Weather!

I am now on the final stretch of my long work stint. Phil calculated that I have had only 4 days off in the last 8 weeks!

I am just off to Birmingham for the week and I must admit I am really tired. Last week I had a horrendous journey from Glasgow to York. I was on the train from Edinburgh to Newcastle when a landslide caused by flash floods happened at Berwick. It washed away all the ballast from under the track and it was a very wierd sensation sitting on the train which felt like it was floating. They managed to reverse back up the line and chucked us all off onto the platform. From then on complete chaos ensued! Eventually they put most people on a train back to Edinburgh, but I was determined to get to York somehow as I had to be working there the next day.

British Rail said that they couldn't put a bus on as all the roads were blocked due to floods because the rain had been so heavy. I must admit it felt like Armageddon with thunder and lightening all around and the rain coming down in sheets. Myself and three others managed to persuade a taxi to take us beyond the blockage into Newcastle, but it was a long and tedious journey with the taxi having to turn around and take different routes on many occasions due to flooded roads. It was an unbelieveable sight with some floods several feet deep and many roads being transformed into rivers.

I got to Newcastle to find no trains were running there either and every hotel was booked. The roads were gridlocked with traffic and people were fighting with each other trying to get into taxis. The price of getting from A to B was going up by the minute!

To cut a long story short, I sat it out and eventually got on a specially laid on train in the early hours of the morning and arrived at York in time to grab a couple of hours sleep before starting work at 9am.

I am so tired now but buoyed up by the fact that I only have one more week before I can have a break and the news that son number two has achieved a First Class Honours in his degree.

As soon as I got back on the boat I noticed that smell of damp again. It has been so wet this summer that I suppose it is inevitable, but it is seriously starting to bug me. Before I left last week I put new damp collectors in every drawer and the wardrobes and they are all now full of water. Onto my next strategy ...... I think I am filling the drawers too full, so I am going to half empty them and take a lot of clothes up to our storage and will keep you posted on how I eventually get on top of this problem.

It was so cold last night that we lit the fire - I just don't know what is happening to our weather. I have never known anything like it!

When I finish next week I am going to get on to some boaty things, such as working out how much it has cost us since we moved onto the boat and will try and calculate everyday costs and outgoings. I am also going to really address the damp problem and come uup with some radical solutions, so watch this space!

Al