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!

Missing the Snow!

I miss how the snow made everything clean and bright, and how it made everyone’s garden look just as good as their neighbours! I miss the way it lit up the dark nights, and how it twinkled in the moonlight, I miss how it crunches under your feet when you walk in your wellies. I miss watching Bobby running through the snow like an excited child, I miss the boats looking like they were covered in white fur!

I found it a real let down when the thaw set in and stripped the countryside of her luxurious white coat.

What I don’t miss is the grey brown sludge, cold toes in said wellies, my bus to work going off because the roads were not gritted, no water as the standpipe froze, the boats floor feeling hard under foot because the boat lost all animation in the solid ice it was encased in. I like a soft floor that moves with you as you walk. The ducks all forlornly stuck in a little puddle, even though they could fly away they stayed all huddled sadly together. Not being able to walk Bobby as his legs are that little he was just ears above snow level!

Last but not least I don’t miss falling flat on my arse!!

For me though, it could all come back tomorrow, I love it!

           

Bobby little legs!

Happy New Year!

    Wishing you all the love, luck and happiness you can squeeze into 2011! Oh and to all you Boaters out there, here’s to…….NO LEAKS!!

Canal Rink!

After a night of rain the canal has been transformed into an ice rink!

                          Click on image to enlarge.

I have never seen it like this before, it is the colour of skimmed milk! The sky is reflected perfectly on the white water.

I asked these walkers if I could take their photo as their reflections looked ghost like.

This picture looks upside down! Today looking out over the canal we had two skies! 

Merry Christmas!

 

To all fellow bloggers and readers, here is wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year, from the crew of Nb Tickety Boo x

White Magic!

 

At last the North West finally gets its share of the white stuff…Snow! and boy did we get it! It started at teatime last night, by ten pm it was thick, and by this morning it was amazing!This looks like a black and white photo, but the mans shopping bag is a giveaway!! 

as is the lamp in this shot, and the road signs in the shot below.

                         Click on image to enlarge.

Hello Mr Frost!

I woke this morning to my very own Narnia!

 

I didn’t even have to go through the wardrobe either. ( you will have to have read, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe to know what I am banging on about)! When I climbed the stern steps onto the back deck this morning I was met with a wonderful site. Everything had been sprayed with frost paint! It glistened in the morning sun light and looked magical. The trees all had frost overcoats on, and the evergreen shrubs had been dusted with a light white frost.

You can just see the faint pinky cast of the sun on the white branches.

Spiders webs where transformed into white lace with a coating of frost!

                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Later on in the day, I was in work when a couple of us noticed tiny ice particles falling like snow, the sun was glinting off them as they fell, they were so tiny it looked like we were being sprinkled with silver glitter. We were in our own snow globe! It was gorgeous. Yes ok it has been damn cold, but worth it for all the lovely sight's I saw today!            

Its here again…

 

Winters here with a vengeance! Woken this morning by the familiar sound of ice cracking under the boat. Made sure the fire was banked up last night so nice and cosy on waking this morning! The sun is shining on the frozen canal, the Ducks are doing their “Bambi” impressions, egged on by me throwing bread out on the ice to watch their funny antics!

I am not fazed by the Winter, I am not a fair weather boater. I love the quietness of the Winter Canal, and when its not frozen its a great time to cruise on a crisp Winter morning.

Ask me in a week how I feel about the winter, when the stand pipe freezes and I have no water, when I have to do what I did last year, scrape the snow off the roof of the boat to melt on the stove to do the dishes!

No bother….Bring it on!!

A reminder from last year what I have to look forward to! (Hopefully)!

A poem I feel the need to pass on.....

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension - small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, and his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end?

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

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!