YnysMon

The first year we had Christmas in our own home I ordered a turkey from the butchers in the shopping centre in MK (back in the day when there was a Waitrose one end of the mall). The most expensive turkey I’ve ever bought (allowing for inflation), and the most disappointing. It was dry as anything. I don’t think I overcooked it either. By the way, the Ninja Foodie that I bought is the large version, 7.5 litre capacity, and the turkey only just about fitted.

Whoops!

I miss him too. His gentle banter was one of the things that attracted me to the forum. Previously, I’d avoided all social media like the plague. Thanks Ian, the original pesky mod.

I’ve recently bought one of those Ninja Foodie multi cooker thingies (it’s all the fault of another forum member (MM) who started off a thread asking if they were any good). Turkey crown (medium sized, very reasonably priced frozen specimen from Lidl) got cooked in it today. 25 minutes on the high pressure-cook setting, pressure released quickly then 10 minutes on the air fryer setting, then rested for 20 minutes. Result? Just about the most juicy turkey breast meat we’ve ever had. The Ninja machine wasn’t cheap, but I use it almost every day and it’s saving a lot of oven/hob time. The nut roast I made for Graham turned out pretty well too and everyone loved the Mary Berry’s recipe cranberry relish and her apricot and chestnut stuffing. Success! Phew!

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Hope the family appreciated the ‘get together’ despite all the difficulties.

Hope we do get a chance to meet up. Have a lovely Christmas.

A cruise in company?

Bless him. I had started to grumble that I was too hot, and we couldn’t close the sun roof. Graham always tries to come up with a solution to any problem.

Like he did on Tabitha Rose in August. LOL. Just read your post out to Graham…and yes, he did

I c I can but try. My cunning plan is to convince our sons we need to do it, then it will be three against one.

It does to me...just wish I could convince Graham!

Yes, we have occasionally experienced very low water levels during the winter months, but in my it usually seems to occur for just a day or two between occurrences of very high water levels so, personally, I wouldn't risk going under any low bridges in case we couldn't return.

Thanks Andrew. We have yet to see how the trailer works out. Following a conversation with the rest of the Moonlight Shadow management team, this morning I bought a replacement TV for the boat that we somehow need to fit into the trailer with all our other odds and ends and proverbial kitchen sink. Hope it fits!

Yes, we have used that in the past and found the water flow excellent. Somehow I don't think we'll be making it under the bridge this trip unless the pilot service is still running. I thought the pilot service was from after Easter to October only, certainly when we were hiring that's what the information board said, but the current online information about the pilot service just says it runs 8.30am to 5pm daily. Does that mean it's operating during winter nowadays?

I certainly will! Thanks for the tips. Boulter’s are open the day we arrive (30th) but only from 10am to 1pm. I think they are closed over the weekend though.

We have gone quite a few days in the past without filling up. Our second outing on Moonlight Shadow coincided with one of those named gales that went on for several days. We managed to top up at the Ferryhouse at Surlingham the day before the storm hit (on a Saturday) and then didn’t move the boat until Wednesday, and didn’t run out of water. This time the previous occupants left in a hurry (due to an emergency at home) and we don’t know what the ‘water levels’ are like in our tank. We don’t think (hope?) we are whiffy either, but we aren’t fans of taking showers on board during the winter months.

That the first time I’ve seen a kindle edition to be more expensive than the real McCoy, even the hardback!

LOL. Whilst preparing doggies dinner this evening Graham commented on how many pouches we'd need to take with us next week for our fortnight on Moonlight Shadow (they each have half a pouch with their dried food each meal), so he'd calculated we'd need 28 plus some extra in case we come across any other strays. Noooo! Very happy with our current quota of dogs thank you!

That's disappointing. Mind you, Graham has nixed our going down south anyway.

Is the water point at Barton available? Last year they had removed the hoses.

Is Gaye's staithe water available all year?

Cross fingers. Now I think about it, we did get water from there early last year. It was very muddy though and, as the muddy bank slopes down slightly toward the quay heading, felt a bit hazardous. I was wondering about Potter too. Is that normally available all year?

Barton Turf wasn't available last winter - they had removed the hose unfortunately. I find it really handy too when it's available.

Thanks for the responses so far. Looks like we are staying up north, at Graham's request. Any more hints for the northern broads?