That performing coot again

"Tip-toe thru the tulips..." (or Heather in this case, no not me). On further inspection this could also be a case of "Spot the coot" due to my now infamous crappy camera. I really will have to do something about that. Maybe if I accidentally drop it in the canal & hide Dave’s fishing net, (no retrieval) he’ll buy me a new one eh?

Well anyway, today Percy is under the bird table rather than on it, & he seems to prefer heathers to pansy's, well come on, who wouldn't?

Spot the coot…

He looks guilty to me...

Would you believe this

How’s this for a cheeky coot?

The norm is that nuts & seeds on a bird table indicate sparrows & blackbirds can get a free lunch. But this little guy certainly breaks with tradition. After leaning over & nibbling at the seeds for a while, here he is taking a well earned peck break, & checking out for any stray seeds that may be easier to reach.

He's a regular visitor to the bird table on next doors jetty, & while the ducks all look on in dismay, "why can't I do that?" The little coot looks down and says "well if you dudes had toes like mine you'd be up here too.”

WHATEVER NEXT??????????????

Spider & Cobweb Concerns

Before we got the boat, a spider in the house would be a major concern for me, until it was squashed splat. I didn't mind them In the garden, but if they came inside it was their own fault.

At the boat it's different, spiders don't seem to come inside the boat very often, they just multiply on the outside at an alarming rate. They seem to appear from nowhere & create intricate webs outside overnight. Only yesterday I cleaned the windows, & by morning there hung a lace doyly in the corner of one as if by magic.

They must've cottoned on to the fact that sitting in the middle of the web doesn't do much for camouflage purposes. So they've all learned neat little tricks, webs can be appear to be abandoned yet one beady eye will always be watching from under a sill somewhere.

The Julie & the glass story:
My best mate is REALLY scared of spiders. She once found herself alone in the house with a massive black one sat on the wall looking at her. You know the sort, those with eyes on stalks. So she bravely proceeded to cover it with a glass. Only then did it dawn on her she’d forgotten about the all important piece of paper to slide under it. So she was stuck to the wall till help arrived. It's the way she told the story, we both fell about laughing. It was one of those classic “you had to be there” moments...

Nice weather for car alarms

Yes, the glorious sunshine means it's even warmer today, lovely. In yesterday's post I never mentioned the fact that a car alarm kept going off, because it sounded a bit trivial. Even so, it irked a bit. We got weeee ooooow about 10 times, then the (cafe visitor) would switch it off. It happened over & over again all afternoon. I'd have been too embarrassed to stay if it were mine, we could all see which car it was, the flashing lights were a dead giveaway!

Last night we went out to the pub & came back late. Then we were rudely awakened at 6pm by yet another car alarm. A bit much on a Sunday, when you're entitled to a quiet lie in & a relaxing day. Even worse, this time it was CONSTANT for hours. Argh!

We were even contemplating going back to the house (jeez it had to be bad), there'd be no sleep with that racket! Anyway the story goes that some guys from over the other side of the marina moved it backwards (somehow) to shut it up.

We looked over later & the car had disappeared, this means that the cheeky sod must've parked up there, & gone off somewhere else for the day!

The thing is, responsible people come to visit the marina on a fine day, mainly for peace & quiet, the beautiful views, a leisurely amble round the place & to stop off at the lovely cafe.

The cafe car park is out of sight of the marina around the back, but it’s clearly signposted. Even so, some visitors still park on the moorers car park at the front, hence we sometimes find ourselves without a parking space! And this weekend, with a variety of alien car alarm ring tones emanating forth with neither car belonging to any moorers. It bordered on intolerable!

The vast majority of day visitors are totally respectful & very welcome, none of us object to folks being drawn to the marina, it's a lovely place to be. We used to come here ourselves long before we knew about the boat, but we always parked on what's called an "overflow" car park down the road. Even when visiting the cafe.

I suppose like with most things it's the minority that can spoil things for the majority by showing ignorance to both moorers & other visitors alike. If we'd just been here for a walk on such a beautiful day, with such a horrid noise, we'd have cut our visit short & gone somewhere more peaceful.

That said, with ears still "aglow" I'm off to dive into a bag of marshmallows & catch up on Corrie...

Rope arrangements (How to or how knot)

This has got to be the last warm weekend of the season, right? Surely another one is too much to ask. We came here to TT on Thursday, safe in the knowledge that there was nice weather in store, & sure enough the weatherman got it right :)

Today Dave decided to "fit" the ropes we bought last week at the boat jumble "bungle." You know, the one whereby we went with a list, & came back with new rope – which wasn't on the list. In fact everything that was on the list wasn't there, hence the "bungle" bit. Which translated means: A crappy waste of time for anyone with a canal boat.

Anyway to get back to rope design for a moment, my hubby must've been in "creative mode" at the time because the bow is now adorned with 2 blue ropes. Neatly arranged on either side, each winds in a sort of retro-style triangle of sorts,which follows the line of the bow.

He'd been out there faffing about for ages, then he shouted "come & see what you think". (Cheesy grin). I thought it looked really good, but on closer inspection noticed the coils on one side didn't quite match up with the other. I didn't want to say it, really I didn't, but couldn't stop myself. So after a quick moan along the lines of "well you weren't supposed to notice that," he proceeded to rewind the side that didn't look right & did a dam fine job:

I took this as it was going dark so it's a bit shady, 3 things worthy of note:
a) Colour co-ordination
b) Expert style & design
c) If a man wants his creative side to shine forth, never ask a woman to inspect it!

Our first Boat Jumble & Harry the Heron drops in to say hello again

Yet another lovely day, we sat out back with the morning cup o' tea, whilst mulling over what kind of priority buying a new camera might have.

As you may already know if you read this blog regularly, our current cam appears to have a mind of its own when taking pictures. It deliberately tries to sabotage the best ones, & does a brilliant job of the crappy ones that were never meant to be.

For example: The one of the jetty, the detailed grain of the wood was amazing. Oh & then there’s the one of my left nostril (least said). Dave didn't seem to believe me when I said the zoom wasn't working, (neither did I but it was worth a try). Hence he proved me wrong by taking 2 pictures of a bridge, one with zoom, & one without. Hmm, "there, I told you it was working" he pronounced with satisfaction. So then I tried another (camera) angle & it must’ve known what we were discussing. However I can’t trust it anymore.

I conveniently had a copy of one of my PC magazines nicely to hand which had already been placed within arms length in anticipation of a yea rather than a nay. And oh look, it had been left open on a page which had several reviews of different kinds of camera, what a coincidence! Of course the one that "moi" opts for only costs £1500. Don't be daft says he, but I can't help it says me – in your dreams babe says he.

The agreed outcome: Yes, we will get a new camera soon, but it isn't a priority because the crap cam still works (questionable). Oh & it’s replacement won't cost anything like the above! Ah well, I always was a dreamer.

To get back to the title of this post for a moment, we went to a "boat jumble" in Middlewich, (Cheshire) this morning, we had a small shopping list which included:

• 6 new rope fenders
• A spare handcuff key
• A windlass

And maybe, if we were lucky, a steel mallet for banging pins in?

Aren't these the kind of items on offer at all boat jumbles? Don't boat jumbles include canal boat stuff? If not, why not?! Turns out this particular “jumble bungle” was all about plastic boats & all their wares.

When we asked about rope fenders we were told that “it’s just not worth bringing rope fenders.” (Well they might've thought twice if they'd known we wanted a full set!)

They didn't even have any of the black plastic fenders some canal boaters use. They just had the over inflated balloon ones that no canal boat could ever make use of for obvious reasons! Forget the handcuff key & windlass, nothing. Although we did find a lump hammer, made of rubber? No we didn’t buy it.

Hence we were totally underwhelmed with the whole thing, we did however by some dark blue rope so we can have colour co-ordinated ropes at the bow at last. The current rope colour scheme is red & white, nothing to do with the colour of the boat at all.

I probably should just state that Dave (being a bloke) was totally focused on the practical use of rope rather than what it looks like.

Summary: They didn't have anything we wanted & we came away with £20 of rope we never intended on buying, (but will get used). So Chandlers here we come - forget bargain hunting!

We should've known our luck was out as soon as we set off out the marina, we turned right & the road was shut. So we had to go 10 miles out of our way to get to the motorway.

We set off in glorious warm sunshine, & arrived there under cold black clouds. Paid £6 to get in just as some poor guy was being taken away in an ambulance.

Stopped off at a service station on the way back to eat 2 plastic sandwiches. Dave said his egg butties were very nice, he got lucky, & then when we arrived back we'd brought the clouds with us!! Apart from that it's been a great day (well, afternoon anyway).

News bulletin: The local heron just nearly caught Dave! He had a fish on the line & the heron dived down to get it, fortunately neither heron, fish or Dave were injured in the incident.

Bless him (Dave I mean) he was tittering to himself afterwards. But not at the time because he genuinely thought, at best, the heron couldn’t swerve fast enough to avoid him! And I wasn't quick enough with that dam camera.

See the very same heron sat on top of our boat here, (27th August), I think I'll call him Harold...

Analysing fishing, an eerie moon & a laser light show

It was a "Takey Tezey" day today, the weather's warmed up somewhat which makes a change. I even had to swap the jeans I started off in for a skirt! Dave did some fishing whilst I sat at the back of the boat & read October's Canal Boat magazine. Ah, the peace, well sort of.

You see I go out there to relax in the warmth of the sun & somehow I end up as a "gopher" for Sir Dave. Who, seems to use the use of his legs once comfortably sat in his fishing chair, with "Captain" cap on, & rod in hand. (No puns).

Hence I get sent requests such as, "Heth can you just get” (whatever) & “can you just pass me” (whatever). [I’m trying to read a magazine here?]

Then there's the old chestnut "Heth are you there dear? Do you think you can just?" (Whatever). Now with that one he already knows I'm there, but pretends he doesn't. Thing is, even if I keep quiet, I then get asked to hold his rod, (still no puns). While he goes off to get (whatever) himself.

At this point we end up doing a precarious tap dance / teapot dance (of sorts) at the end of the jetty. So what with that, & the potential for a handful of fish goo, I usually give in & "go fetch" myself.

And it gets even more complex when I'm sheepishly asked to pass a particular piece of equipment out of his tackle box (still no puns) & I don't know what the hell he's on about.

Isn't fishing supposed to be all about peace, quiet & tranquillity??
He's been out there quite successfully using just bits of bread for the past hour. Here's one he caught earlier before his bread went stale, & after the camera had been re-charged...

 

At the end of the day, I captured the moon with it's mirror image on the water, it was awesome...

When it was fully dark, this weekends "free entertainment" was a spectacular laser lights display. It wasn't quite up to Disney standard, but well worth a free ticket! At first I thought the little green men from Mars had arrived to say hello.

 

It's so flat round here, we're surrounded on all sides by fields that go on for miles, which means we very often see party fireworks at night from a long way off – without any noise!

 

I don’t know, what with the fighter jets last weekend, what are we in for next weekend? Maybe the Queen WILL arrive to launch her new canal boat, & we WILL see the Red Arrows after all!

This doesn't look anything like it did thru the cam

Well a clump of weeds meandered it's way into the middle of the marina this morning, & this little coot was sat on top of it enjoying the ride. Alas, as per norm where my camera's concerned, doing what I want it to doesn't necessarily mean much to it.

Through the lens the water hen was MASSIVE, (well nearly) & in the picture it's just a pea on a drum weed…

Zoom

For the past couple of days we've been non-paying spectators of the Southport Air Show, the planes came down low over the marina as they were doing fly pasts & nearly deafened us all!

Quite spectacular to watch, & of course I'm privileged enough (?) to get the "full rundown" from my nearest & dearest who happens to be an aircraft fitter. This mind numbing info includes details such as what type of plane / specs / flight path / top speed capability // Pilots name & which football team he supports, etc.

It’s all very interesting, except for when I'm actually sat next to hubby Dave on a big fat plane waiting to take off on a long haul flight. That's when headphones come in handy, because besides extolling the virtues of such a magnificent aircraft. He also points out the why's & wherefores of what could go wrong & what the outcome could be. I can never tell which bits are a wind up & which is the truth. Believe me, it’s enough to make a nervous person run down the aisle begging to be let off the plane.

However, over the years I’ve listened & learned all about the flaps on the wings, whether they should be up or down & when. Oh & also what it means if they're at different angles, but of what use this would ever be to me goodness only knows...

These are Hawks & Eurofighter's, the photos aren't exactly David Bailey standard, due to the fact that the camera decided it's battery was dead just before the planes started to fly lower & pose...

Apparently the Red Arrows put in an appearance too, but not round here they didn't, maybe that's because the Queen wasn't at her canal boat this weekend.

After taking these photos I put the camera on charge, but forgot to switch it on at the wall (I mean how thick can you get?) Hence we missed taking a photo of one of the biggest fish (Bream) Dave has ever caught.

Bummer for Dave that seeing as passing round photos of giant fish is such a big macho thing amongst the fishing fraternity, but alas without proof of size one is not taken seriously. Ahem, make of that what you will...

Pouring rain, a catch up & blinds down!

My sister popped round this afternoon for a chinwag, & after 4 hours of putting the world to rights, (aboard a warm n’ cosy TT). Then she suddenly remembered that she should've been home an hour ago making tea for the kids. Fortunately they're old enough to sort themselves out if necessary. Did we get carried away or what? We lost all track of time...!

As for the weather? It wouldn't normally get a mention here because rain is widely accepted as "the norm" by all of us now. But today it was really pelting down & it must've been the coldest day for a long time... Well I know it's been bad but this was ridiculous... Where's this "Indian Summer" we've heard talk of? (Must've got lost on it's way here).

Later on I got to thinking about taking some blinds down in the bedroom (well there's curtains there as well for goodness sake). But like I said I got to thinking about it but no further – like you do... or don't as the case may be...