addicted

No use to those of you in God's own County I know but just so as to prove that good, honest, reliable plumbers really do exist, we, here in Cambridgeshire, have a wonderful plumber who charges us the same for parts as he pays himself, always comes promptly when needed and keeps his labour charges to a minimum. He also goes the extra mile too when last year our gas fire refused to ignite he found it needed a new part that was no longer available( the fire is 15 years old) he went to enormous trouble to track one down, doling so within a week and coming to fit it with a tiny bill to follow. He's worth his weight in gold.. Carole

I've used amazon for years and have never had cause to complain apart from ordering a T.V. and having a used one turn up that broke down 24hours later but I got a refund vey promptly and I suspect the fault lay with the company rather than with Amazon. However I also found myself signed up to Prime having no idea how that had occurred but simply cancelled the membership and got a refund almost immediately. What I do like about Amazon is that unlike a lot of other mail, order companies it comes mostly postage free of charge which can make quite a difference to the costs involved. Carole

We once did a crossing from Malta to Sicily in December on a catamaran. With hind- sight it should never have put out as the weather was not good when we left. The journey back was horrendous with passengers falling ill and the cabin crew disappearing into their own quarters to strap themselves in to their seats, That's where my husband who seemed to be the only one able to keep his feet, found them when he went in search of someone to show him where sick bags could be found which he then collected and handed out to grateful passengers, some of whom were in a bad way. None of the cabin crew ventured out at all So bumpy was it, passengers if not strapped firmly into their seats were actually hitting their heads on the racks over their seats! The trip upset my own equilibrium so badly that I was obliged to spend the next 2 days in bed and it took months for me to recover from it. Carole

Nothing so adventurous Chris it was at Hartford marina on the sedentary dear old Gt. Ouse! Carole

When we first started boating I remember noticing on returning home from a weekend on our newly acquired boat boat that as I was pouring tea I was swaying! this continued for the first few stays and then stopped. I never have it happen now even after being home for months during the off season. Carole

Thanks for the warning Speedtriple actually we don't bother going to any boat jumbles these days, we only ever went in search of small items for the galley saloon etc. or maybe a

We've always found the Norfolk Boat Jumble to be a bit of a waste of time. Having gone a few times with a sizeable shopping list we've come away empty handed as there is indeed an abundance of tat and much fewer genuine chandlery outfits than at other boat jumbles such as for instance Essex. We used to go regularly to the Essex one until they moved the venue and re-scheduled it to earlier in the year making it sometimes too cold and uncomfortable to browse as we liked to do hence we tried the Norfolk one. I've heard it said that the best one is Beaulieu but the distance from us makes it too difficult to attend plus it's better, we think, to get the stuff you need at the start of the season rather than half way through and Beaulieu is held quite well into Summer I believe. Carole

I have heard it said many times that the oldest inland marina in the U.K. is L.H.Jones at St. Ives in Cambridgeshire and on the Great Ouse. Carole

When we used to cruise the Great Ouse during the nineties and noughties, we shared the lock pens at Earith and Brownshill with a seal quite often. It was widely rumoured that local fisherman used to try to shoot them to prevent the depletion of the fish stock though I don't know how true this was obviously. Carole

We once lived temporarily (while between houses) in a house on a farm. Although it was a modern house it soon became apparent that we had "lodgers" in the shape of mice. They got everywhere. Fortunately I'm not averse to them as some women appear to be. My bête noir is spiders. We were living there during the Christmas of that year and I had one parcel left unwrapped which I asked my daughter to wrap for me. It was a Terry's chocolate orange which had been left on a chair in the dining room. She brought it to me asking if it looked "right" to me. It ceratinly didn't half of it was missing! I then noticed a hole in the wall of the adjacent chimney breast. The only thing I had to hand to plug it at that time was a ball of tin foil which I stuffed into the hole. Later on that day we heard a real racket coming from behind the tin foil as the little blighters tried to chew their way through it to get to the chocolate. A more permanent remedy was applied and that was the end of the problem in the dining room. After we had moved on we subsequently learned that the adjacent house occupants were less than hygienic and when they vacated their house it was found to be so overrun with vermin of all types as to be uninhabitable until fumigated. Carole

I used to smoke at least 30 a day on a "good" day! Rothman International which my local shop used to get in specifically for me and which I used to buy 200 at a time. I gave up on the persistent nagging of Tony and because a good friend of mine had had a very difficult life bringing up 2 children as a single parent and had met a man who was emphatically non smoking and had told her that they had no future together while she smoked. She had promised to give up on New Years Eve 1989 so thinking me smoking would make it harder for her and I wanted her to have a better future I gave up too and have never smoked since. I always loathed a smoky atmosphere and used to buy bulk orders of anti smoke air fresheners from the wholesalers so my home never smelled even when I smoked. Today I really dislike the smell and notice it instantly. Also because smoking is not nearly so prevalent these days as it was it's much more noticeable I think. I would hate to use a boat that smelled of stale cigarette smoke and anyone lighting up in close proximity to my grandchildren would incur my extreme displeasure. the irony of this tale is that I never smoked again but my friend didn't manage to quit and he married her anyway! Carole

M y parents used to tell the story of a somewhat bombastic character of their acquaintance who hired a boat on the Broads for the first time , it was many years ago so was a " woodie" He was given some basic instructions which included a quick mop down each day with the mop provided for the purpose. His response to this once underway was something along the lines of " I should coughdrop, I've paid to hire their boat they can clean it themselves when I bring it back". He was very fortunate with weather and enjoyed unbroken sunshine until the last but one day when it poured down all night! flooding through the dried out planking and all over them in their beds! Carole

Don't knock it! personally speaking I'd love to be too young to qualify for a bus pass. Carole

Where do you get the wax sticks Alan and do they come in black? We thoroughly cleaned and reproofed the canopy on Hot Gossip last year but didn't manage to totally eradicate the resulting slight weeps on some parts of the seams. regards, Carole

I've never yet failed to get sufficient signal to book a table at our chosen venue for dinner, which is the only thing I require a signal for. Carole

I usually get a vodophone signal at Loddon by getting off the boat and walking towards the toilet/shower block. Carole

Well I clearly don't know mine because I've been in on numerous occasions! Carole

Is staying at Brundall an option? , We have no problem receiving ITV on board while on board at our mooring at Tingdene. Carole

When we hired a boat on the Canal du midi a few years back we were amused to note how easy it was to distinguish a privately owned boat from a hired one - the former was arrayed with fenders by the score , and very wisely so. We always cruise with fenders down and they have saved us from a scuff many a time when another boater whose helming skills lack much to be desired has come a little too close for comfort. Carole

Oh but they do make sense - finally!! Carole

we used to regularly go to the Essex boat jumble which was usually held at the Essex showground in early March if I remember correctly but they changed the venue and with it the usual date moving it to early February. The new venue was o.k. but the date was invariably during a cold period making it not nearly so user friendly to amble round and just browse. The most comprehensive one we ever went to was back in the mid eighties, was at Chatham Dockyard and partially inside which was great. Carole

About 5 years ago friend fr ours had a Sealine that had picked up a few scuffs before he bought her and he had it vinyl wrapped in a metallic gold finish It looked immaculate and he was advised that if it got damaged in a "scuff" it could be simply remedied with a patch that would be invisible once applied He never had to put that to the test though but on the whole the appearance of the boat was greatly improved. Carole

I think those of us who knew Iain miss him very keenly indeed and this forum is certainly a poorer place without him. His gentle wit was a joy Carole

I believe the first "soap" was the Appleyards but does anyone remember Sixpenny Corner I don't remember what channel it was on but I seem to remember it came on at about 6.05pm every week night and featured an elderly lady called Rosie Chubb. Carole

I think the Hughie Green quote may have originated on " Double Your Money" Carole