Today I cycled the 6 miles into our nearest town and it was beautiful. The air was crisp and it was raining autumn leafs as I went through the wooded lanes. The autumn colours are really starting to come through and when I went over the little beck which flows under the canal, it was in spate and flowing noisily. It's as though it is making a last statement of the joy of being in the full flush of life before the big freeze of winter stops it in its tracks.
Our county council are really bike friendly and I can cycle for miles without seeing a car. The route into our local town (it's a city actually) is sensational. It starts down country lanes as it winds out of the village, goes through the university campus (where son number two is in his final year), meanders through leafy and wooded lanes and joins the canal on entry to the town centre.
On my return J the whippet had come to see us so I took him for a long walk in the afternoon sunshine.
The frustration of the day was no internet access! Because we don't have a landline, we rely on a dongle and they can be temperamental. We rang our provider who said that because usage is low where we are, we are a low priority and the problem will take several days to fix. Because part of my work relies on internet access we signed up for 3 days of wifi provided by a specialist company who deal with boats, but it is expensive. This is because by definition they deal with occasional and leisure users who only want a few days worth of internet.
'Leisure' is the operative word here. Officially no one is supposed to 'liveaboard'. The understanding is that we all have a home to go to, but there is a huge amount of 'under the radar' living on boats. Personally we would like to have our status as 'liveaboards' recognised, but it is a thorny issue as it brings with it expenses like, council tax, tv licence etc. We would be happy to pay these ourselves but some other people are not so keen. There are processes in place now whereby 'residential' status can be applied for to a local council and our marina is currently doing so, but I think it will mean a lot of boats will leave as a result.
Just one word of caution to would be boaters - if you are moving to a boat for purely financial reasons, think again. To be comfortable you will need some regular income behind you, however small and it can be miserable if you don't have that. Boaters are friendly people and there is a great sense of community, but they are quick to spot economic refugees and they don't take kindly to dirty, unkempt boats turning up whose owners don't have the necessary respect and consideration for others. Everybody knows everybody on the canal and these people soon find themselves isolated. Maybe that seems harsh, but it's the way small communities work, so it's as well to be aware of it.
I am now on holiday for two weeks and P and I are well overdue for a long walk. I tore my knee in the summer, getting off L's boat and it is still giving me problems, so we have hardly done any fell walking recently, which is our favourite pastime! We love the Lake District and normally manage to fit in at least one walk a week. We like to do the high level stuff and challenge ourselves, which is difficult for me because I have a terrible fear of heights, but then they say you should do something that scares you every day. P says it's easy for him because he has to wake up next to me every morning - cheeky!! And on that note another little quote from a book I can highly recommend .......
'Feel the fear and do it anyway!!'
Susan Jeffers
Al :)
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