addicted

Your parents sound similar to us. Todays products seem, to come with so many bells and whistles one needs a degree to work them! I just want an electric double oven that has the usual functions, that is easy to operate and above all, unlike my present Bosch is easy to clean. I don't for one moment expect it to be available immediately - nothing is these days. At present we have a gas hob and an electric oven a combination that we have found works well - although I do miss my ceramic hob from my old house - so easy to clean. My present oven is so awkward to clean caring for it is like having a new career! Carole

That sounds ideal. How did you locate the 'van. Carole

I shall shortly be going out in search of a new oven and shall hope to find a sales person who has some knowledge of the product they are selling. While thinking about this and how difficult it can be to find a salesperson who has the faintest knowledge of the product, I was reminded of an incident that occurred 2or 3 years ago when some friends acquired a new boat for which they needed a new T.V. and the four of us duly presented ourselves in the relevant department of John Lewis, Norwich. After looking around for a while and finding nothing on display that seemed to fit the bill, we sought the assistance of a salesman who it turned out was the department manager. We asked him "do you have any AC/DC portable. T.V.s in stock"? At this he went very pink and became extremely flustered, replying that they certainly didn't sell anything of that nature. It took a few seconds for it to dawn on us that he thought we were asking for a T.V with flexible sexual orientation.! You couldn't make it up

I'm very much afraid that you are right and getting it out of our system might prove to be impossible. We're looking into acquiring a holiday lodge or chalet. we thought somewhere coastal may be a good idea , a complete change A motor home does not appeal - we have issues with chemical toilets! Thanks to all of you have responded to my tale of woe. Carole

if only Carole

Thanks Jim, having the boat maintenance done by others is not an option unfortunately. A few years ago when we were moored at Brundall and Tony was suffering particularly badly with his back. He paid to have the first clean of the season done by a company there.It was diabolical and in the words of the owner of the boat adjacent to us "he waz robbed! " The boat was still filthy with the green algae of the Winter still evident all over. He vowed then" never again". To be fair he is very meticulous in all areas of maintenance and in one of our previous marinas was known as Squeaky - as in clean! Carole

Last week we came to the painful conclusion that age and infirmity have caught up with us and that Boating is no longer an option thus we spent a few days clearing our much loved boat (9+ years of detritus!) and last Friday we took her to Sheerline to be brokered. She has been fabulous and in all the years we have owned her has not once failed to start. We are finding this very hard as boating has been our "thing" for more than 30 years, but now Tony has a chronic back condition that makes it all but impossible to keep the boat properly maintained and my balance these days is not what it was either making it a bit risky coming in to moor. We are thinking of maybe buying a cabin or chalet as a bolthole instead but initial investigation indicates that these come with expensive overheads. Does anyone have any experience of these? I know I am going to find reading all the posts on this forum quite painful for a while and will be full of envy of those of you out and about on the Broads. One of my big regrets is that we haven't had long on our recently acquired mooring at Ferry Marina. I have really loved it there and would have liked to have been there for longer as despite some of the comments to the contrary on this forum when I posted our intention to relocate from Brundall. it was a good move and not one we regretted at all. Carole

Your tale of introducing your dog to the joys of boating reminds me of the occasion when we were looking after my daughter's 12 week old Cocker Spaniel named Bertie. We took him with us when we went to re- commission the boat after the winter lay up. We spent a few days doing various chores around the boat without going anywhere until finally we were ready to take that first cruise of the new season. Bertie was asleep on the cockpit floor, below which was the engine. Tony started the engine and Bertie leapt up and dived down into the saloon without even touching the stairs. He stayed there for a few minutes looking very worried indeed after which he crept slowly up the stairs and put out a tentative paw to test the cockpit floor and deciding there was nothing to worry about came back up and resumed his sleeping position. That was the first of countless times we had Bertie on board. He loved the boat and used to get very excited when we were on the journey there and got near the marina. As soon as we arrived, he would jump out the car and tear off down the bank till he arrived at our boat where he would leap in the minute we opened up. Sadly Bertie died aged 13 about 5 years ago and we miss him still. Carole

No possibility of needing a mooring as with 12' width and12.6" height we had no chance of going by boat.. We went by car a really quick journey and the food was excellent. If we had a criticism it was that the menu was was rather small. However they were very obliging and left the batter off the only fish dish on offer. It was haddock and very good Tony had the meat pie and pronounced it to be absolutely lovely so all in all it was a success. Carole

We're going by car, Not really bothered how good the beer is or not neither of us is what you would call a beer drinker Tony will probably have a half pint of the one on offer with the lowest alcohol content as he's the driver and l'l lhave a large white wine. Will report on the evening tomorrow. Carole

We're booked in to the White Horse for dinner dinner tonight, hoping it lives up to it's good reviews Carole

When we lived on the green belt north of London we used to have an enormous garden full of trees of all kinds and were visited by most birds but the one I remember particularly is a golden pheasant who Tony use to feed each morning before he went to work. On his day off, therefore not up so early, Fred as we called him would come banging on all 3 sets of patio doors looking for his breakfast. He was a magnificent looking bird. Carole

I'm so glad you said that Vanessan! I've been trying hard to work out what it is that I've missed and then I spotted a "Jayfire said" with nothing following it and figured that must have been something to do with it - what?, I cannot imagine! At least after reading your post I don't feel quite so daft so thanks! Carole

HI Sam, So glad your "mission" was so successful, We saw you depart from the marina but had gone home by the time you returned. Have very much enjoyed your blog and the trip sounds to have been an absolute joy. We are at home at the moment and likely to remain as long as the weather is as dreadful as predicted. However when we are on board do feel free to pop round again. We enjoyed our chat it was very nice to meet you. Carole

We had insurance for the car with an internet company and although it was a very user friendly premium, I was always concerned about the possible scenario if, God forbid, we needed to claim. reading your account made me very glad we moved away from that company this year. What happened to you was exactly what I was afraid of. So glad you got it sorted. How different being the parent of a young adult is for us than it was for our parents. the most they had to worry about was me missing the last bus home! Carole

ditto! Carole

After our meal out on Saturday, Tony said "we need to get some recommendations for good places to go for a meal in this locality. " I replied that I agreed and that I knew just the place to source them and as usual you lovely forumites didn't disappoint! Thanks all for the info and input. We'll be checking some of the recommended venues out soon. Carole

One man's meat etc. Sutton Staithe is not an option for us by boat, sadly we're too high and too wide. We managed to get there with our previous boat and loved it Carole

Well remembered! I mentioned this restaurant to him last week and he went quite pale at the very thought of it. Sadly it's not a place we'll be likely to patronise although I would be in heaven with predominantly fish menu. Carole

Well, we've been on our new location for a month and so far we have been very pleased with our choice of marina. What we have found a little disappointing is the quality of the local eating establishments. The Ferry Inn is o.k. depending on what you order. The carvery is as carveries usually are - hit and miss. I suppose to sum it up the quality of the food does not warrant the cost. The New Inn was dreadful - an experience never to be repeated. The Swan was very nice but such small portions, my cod loin was delicious but the size of a small fish finger, which made it very poor value, whereas Tony's steak was very good We were always very happy with the fare offered at The Yare and are hoping to find something offering similar quality and cost within a reasonable distance. We went to the pub in Ludham last Saturday (The King's Arms?) which we have used several times over the years when moored at Womak Water and while my meal was delicious Tony's was disappointing- a tiny lamb shank with a spoonful of gravy set on top of an enormous pile of mashed potato - not ideal. The search continues. Carole

We always found when using Coldham Hall that if you arrive early enough( late afternoon usually does it on) the evening you wish to eat there and get moored, at some point someone from the restaurant will come out and ask if you intend eating there that evening and book you in. It's a lovely place to moor up and watch the world go by for a few hours. The last time we enquired they didn't take bookings for moorings. Carole

perhaps I should also have mentioned that we buy diesel at a concessionary rate of £1.00 per litre. Carole

We have just spent our first week on our new mooring on Ferry Marina and have no complaints at all. We found our water tap ran so slowly it took 5 hours to fill our tank but a mention in the office and a new tap was fitted a day or so later pretty good service I think. We have managed to park our car immediately to the rear of the boat each time we leave the marina to get papers etc. so no problems there. True the extra journey is a bit of a pain but I think it'll be worth it. The cruising is very beautiful and very interesting. We spent a night moored at the quiet moorings Potter Heigham, the howling wind and spectacular thunder storm made for an interesting night. Out with the torch at 4.00am to check the mooring spikes were holding their own, noticed the chap in the boat behind doing likewise, all was well no need to fret. On the whole it was a lovely week and we're looking to our return next weekend . Carole

Don't worry that a a dodgy hip will curtail your agility on your new boat I had a new one fitted last year and it's brilliant no problems using the boat at all unlike last year before it was replaced using the boat was really hard .Congrats on your new purchase you'll soon begin to wonder what you did with your life before you had it and your money!!!) Carole

Now you own our own boat you will probably find as with us that winter becomes just a time for marking off the months till boating time arrives. Since retiring 19 years ago ( We retired quite early) we have used our boat as a second home with a routine of staying on board for 10-12 days at a time then home for a few days - mow the lawn, do the laundry spend a day in London with the family then back again. Marvellous! We really do get the most out of Hot Gossip. We originally moored on the Great Ouse, moving to the Broads in July 2010. At that time we had a Sheerlne 950 aft Cockpit It pretty soon dawned on us that no longer being governed by the restrictions of locks we could have a bigger boat and the Sheerline 1050 Aft cabin was acquired in October 2010. We still have her But do wonder how long it will be before we feel we need something a little smaller thus easier to manage It will be with very heavy hearts that we will part with her when the time comes. Carole