way. Chris informed us he was rubbish at steering the boat backwards so would we give him a hand.

Well John looked at me and shook his head, but me being me will give anything a go once! On boarding the wide beam Chris just let go of the tiller and said to me, "Its all yours". Now wasn't quite the right time to tell Chris, I had never steered a wide beam before, let alone steer it backwards! So off we went, and I can proudly say I steered it all the way back to the pump out, and backwards through a bridge too, I was so pleased with myself. Chris commented the manoeuvre was expertly done, how chuffed was I?

It wasn't until the boat was safely tied out side the pump out that I told Chris I had never steered a wide beam before! He looked at me with a fleeting look of, are you mad woman! Non the less he thanked me very much. I then asked if I could look inside the boat. She was gorgeous, a really nice fit out and very tastefully done.

Now I will come clean, the boat was fitted with a bow thruster, which makes the job of going backwards so much easier. Its not something I have ever wanted on our boat, but I think on a wide beam they are really needed.

We eventually set off on our weekend away, early Saturday afternoon, after seeing Chris off. Well the inevitable happened, no sooner had we set off the heavens opened! Sods Law! We moored up and waited for the rain to stop which lucky for us, wasn't long, so off we went.

As I said we couldn't go far, so once we reached a nice quiet place we stopped. We were just beyond Heatons bridge, moored next to a field with a couple of horses in it. After having something to eat we just wound down and relaxed, bliss!.

I decided to call to the horses in the field, a lovely brown and white one came over to the fence, Bobby had never seen a horse close up before and his reaction was comical! His little eyes nearly popped out of his head, the horses head was probably the same size as the whole of Bobby! He promptly put his defences up and growled and barked at the horse. He really didn't like it at all, but I did manage to take some photos.

While we were out John said he would take me for a nice meal. When we got up Sunday, I cooked a full english We then just relaxed on the back deck and laughed at Bobby keeping a wary lookout for the big monster, ( The Horse )! After eating such a big breakfast we decided that on the way home we would call into the new Scarisbrick Marina for a meal. My Mum had said the meals were really nice there so we thought we would give it a try. It was quite nice to be able to sail the boat and moor up outside the coffee shop in the marina.

After studying the menu board, John and I both decided on the quiche with salad, then hopefully, ( in my case anyway ) followed by one of the delicious cakes on offer. Well, I would now like to describe how wonderful the meal was, no such luck! On waiting to be served I noticed it didn't look as if you could pay with your card! I was so disappointed. We just had enough for a coffee and a coke! So on to plan B, which was to sail out of the Marina, and on to The Saracens Head Pub for a well deserved Sunday Roast! Very nice it was too!

Changing the subject of stuffing our faces,to something completely different, Coots! While sitting on the back deck relaxing, I couldn't help but notice the plight of the mother Coots. While the baby Coots are all very cute and fluffy, with their silver grey feathers, the little buggers never shut up! They constantly screech, screech and then screech some more. The poor mother Coots must be driven nuts, its not as if they can shove a dummy in their mouths to shut them up like we can! I actually watched the Mum with one of her screeching off spring, she took so much and then she turned on it as if to say, " for goodness sake stop your whinging "! She then flounced off in a Cooty huff, and hid her self away for a bit of peace!

In the meantime John had thrown some Broccoli in the cut, this kept the baby Coots entertained for ages, diving to get it from under the water. I swear the mother Coot winked at me as she swam passed, as if she was so grateful that we were entertaining the kids while she had a rest!

Ok I give up!

Well in my previous post I intended to give you a photographic run down of my life with Tickety Boo so far, good intentions hey. Well after starting out well I quickly discovered, you can't rearrange photos and position them where you want them in your post. That I am afraid is no good to me. After a quick phone call to my mentor, Heather, Takey Tezey, ( Thankyou Heather ), my problem should hopefully be solved soon. So once again I have to ask you all to put up with my inadequacy once again!

Blimey days, this blogging lark is a hoot, what! No doubt it is easy when you know how, but when you don't know how, it isn't!! Here was me thinking once I got my Lap top I would be a top notch publisher in five minutes, you know getting a phone call off Waterways World asking me to be their new editor!!!!. Maybe not!. Like I have said before, this blogging is all good fun.

Oh and by the way, Waterways World, I will have to decline your offer, I couldn't possibly desert my blogging public!...

Whats in a name?

Andy,( Nb Khayamanzi) has just given me the idea for this post. He replied to a comment I had left on his blog, telling me a boat had just moved on to his Marina called, Tickety Boo, excellent choice for a name!

This got me to thinking, of all the names our boat was nearly called!

Its starts off being quite exciting, choosing a name for your boat, then it gets a bit stressfull, (well it did for me) wondering if you have made the right choice!

Anyway,to begin with I quite liked, River Pheonix, but decided just because I thought he was a gorgeous actor, it didn't mean I had to call the boat afer him!
Next, I came up with Tiger Lily, Aurora Bourialis, (bit of a mouthfull)!Serendipity, (I think thats how you spell it),Tranquility, the list just went on and on, but nothing we came up with did it for us.

Then we went on to the names John liked. He chose Fugazi, an album by Fish of Marillion fame, now I quite liked that at the time, but then changed my mind. another name he liked was a song title, Slow Poke, by Neil Young. Now I don't know about you but I thought that was a tad risque! Eventually, after giving up all hope of ever finding a name we liked, I heard somebody on TV saying that every thing was Tickety Boo, that was it! So Tickety Boo was born. Its only just recently we have heard of other people choosing the same name, which I take as a compliment. It was obvious that somewhere on the system there was bound to be more Tickety Boo's!

A couple of years ago John said he had just seen a boat called, " My Ankle"! What a weird name for a boat. We eventually became friends of the crew, Frank and Pauline, who explained it was a play on the letters of their sons names. Personally John and I thought, " My Arse " would have been funnier!

As I have said in my Post or Comments before, we have seen some weird and wonderfull boat names on our travels, some of my favourites being, Weary Tired, Woof Bark Donkey, (If any body knows where this name originates from please let me know)Kids Inheritence,Canalgeisic,Idanoe,Idanoe is owned by friends of ours who came up with the name when somebody asked what the boat was called and they replied, " I dunno " ( I don't know, for you non scousers out there)!

Two other names we came up with after we had chosen Tickety Boo, were Ripples and Steel Magnolia, both of which are nice but we prefer, Tickety Boo!

One name that really made us laugh, and was brought to our attention by Nev, Nb Waterlily, is W.Anchor. This boat actually passed our mooring the other day coming back from Liverpool, so Nev, we too have seen the W.Anchor..........

Sorted!

At last, got my template back in order, don't know about colour or font, but for the moment I will leave well alone!

I have noticed over the past couple of weeks the volume of boats has risen, passing us on the way to the new Liverpool Link. We enjoyed it when we went, but would like to go again and stay a bit longer next time. It would be quite nice to go into town for a meal, and then back to the boat in the Salthouse Dock.

So if you pass Tickety Boo on your way through to the Link, give us a toot and a wave,your more than welcome to stop and have a cuppa with us if you have time.

If you have already travelled through to the Link I would love to know how you got on and what you think of it.

Over the years since we have had the boat, we have heard horror stories about boats being bricked and abuse from undesireables. I can honestly say hand on heart that we had no problem going through to Liverpool. Maybe the odd bit of rubbish around the prop, but you have to expect that in boating.A lot of people have suggested it was quiet because all the kids were in school, but to be honest the little so and so's that cause the trouble would probably bunk off anyway!

Just before I go, I must just tell you what John and I spotted floating down the canal the other day, a floral tribute, obviously from a keen fishermans funeral. It was in the shape of a fish surrounded with white and yellow flowers, it was beautifully made, John and I both thought it was a really nice touch to think that these flowers would float passed all the places where the fisherman enjoyed to fish.

I wonder if they fish in Heaven........

Oops!

Well I have had good old play on my laptop, a bit too much of a play me thinks!

I played around on my blog with new templates, new layouts, font, colour and all that. You may ask why? Well just because I could! Now I can't get it back the way it was! Did you lot out there fiddle about like this, when you started blogging, or am I just too much of a fiddler?

My followers are now at the top of my blog, as much as I love you all I don't want you there! Goodness knows where my archives have gone??? Oh come back old template all is forgiven!

Well I will try again later, see what I can do, so in the meantime, to all you readers out there, can you just put up with my higgledy piggledy lay out. I promise Mr Blog Boss, I won't fiddle again.

Thinking about it, my original template was ok, why couldn't I leave well alone.

Well Nev, on NB Waterlily, THIS is what you call a whingy blog!!!!!!

Whinge over!

Dongled up and ready to fly!

Today was my 50th Birthday! Not quite sure how I feel about that!

My lovely Daughter Kirsty had arranged for an early Birthday celebration on Sunday, as this was the only day possible to round up every body to be there. When I arrived I was greeted by, Kirsty, Heather, my other daughter, Dean, my son, my Mum, brother John and my John. It was a lovely surprise when I got there, Kirsty had put baloons up, and her and Mum had laid on a spread, which was later added to with a couple of bargain buckets from KFC.

Even though I never normally open cards or presents before my actual birthday,I bent the rules on this occasion.Dean, Kirsty and Heather presented me with a big box, on opening it I was blown away to discover they had all clubbed together to buy me a Laptop!!

As readers of my blog will know I have been wanting to get a Laptop, but knew it would be a while before I could afford one.

Well as you can imagine I was like an excited child on Christmas morning! All I had to do now was get a Dongle, ( daft name if you ask me). I should have gone with my instinct and gone for T Mobile, as I have a been blogging on my G1 phone with this network for a while,even if a bit slow at times, it was good enough for me.

After asking advice, from instore and freinds, I decided to go with 3, as this seemed to be the best deal for the £15 a month. I remember reading a blog not so long ago, that said 3 was crap, their words not mine!

Well.... I am beginning to wonder if they were right! After Dingle Dongleing for hours, I couldn't get connected, and you all know how frustrating that is. All last night for hours I tried, no luck,again this morning, for hours... Fingers crossed I have been connected for an hour! Is it just teething problems? does it take hours to settle in, or is 3 indeed crap!(my words this time)

I am beginnig to chomp at the bit, wanting to race back to, Car Phone Warehouse, with tail between legs and go back to T Mobile. Luckily I am not tied to 3, I can change if I want to, I have a month to make up my mind.I don't know about being 50, after all this faffing about I feel about 92 and counting!!

Joking aside, I am really, really chuffed to bits with my new laptop,thanks to Kirstys bright idea and Heather and Dean chipping in. It will make blogging so much easier and even more enjoyable. What great kids I have, (I always knew that anyway though)!

Well, ( I am whispering saying this ) I'm still connected, so maybe it was just teething problems,if so I will be the first to apologise to 3, cap in handish!

Now I have to learn how to put photos on my blog all over again, as ts slightly different on here than the G1. I am sure given time I will work it out, and anyway it will keep this old fart out of trouble for a while!

Frog Fright!

After reading Nb Bones post about the frog, it reminded me of something froggy that happend to me some years ago.

When we lived in a house we had a neighbour called, Carol. We got on really well and spent many a sunny afternoon chatting over the fence.

I was busy doing housework one warm afternoon, I had the french doors open to let in a breeze. I heard a commotion out in Carols back garden. On going out to investigate, I found Carol near hysteria! She had spotted a frog near her back door and was terrified it was going to hop in to her house!

Carol had, had a fear of frogs since childhood which I thought quite funny, as I quite like frogs. Me being the brave one offerd to move the little frog, who had hopped in to a corner so couldn't escape anywhere. As I stooped down and went to pick up the frog to my horror it sqealed, a real high pitched noise, well Carol screamed and I just ran with fright and ended up at the bottom of the garden!

I had never heard a frog make a noise other than a croak, but apparently its a warning to predetors or when the frog is in danger. So now you know, Frogs scream! Oh and for the record , so does Carol!

" Blue Peter " moments!

If you read my last post, you will have realised I was having a Blue Peter urge, with my DIY curtains. Well today I will show you how to make a Bilge Pump out of an old squeezy bottle, some sticky back plastic and an old egg carton! Oh ok only joking, if only it was that simple.

Changing the subject completely, I would like to tell you about my episode with a con merchant. As I have mentioned before, I work part time in a Discount store. I was on the till yesterday, it wasn't mad busy just a steady stream of customers through the check out. A young girl came through my till, I would say she was in her early twenties.

On purchasing a 99p dog collar, the girl paid with a ten pound note, as I gave her the change of a five pound note, four pound coins and a penny, she asked if I could give her change of ten pounds ?? After serving the next customer I opend the till and told the girl I had no fivers in my till ( are you keeping up?) On telling her this she said it was ok she would give me change for a tenner

On giving her the tenner for her fiver and five pound coins, she really quickly offered me the tenner back and asked for her twenty back !!! Now if this sounds confusing to you I can assure you at this point my head was spinning. I realised she was conning me and told her to get lost, and leave the shop. For a split second though I nearly did give her the twenty pound note! This all happend in seconds, I can understand how people fall for it.

Apparantly, two cashiers have been duped into giving these con merchants twenty pound notes. They are so clever how they do it, very quick, not giving you a chance to think, they often target the young cashiers ( I will take that as a compliment)! when the store is busy, which our store often is. This girl must have been desperate, the store was quite empty and she picked on an older cashier.

She well and truly got her eye wiped, and soon found out I am not as daft as I look!!

As you can imagine, getting back to the peace and quiet of the mooring, away from the mad hustle and bustle of the shop, is absolute bliss!

DIY Porthole Curtains ( Night Time )

When we first got the boat my Mum made us lovely porthole stoppers. They were made of foam discs covered in material. As time went on I discovered the foam was'nt quite rigid enough to hold the stoppers in place. Eventually after wondering what I could use as a rigid frame I spotted Hoola Hoops in the shop where I work. You know, the ones you put around your waste, and Hoola!.

I stripped the bright pink plastic off to reveal white tubing. Perfect. I then cut to the size I wanted, and used original material to cover hoop, gather into the middle and add matching button. I also put blackout material inside the hoop so it would block out early morning sunlight. I sewed a little loop on to the stopper to make it easy to remove from the porthole. Because the stopper is now rigid, you can have window open behind it to cut down on condensation. Job done!

DIY Porthole Curtains. ( Daytime )

I have seen a lot of Boats with Lace Doilys in the portholes. I can't crochet, and couldn't find 15 inch Doilys anywhere. I managed to find a 15 inch Quilt frame, similar to the hoops you use for embroidery. I bought two and because its a double hoop on each, they would do four portholes. I cut four circles out of some net and then stapled to the hoops. They look neat and tidy, don't block any light out and didn't cost the earth! Plus they give us a bit more privacy in daylight hours.