Chopin and Choppin'

Over the last few weeks I have been really busy as I have had work commitments in various parts of the country. When we moved to the boat, the idea was to wind down and semi-retire and yet I seem to be busier than ever! In fairness, because I am self employed, I now only do the work I want to do, but I did fully expect it to gradually dry up. Instead, in some areas it has increased. I'm not complaining, as I enjoy my work very much!

What I have been pleased about is the greater amount of time I have to play my piano. I usually go every day to the University, who look after it in exchange for the use of it. Over the last few weeks I have been revisiting old repertoire, especially the romantic pieces that I played with such passion and zeal in my youth. It has been an interesting exercise, because there are all sorts of cautionary notes on the music, in my teachers handwriting, imploring me not to get too carried away and of course I now realise that I probably bashed them out at full volume with all the intensity of youth. I have spent the last few days reinventing my interpretation of the Chopin Ballades with the result that they now sound so much more lyrical! Old age and maturity is not all bad!!

With the weather improving, the bike is being pressed into service and since the University is on the cycle path and halfway into town, I will often make a trip to the shops after practising. This works well, because the cycle path on the way back to the boat from town follows the tow path and at the moment there is plenty of foraging to be done. The banks are full of wild garlic and yesterday I picked some lovely young leaves and put them in a salad which spiced it up beautifully. There is still lots of tree felling going on and the logs fit very well into the front basket of the bike. I will often bump into friends who are moored up at various points along the tow path and stop for a coffee. The trouble with this and indeed with life on the Marina now, is that the weather is getting better and everybody is surfacing. This inevitably this leads to long chats while we chew the fat and nothing ever gets done, including this blog! I wouldn't want it any other way though!

One major success story recently is the massive stockpile of wood we now have. We have collected so much that Phil has had to build another wood store. Everytime I go out on the tow path, either walking Jack the Whippet or on my bike, I have come back with some wood. I have spent the last few weeks busily sawing and chopping up wood and here is the result, two full stores:

 

 

They are now situated behind the brand new Bicycle shed which is one of the improvements promised when we moved to residential status as a marina. This has had a huge impact on the place which is looking smarter and tidier and we have just had delivered some really big storage boxes which look great:

 

The shift to residential status and the added expense of a mooring as a result, has kept out the people who just move to a boat because they think it is cheaper. The marina is now populated with like minded people who love the boating life for the sake of it and consequently there is a friendly and warm atmosphere about the place, which there didn't used to be.

The evenings are getting lighter and we are getting some amazing sunsets, the light at times is quite special. Phil looked out of the window the other night and remarked on the amazing colours. I managed to get out and take some photos before it disappeared. The trees appeared a bright red in the glow:

Spring really is here and there are some beautiful flowers coming out:

We are hoping to go for a long walk in the Lake District or the Trough of Bowland this week and I am hoping to see some bluebells. We will see ....

A :)



Spring on the Marina

We have had some lovely warm sunny, dry days recently and everybody has been out pottering and working on outside jobs. There is a lovely relaxed atmosphere on the Marina, but the downside is that everyone stops to chat for hours and nothing gets done!

What is really special about the Marina at the moment is that everybody gets on really well. In the past there have been boats which have caused trouble and upset the balance, but at the moment it is blissfully peaceful. This is especially good for us, because as from the 1st April, our status changed to residential berth holders, which makes us legally entitled to live on our boat. It is much more expensive because we pay more mooring fees and also are now liable for council tax. We are very comfortable with that, but in paying that price, we want to have a peaceful existence, which in the past has been jeopardised by difficult people, who have now left.

Even the animals on the marina seemed to be in lively spirits. One of the boaters was playing with an electronic car and their dog was determined to stop it in its tracks!

Spring is also evident in the wild life which all seem to be on the move:



curlew



moorhen pottering about

 

 

 

It's also lovely to see the lambs in the fields.

 

 

 

 

 

 ....... and Jack enjoyed a walk.

 

Mind you, it is still snowy on the hill tops. A couple of days ago we had a pub lunch at a riverside pub with a view of Ingleborough in the distance:

 

 

The snow can be clearly seen covering the mountain in the distance.

 

 





 

 

The pub is right on the riverside and often the front entrance is inaccessible when the tide is high. It's local name is 'snatchems' because, in the 17th century trade ships used to come up to the port and on going back out to sea again were often short of crew, so would stop at this pub and 'snatch' drunk men before setting sail across the Atlantic. These men would then be pressed into service. Poor chaps, imagine going to the pub for a nice drink one evening and waking up the next morning on board a ship far out to sea and being told you were now employed by the merchant navy!

 

We are travelling south tomorrow to visit my Mother for a few days, so I won't be posting until I get back. 

 

Al :)

Marina Life

We woke up this morning to another beautiful day of sunshine. We had loads to do, so set about divvying up the chores. Phil drew the short straw - he had to drive out to a local village where our son is buying a flat, to take all the documentation for the mortgage. I was left on the boat to just tidy up.

Jack the Whippet came to see me very early on and ended up staying, as T his owner wanted to go into town. As soon as I started to tidy and wash up, Jack wanted a walk and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, so I ended up on the towpath and of course at this time of year many boats are out and about and I know most of them. By the time I had passed the time of day with the owners of several boats, it was mid morning and I knew I had to crack on.

Our neighbours had arrived at their boat for the day, when I got back to our boat and there were also many other weekend boaters about. To cut a long story short there were all sorts of groups of people on the marina chatting in the sunshine and I just couldn't resist joining them for a good old catch up. Before I knew it, Phil was back and I had done nothing! But there is nothing better than standing around chatting about boats with like minded people over a cup of tea and currently on the Marina there is not a single person who I don't enjoy socialising with - they are a great bunch.

All this is very good because as from 1st April we are officially classed as residential and therefore legal 'liveaboards'. This costs us more, but the advantages outweigh the extra cost. We have a post code exclusive to our boat, we can now install a landline for phone calls and we contribute to the local community by paying council tax, so no one can accuse us of not paying our way!

The day was finished off in perfect style by a visit from both our sons together! We are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on Tuesday and it was so satisfying to spend a happy lunchtime together as a family because we are all so close, in sharp contrast to my memories of my childhood.

We hope to have a walk soon, but due to the Lake District showing warnings of snow and high winds, we are having to look elsewhere and everywhere else nearby is boring by comparison!

Will keep you posted

Al :)

Snow at Easter and boat maintenance

We woke up this morning to ice on the canal, covered in a light dusting of snow.

We had planned to go for a walk in the Lake District, but following an avalanche warning on the news, we decided not to risk it and stayed on the boat to do some spring cleaning. This has involved, not only wiping down the whole boat inside to clean off sooty deposits from the fire which have built up all winter, but also taking out the windows and double glazing to wash the gap between the windows. No sooner had we taken out our first window, (and been met by an icy blast of cold air!) than it started to snow! Only light billows which wouldn't settle, but still amazing that it is so cold at this time of year!

On venturing outside, I bumped into one of the weekend boaters down at the end of the jetty. It is quiet down there because nobody lives aboard. There is also a small patch of land next to the end boat and he mentioned that he had seen a mink scratting around a few minutes ago. We crept around the end boat and managed to see it, but it spotted us and took off along the ice on the canal at a rate of knots!

The spring cleaning is just one of the regular maintenance jobs we need to do on the boat. There are other more vital things which must be done for the boat to run smoothly, for example the yearly water filter change and the bi-annual chemical clean of the toilet cassettes. Water purification tablets need to be dropped into the water tank also on a regular basis and at this time of year the chimney has to be swept at least every few weeks.

There are less frequent but more important things that we also need to do such as actually getting into the water tank and cleaning it out by hand every two or three years. We will do this next year when we lift the boat out of the water to clean and black the bottom. Our boat safety certificate is due next year and we will not be allowed to use the boat, let alone live on it without this vital document, so all these maintenance chores must be done.

Well, there is a bit of useful information for anyone who is thinking of buying a boat!

I'm on holiday for two weeks now, so hope to post again soon.

Al :)