YnysMon

My advice is to book with Hunter’s Yard. Same price throughout the season. What a fair deal. Mind you, there’s sailing involved.

Lovely to have an update. Any recent photos? We are getting Purdey withdrawal symptoms.

The occasional day boat sounds like a great idea Jean. Especially if you book somewhere accessible to ‘the other sides’ above ‘the bridges’. The weather really seems to be perking up...at least for us in the East. (My cousins in Anglesey have been suffering still.) We had a wonderful (summer) day a few years back hiring from a boatyard in Hickling. We managed to get to Horsey and West Somerton and even up Catfield Dyke between a 9am pick-up and 5pm hand-back. If I was thinking about a day boat in future I would probably consider a boat from Wroxham (sorry...teaching Granny to suck eggs) for the delights above the two bridges, from Beccles for a delightful trip up to Geldeston or Weyford Bridge up to Dilham.

Well today has been busy, work wise and planning wise. Despite most of the day being taken up with online work meetings, I managed to book our Covid jabs. First one week on Saturday, second one toward the end of May. I had a message from the company I’d booked with for a self-catering holiday. This holiday was for our extended family (seven of us including us and my cousins). They confirmed we wouldn’t be able to take up our 14th May holiday. How frustrating...seems that we are just a few days short of when that would be allowed! On the other hand we were offered the option of an e-voucher or full refund, which was more flexible than what they offered us last year. This was a booking postponed from May last year. Luckily, after a lot of discussion over the phone this evening between our three households I’ve managed to re-book (once again) for September. Phew! At least it looks like we’ll be allowed on Moonlight Shadow for the first week of May (another message received today). Whoopee! Maybe I can calm down now. The last day or so we’ve been on tenterhooks, wondering how the announcement on lockdown lifting plans would work out in reality. Not so bad really, considering. Things are looking up.

A work friend of mine tipped me off that friends of our age (just past 60) have managed to book Covid jabs via the NHS website, even though the website says you are not eligible until 64. The website asks for your NHS number and birth date and whether you have any health conditions (I declared I hadn’t any). So, I have managed to book my first jab week Saturday but have to go to a pharmacy in Buckingham, even though there are centres in Milton Keynes that are inoculating people who have been contacted by their Drs surgeries. I did fleetingly worry whether I am somehow queue jumping, but assume that as I’ve booked through the NHS website and have received email confirmation of the appointments (including for the second jab) that must be okay. Maybe some centres have had less take up than others. I had heard that our area is ahead of the game in rolling out the programme, given we have a relatively younger population than other parts of the country.

Both White Horses (Chedgrave and Upton) get a thumbs up from us.

Sorry folks, but I'm confused. I know it's not an easy site to get to, and I would think twice about living there myself, but I got the impression there was at least one other building occupied nearby when we walked past Berney Arms last November (just before lockdown). I think it's called Ashtree Farm on the OS map, though it looked like it might have been divided into more than one property. There were several cars parked outside that property, plus the cars of the people who were occupying the caravan(s) on the Berney Arms site, so presumably access must be possible and services available...?

Yes, desperate to get back to the Broads. We rarely go to pubs locally anyway, so though we enjoy eating out at various Broads pubs, not being able to visit pubs isn’t that high on our priority list. We’re just wanting some cruising time.

I read that the Chinese in Coltishall also delivers to Wroxham and Horning. I seems to have good reviews too.

Grump. Should have been on Moonlight Shadow this week On the other hand, we have so far stayed safe and well through this Covid epidemic, so have a lot to be thankful for. We are being encouraged by our employers to take our planned leave regardless. My plans for this week are switching to sewing. Goodness knows how that will go!

The person who started off this thread needs a medal. It just keeps getting better!

What a shame. When we first visited the Broads about 5 years ago Staithe and Willow was our go-to place for breakfast after our final handover. Top quality brekkie and very dog friendly. Last time we visited (might have been around early 2019?) for a Sunday roast we weren’t impressed but some months after that we noted it had changed ownership. Judging from the initial reviews we were very much looking forward to trying it out but didn’t get the opportunity. Must have been heartbreaking to take over a new business just then.

There was doom and gloom on this forum (and elsewhere) about the plans of the new owners of Brooms a couple of years back, with forecasts of the whole site being redeveloped not housing, which was very worrying for those of us with syndicate boats moored there. However, over the last year, or 18 months, I couldn’t help but notice how much effort has been put into the hire fleet and generally sprucing up the site altogether. The pump-out/refuelling station has been redeveloped and a lot of the buildings repainted. Okay, they are fairly cosmetic things, but do show a willingness to invest in the business.

I think you have some excellent advice from other forum members above. Just to add that I found the ‘Tell us once’ service very useful when my Mam died. The suggestions to get in touch with Citizens Advice and the local Council seem good to me too. I think you have gone above and beyond in caring for your friend and his Mum., not to mention the cat. I tried composing other sentences (e.g. you deserve a medal) but they all sounded trite and not worthy of the caring you have put in. In the end, I don’t think it’s the flashy things people do to try to show they care about their fellow human beings. It’s the day to day stuff and slog that really matters.

So, did she still have ‘the bogs’ on the roof for her departure? The last few times we passed Cantley, a couple of toilets seemed to have been abandoned on Vagabond’s roof.

Sounds like a good plan moving her during lockdown. Much less inconvenience to other river users.

That would be wonderful MaceSwinger. My abiding memory of the first day of our first trip on the Broads around 2015’ish is of the distinctive sounds of the Broads. We’d picked up our boat (Wood Violet from Hunter’s Yard...no engine, so nothing to get between us and the sounds of nature). We managed to get under ‘that bridge’. As we emerged from the line of bungalows to the north of the bridge we had a perfect gentle SW wind, the sound of the water chucking under our bow, wind hissing gently through the reeds and birdsong. Perfection.

...and a floodlight.

My condolences Scrumpy. I hope your parents will be okay. I'm quite worried with both Graham and Harry working at present: Graham in post office sorting office and Harry in IKEA doing click and collect as the store is shut to customers. I had a look at the heat map, and our area is one of those that is on the worst end of the scale (dark purple). It feels worse now than in the first lockdown as some people in shops and other public spaces seem to have become complacent. Helen

Sorry Griff. Having not heard of Spoons I Googled it. Sounds like there’s a more involved version which uses playing cards and spoons. Still sounds like fun though.

Thanks Griff,I hadn’t heard of that one. Great to have a suggestion that just uses standard pack of cards too.

That game sounds like fun. I’m looking for games that 7 people (adults, but we welcome silly) can play once lockdown lifting allows us to finally take our cottage holiday (originally planned for May 2020) with family. An awful lot of games are designed for a max of 6 people. It would be a shame to leave someone out. We have the Mysterium board game lined up. It’s a bit like a much more convoluted Cluedo with resident ghost giving you hints via picture cards. I need a bit more practice at that one though...it’s quite difficult, especially if your ghost (aka Harry) gives misleading clues. Somehow it was a lot easier when our other son Alec played the ghost.

Indeed, the ‘perfect day’. I’m slightly regretting that Graham and I haven’t really made much of birthdays, apart from when the kids were little.

Happy birthday Tim. Enjoy!

My thanks to Tim and all who keep the forum running, and especially to those who post amusing and interesting contributions and who keep this place a friendly and welcoming environment. I first discovered the forum in 2017, a particularly challenging year for me personally, and it has continued to be a place I go to find friends. I am very wary of social media in general, don't really do Facebook etc., so I don’t say that lightly.