Our friends and neighbours left the marina yesterday to cruise the system for 4 months. They intend to explore the Chester ring, the Llangollen canal and of course the Grand Union. I felt a pang of envy as we waved them goodbye. I am really keen to explore the canal network more, but Phil does not share my enthusiasm.
The original idea of moving to the boat was Phil's. It was intended that we would reduce our outgoings and I would not have to work so hard. I was working sometimes seven days a week, teaching from Monday to Friday in school during the days and at home in the evenings and then also teaching on Saturdays and rehearsing on Sundays. It was a crazy time and I was becoming burnt out. It was such a liberating feeling moving onto the boat and the first year was spent relaxing and just working three days a week in school. It was a fantastic time.
I would like to explore the inland waterways, but I understand that the reasons that Phil suggested the move to the boat were not neccesaily due to a love of boating, but rather for my benefit. I respect the fact that he doesnt want to explore. We do get out and about occasionally, which is enough for him and satisfies my love of boating and the outdoors, so we compromise well.
I love travelling abroad and working for several weeks at a time, in the knowledge that I can relax afterwards for long periods. However, it seems that a pianist is always in demand and my periods at home are now being filled with more and more playing commitments. I do love the opportunity to play, but these last few weeks have been jam packed with a recording session and lots of rehearsals. I am giving a concert tomorrow evening and I am starting to feel the stress of overdoing things and those old knots in the pit of my stomach are returning.
Added to that, my 92 year old mother is not well and lives 300 miles away. I had to do a flying visit last week to sort out her appointments and some sort of longer term care for her. Our NHS is fantastic and the people who work for it are committed and helpful, but it is creaking under the strain of a lack of funding. I came home exhausted and frustrated, having had to go through hoops just to get a basic level of care for her. I had hoped to catch up with friends while there, but dealing with beaurocracy is all consuming!
On Sunday, Phil decided that I needed a bit of relaxation, so we had lunch at our favourite hostelry (Snatchams, so named because it was where the press gang operated in days of yore). We just managed to leave before the incoming high tide cut us off, which is a frequent occurence there. I did note a touch of disappointment in Phil's voice as we left, I think the prospect of being stranded in a pub for a few hours rather appealed to him.
We then drove to the other side of the river for a walk, a bit of bird watching and to collect some wood. The high tide had brought in loads of lovely seasoned wood and we filled the car to the brim with it.
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| A view of Snatchams from the other side of the river - it is completely cut off! |
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| Plenty of wood is washed up, so we are able to replenish our wood stores |
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| More lovely wood! |
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| Hmmmm |
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| We saw lots of bird life |
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| The scenery is gorgeous |
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| Waiting for the farmer to bring the cows in for milking before we could drive through |
Otter news is that I caught something on the camera last week which looks very much like it. There was a splash and a line of bubbles. It was definitly something big, which moved very fast, but we didn't capture an image of it. Here is the video, but I'm not sure whether it will play on here. The last one didn't seem to work.
I fly overseas again next week and so at least will get into some kind of normal work routine, but won't be posting for a while.
Back at the beginning of June, cheerio for now!
Al :)
