settling in to our new mooring

I haven't written recently as I have been busy settling into the new mooring and generally enjoying myself! However, my conscience got the better of me so I thought I'd share a few pics of the mooring...
This one is looking towards Hunts Lock, the bottom lock of the Fradley Flight.

The next is the view across the canal - there are fields both sides of my boat.

This is the only access to the mooring. As you can see it's a pretty narrow path which leads to the lock which I then need to cross before reaching the towpath. Therefore the most important piece of equipment here is a wheelbarrow!

The last picture shows how well Bonny is settling in here. She loves being able to mooch about on the grass and now knows where she is allowed to go, so a lot of the time she is off the lead which is lovely for her.

There is a risk of me becoming just a little suburban as so far I have bought a container that doubles as a bench, a fat ball holder for the many birds here and a couple of pots to grow veggies! However, I still love going out on the boat so I think I will retain the gypsy spirit - at least I hope I do! But it makes such a huge difference to know I am returning to a space that is 'mine'.


My challenge now is to learn to live with contentment. All my life it seems I have always been striving for something - looking for that which would make me happy and then, having found it, becoming discontented and looking for something else. In some ways I have thrived on overcoming difficulties and battling to make my own way in the world, but now, it seems to me, it is time to practice being content with the life I have chosen. And this new phase in my life really was chosen by me without outside influence. Every other major decision I have made about the direction of my life were influenced by my need to please others or my need to escape an intolerable situation. My decisions, it seems to me, were driven by the unhealthy part of myself whereas this one seems to come from a good and whole place. Still, I have been so used to looking to the next problem or next opportunity, that it will take some practice to relax and fully be here.
But it's a lovely challenge to have in a place that feels pretty much like paradise!

mooring - a post script

Sandie the mooring officer came to see me today. The very good news is that BW is refunding my mooring fees between 8th December and 1st March. Not only that but they have reduced my mooring fees for the next three years as they judge this mooring to be worth less than than the amount I was paying for the auctioned mooring. The difference is just over £300 a year!!!

The not such good news is that the owner of one of the boats I moved has made a complaint. Apparantly he is complaining about having to move at all, rather than the fact that I moved his boat rather than BW. He apparantly has visited his boat and hasn't touched the way I tied it up, so he obviously hasn't got a problem with that. He just thinks that someone else should have moved rather than him! Sandie said I shouldn't worry about it. It is clear in the mooring agreement that BW can request boats be moved at any time. She also said she would back my actions as I had waited a reasonable amount of time before taking action.

I'm really glad I did take action as it seems that neither of the boat owners were planning to move their boats any time soon and I could have been sitting on visitors moorings for months more!! It's just a shame that I seem to have a stroppy neighbour - I hope when I meet him, I can build bridges, so that we can get on.

But the best thing is that both Bonny and I absolutely love our new mooring!
Lastly a message to the nice person leaving comments about my blog. I love to hear from you, but unfortunately I can't read Chinese - if that indeed is the language you are writing in!

The First Day of Spring

It is the first day of spring, the sun is shining and I am finally on my new mooring!!! See picture...
I had left Fradley with BW promising that when I returned the mooring would be available. So I went off to Burton to get my boat's bottom blacked and engine serviced. While she was in dry dock, Bonny and I spoiled ourselves by going to a dog friendly guest house in the Dales (Bentley Brook Guest House - I highly recommend it!) I had my first bath in over a year - bliss! Bonny and I walked until we were on our knees and loved it! It was still snowy, but that didn't stop us. Here are some snaps...

One is Carsington water - looking like a scene from the arctic! Then there is Thorpe Cloud and the third is Bonny in her element!

We returned to Burton last Thursday to find the boat all done, so we moved her back to Fradley on Friday. It was a wet and windy day which made for some pretty hard cruising. I had a friend who helped but it was still really tiring and stressful - especially since I didn't want to bash my new blacking. By the time I arrived in Fradley I couldn't wait to tie up at our new mooring, but when I got there, the two boats still hadn't been moved along to make space for me. I was absolutely gutted. I felt what little patience I had left suddenly snap and so I left 'Don't Panic' on the lock bollards and dragged Charlie (my helpful friend) over to the mooring. We then moved both boats ourselves. They only needed to shift backwards about 10 feet and I made sure I tied them up securely - even using one of my own mooring chains on one of the boats as it had to move away from a mooring ring. I then emailed BW to tell them what I had done and asking them to contact the owners and tell them. I really hope I don't get any grief from them, but I just couldn't face waiting any longer.

So here I am on my new mooring. It is lovely - looking over fields in both directions. There are some lovely people here and I even have excellent reception for my phone and dongle. Bonny is fairly exhausted after such an exciting week but I know she is going to love her new home.

So this lengthy saga appears finally to have come to an end. It's been an enlightening time and I feel I have learned a lot through the experience, but I'm very glad it's over!

And now Spring is coming...