One of the first things I did, was to decant all the Fruit that had been steeping in alcohol for the last three months. I made Raspberry Vodka, Damson and Sloe Gin, Blackberry Whiskey and Plum Brandy, all from organic fruit either off our allotment or foraged from the local hedgerows.
I hate wasting food, so I then had to decide what to do with the left over fruit. It is easy to use the damsons and Plums, I simply melt dark chocolate in a pan and dip them in it, coating them and leave them to cool. They make gorgeous chocolates. The raspberries were soon whisked up with some cream to make an alcoholic raspberry fool. Sloes though, are very bitter, even after sitting in spirits and sugar for many weeks. I was talking to a fellow boater who said he had heard that they go very well with cider and add a unique flavour if left for a couple of weeks. I needed no encouragement and they are currently steeping in small bottles of cider which I decanted. You can see them amongst the other fruit gins here:
We are now on our forth winter on the boat and a lot has changed in the way we go about things, as a result of what we have learnt. Our first winter was a 'baptism of fire', since the canal froze and we were iced in, after only four weeks of living afloat. That was a harsh winter and we struggled to keep warm and also had issues of damp and condensation. We have learnt so much through trial and error since then and now cope very well with whatever the weather throws at us. We have had a lot of rain this winter and I feel so sorry for the huge numbers of people whose homes have been flooded all over the country. Friends often email us to check that we are okay in such extreme weather, but of course, the higher the water gets, the higher we float, so we are not affected at all by heavy rain.
There are many things we have done to improve our winter living. Probably the most effective was the double glazing which Phil installed himself just by cutting and fitting acetate sheets and draft excluders to the windows. This has kept drafts out and the heat in. The other problem we have fixed, is the condensation and damp, the dehumidifier was an inspired buy. We check the humidity about twice a day on our 'weather station' which came with it and put it on for an hour or two if it gets above 70. It is amazing how full the tank gets and to know that all that water would have been hanging in the atmosphere and clinging to our clothes in the wardrobes. The other item which has proved useful is a small panel heater, which we have on twice a day, morning and evening and this just keeps the chill off the boat until we get the fire lit. We did worry about the expense of running these electrical gadgets, but with our most recent electricity bill coming to £41 for the coldest quarter of the year, we are no longer fretting about expense!
We are also much more efficient with our log burner. You can usually spot the new boaters in winter because they have all their doors open whatever the weather. It is very easy to overcook the fire and the boat can become unbearably hot even when it is freezing outside. We now use a mixture of coal and wood to keep it ticking over.
Our wood supply is holding up. A number of our friends live in Blackpool, where the notoriously strong winter winds often take out panels of their garden fencing. These are more often than not beyond repair once they have been blown about a bit, so we get invited to chop them up and take them away and they make perfect kindling. Another friend is a builder and always has a plentiful supply of pallets for soft wood and our log store of foraged wood provides the rest. We have used about 3/4 of our wood so far and I haven't had the opportunity to replenish it this year. This is partly due to the fact that Jack the Whippet is no longer with us and on our walks I would often to be one of the first to spot tow path tree felling. I rarely walk along the tow path now. We heard on the grapevine of a massive tree felling exercise up by the motorway at the weekend. An entire wood was being cleared to make way for the new motorway link. We drove up there yesterday with the chainsaw and some bags, only to find that the locals had got there first and the place was completely cleared! Ah well, such is life!
I hope to post a bit more frequently now that I am back and have caught up, so watch this space!
Al :)
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