Saturday, April 19, 2014

Spring is here at last!

The weather has been sunny over the last few days and although it is still chilly in the mornings, there is some warmth in the sun as the day draws on.

There are lots of lambs in the fields, which is a clear sign of spring:





I am busy preparing to go overseas tomorrow, for four weeks work, but I did manage to get out for a walk along the towpath the other day. I shall miss the lovely scenery around where I live:





I stopped to talk to some hire boaters who are thinking of buying a boat to live on. We talked for a long time about the pros and cons. They seemed to think that this type of change of lifestyle is becoming more common, but I do think that quite a few people who embark on it, give it up quite quickly when they realise that it is not quite as they imagined. When we were considering it, we were told that only 1 in 100 actually do it and stick at it. Well after 4 years and still loving it, I think we count as one of those 1 in a 100!

This morning we took the opportunity of a lovely day, for me to have a last walk for a while in the English countryside. We disturbed some hares in the field behind the tow path.



















As we walked along the tow path, our local heron was doing a bit of fishing and was not up for moving as we approached him. He is used to people and very tame!



We saw lots of other birds, including many Wrens and this Black Cap, a spring visitor:



Yesterday evening I sat on the roof of the boat, in the evening sunshine with a beer, listening to the birds and watching the world go by and I couldn't have been happier, or more sure that we made the right decision to move to the boat four years ago. It ticks every box for us.

I am looking forward to flying to the Far East tomorrow, but will not be posting until I get back. Once I have completed this spring work stint, we will be taking the boat out of the water for essential repair and maintenance work and that should make for some interesting reading, so please bear with me and I will post again in June.

Al :)











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