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 :)