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addicted

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Posts posted by addicted

  1. We went to the boat on Tuesday Sept 5th arriving mid - afternoon.  After  unloading we spent  a leisurely afternoon and evening settlling in just having a light meal in the evening as we had a full lunch on  the journey there. Wednesday was spent  pottering about on the boat getting little maintenance jobs done. Thursday we noticed while buying our morning papers in Horning that there were spaces  on the staithe so returning to the boat we wasted no time in  pushing off, mooring  on the staithe about 20 minutes later. We stayed there watching the world go by until early next morning when we set off for Potter Heigham.  Arriving there we were luck enough to secure  a mooring and get plugged into the power supply although we were dismayed to note how many sockets were out of service. Just putting a bag and tape over them rather than  doing the required repair strikes me as a very poor level of service. We met and chatted to several  very nice people while we were there,  staying till the next morning. On our way back to Horning about a mile or so from our mooring at Ferry we came across a boat broadside across the river. We slowed down as we approached and enquired if they were in trouble and indeed they were having run out of diesel! We roped them to our starboard side  and took them to Ferry marina, dropping them of onto the bank by the fuel pumps. They got fuelled up and an engineer promptly arrived to clear the obligatory air lock that had naturally followed running out of fuel, top marks to Ferry marine for the level of service.  We spent the next couple of days doing very little as the heat left little energy for anything else! We returned home today as we are due a trip to London this  week to see the family who have just returned from holiday in Spain.

     

    Carole

    • Like 3
  2. When my daughter was in her teens I had spent   a long  exhnausting day restoring some semblance of order to her room and I resolved to find a way to make her keep it that way.. That evening just as she was about to sail out the front door on  a  date a quick glance through her door revealed the room was decidedly messy so I hiked her back to tidy it before she left. That didn't go down too well. The following evening just as she was about to go out  I again had a quick look intending to do the same again however the room was immaculate. This situation  cointinued for about a week and  I and  really thought I'd cracked it. Then I  noticed  something odd about her bed which was a 4 poster with a canopy over the top which had a large bulge in  it. Investigation revealed that this was caused by all the detritus she had been tossing on it to make her room look tidy. Back to the drawing board!

     

     

    Carole

    • Haha 5
  3. Just a weekend to sort out a daughter's bedroom?   Oh if only!  In the days before my daughter moved out it would have taken a great deal longer than that. We used to refer to her room as the Black Hole, where anything missing could be located  from a teacup to  a  lawnmower! (not literally) After she moved out she was burgled and one of the attending police remarked what a mess the burglars had made of her bedroom. Saying it was totally trashed. She was forced to admit that she had disturbed them and they hadn't got as far as her bedroom.

     

    Carole

    • Haha 7
  4. Lovely write up/photos as usual Sam. We've noticed for very many years how the river suddenly gets busy at the end of August. I've always put it down to boaters realising that the Summer is almost over and they are running out of time to use their boat. Glad you sorted out your battery problem and  can now look forward to a trouble free 10 days. Enjoy!

     

    Carole 

    • Like 1
  5. I used to have quite a few  spider plants in  our conservatory  and then our cocker spaniel took a great dislike to them and would totally destroy them leaving all the other house plants intact.

    Carole

    • Like 1
  6. We moor at Ferry Marine and at weekends we see the maintenance staff turn up for work on the dot of 9.00am. they mostly comprise teenagers. They're laughing and joking and seem very happy to  be at work. They are a breath of fresh air and a joy to watch. Always ready to share a laugh and a joke with us and each other.

     

     

    Carole

    • Like 2
  7. We had spent the  day on our Fairline Mirage entertaining  friends. The following day we left the boat on  its mooring in Ely marina very early in the morning and travelled  back to London to attend the 1st birthday party of our granddaughter. Returning back to the  boat very late into the night we actually passed where we lived and being tired after a very full and energetic  day I suggested that instead of going all the way back to the boat we spent the night at home  and returned in the morning. Tony said he'd rather push on back to the boat and so we did.  On arriving aboard I went straight to the aft cabin and found myself paddling in a few inches of water!  Inspection  revealed  a considerable amount of water in the engine bay. We had no idea where this had  emanated from or why  the bilge pump had apparently failed. We could see neither the source of the leak  or the pump.We started to pump out the water overboard and finally could see the source of the leak was the stern gland and the reason the pump had failed was that the previous owner had fitted a replacement bilge pump leaving the old disconnected one in situ. The float switch on the new  pump had become trapped under the  old pump preventing it from rising with the incoming water. Tony freed the float switch enabling the pump to do its job which quickly dealt with the water, although neither of  us slept very well that night. Next day saw a trip,to the chandlers for replacement stern gland packing and stern gland thoroughly packed. Also old bilge pump removed to prevent recurrence. We were left with the uncomfortable thought that if we had done as I had suggesteded and left our return till the next day the boat would have probably sunk.

    • Sad 2
  8. spotted an item in the paper today that reminded me of an incident froim a few years ago. Apparently someone  has installed a hidden camera filming people dumping unwanted junk in someone else's skip. While running a small building company this was a situation we  were only too familiar with. On one occasion we had a skip at our own  house in anticipation of  planned works. it was sited round the corner and out of sight if our house. I walked round to put something in it only to find a chap in the middle of dumping a large box of detritus.  In the skip was a load of old furniture so I told him to remove it and take it home with him. He was horrified and said it wasn't his and  he had  found it there when he had arrrived.  I pointed out that what he was doing was illegal and tehnically it was theft as  he was stealing space fromm the skip and I would call the police immediately and press charges if he failled to remiove it. He replied tht he would finish up with a lot of stuff that wasn't his.  Exactly as we would have done if I hadn't caught you was my answer. What' s it to be  removal or police the choice is yours. He took it and I wouldn't mind betting he never pinched some else's skip again.

     

    Carole

     

    • Like 2
    • Haha 2
  9. For anyone who's interested a new series of Floating Homes started last week. The 2nd goes out Thursday at 9.00pm on Channel 18 . We've watched each series of this programme and always found it very enjoyable.

     

    Carole

    • Thanks 2
  10. Back in the 70s/80s Vince Hill did a t.v show called Music Box which ran for several seasons.  An old friend of mine used to choreograph the dance routines and his wife was one of the resident dancers. I remember them both saying at the time that Vince Hill was one of  the nicest performers they ever worked with and they worked with most of the big names of the day.

     

    Carole

    • Like 3
  11. Much the same happened to us when we hired on the Canal du Midi.  The chap from Connoiseur came to show us the ropes  and  give us some instruction and after about 30 seconds asked us to drop him off at the coffee shop  100 metres away.

     

     

    Carole

    • Like 1
  12. When one of our neighbouring berth holders arrived at their boat on Thursday they were dismayed to find that someone had stolen their ensign complete with staff.  I had already noticed that the union Jacks that flew  from the flag poles sited at  regular intervals along the front of the Ferry Inn had vanished. I found them a useful indication of wind direction and missed them. When we went in the Inn for dinner on Saturday evening I asked the governor why they had been removed. He replied that they hadn't  and that he had flags all aong the front. Not any more you haven't I said. He went hurrying off to have a look and returned looking very bemused but made no comment.

    Carole

    • Like 3
    • Confused 1
  13. A conversation was being had between granddad and dad about when 

    the girls could have boyfriends. there'll be none of that until you're at least 25  said granddad. That's right isn't dad. said grandad

    Quite right said dad. But dad you won't know  said Phoebe aged 3 Ought we be worried about the future we asked ourselves.

    Carole

    • Haha 2
  14. We thought we'd head off to the boat today for a week or so. First thing  this morning  I dedided to do a routine bp check as it's been a bit erratic recently and I need to keeep an eye on it. It was sky high (108/79) so I went to the surgery to get it checked.  My appointment was for 10.30am but I wasn't called in until 11.45.  a delay like that is a bit counter productive under the circumstances, hence when  it wsas taken again it was (214/120) so she packed me off to A & E. Saw a triage nurse after 2 hours and a doctor after 4. He was  less than pleased saying he's written a strongly worded letter to the surgery as it was  the worst referral he had ever seen and the surgery had simply passed the buck. That it was high time they got to grips with it and for me to go back and tell them so tomorrrow. This could get interesting - watch this space.

     

    Carole

    • Like 2
    • Sad 1
  15. We went to the Waveney Centre for a  long weekend a few years ago. The mooring basin was fine although we had a few near misses with less than competent  helming so it wasn't the most relaxing place we ever stayed.We went to the pub for dinner. It was truly dreadful,  resembling a holiday camp cafeteria in every way. No offence to holiday to camps but not what we expected or wanted. It was so bad that the following evening we paid a small fortune for a  mini bus to take us into Beccles  to have dinner.

     

    Carole

    • Like 1
  16. We lost our last bank (Lloyds) a couple of years ago and the ATM was sited at the  corner supermarket that we use to get our daily papers until it was ramraided about a year ago and as a result no longer has the machine. Fortunately we do have a very good post office and we can usually manage to do what we need there,  although paying money into our account is a bit more complicated. We also don't have and don't want a smart phone and do not do on line banking except basic stuff like checking balances and such. I suppose its correct to say that we are typically old people struggling to cope in an  ever increasingly difficult world. It is very scary. A town where  we frequenty shop has recently changed the payment methods in its parking facilities  and requires the use of a smart phone so now we can't go there any more. Stop the world I want to get off!

    Carole

    • Like 1
  17. We were moored inn Horning Staithe last Friday and didn't notice that the boat behind us was Springers Retreat until it pulled away We would have said hello  had we realised. Sorry. We did notice that one of the passengers was a very young baby though and we gave them a  wave as they departed.

     

    Carole

  18. A somewhat bombastic acquaintance of my parents was telling me about his hire experiences during the 60s recounting how the yard recommended he mop the decks daily.He was indignant taking the view that he was on holiday and he wasn't about to spend any part of it cleaning their boat for them. The first few days were dry,  then it rained and he found out why he should have swabbed  the boat down as rain water poured through the shrunk  open planking below decks! He was also scathing about their advice to put the boat into reverse to stop!

     

    Carole

    • Haha 2
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