still happy

It's been a couple of weeks since I bought my fridge and I couldn't be happier with it. So happy that I even emailed Midland Chandlers to tell them how impressed I was with their product and service. Well, I think that if we are prepared to give feedback when we are unhappy with something, we should also let them know when we are particularly happy with their service.

My fridge is quite amazing in its power consumption - or lack of it. I go to work all day, leaving it on and when I come home it has only used .1 of a volt. It is averaging 2 amps per hour which is really, really good. It is so nice to be able to watch TV with a light on and the fridge working without fretting!

Bonny and I had a mini cruise down the Coventry Canal a couple of weeks ago. We found a wonderful mooring in Hopwas Woods. It looked like an ancient woodland with huge native species trees. When the army aren't using it for their war games, it is the most beautiful place to walk, especially in the autumn. There is also a lovely pub in the village called The Tame Otter. The food there is particularly good but they don't allow dogs in which I think is very short sighted considering it is on the canal and in prime walking territory.

My friend, Shirleyann Andrews has made me a complete set of new curtains for my boat, as well as matching seat covers - all for free! How generous is that? She and her husband are hoping to come for a cruise up the Ashby Canal next April and I'll be delighted to take them!

Happy Bunny

I couldn't cope with the old fridge any more so last Tuesday I went to Willington and bought a Shoreline 12 volt fridge. It is a thing of beauty and it even fitted in my car. I used my mooring money, saved for next year to buy it, but I am fortunate to have a generous family as they are going to pay for it as a combined 50th birthday and Christmas present. So, although I'll be sending them cards, I will say a slightly premature thank you to my step mother Eileen, my brothers James, Douglas and Peter and my sisters Romy and Penny. It is also lovely as I feel they are involved in the boat now in a way they haven't been previously. I could almost take it as a sign of approval although I know that most of them think I am as mad as a box of frogs for making the decisions I have!

I had to rest the fridge for 24 hours so I only got it wired in last night and then spent a sleepless night worrying about how much power it was taking. This morning I leapt out of bed to check my volt meter and thought the fridge must not be working as all night I had only dropped .1 of a volt! But my joy was unconfined when my fridge thermometer showed a healthy blue level and even the ice box was icy! I will be even happier if I get home from work today to find the same sort of power use as that will mean my power issues are finally resolved.

As if that wasn't enough, my friend Shirleyann had decided to make me some curtains for the boat to thank me for a visit. She sent me the porthole sets yesterday and they are lovely. I trusted her to choose the material and she couldn't have chosen better! What would we do without friends or family? The Bible got it right - they are more precious than gold or jewels!

Fradley in Autumn

I haven't posted any pictures for a while so I thought I'd show you what our home looks like in Autumn...

The above picture is of Fradley Nature Reserve. Bonny and I walk round this every day - either on our way to a bigger walk in the morning, or when we return from work.

Spiders are absolutely everywhere at present but at least they make a lovely home!

One of the many reasons I love living here is that there are so many fantastic walks on our doorstep. Once we leave the back of the nature reserve, these are the sorts of views that greet us, and because there is little livestock farming, there are few restrictions on where we can walk.

Here is an Autumn picture of our mooring taken from Hunts Lock. What a great place to live!!

half full or half empty?

Having got the borrowed 12v fridge on board the boat and thinking that this will be so much better, I have been disappointed. The thermostat doesn't work so I have to turn it off when I'm away from the boat for any length of time. Yesterday I forgot and was at work all day. I came back to find my batteries at 11.7v which isn't good at all! Fortunately, prior to this they had been really well charged and so they recovered as I ran the engine all evening. So, I could choose to feel really annoyed and frustrated that yet another fridge solution isn't working out, or feel grateful that the batteries coped with my oversight.

Then on Friday I was really looking forward to having a lazy day off as I haven't been able to veg for ages. A fellow boater mentioned he had bought a machine to test the input / output of his batteries and offered to bring it to test mine. When I opened the engine compartment I found my engine bilge full of water and antifreeze. A hose leading from the engine header tank to the skin tank had split and emptied my engine of coolant. I had to go to a chandlers to buy what I needed and then, with Chris the boater's help, I spent the rest of the day with my head in my engine compartment repairing the leak and then removing most of the water from under my engine. I ended my day off exhausted and filthy.

My choice was to feel really upset that I had no rest 0n my day off, I had incurred extra expense and had burnt my ear on the engine (not many people can boast of that!) Or I could be really grateful that Chris was there to help me and even more that I hadn't run the engine with no water in it! Normally I would have turned it on before I took Bonny for a walk and so would not have known the engine was overheating, but because Chris was going to test my batteries, I had delayed running the engine and also I opened up the engine compartment and so spotted the problem.

It's been really quiet week at work. In fact on Wednesday I took 40p and that was only because I bought a packet of crisps! I find it very boring sometimes and could choose to be miserable about that and look back to the times when my work was fulfilling and exciting and when I had status and it mattered whether I was there or not. Or I could be grateful to have a job that is easy and doesn't take much out of me; a job where I have time to pass the time of day with customers and boaters in lovely surroundings. Also a job where the owner leaves me to it and I have no one telling me what to do (or giving me any praise, criticism or feedback - very good for the continuing death of my ego).

I would like to say that in each of these situations I chose to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. I would like to say this, but it would be a lie! I find it very easy to feel sorry for myself or to lose my temper and swear at the offending fridge / engine / situation. But indulging in the negative emotions doesn't, in the long term, make me feel any better and can even make me resent the life I have chosen. But when I focus on the positive (and I find there always is some positive aspect to any situation), then I am more likely to appreciate the gifts in this new life and that makes me feel happy and grateful. I just wish I could remember this as I throw my toys out again (and again) rather than some time later!