kpnut

Having just re-read some posts, I have a bit of catching up to do. Unplanned by me, I inadvertently introduced Tony to proper cold winter boat life in December. I just resigned myself to using loads of diesel and electric, anything to keep him warm and happy as he was here for 4 days getting as many jobs find as I could find for him. He did mention ‘when I come next ……..’ so I don’t think I put him off too much. The one thing we couldn’t do was take the boat out, frozen water, icy surfaces and the canopy zips frozen up! New door handles, map on wall, various other drilling jobs, some lagging on the heater pipes, tube heater permanently installed in engine compartment among other jobs ticked off. There are plenty more on the list of course. I would have liked to have stayed longer, even with the cold weather, as I enjoy being on my home mooring nearly as much as being off down the river. There are so many places to explore off the Broads too.

I chose Potter Heigham Helen. And yep, hope we have a meet-up in the next few days for humans and dogs!

Get well soon both of you. Xx

Helen, both dogs have a concerned look on their faces. Seren more sad than concerned maybe. Bless them. I think the sound of running water when you don’t know where it’s coming from is the worst thing. My mums house had all sorts of wierd water sounds and I’ve been known to get up two or three times in the night just to go and work out where the noise was coming from. Usually just the water softener filling up, but once a split pipe in the airing cupboard. So my nocturnal wanderings were justified. Some days you just need to do what you need to do, go to bed and leave the muddle till the next day.

I hadn’t realised you have two weeks. Wonderful. Hopefully we’ll see each other somewhere, sometime. Fingers crossed for Pozzick, although I’m sure he’ll be cool about it like everything else put in front of him if seems. Enjoy the journey, hopefully quiet and with some ability to see out of the windows!

Sounds very much like our lunch today. The trifle has the last of Catherine’s wedding cake as the base, I froze all the ‘trimmings’ when I was levelling it back in April. And so much veg to make sure my son goes back home tomorrow with plenty of vitamins and minerals inside him!!! There’s also plum pie and blackberry (gin) and apple crumble to use up.

Me too, but not until 1st. Go for it Lulu!

And my turkey was a gift from my old boss, he gives us one every year, always far bigger than necessary but much appreciated. 6kg this year for 5 of us. Plenty of cold turkey, baked beans and chips on offer, yum. Then onto a turkey, ham and leek pie with s creamy white sauce filling to finish it off. It’s been an odd few days. After having Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve afternoon due to the covid arrivals (daughter and son in law, not that they knew at the time) on Friday, so son in law could at least have a dinner, and daughter eating on her own in the living room, then them leaving us to it early on Christmas Day, we had the aforementioned cold turkey yesterday after a walk with no other souls around (presumably all indoors feasting on their Christmas dinners), and that left our Christmas Eve buffet type thing for lunch today after another dog walk in the sunshine. I must say, eating it all this way round has left me feeling far less stuffed full. I might do it again next year! But minus the covid!

Not often you can say that Sally!

Enjoy yourselves Ian. The meal hopefully up to your standard but if not, it’s been made with love by someone who has been willing to work Christmas Day and neither of you have to wash up! Happy family get togethers or whatever else people are doing today, and here’s wishing it finds everyone dear to us all in good spirits and looking forward to a calmer year ahead. Xx

Have you been out a while as I saw you weren’t at home base a week or so back. Wonderful poem. Xx

As Bikertov reported, now’s the time to go shopping if you can withstand the potential stress of being without. I’d have a plan b and not be fussed to be honest. I hate waste. But even the food banks doing soup etc will now have their ingredients in. Hopefully enough freezer space to make soup and freeze it. I’m so pleased Lulu’s mum’s oven failings were sorted. Well done Graham. We’d been talking to each other earlier about our respective christmases and when we last spoke, things were all on track at her end. Not so at my end - daughter and son in law turned up last night from Manchester airport having been touring Europe for two weeks, using trains and buses. Catherine is having a very nauseous pregnancy and is gradually getting better. I was looking forward to a fairly quiet day, just getting the veg from the allotment, prepping it and the turkey and chatting about their trip. Not to be, Catherine tested positive for Covid this morning! With my son Richard arriving from Scotland for a few days off from various gigs and playing engagements as a freelance musician, he can’t afford to get Covid. We agreed he’d come, say hello and they’d leave but on the phone he was coughing so much catherine thought he was worse off than her, although it’s not Covid (according to the lateral flow results he’s done every day). It’s a cough/cold that was getting better until playing somewhere on Thursday where the smoke machine on stage went a bit berserk! And has now set him off coughing again. Last year in the same venue it set off the fire/smoke alarm and the place was evacuated with the fire brigade in attendance. You’d think they’d learn wouldn’t you? Bottlm line -Roald battled with a Tesco to go and buy food to take home, I made a pie, a crumble and a trifle for them to take, I packed the men off to firstly the allotment and then to take the dogs out while I set-to with a rushed dinner. So we’ve had our Christmas dinner a day early, with Catherine in the living room and us in the kitchen, Catherine’s now in bed and they’ll leave in the morning. No presents done as Richard didn’t want to come in the same room as Catherine, so he, Tony and I will do it all over again, with presents tomorrow. Well, without the cooking! Merry Christmas everyone, I don’t often say that AFTER my dinner!

Thank for the offer Helen, but you don’t need me tagging along on your holiday. Hopefully we’ll still meet up when you’re north, even if that’s just on your way down the Bure or up the Bure! I’ll be in touch once I’m onboard.

I too love Christmas Eve. It has all the potential for the expectation of Christmas wrapped up in it. And for me Christmas starts with the first note of ‘Once in Royal’ at just after 3pm on the radio. I’m not religious, but that used to be my solo in the church choir as a child and I still get goosebumps when I hear a child sing it. Merry Christmas one and all and roll on another beautiful boating year. If starts on 1st January for me.

The tank on my boat holds 370L. I measured its volume last week. No wonder if lasts me for a whole week and then some! Hope to see you at some point Helen as our dates more or less coincide. But if you go south I’ll miss you, as I won’t do it on my own.

Snunn, I just love your ammonite lamp.

My day has definitely not gone to plan. It was to get some more rooms at mums cleaned, visit a friend, pop into estate agent, go back for more cleaning, then to take car for a new tyre at 4pm. I don’t want to be driving back on numerous motorways for 250 miles with a nail in my tyre. the first two things happened, but then had to go straight to garage, 3 hours ahead of schedule as one look at the tyre convinced me it wouldn’t see the day out without being flat. So no more cleaning, (as the house will be too dark with all the lamps gone), the estate agent will be shut when I finish, and 3 hours to kill wandering round a fairly small village with the only cafe shutting too early! In some ways, it’s nice to be forced to have nothing to do! But I wish it’d stop raining!!

I tried to use Alan May as he came highly recommended but gave up after numerous phone calls over the space of 6 weeks and leaving a message asking him to ring back three times. Mine has just been passed by Tony Urwin at Banks boats and he was superb. He explained everything that was needed as he went round in case I choose to refurbish anything in the future. He also explained all his various gas pressure readings and spent time and effort to locate the bow thruster battery, which happened to be under floorboards with no access hatch. He said he would do the necessary paperwork and forward to BA and to the marina manager for me. I would use him again with no hesitation.

Mine did too. And after we serviced it, with changing the fuel filters, it only needed a bit of coaxing (bleeding) to get going again. I left her with tube heater on thermostat and also a duvet over the top to keep the heat generated from escaping so much.

Can it be done on a WhatsApp video call? If you make a ‘group’ and someone starts the meeting and then invites the others. Would need you all to share your phone number though with the co-ordinator. A matter of trust I suppose.

I know you have to get Desmond off the side Lulu but this is what I did with Charlie, who has to be on the lead as he bogs off otherwise. And he had to be helped up steps ‘cos he’s got a gammy leg. I half lifted, using his harness and he half jumped, up the aft well onto the quay with me firmly inside the boat. I then looped the lead around the mooring post so I wasn’t holding a pulling dog while I climbed out. Finlay, on the other hand, just jumps out and stays close if asked. I think he gets a bit fed up waiting for me sometimes! Sorry to hear you had to go home but you achieved your goal of checking the boat over. It does gives you peace of mind.

I won’t be with you tonight, clearing mums house and working into the evening, but I do like the idea of a zoom quiz over the festive period sometime.

Why is it when on the Broads, there’s this irresistible urge for cake and other goodies? I should have gone to Bridgestones the other day, but bought an enticing looking goodie in Lathams instead. The girl sold it to me when, on asking what it was cos it looked so yummy, she said ‘London cheesecake’. I’d never heard of that and she told me it had layers of jam and coconut, so I thought a gooey cheesecake with jam and coconut would be just the job. j was very disappointed. It was as dry as a bone, just layers of puff pastry, with a scrape of jam and some dessicated coconut. Needed some moisture in it somewhere. Nogs, you are very intrepid being on the rivers with the ice etc. well done you for planning well. Enjoy ‘the south’.

That was it! I couldn’t remember it’s name. Thanks. So yes, an interesting town that just needs some ‘regeneration’.

Didn’t think of that. He came down from kingfisher and turned into the river, so not too near, then up both of the other hireboat quays. Only their own boats up there.