CooWee

Hi Alan and an even more belaed hello from moi, look forward to reading your posts. I see you are from a rather nice part of the world yourself.

Hi, Guiness eh! lip smacking good. That aside a very welcome aboard this forum of iniquity or should that be antiquity! Nonetheless look forward to your contributions.

Hawes has a really nice chippy, I hope I haven't caused offence, boys and girls, by saying that, I would be mortified - yeah right!

Hi John, The point was made by someone addressing themselves as: - British Taxpayer, Arundel, U.K.

I thought this a valid comment. "Is this the same BBC that employs the foul-mouthed Russell Brand, Jonathan Ross, Paul Merton, Stephen Fry, Jo Brand and all the other left-wing so-called "comedians" on their shows?"

"serious complications" It certainly can, I've had a total ankle replacement operation and the night before they wheel you in a nurse writes on your, in this case, right leg TAR with and arrow pointing to the ankle. Somehow this isn't reassuring!

It's okay, it's okay - the woman is blonde!

Hello Terry & Denise, The picture is our version doing her meerkat impression. The lifejacket is a good move as we experienced once. Warm welcome to NBN, hope you enjoy the experience.

Hi Marina, What follows, happened in August 2013 and subsequent to what follows we heard that a near neighbour at Broom had died, a nice chap, shame. Also since then I have heard a swan tapping and the sound is nothing like the noise I heard. I have since that incident slept in the back bedroom alone on the boat and I am glad to say nothing occurred. "The day began very early for me and was shortly to become very strange indeed. As stated previously I had gone to bed around 2200, but struggled to get to sleep, feeling pretty uncomfortable and beginning to cramp up and not wishing to disturb Lisa, as I did on Blue Diamond when I got dreadful cramps, in fact she said she thought I was having nightmares, well, it was in one sense. The upshot was that I grabbed my sleeping bag and de-camped to the rear bedroom, this being around 0200. I lay there stretching legs and rubbing muscles, reading a bit, then I tried to get to sleep, it was during this period that I became aware of a knocking sound and I wasn’t quite clear where it was coming from. Originally I thought it was an internal door catching on something or something catching on it, but I didn’t really believe that. The night was still, but something wasn’t apart from me. I first looked at my watch and the time was just coming up to 0320 and this knocking would have been going on at a guestimate of fifteen minutes. I listened for another ten minutes and the knocking had a sort of random pattern to it, i.e. knock knock, then knock knock-knock knock, then knock (fainter) knock knock. I have to admit to feeling rather flaky now and I’d even shut a little curtain at the back of the boat in case a face appeared and with my ticker that would probably have been curtains (sorry couldn’t resist), same thought occurred if I went out onto the stern well, startled into to the river, same result. Eventually around 0340 I started to get more curious and I turned the stern light on and opened the curtains, nothing there and the knocking stopped when I looked, went to the front bedroom to retrieve my glasses and looked out from the back of the saloon, nothing. At this point I thought I would wake Lisa up, but to no avail, Krakatau couldn’t have done it. I also looked at the dog she was also fast asleep, which is a surprise in itself. I dare say most people have experienced a dog or cat that has been spooked by what it perceives as something in the room, when the hackles go up, gets under a table and snarls and stares at some fixed point in the room, quite disturbing at the time, but I haven’t seen that for a good number of years. We are now getting up to around 0350 and I was starting to get the feeling that it would stop at 0400, and this isn’t being wise after the event, I really did start sense the knocking was soon to stop and suddenly it went with a sort of rhythm –dud, dud, dud, dud dud dud dud dud, dud, dud, almost as if whatever was doing the knocking finished off with an irritated flourish and the time when I looked at my watch it was a minute or two after 0400. I have always smiled when people talk about strange things happening to them when moored up on the Broads, we’ve moored up at St Benet, Berney Arms and elsewhere and never a peep. I am not smiling now and it certainly bothered me then and bothers me now, although after the actual event, quite strange really, I felt almost peaceful or at least calm. Tonight I will sleep in the same room to see if happens again. I lay there afterwards, still couldn’t sleep, read a bit, thought a bit and with the dawn starting to break I nodded off until 0700ish and then started to think about getting up. I talked to Lisa about my night time adventure and she seems convinced that it was a swan, well if it was it was an invisible swan. There was nothing on that boat, no birds scrabbling around, nobody actually on it, it is a mystery."

Geoff & Wendy, A hello and welcome to the NBN, also warmest congratulations for your August wedding, I am sure it will be a wonderful day followed by a lovely honeymoon.

Like you Alan, it looks like we are going to be getting it large on Wednesday for a few days. I hope it doesn't last too long I've just booked a train to Leicester on Tuesday week. "I have been sunburnt once at the OT cricket ground!" That wouldn't have been 1976 by any chance Iain? Today here started cold bright and sunny but deteriorated after lunch with showers and still cold. Nothing is sticking its head out anywhere at the moment including me.

Just yet another fleeting visit, to say have a great day you Scotties! Iain Don't worry about drinking, I've got some Glenfiddich in and I'll do enough for both of us, I'm thoughtful like that! Unfortunately I won't be having haggis as someone doesn't like it, she's no fun!

Over Christmas we discovered this Pate, which some of you may know about. It is pretty expensive, £5.99 for 230g, today I bought Chilli & Lemongrass with chicken liver. One I can throughly recommend is Brandy & Herb, which is really nice. There are some winter specials and one I intend send off for is Bl**dy Mary (Chicken Liver & Horseradish Vodka Pate). Here is one for lovers of Snowdonia Cheddar(Black Bomber) and there are few on here I think, it is a cheese pate - Snowdonia Pate with Welsh Ale. Just to be clear I am not a representative of this company, just a customer.

Thought I would just pop in to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year with lots of happy cruising in 2015. As for us we are off to Derbyshire on Friday, then on to Brundall on Saturday for a winter cruise, weather conditions permitting.

Hi Mal, On a cold windy day, a warm welcome to the NBN from me and I hope you have a good 2015.

"I know we have had some great posties who would go out of their to be helpful." Our recently retired postman was helpful, a for instance was to sign recorded delivery post and put it through the letterbox or put parcels around the back in the rear toilet, note in, not down. Saved us numerous trips to the sorting office.

I don't want to worry you all but I will anyway, this could happen to Norfolk and the Broads, Essex isn't that far away. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2853700/The-real-culprits-fly-tip-one-mile-long-s-green-fanatics-meddling-EU-going-dump-expensive-nightmare-us.html I have long had the feeling that writing to a forum like this or the comments regarding the above article don't make the slightest difference, tomorrow it is all forgotten, the politicians continue in their own arrogant way regardless of what we think, but if we could all act as collective and make it clear to them at the next election we will vote them out if they will not listen, we might make some headway; I realise it is but a pipe dream but... This is regardless of their politics by the way. Have a nice day.

You beat me to the punch Alan, as I have said before it is a strength of this forum that you can discuss subjects other than Norfolk. That said I hope that lady can be helped she obviously has great courage. Talking of sadness RIP Phillip Hughes.

Jon and Mark a very sad day for you both with more to follow I'm afraid, please accept my best wishes and sad condolences.

Brilliant, thanks Alan, that certainly fits. I was 6 from August 1953 so that is slap bang on. Dan Dare that is another memory Iain via The Eagle, in fact one Eagle Annual showed how to make a spear which was potentially lethal, how we didn't hurt people I'll never know. Then there were comics that had more words in them than many newspapers today, The Victor for one. Thanks for starting this thread Jill.

Some memories in these posts. Does anyone remember, it will have been in the fifties, a space serial or series? I can remember dad, sister and me sitting around the radio engrossed. Before 1956 possibly, because that year we got our first telly.

G'day ya all! The Vulcan Winter Raffle has some fabulous prizes including 1st prize, a trip to Canada and a flight in their Lancaster, 2nd prize a flight in a Spitfire. There is also a information pack being issued 0845 5046 558 the number to ring if you want one. The http://www.vulcantothesky.org/

"A Scot is head coach of Warwickshire, and they do not too badly." (sic) And Dougie Brown was also a very fine all rounder in his playing days.

Oh! Guilty me, sorry, I should have said hello and welcome to the good ship NBN Forum and whatever the future holds, I hope it works out for you. Well spotted Iain.

"maybe avoiding 'forum's' might not be such a good thing after all." I think that is a valid point Bill, by the way I have always liked your little saying "The older I get, the better I was." That is so true, I am now of the age that when goalkeeping I was asked to stop because I never let a goal in!! :liar