YnysMon

When we were discussing loo ‘smells’ at a Moonlight Shadow AGM an year or so ago, one of our members (who also has a share on a narrowboat) said that putting blu directly down the loo was a bad thing, that it would rot the seals of our loos. He suggested putting extra blu down the pump out outlet instead. We have recently been using a ‘pink’ solution which is supposed to be okay for putting down the loo. I’d be interested in other views on this smelly topic.

Nectar card and (our son’s) Alec’s staff discount. Between the two we can make quite a saving. Sainsbury’s allow you to nominate a second member of you family for a discount card. So much easier than IKEA where Harry was supposed to get a manager to sign for any discount for a family member.

Yes, I think you’re right, but I’m sure I’ve seen oaks growing in marshy places/Carr woodland on the Broads.

The Sainsbury’s click and collect is off the plan. I tried doing an order but couldn’t use the staff discount. After all, it’s their staff time used to pick the stuff, so thinking that we’d also get the discount was an unrealistic expectation. We should have plenty of time anyway as it’s not that long a journey from MK to Horning. Hopefully we should get away by around 9 to 10 am, aiming to stop off at La Hogue farm shop for brunch, with maybe time for a dog walk at the UEA campus before the Sainsbury’s shop. We aren’t supposed to get to the boat until 5pm anyway unless the previous owner on board left a day or two earlier than expected.

Indeed! We have been known to drive the last part of our journey with everyone having food bags on their laps apart from the driver. Mind you, I need to check out whether you can use the Sainsbury's staff discount on click and collect.

Come to think of it, our American syndicate members have been having their start of holiday shop at Sainsbury’s delivered to Horning Pleasurecraft (as evidenced by a photo they posted on their holiday vlog on our syndicate website). We might as well do click and collect though, as it’s a very short detour to Thorpe Sainsbury’s once you come off the Pozzick (Postwick) interchange.

Less than a week to go now, until our next trip on Friday. Whoopee. Planning is apace…packing list being reviewed, menu and shopping plans mostly completed. As we now have Sainsbury’s staff discount (courtesy of Alec), I might try to do a click and collect order from the Thorpe Sainsbury’s rather than shop in Lidl or Roy’s. Harry has messed up. He was intending to accompany us for the fortnight, but he forgot to log his apologies for band practices, and as the ‘A’ band has a number of concerts in April, the band conductor wasn’t happy with the idea that he would miss four rehearsals in March. Looks like he’ll have to return home after the first week.

That reminds me of the farm cottage I shared with fellow students when I was at Bangor Uni. My bedroom overlooked the milking shed, and the cows got milked at some unearthly time in the morning. It only bothered me for the first week or so though, after that I somehow managed to get used to it and slept through all the mooing.

I'm rather upset that the Concrete Cow brewery in Milton Keynes has shut down. It was a small operation and the brewer's partner (one of my friends) told me that he had to fold up the business when his rent doubled overnight.

He quite often sleeps with his head under the bed after it has dawned. He obviously got a bit carried away and his body followed!

No, thankfully it was a reasonable time for getting up anyway. Yes, it was slightly concerning, especially after the bed lifting didn’t go to plan. We could have called on extra manpower though, as both ‘boys’ are still at home.

Latest Pozzick escapade…we were woken by a lot of whining this morning. Pozzie had got himself stuck under our bed (we have one with an oak frame). It took us a while to get him out too. We tried lifting the bed a bit, but that didn’t work. It’s so heavy it takes two of us to lift it. In the end Graham managed to drag him out on his side.

The Cod House is just around the corner. To be honest, we usually get a takeaway as Oakfired is an easy walk from the Yacht Station. Haven’t yet tried The Cod House.

As it's less common to find pubs that are dog friendly in towns and cities, I though it might be worth mentioning a few that appear to be (I haven't visited them all, but am going by comments left in reviews) that are near'ish to the Yacht Stations: Norwich (near the Yacht Station) The Coach and Horses (on Thorpe Road). This seems to be popular as they have a microbrewery on site. The Red Lion, near Bishop Bridge The Compleat Angler Gt Yarmouth As far as I know the only one within a short distance of the Yacht Station is The Kings Arms on Northgate St. Beccles The Bear and Bells also, I gather that Oakfired at The Royal Oak, The Wine Vaults and Graze at the White Horse have dog friendly areas. Oulton Broad The Copper Smokehouse The Commodore The Waveney The Lady of the Lake

As Ray said, it’s earlier to list the pubs that are not dog friendly. Does anyone know if The Stag in Salhouse is dog friendly? I gather that the Salhouse Lodge is, in the bar area only. Im assuming that The Granary in Ranworth is not dog friendly. Hope the Maltsters will be when it reopens. By the way, I can’t find The Kings Head Loddon on Google. Has it shut down?

I’m breathing a sigh of relief that our next trip will start on the 15th. Hopefully, we won’t experience any aggro.

Most cathedrals have bells, not necessarily a clock though. The bells are supposed to be related to services not time keeping. Mind you…our church has recently been fitted with an electronic device of some sort that strikes the bells, as a result of a bequest. It had become unsafe to climb the tower to ring the bells. So I have now got used to the bells being rung before our Sunday service. On a recent dog walk, I noticed one bell rang out the on the hour too.

Sorry to hear you had a hospital stay Andrew, hope you get back to normal asap. Good plan to get back to Norfolk, even if it can’t be on a boat. I’ve done a comprehensive guide for myself on which places are dog friendly, or not. Fortunately, most of the pubs are, though sometimes just in the bar rather than ‘restaurant’ area, so best to ask and book in advance if it’s restricted. I’m disgusted that Wetherspoon’s pubs do not even allow dogs into their pub gardens/outside spaces, not that I think I’m missing much. It’s just the principle. Does the owner of Wetherspoons have a dog aversion? Quite a lot of cafes are dog friendly too, but sometimes only for their outside tables (like The Old Mill in Hoveton, which we really like). I have to update my list quite frequently though, as there has been quite a bit of turnover in pubs and cafes over the past few years. When a pub changes hands you can’t always assume that the same dog policy applies. The good news is that, in general, we think that Norfolk is more dog friendly than most places.

Oops, predictive text strikes again. It is obviously male and didn't like what I was typing.

Excuse me, but I don’t think I’m any less capable of doing a three point turn than the male species. Grace you should be ashamed of yourself for suggesting such a thing. There are some very dozy and incompetent female drivers (of cars) and some dozy and incompetent male drivers (of cars and boats). Just waiting for the reactions…

Isn’t there a species called water oak?

Thanks Sam. What a lovely video, though the imprint of the archive company’s name across the screen was rather annoying. I did find it amusing that early on in the film they commented on how dry Norfolk is (given this winter’s deluge) and a little further along on Potter Heigham bridge being over a 100 years old (slight underestimate there, lol).

I take it that Debbie doesn’t read the forum? Graham doesn’t either, but if I even suggested some criticism in a post what’s the betting he’d suddenly become a member? His spidie sense (or whatever) would suddenly kick in. So I’ll just stick with…

Oh no! I was hoping you’d be back on the rivers soon.

Purple sprouting broccoli is great for ‘the hungry gap’. Shame it goes to seed so quickly unless your eat nothing but broccoli for days on end.