Home Sweet Home

After a couple of months in the warmth and sunshine of Malaysia, I'm back to cold, grey England! Everything about Malaysia was sunny; the climate, the people who were warm and friendly and everyone seemed to be happy! Maybe it is the dearth of sunlight and consequent vitamin D which makes us Brits so stoic!

Having said all that, it is great to be home and back on our lovely boat. You could have fitted the boat twice over into the hotel room I stayed in for most of the trip, but it is so cosy and I really don't mind the fact that even in the middle of the day, it still is dark enough outside to look like dusk, with the sun barely making an impression:

Having only had to worry about keeping cool over the last few weeks, I am now in full 'how to keep warm' mode. Our wood store seems to have taken quite a bashing while I have been away:

.... and in addition we had a small crisis on Christmas eve when we ran out of kindling.

I suggested to Phil that we went out and bought some and watched him as he came out in a cold sweat! Buying wood is something we are determined not to do, especially kindling which is expensive for what you get. We had got to the point where we had a fire to light and had nothing to light it with and I was beginning to lose patience, when Phil said he was going to have a last 'recci' around the marina to try and find something. Unbelievably, a few minutes later he reappeared with a complete bed headboard which someone had thrown over the hedge into our top car park!!

We set to with saw and axe and we now have enough kindling to last at least a week!

It is odd how things work out like that. Another boater friend of ours said she was nearly out of wood and was worrying what she was going to do for firewood, when she passed a tree on the tow path which had just come down. A few hours later after some work with her chainsaw, she had filled the roof of her boat with enough wood for several months. I'm sure that someone up there is looking after us and gives us just what we need when we need it!

It is great to get back to doing chores and physical stuff after working behind a desk for the best part of two months. I feel quite out of condition and it felt really good doing some chopping and sawing yesterday. We were also looking after Jack the whippet for the day and he and I had a lovely walk along the tow path.

It's also time to catch up with the produce. The damson and plum gin has been steeping nicely and it is time to decant it. I started before Christmas but ran out of decanters and bottles to put it in. Here is a decanter of damson gin which took a bit of a hammering yesterday when some boater friends of ours called in for a Christmas drink! We bought two lovely little pewter cups in Kuala Lumpur which are just perfect for a snifter of fruit gin:

I am also going to make chocolates from the left over fruit and I haven't had the chance to make mince pies yet which is a tradition which I can't miss this year, so it's going to be a full baking session today! As it is pouring with rain outside again there's not a lot else I can do!

Al :)

Last post for a while

The last few days have been spent preparing for an eight week work stint. I am due to fly to the other side of the world for work committments on Friday so am making the most of the autumn weather while I am here. As usual we have had some spectacular sunsets:

 Even during the day the canal is so attractive:

 I have been sorting out all my produce before I go. The pickled onions are ready, but I am leaving most of the plum gin, damson brandy and blackberry whisky to mature until I return from my trip. I did decant one or two jars though and they are already tasting very promising.

I was walking through the market the other day and the fruit stall was trying to get rid of its overripe bananas. I got about 20 bananas for 50p, so today I made a big batch of banana bread:

   

As a result of all this T and I have done a great trade in produce - she brought me several jars of green and red tomato chutney in exchange for some plum gin, strawberry vodka and banana bread. A on the boat next door brought some sausages round, in exchange for meals we have cooked for him during the week so we all fed on sausage, mash and onion gravy for tea. I love the currency on the Marina!!

We had our last trip away together a couple of weeks ago. Whenever I travel to foreign parts I always have to have a 'top up' of English scenery before I go. We stayed at our favourite hotel at Haweswater, which is our most loved lakeland valley. We were not disappointed with the scenery or the weather:

The reflection of the hills and vegetation on the water was stunning!!  It was difficult to tell where the hills stopped and the water started:

 The view from the hotel was gorgeous too:

We decided to do quite a high level walk, but nothing dodgy, only a little bit of mild scrambling:

We walked up past this lovely tarn ......

 .... and the views from the top were fantastic:

I probably won't be posting for a while as I fly out on Friday and am straight into work mode, but I will be back just in time for Christmas. We have booked a canal side hotel for a few days over Christmas so that we have the space to all spend time together as a family, so I will be back posting again in a few weeks.

I am going to miss all my friends and family so much while I'm away, but especially Jack the Whippet. He paid us a visit last night and you can see by the grin on his face and his body language that he enjoyed his visit!

That may be something to do with the long walk I took him for, followed by some left over scraps of pork (including crackling) that he scrounged from our tea left overs and finally a good doss on the bed which is the warmest place on the boat due to the eco fan throwing the heat of the fire to that end of the boat.

Al ;)

A short trip north

At last the weather is fine and despite both being full of cold, we felt we needed to get out, so cast off early for the two hour cruise up to town. Here is the boat nearly ready to leave:

We had a lovely quiet trip up and the canal was peaceful, sunny and leafy:

 

 

There are some lovely open stretches too:

 



 

 

As we were coming into the city I was at the tiller and a lady was walking her dog along the tow path. She stopped and scanned boat as we slid by and as I came abreast of her she said 'That is stunning!' I felt very proud and thanked her and said that we thought so too! Our boat is very striking with the Osprey painting on the side which a good friend of mine did and it is lovely when people comment on it.

  

We arrived at the basin without incident and moored up close to the pub. It so happens that a boater friend of ours is moored next to us and we will probably fall into the pub later for a drink with her:

 



The only problem with being on the tow path,(apart from the mud), is the way people peer in at your windows as they walk past. Many boaters close their curtains on the tow path side and just leave the canal side curtains open, but I think this makes the boat too dark.

Anyway, it is great to be out and about and to spend a night on battery power rather than having the luxury of electric hook up . We are due to sail back to the marina tomorrow, because I have a lot of work to do in preparation for a work trip to Malaysia in November, but for now the fire is lit and we are warm, relaxed and cosy. It doesn't get much better!

Al :)

More Produce

It has rained non stop today and for the first time in ages I haven't actually set foot off the boat!

We have lit the fire although it is not really cold, it is just so miserable outside and we wanted something to make us feel cosy. Son number one came to visit for lunch and we had a lovely family few hours.

This afternoon, I made myself do some paper work and then decided to decant the first batch of  Plum Gin I prepared about eight weeks ago. Phil has been complaining about the boat being like a distillery as every cupboard he opens has jars in varying stages of maturity. I decided that, once I have decanted these, the rest can wait until I return from Malaysia in December, so I put all the jars under the bed to store:

They don't all contain alcohol, there are some jars of pickled onions there as well!

I decanted the gin into some of the bottles my friend bought me at the car boot a few weeks ago and I think it looks lovely:

I was then left with the dilemma as to what to do with the plums. I can't waste them, so I made some liqueur chocolates which don't look great, but taste fabulous:

 

 

I still have plenty of fruit left, so I think an alcoholic Crumble or Eton Mess, (using plums instead of strawberries) will be on the menu for pudding tonight!

 

I was on a creative roll, so set to to make some shower gel, using my favourite essential oils, Rose and Geranium.

 

Phil asked me cheekily where my pinny was as I've been such a little home maker today !!

 

It has been a productive day and it proves that I don't have to get cabin fever if I'm stuck on the boat for a day.

 

:)

 



Pottering about

The weather has been half way decent today, so I have enjoyed pottering around doing boaty chores.

I emptied the toilets,(not the best job in the world, but I don't mind it), filled the boat up with water and tidied out the bow deck area. I did some washing and hung it off the boat. We were given some wood yesterday by a builder friend of ours, so I spent a happy hour chopping it up into manageable chunks. A neighbour popped out of his boat and said 'you'll have muscles like knots in cotton doing all that sawing and chopping'. What a great expression! I must admit that I have never in my life felt so fit and I don't even have to pay gym membership!

As I was sawing, I looked over to the corner of the marina and noticed the creeper on the wall which had turned a lovely shade of red - the autumn colours are really starting to come out now:

 

 

 

 

I knew I had to do some paper work, so forced myself to sit at the computer for an hour or so, but then Jack the Whippet turned up looking for a walk:

 



You can see by the look on his face that he wasn't going to take no for an answer!

 

I decided to incorporate some blackberrying with a walk and collected enough for a crumble....

 

.... and I have to say it was sensational!!

The flavour of the blackberries mixed with some apples which I foraged from a local community orchard a few days ago was amazing.

We are now sitting in front of the wood burner, watching the Ryder Cup on the telly with Jack the Whippet lying on his new fleece giving us loving looks with those deep brown eyes, (we are dog sitting as his owner is starring in a new play tonight at a theatre near the lake district).

All I can say is that - at the moment - all is well in my world. I'm making the most of it as I am due to fly to Malaysia at the beginning of November for an eight week work stint. We are determined that before I go, we will have our trip north before we put the back canopy on and baton down the hatches for the winter.

Watch this space .....

One happy boater :)

 

A New Acquisition and a bit of lateral thinking!

It has rained so much over the last week that there is widespread flooding in certain areas of the country and I feel so sorry for those home owners whose houses are knee deep in water now. The canal was so high this morning that the button at the end of the boat had floated onto the jetty:

 

Despite the weather being grim during the day we still get some lovely evening skies:

 

 

It has been quite cold at night though and Jack has often come down to our boat in search of a fire, because T has needed to fit a new chimney and has not been able to light one. Even though her central heating has been on, Jack clearly thinks that there is nothing like a real fire!  He was shivering so much last night that I covered him with his fleece:

 





 

He then demanded his red cushion, just for extra comfort!!

 

I have spent the last couple of weeks taking advantage of the poor weather by going up to the University to practice my piano for several hours every day and it has been an absolute joy!

 

Yesterday we decided to spend an afternoon in one of our favourite places, an antiques emporium which is a massive warehouse full of different stalls selling all sorts of knick knacks. We always enjoy a few hours browsing there and ususally come away with something, but everything is so inexpensive that we invariably just spend a few pounds.

 

However yesterday we saw a beautiful cottage piano in walnut:

 

 

I had a good look inside and it was in excellent condition and when I played it, the sound was lovely and apart from it being slightly out of tune, it responded really well.

 

To cut a long story short I fell in love with it and just had to have it! This is where the lateral thinking comes in.....

 

If push came to shove it would actually fit on our boat. I  know that I have my own beautiful grand piano up at the university, but we are sure that there will be a time when we go back to dry land and if we do, we will only have somewhere small, where a grand piano won't fit, so a small piano is a great investment for the future.

 

I have a pupil who needs a better piano than she currently has (which is one of those horrible electric things), but they have not been able to buy an acoustic piano due to lack of space. I rang them last night and they think it will suit their requirements perfectly, so we agreed that they will have the piano on long term loan until such a time as I need it and in return they will provide storage of it for me. It's win - win!!

 

We raced back to the warehouse this morning and made the seller an offer and got it 'for a song' if you'll excuse the pun, so I am a very happy bunny and so is my pupil!!

 

We got back to the boat and everywhere felt so damp and miserable that we lit the fire. Our wood stores are holding up quite well ......

 

 

 .... but at the rate we are burning wood at the moment we will have to go out on a foraging expedition soon (oops Phil has told me that the word 'foraging' only applies to food. Apparently collecting fuel supplies should be called 'gathering'! Hmmm, semantics I think .....

 

It is lovely to have the fire burning and the eco fan helps all the warmth go to the back of the boat. At the very back of our boat are the wardrobes which have been the subject of much debate in this blog..... I really think that I am getting on top of the damp problem in these cupboards. This is partly due to the huge number of damp collectors which I have on the floor of the wardrobes and also many hanging ones. In addition I have put air fresheners at the bottom to combat any likelihood of  damp musty smells clinging to my clothes. I went to quite an important meeting this week in Manchester and as I was chatting to colleagues in the pristine evironment of the hotel meeting room, I became aware of a smell strongly resembling those 'toilet duck' air fresheners you put in the rim of the toilet. I realised that smell was on my clothes!! That was the final straw for me and now we have decided to tackle this problem in a different and more radical way. We are going to take the doors off the wardrobes in the bedroom and see if the free flow of air will solve the problem and from there we will decide what further steps to take .... watch this space!

 

I went to the allotment this evening to see what was left of our produce. I gathered a few runner beans, but I think that is the last of them. There still seems to be a good crop of raspberries every time I go and we  have parsnips which will be ready for Christmas. The maize had fallen over, probably due to the rain, so I harvested the corn cobs. They are very small but we shall see how they taste. I plan to cook them tomorrow.

 

A happy boater ..... :)