episode 10000 of mooring saga!

I haven't posted a pic of Bonny for a while so here she is just before we left Barton Marina. She is 8 months old now and is testing her limits in every way. If I say come, she goes, say no and she does it, etc. But she is a wonderful boat dog; totally fearless and loves nothing more than chasing squirrels on the tow path.

The nice lady from BW came to visit this week. We looked at two possible alternative mooring sites for me at Fradley. The one I would be happy with is silted up and needs dredging. BW's attitude seems to have softened as Sandie was very apologetic about all they had put me through and said that she would do her best to make the mooring habitable. She said she would see if they could, not only dredge it, but cut back the rampant vegetation and put a couple of mooring pins in. Meanwhile she has said I can stay on the visitors mooring for as long as necessary. Of course 'seeing if they can do it' is a long way from actually making it happen, so more waiting...

Meanwhile yesterday, after 23 days, I finally managed to move my boat in order to pump out my toilet tank (Oh blessed relief) and fill up with diesel and water. It took a 5 hour round trip and so I need to factor that into my life. I was a little anxious coming back as, with boats moving again, there was no guarantee that there would still be a space on the visitors moorings at Fradley. There was on this occasion, but the sooner I have a permanent mooring again, the better.

Fradley pics

I've been using lots of words recently, but not so many pictures, so here are a few of Fradley in the snow. The first shows a little of how thick the ice is on the canal at present. The lumps lying on top are around 4" thick.

The second is the beautiful sunrise that Bonny and I see most mornings on our walk before work.

The last is the view out of my window at present!

Oh, and good news - thanks to boaters working together yesterday, we managed to join 4 hoses together, stretch it across the frozen canal and water all the boats in this pound. What a relief! I had my first shower on my boat this year to celebrate! (Note, I have showered this year - just not on my boat!)

arctic life and message to the snoop...

Well, I'm still alive! As anyone who lives in Britain will know, it has been snowy and freezing since before the New Year. In fact I last managed to fill up with water on 30th December. All the boats are now frozen to the spot and I am reduced to using two 5 litre containers to fill up with water at work every day. Diesal wise I'm fine at present and I can get coal and wood from a friendly boat moored at Fradley. My loo tank is getting full (I know, too much information), but I have a porta potty that I can use. I have had to start sleeping in the saloon as the back cabin gets too cold by morning, but that's OK.
I've had to alter my working hours to 10-4, rather than 9-5 as the road from Fradley is snow and ice covered and I have to wait for some of the 4x4's to use it before I can get through. I also don't want to risk the return journey in the dark, hence leaving at 4pm. I get paid less of course, but at least I feel safer.

I write this blog thinking that I am writing to my friends, but an incident today reminded me that anyone can read this - not all with kind motives! So... to the person who read this blog and then made an anonymous phone call to Barton Marina and complained to Lorraine that I am using the showers without paying (5the January blog), I have a message for you. Firstly, get a life! Secondly, I am actually using the BW shower at Fradley, using the word marina was a slip of the keyboard and thirdly, thank you, you did me a favour, as Lorraine and I had a good chat and cleared up a misunderstanding between us. We also expressed sympathy for the sad person who has nothing better to do than to report on other people's blogs and toiletry habits!! I wonder if you are the same person that reported my autumn conversation with friends about fences and rules to the marina office? If so, please come and see me in the shop and tell me in what way I have upset you.

Happy New Year!

I hope 2010 is a great year for all of you and I hope nobody is too cold at present!
It's icy and snowy here and it is impossible to move the boat to get water or diesal. However, I have bought myself a generator (thanks to generous Christmas contributions from my brothers James and Douglas), which means that I can charge my batteries and therefore have power even if I run out of diesal. I have coal and wood to keep the woodburning stove going, although I have been shocked to find that I am using over 2 bags of coal a week. Water has been trickier as I need to fill up every week. But until a better solution presents itself I have bought two 5 litre bottles of water from the supermarket and I think that if I fill them every day at work and take showers in the marina, then I should be OK as long as I'm careful.

The mooring saga has entered a new phase. I have moved off the chains as on my second day there I slipped trying to board the boat and bruised my leg quite badly. The other boaters here say the mooring is not safe and that's why no one uses it, except as an overnight visitor mooring. I have moved on the visitors moorings opposite and it is bliss. I can now step, in a lady like way, on and off my boat, rather than launching myself into space and hoping I land in the boat. I am also back in daylight which is nice and since I am now above ground, I don't have dogs peeing against my windows!! Bonny loves it too, a bit too much as she has discovered how easy it is to get off the boat! I have had to chase her around the nature reserve on a couple of occasions.

British Waterways know I have moved off the chains and 'Rob' has said that they will see what they can do to sort the problem out. I obviously can't stay on the visitors moorings forever as there is a 48 hour limit on them and even if I was allowed to stay permanently on them, if I moved the boat to get water or diesal or to go on a trip, the likelyhood would be that there would be no space for me to moor on my return.

Spiritually, the experience has been very good for me as I am learning to let go of the security of having my own space to be in. I am also practising enjoying the present moment - ie the pleasure of being moored here today, without worrying too much about where I'll be moored next week or next month. I say I am practising - that's because I'm not that good at it yet! There is also something quite elemental about my major concerns being heat, water and power. It is putting all the other things I fret about into perspective. It is also amazingly beautiful here- especially in the frosty mornings, and so peaceful after having been moored next to the A38.

So, today, all is well! I hope it is also well with you.