addicted

I'm not a big football fan by any means and rarely watch a match. I do however support the Spurs and I did actually watch the England match on Saturday. In fact to my own surprise I turned the air blue! The ref' was a disgrace I thought. Not only failing for the most part to acknowledge fouls against England, he actually seemed to me to turn tail and run off in the opposite direction whenever one ocurred. My heart bled for Harry. That missed penalty will haunt him forever I should think. Carole

Nice to have you back Howard . Have a great time. Carole

With the often seen tendency to put the perceived need's of wild life before those of people, I'm tempted to believe that the most endangered species these days is man! Carole

We have a ballade aeriel mounted on a pole of about a metre. iIs fastened to a ratchet that's attached to the grab rail on the saloon roof that enables it to be lowered when necessary. Carole

Great to hear how beneficial your stay has been. Having your grandchildren was a partricular bonus I imagine. We envy you that. Ours have outgrown the boat unfortunately and we really miss the fun times we used to have when they were on board. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your write ups. Thank you for making them so enjoyable. Carole

Wishing you a very happy birthday Simon from Tony and myself. hope you make it a birthday to remember. Carole

Our local Aldi has a "station" comprising a large table laid out with various items Remembrance Day related which is manned at all opening times by at least 2 people, sometimes more. Carole

We had lunch there just about a year ago. Ts and Cs wouldn't allow me to give an accurate account! Carole

I instinctively knew that I would loathe pressing trousers. When I was first married my husband asked me to press his trousers. I innocently enquired whether I shoud turn them inside out first. The look of horror on his face was enough to assure me that he would never ask me to do that again! Carole

Thoroughly enjoyable read as usual. Thanks Sam. Carole Know how you feeel. We made the same mistake. Carole

I haven't looked up the definition of the "label" idiot but I have to think that anyone whose form of protest is totally counterproductive to their cause can't be very bright. Carole

My cocker would treat fireworks the same as thunder - go out on the lawn and bark back! Carole

Saw the weather forecast was pretty fair today and made a snap decision to go to the boat and close her off for Winter. Arrived about 10.45.am First job was to get her thoroughly dried off. Then put in the anti-freeze. After that Tony took off the canopy and also dismantled the framework. When we bought the boat it had a fastback canopy which which made it impossible to get full use of the cockpit. So we had a new canopy made with a framework that gave much more head room at the stern. However we have a winter cover that was made for the previous configuration so Tony had to dismantle the new frame work in order to fit the winter cover. this done, with a little help from me the winter cover was fitted. We had a sandwich and a coffee, stripped out the larder and bedding, drained down the domestic water system and were on our way home by 2.00pm. I think next year we'll have the cover altered to fit the new configuration as it was a bit of a faff. Carole

My father died 12 years before my mother and I was at a loss as to where to scatter his ashes. I felt it would be right to scatter both his ashes and my mother's when the time came in the same place - but where would be appropriate to both of them. For my father the place that would resonate with him would be Brands Hatch and for my mother the floor at the Lyceum Ballroom - both pretty hard to arrange! Having 12 years to think about it helped and I came up with the idea that the only place that was significant to them both was where they met. So for 12 years my dad was "stored" in the drawer under our bed (he would have found that hillarious) and when mum died I took them both to the roadside at Alexandra Palace where they had first set eyes on each other in 1934! Although I suspect that my mum was more impressed by my father's motorbike than him! Carole

We have friends who emigrated to Cape Town and we used to go out to spend 6 weeks or so with them in late January/early February. They live right in the middle of the wine making region not far from Stellenbosch and a regular trip was to go for a tour round the nearby vinyards of which there was loads. There'd be copious wine sampling followed by a delicious lunch. The cost was ridulously cheap, as was everything in South Africa at that time.There wasn't just vinyards there was also distilleries making the most delicious brandy, cognac etc. Most of these establishments were family owned and run and had been in existence for several generations over 100s of years. Carole

We had a chat with the manager about the food issue and apparently they have had a chef in place actually living on the premises, for a long time and all the kitchen fittings are bought and are at present in storage. The problem is that starting work on the kitchen revealed a large construction issue involving drastic works required on the floor area to prevent future flooding. We were assured they would definitely be open for New Years Eve and sooner if they can manage it. The staff are very welcoming Carole

We had a chat with the manager about the food issue and apparently they have had a chef in place actually living on the premises, for a long time and all the kitchen fittings are bought and are at present in storage. The problem is that starting work on the kitchen revealed a large construction issue involving drastic works required on the floor area to prevent future flooding. We were assured they would definitely be open for New Years Eve and sooner if they can manage it. Carole

Show off! Carole

It's amazing how you can used to that providing you have user friendly "close proximity" ocupants! We've been lucky with ours here but when we first retired we lived in Soham for a short while and had the neighbours from hell - 2 lots of them! One lot next door and one lot opposite. We had to get help from the police with the latter. Carole

We went to the Heron last night for a drink and I've been srtruggling to think of a word to describe it and underground car park is spot on! Not unpleasant as such but not very welcoming either which a pub needs to be. Minimalism taken to its extremes. Shame if they intend to leave it like that. Carole

My least favourite time is September. I know the trees look spectacular in their beautiful reds and gold but that doesn't compensate for the fact that everything that has been so enjoyable during the Summer is coming to an end and balmy evenings sitting topside on your boat with a glass of something palatable won't be happening again anytime soon . Carole

I don't have a smart phone well actually that's not strictly true. I do have one buried deep in the drawer to which I consigned it after struggling with it for a month. Something had to go it was either that thoroughly unsmart phone or my sanity and I was keen to hang onto what little of the latter I still have. Carole

I received a text from a friend currently staying at their chalet in Brundall. It reads: don' t think you will like the White Heron. Like a contemporary barn, nothing to soften the noise, and a manager who stands around when staff are under pressure RIP the old Yare. Doesn't bode well does it? If this is right it will be very disappointing. Carole

Well Done Katie, I must say anyone approaching our boat with a boat hook gets very short shrift, whenever we see someone who seems to be intending using the business end of a boat hook. we always advise them to use the handle end instead.We were once moored in the cut, alongside the Dolphin hotel in St. Ives on the RGO when a hire boat moored just at the entrance decided to turn round at that point instead of going down into the basin where there was plenty of room to turn and was heading straight for the side of a beautiful much loved Colvic moored behind us opposite. The wife on the hire boat was stood on the bow, boat hook poised, to make matters worse it was it was one of those very old boat hooks with a large metal hook! I spotted what she was about to do at the last moment. Just as she was about to stick the boat hook in the side of the Colvic I yelled Nooo! Fortunately I was in time and she stopped. The horrified owner of the Colvic had seen thewhoile tihing unfolding from the bridge and came running back to his boat full of fervent thanks. The woman in the hire boat had the cheek to say " We have a boat of our own you know and I know what Im doing" Carole

Oh how true that is. On one occasion after they had sideswiped our boat and one of the idiots passed a simillar comment I asked how he would like me to do the same to his car and I could actually see the light dawning on his face. Carole