Happy Christmas to all my readers!

We have been frozen in here at Fradley since the third week in November. There was a brief thaw for my birthday (thank you birthday angel) but now, like the rest of the country we are back in the deep freeze.

Because of being unable to move the boat for such a long time, I was forced to complete the most disgusting task that I have undertaken on the boat so far. That of manually pumping out my black tank - known to most of you as a poo tank! The hardest part was pushing containers full of effluent all the way to the BW station where there are facilities for disposal of said excrement. I managed to do around 100 litres and I was wasted afterwards! However I can now pee and poo in peace for the next few weeks. I have a tank full of diesel thanks to 'Mayflower Graham' who sells diesel in a can. Water is increasingly becoming an issue as all the remaining taps have started to ice up and stop working. As long as I don't use my shower, I can stretch to another week before I run dry. I'm not sure what I'll do then.

I was due to drive to Sevenoaks on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with my family but a combination of 9 inches of snow here and temperatures forecast to drop to around -10 means I can't leave the boat without risking damage to the water system and engine, not to mention a scary drive around the M25 on Friday! So, with regret I have had to cancel those plans and stay aboard instead. However I won't be alone as my friends on narrowboat Huff n' Puff have invited me to Christmas Lunch with them. Bonny will be delighted to spend time with her boyfriend!

I hope you all get where you are hoping to be for Christmas and that you receive all you want.

photos as promised

Photos rarely do a scene justice and these are no exception. I awoke this morning to a scene from Narnia! As you can see we have had a fair amount of snow and even more ice.

Bonny loves the snow and burrows her head into it, but she is less keen on the ice as she gets sore paws! At present we have ice like glass on our mooring path and so it feels like a risky adventure everytime we leave the boat. But isn't it beautiful?!

Winter Challenges and Opportunities

I can't believe it was only a few weeks ago I posted those benign autumn photos! It is suddenly winter here, as it is nationwide and everything has changed. The colours have been bleached out of the landscape and everything is beautifully monochrome - photos to follow.

It is the change in my day to day routine that really marks the change of season for me. At present the canal is frozen and no movement of the boat is possible. So instead of cruising up to the water point, sticking a hose in my water hole and then effortlessly reversing back (well, generally), I now have to barrow a couple of plastic containers across the lock either to our tap, or if it is frozen, all the way to the BW water point. Then back to the boat where, with the aid of a funnel, I carefully transfer every precious drop into my tank. If the freeze lasts for more than a week or so, this will be a daily chore and in the dark as well if it's a working day.

Then there is the business of keeping warm. At present I am using nearly 2 bags of coal a week and of course they need to be lugged down to the mooring as well as regular supplies of logs and kindling. I know some people cope with coal alone, but I find it difficult to keep the fire going all night without a log or two in there with the coal. If the fire goes out in the wee small hours, the tip of my nose usually informs me pretty quickly! Then I have to decide whether to get out of a warm bed to rebuild the fire or to leave it and risk frostbite when I get up in the morning! It has got down to -7 here at night so I have moved my bed through to the saloon, to be close to the stove.

I am still managing to get into work, although it is getting harder as our road doesn't ever get cleared or gritted. But if I don't make it in, I don't get paid and so I have to trek in somehow.

You would think it is a pretty miserable existence at present, but I do not find it so. For a start, I love the stunningly beautiful scenery, together with that special sort of silence we only get when there is thick lying snow. I also find that life focuses down to the basic essentials of survival and that relieves my mind of all the ordinary worries and anxieties that normally niggle at me. There is also a feeling of achievement in coping in the extreme weather, together with a real community feel among all the live aboard boaters! We smugly smile as we pass each other as if to say 'look at us, aren't we tough!'

I guess it is like every other part of life, it all depends on how you look at it. If I focus on my fears (like being snowed in at work - looking out of the window, very possible today) then life is hard and uncomfortable. But if I see it as an adventure and a way to get in touch with my natural, instinctive / animal self, then it is all good!

fradley pics

I thought I'd post a couple more pictures of our mooring in the autumn as it is so beautiful. I love this time of year. Yes, it can be damp, cold and muddy, but with all the hire boats gone and very few other boats moving, it feels like the canal is all ours.

It is also a treat to wander up to the junction of the two canals and pop into our local, which in my opinion is pretty much the perfect pub! This is where I will be having lunch with my whole family (almost) on my 50th birthday next month. They are visiting my mooring for the first time after a couple of nights in a cottage in the Dales, courtesy of my brother James - bless him! I'm so looking forward to the holiday cottage as I will be able to have my second bath this year!!

My friend Shirleyann sent me a whole set of new curtains and seat covers for the boat. She picked a perfect pattern and made them beautifully. Here is Bonny showing her approval of the seat covers!!


And lastly I thought you would like to see Bonny flirting with her boyfriend Bernie. He is very patient with her, but sometimes she is rather exhausting to be with, especially as he is ten years old and she isn't two yet!

rocking and rolling

I had an interesting day yesterday. On my way to work I had to drive through a bit of a puddle and on reaching the dreadfully busy A38 in rush hour, my engine started coughing like a 40 a day smoker. I knew it was going to cut out and so I tried to get off the dual carriageway. I just reached a short slip road and got round the corner when my car died half way over a canal bridge. there I was, in the rain, on a blind bend, that people coming off the A38 usually take at some speed. I left Bonny in the car and I stood in the rain directing cars around mine. The reactions were interesting. several drivers (all men) shook their fists or made other rude gestures as if I had chosen to stop there for fun! Others looked quite terrified as they swerved round me, including a coach driver. By then I was convinced it was only a matter of time before someone hit us and was fairly terrified. One man stopped to see if he could help, but with no tow rope between us, he gave up and left. after the longest 15 minutes of my life, 2 retired men in a 4 wheel drive stopped. They offered to tow me, showed me where my tow point was - no, I had no idea! I was so shaken that one of them drove my car for me and they towed me all the way to Barton Marina and wouldn't accept anything in return. I was so effusive in my thanks that I think I quite embarrassed them! So, thanks again to my Good Samaritans - you may well have saved my life, or at least my car!

During the day my car recovered from its asthma attack but the wind started to get up and by the time Bonny and I returned home, it was blowing a gale. All the boats on the mooring were rocking and rolling and the trees were bending right over. I spent some time anxiously watching the trees and wondering what would happen if one fell on my boat. However, probably due to the rocking sensation, coupled with my emotional exhaustion after the fright in the morning, I slept like a log. I woke to a world scrubbed clean and the sun creeping above the horizon. All the boats were still firmly tethered and upright and I celebrated seeing another dawn!

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!