A new year ditty

I made up this little New Year old oat ode today, for all my pals:

“Go your own way,

Do your own thing.

May the new year bring you,

EVERYTHING.

It’s never too late in life,

To achieve your dreams…”

[Written by that famous infamous poet called me]

Not had time to blog for the last couple of days, blimey we’ve been having wayyy too much fun. Liam spent his last night here at the boat with mum & dad on Thursday, we were up till 4am…!!! Then he set off driving back to Germany yesterday, {bittersweet moments} he got there safe & sound this morning at 6am… It felt like there was a hole in our hearts for a moment there after he’d gone, but we get used to it, we have to…

So it’s a quiet New Years Eve in at the boat for us tonight, with glass in hand:

Cheers everyone

Christmas Crackers

Or, a Crackers Christmas, thing is all my family are as potty as me, so it must run in the jeans genes or something…

Christmas Crackers Day at my mum & dad’s:

The table BEFORE it got laden with food…

As you can imagine, with 13 of us sat round it, re-arrangements were necessary in order to fit the turkey & trimmings on, & also to fit us all in…

After opening all our presents amidst a mountain of shredded paperwork, it was time for the star of the show to open his, after he’d had a little nap. The rosy cheeks are back teeth coming through, Ahh…

Just woken up & raring to go, let’s get started then. But I’ll just have a play with this Cola bottle with dad & grandad first…

And then I’ll teach dad how to do aerobics…

And now I’ll show mum how to put a Christmas hat on, whilst keeping a serious face…

Ooo opening presents is fun…

He He, Clap, Clap…

Just a moment while I phone a friend…

How ya doin’ mate…?

And after all that he preferred to walk round with his mum’s toiletries bag collecting bits of paper & various other interesting items ready for recycling…

“Gmahh” Heth…

Ganda Dave…

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Boxing Day with our friends Ju, Fran & their family, oh & a magic drum present that’ll drive mum & dad nuts…

But Ryan liked it, of course noisy stuff is always best…

 

Ooops, forgot Christmas Eve at Dave’s sisters where Ryan found himself a new girly friend. Thought he was onto something there, till someone mentioned the word NOSE…

So in an effort to please the audience, he poked his little friend here on the NOSE with his finger. No harm done even if he was off balance at the time…

In fact it was such good fun, a game of “find the nose” ensued with much clapping & laughter. So he hadn’t “blown it” (excuse puny pun)after all. But, unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with the camera…

Well I always try to polish off a blog post on the same theme as it started, it doesn’t always work that way, because sometimes I just plain forget. This time I’ve remembered something I’ve forgotten(?) So, question of the day:

Can anybody remember a crappy joke from a Christmas Cracker, or a Cracking Christmas…? If so, answers on a postcard or even a comment. Personally I heard loads & can’t remember a one…

PS: Best joke wins a packet of half eaten crackers…

M6 Motorway Mayhem

Driving back to the boat today, 100 miles took us over 4 hours!!! That’s Thelwall viaduct in the distance, 4 lanes – gridlocked.

So the Sat Nav kindly took us on a Disney Tour down the “A” roads --- thing is, so does everyone else’s…

Oh, & we had a Chinese meal last night with Liam, Maddy & Ryan, it tasted nice enough at the time, then we went to see some friends we don’t see very often. Great night, well half of it was, Dave was up during the early hours being sick, (& the other business)…

That must be what you get when you order an Indian curry from the only Chinese restaurant in town that’s open on Boxing Day. Thing is, I don’t like curry, so I had chicken flied lice…

By the time 6am dawned this morning, Dave was still running (excuse pun) back & forth to the loo, so I thought I was immune. But it’s been like a delayed reaction for me. We’re back at the boat all calm & serene now, but motorway mayhem is still driving me nuts driving my guts big style. Sadly even white wine won’t help. (As if). Thankfully the lurgy didn’t “get” anyone else…

All in all a rotten egg day then. When a friend heard about the traffic chaos, he mentioned it might’ve been quicker by boat, hmm…

Well. let’s put it this way, there must’ve been more stoppages on the M6 today than all of the canal system put together…

Well I was going to post loads of silly photos today, but..

We forgot the blasted camera yesterday & left it at my mum & dad’s. No camera, no fun photos (obviously).

We’re staying at a hotel nearby for a couple of days so Dave brought the car here when we checked in yesterday. Liam followed in his car, & brought him back to the party so he could have a drink. (Complicated stuff as usual). Liam & Maddy were staying at my mum’s anyway. Hence us two walked back staggered back here around midnight…

Oh & that’s after playing the last silly game of the day, you know, the one where everyone forgets the rules, & generally makes it up to suit their own team. Altogether my parents catered for (I think it was) 11 humans & one dog, some achievement…

[Amendment: I was pickled when I originally wrote this, I’ve since been informed there were 13 humans & one dog]

We’ve done well here at the hotel too, we’re in an “executive room” for the same price as a standard one!! It’s all rather powsh old bean…

Boxing Day Special News: Well done to the Military Wives for their success, we’ve got a mountain of respect for what they’ve achieved for soldiers charities. Half a million copies sold in just one week.

AMAZING………………..

PS: What about all us “Military Mums” getting together?? Thing is if it’s going to involve singing, I’ll just have to tinkle the triangle in the background…

 

Something to make you smile this Christmas

After his first time on a plane & his first steps on UK soil, Ryan goes fishing with mum & dad…

Sincere Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all of you, from Heth & Dave…!

The start of Christmas

We’re just about to set off to meet Liam, Maddy & baby Ryan at their hotel. We’ve checked online & her flight landed half an hour ago. We’ll take them all out for a meal tonight…

Liam’s had to drive from Lancashire to get to the airport & then back here to Derbyshire, unfortunately the airport is nowhere near there or here…! Hope they’re ok in this horrid weather & heavy traffic.

See ya later…

The stress test

So with much nervous tension in the air we set off for a dumpout & to fill up with fuel this aft. Second attempt in 2 days – but would a new battery be enough…? Well the engine started first time & off we went. Honestly it’s like going for a day trip out from our mooring to the service area. There’s even a couple of 90 degree corners like on a Grand Prix circuit…

I love the challenge of throwing this boat about, sorta shows her who’s boss, well from a Captains best mate point of view. Smooth as a baby’s bottom, that’s the engine not me…

You’re honoured with this photo tha’ knows, there’s no make up on that face & can’t you just tell? I really couldn’t give a stuff about it while we’re at the marina, except if there’s visitors on the way – well that’s a whole different thing. And if it’s an impromptu visit, I get Dave to stall a bit while I get the Pollyfilla & face paint out, shhhh. Oh & then there’s one step beyond the security gates too…

Anyway, on a more serious note, the engine / battery / cooling system “stress test” revealed no problems with the fuel, we knew there wasn’t, because the central heating boiler wouldn’t have been working – it’s always been a fussy bugger…

I remember we once got the dregs from the fuel tank at the service station on the other marina which ran their tank dry! (If we’d known we would’ve waited). The dam boiler wouldn’t work for 3 days till we’d filled the tank with fresh stuff – like we’d tried to do in the first place. Dave checked out the quarter tank of fuel we had yesterday, which is still 100 litres, no sign of anything nasty, it’s fine…

So that leaves the thermostat for cooling the water problem, well it worked as it should today - Dave reckons it was a bit sticky after the journey by road…

We also should’ve known better about the battery, it’s the same one that’s been sat there in it’s nice little house since the boat was built & has lasted 4 years. So one cannot complain, however the biggest deal with this [problem no: 131313 since we got here] was the TIMING, as in date of re-launch…

Never a hint of an engine failure in the past, but after recent events & without sounding dramatic, one’s mind automatically jumps to “worst case scenario.” Thankfully it wasn’t, & she purred like a pussycat to & from the service area after being emptied from one (poo) tank & filled up in the other (fuel) tank. Phew. Even so, we’re going to get an engineer from the Isuzu service centre here to do a full engine service in January. Get the thermostat replaced if necessary, come to think of it – replace the darn thing anyway. Sorta makes you realise just how important a thermostat is on a boat’s engine, & that it’s kicking in when it’s supposed to…

Few more piccies…

Moored up at the service area, and…

 

The building she nearly clobbered into whilst being hoisted back in here at Mercia…

I’d just like to say a big thanks to “The Mop” (that’s Tony) for diagnosing correctly 2 different problems, except for the fuel being f*cked. On a different note, tell ya what chuck, it’s windy up in Lancs & people say it’s windy here – but it’s absolutely nothing in comparison. And it’s a lot warmer too, so get your ass down here mister…

PS: Liam went off up north yesterday to see his mates, that’s his friends from infants school!! He hardly sees them anymore because he’s based in Germany. His wife & baby Ryan arrive on Friday by plane. So he’s going to collect them & we’ll meet them all at the hotel they’re staying in (south Derby). Hugs all round…

So please can we look forward to Christmas now Please? Please?

Just another “minor” niggle to deal with

I’m getting a bit fed up with the alarming phrase / question I keep hearing myself say, which is: “Oh please tell me this isn’t really happening?” We attempted to set off for our inaugural pumpout & weave our way around the marina this aft. It would’ve been a couple of firsts:

• The first time a dumpout has been required since we got here.
• The first self dumpout we’ve Dave’s used. Although he was taught well by the manager at the other marina, who left Dave to “do the business” (excuse) on several occasions.

But, there was also another “first” – the engine wouldn’t start… And in order to be able to carry out the first 2 firsts, the third first had to be working.

The Glow plugs were fine, then cough, splutter, nothing. The engine didn’t even try to turn. Now what I forgot to tell you was that when we got here & TT had been plonked in the water. Apart from all the damage inside the boat, the engine was reluctant to start. Just a minor thing in the grand scheme of shock & trauma at the mess inside…

It took Dave about 10 attempts to start her up “it’s just an air lock” he said, by that time I didn’t care because I was too upset. The engine had never let us down before, so it was like a miniscule thing at the time …

As we went round to our now ex “unhappy mooring” the engine sounded terrible, it’s usually really quiet. But we could both “feel the vibes” as it were, & it had nothing to do with sweet music…

By the time we got there the water temp was up at 100 degrees. (What?) So Dave killed the engine, & we pulled the stricken boat in with the ropes…

A few days later we moved round to our new & “happy mooring” here. The engine was reluctant to start & sounded loud again, but the water temp stayed normal. Dare we say all was well? Teething problems perhaps? We thought so – all down to being moved, shaken down the motorway & stirred back in the drink right…?

Nope, today there was nothing, except for the sound of the glow plugs & a couple of clicks. The engine didn’t even try to turn. So Dave went round to the Isuzu dealership here, & saw the heart-warming sign “CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS” on the door. Marvellous, next on the list was Midland Chandlers, we suspected the starter battery was flat seeing as nothing was loose & contacts were intact. At times like this Stage 1 is all about diagnosis, so we got a new battery & fitted it, Dave fitted it…

Bingo, it worked, the engine started fine, but by this time we’d missed the window for a pumpout because it was going dark. So the “stress test” is set for tomorrow, & is a new battery the full answer or is there more to it…? Or am I getting paranoid…? Sod it, we’ve had enough – going out for a meal…

Thanks to my little mates on Farcebook for all your helpful comments. If I could research through everything on there, think I could build an engine & cure diesel bug forever. Well no, perhaps not…       

Ten pins on TT

Guess what Wii were doing last night…

That’s it luv, give it some welly…

Earlier on, after defrosting the ice cube car we took Liam to “The Cherry Tree” in Willington for a meal. I’m not sure I really like that place, it’s too vast, bland & impersonal for me. Even featureless?? And I know Christmas Decs should have no influence on judgement, but there’s not many to see, & those you do notice are well past their sell by date, to the point of scruffiness… And while we’re having a moan, last time I had their “medium” sirloin steak it arrived at the table a bit rare, so rare, it was cold on the edges. But, not one to make a fuss, (sometimes), I ate the middle bit, & call it faith in human nature I thought it must be a “one off…”

Last night, I opted for sirloin again, he he, got it covered, ask for “well done” & you get “medium.” Nope, when my plate of food was presented before me the remains of the steak looked like a piece of shoe leather – tasted like it too. Still not one to complain, I ate what I could before jaw ache set in…  

The only big deal is that “The Cherry Tree” serves food all day (& from what I’ve seen most of the night). We’ve discovered that the smaller pubs round here have both character & charm --- but only start serving food at 6pm. Or finish serving food at 6pm on a Sunday. And guess which way round we’ve got it so far – live n’ learn…

At 2am this morning Dave & Liam had moved on to playing “silly golf” & it was silly, very silly, because by then they’d both consumed rather a lot of alcohol. Dave successfully managed to tee off heading for the wrong green twice - that’s the one behind him. Meantime Liam went through the whole course whilst out of bounds… I was knackered & really needed some sleep, but it was just too good to miss, which under the circumstances is a very appropriate & descriptive word with ref to performance…

This morning (well, afternoon) we all woke up feeling a bit fragile, & had no choice but to chill out for the rest of the day. Aye it’s hard work having fun well into the early hours…  

Hidden Coincidences

Now the thing is, as you probably know, we weren’t happy with the original mooring we had here, & have moved to another pier where we are happy, courtesy of the marina manager…

This left some of our friends here wondering where the hek we were. I kept Bruce & Sheila  (nb Sanity Again) in suspenders about it. They regularly go for walks around the marina, so I left them playing a little game of “find the TT on your travels.” Then I read Bruce’s blog post for Thursday which went like this, imagine my surprise when I discovered they’d been but a few yards away. (Meantime I was sat on our settee in “back pain” agony). So quite by chance they found us…

Then there’s Steve & Lindsay on “Jenique” they knew we’d moved & were walking round the marina this aft, also playing the game of looking for TT. Coincidence again, I rang up at the same time to see if they wanted to come round. Answer: “Would you believe it, we’re looking for you right now?” So once they’d worked it out they came for a natter. They knew roughly were to look, but Steve had his binoculars out searching for a luxuree conserveratory made out of wood like on a Dutch barge. When in reality only the front screen is – wood that is. Hence the temporary mux ip. Which means that for different random reasons we’ve accidentally been rumbled stumbled upon twice in one week. It’s not like we were hiding in the first place of course, but it makes for a great version of “Hide & Seek.” And any confusion caused was all TT’s fault anyway…

Now just to make things even more complicated I wrote this blog post last week, which sorta sums up “our move from a crappy pier to a brill one.” Including how we noticed Steve & Lindsay’s boat on the next pier behind us (by pure chance again). We’d no idea they were there, even though we went round to see them on our very first visit here by car. [We’ve got a good excuse though, the perspective from the road around the marina is much different to when you’re sat floating on it…]

Hence the idea of building a footbridge across the relatively short distance “as the crow flies” between us. So we decided today that being as there’s supposed to be a sophisticated bridge being built here at the marina soon called “The Boardwalk.” Ours will be extremely unsophisticated & called “The Plank.” However, Steve came up with a great money-saving idea, Quote: “Well we’ll just buy a dinghy to share.” Brilliant, why didn’t I think of that…? 

Hello son!

Liam arrived here at about 9am this morning safe & sound {BIG HUGS} after driving all night from Germany. (Except whilst parked up on the ferry of course). And the rest of the journey we’re all familiar with. Well for some perhaps, but for us the sat nav knows better. Including Liam’s…

So he’s had a good sleep this aft, there was no need for us to creep about because he has his own natural earplugs built in. I think I sent him to sleep in the first place, when I got onto the subject of BW / CART (horse before) & the state of the locks up north. Only in the sense that it was one of the small reasons we moved, but it still sent him to sleep…

He’s woke up now, & we’re waiting for the chicken & potatoes to roast. Feast first, drinky poos later, & a game of Trivial Pursuit on the Wee Wii. Should be a laugh…!

Right that’s it for today, got too much catching up to do, not seen him since we went to Germany in August, so cheers & hic…      :-O

I stood in front of the shower

This morning, & wondered if it was at all possible, did I need water wings so I could do the hydro-therapy thing? But I was determined, so it had to happen however painful. And it was. Getting dressed afterwards was a nightmare – or a comedy whichever way… However there has been a significant improvement since so it was worth it, at least I can walk upright now instead of resembling a wobbly neanderthal…

Dave managed to do a whip round today, while I did anything that could be done while sat down, which wasn’t very much but never mind. Picking feathers out of a duck down pillow was about the highlight of the day. No,, I wasn’t doing that for fun, it hasn’t been used for a while & has sprouted heathers feathers since…

Turned out there wasn’t that much to do anyway because of the mess we had to clean up when we got here at Mercia. At the time it was an intensive clean up job because of all the broken glass. The good news is that it meant there was just a bit of hoovering for us Dave to do today. So bob’s yer uncle, we’re ready for Liam arriving on the car park sometime EARLY tomorrow morning…

Note: The word EARLY is in caps because we don’t normally do mornings – but he’s an exception to the rule…

Meantime, tonight we’re left wondering if his channel crossing will actually happen because of the weather. His wife Maddy & baby Ryan are arriving by plane on the 23rd. So we’ve booked them all into a hotel in Derby with a family room for a couple of days & then we’ll all go “up north” to my parents on Christmas day. That’s when it’s our turn to stay in a hotel, blimey it’s complicated – but worth it…!

I took some photos yesterday aft of our mooring at Mercia Marina, something we’ve noticed is that there’s a fair number of double moorings taken up by just one narrowboat - all over the marina…

So believe it or not there’s a narrowboat on either side of us – but with an empty mooring between on each side. Which means the sun streams through the windows, even in winter…

Very nice even if it’s bl**dy freezing outside…

 

Or it could be that they were all alerted to the fact that we were on our way round, & shuffled about a bit before we got there…

This is the gap that we get away with, anywhere, anyway…

View ahead of us…

Yep, think I like it here…

Back to the Christmas theme, stats & facts [on our travels] so far:

• Christmas cards – CHECK, except for 2 who’ve moved, that’s the people not the cards….
• Wrapping presents – CHECK, fully covered (excuse pun), got those fancy bag thingy’s to just plonk stuff in…
• No of presents just realised forgot: 1…

Ah well, it’ll all wrap up come together in the end as they say…

Ouch Ouch OUCH!

I’ve done a silly thing, after falling down those steps last week & walking away without a scratch, I moved a stool from under the breakfast bar yesterday & felt something go BOING in my back…

After spending all afternoon asleep in bed, here I am feeling like a total waste of space, so fed up I’ve even been watching boring football. You don’t feel the boredom above the pain…

And our son Liam is driving over from Germany tomorrow night, he’ll be here early on Saturday & I’ve got loads to do – but can hardly move. Poor lad he’ll have to drive through snow by the looks of things. At least there’s one advantage, he’s got his winter snow tyres on his car, not just any old tyres. They get a hefty fine over there if they don’t use them during winter. That’s how come Germany doesn’t grind to a halt after an inch of snow has fallen. They also have a far superior & dependable transport system in general, the railway network, bus network, even bicycles & monocycles are more balanced reliable…

Introducing snow tyres here just wouldn’t work though would it? It’s too late, people would say they can’t afford it. Yet if they had been introduced years ago, nobody would bat an eyelid. So which costs less?

• Transport disruption, accidents & people not being able to get to work costing millions per day.
• Or a Government subsidy for winter tyres on every car? There’s been several fatal accidents on the roads just these past couple of weeks, & we’re not up to the white stuff being everywhere yet.

Just a thought…

Anyway, back to yesterday's photo “wotsit” quiz thing, the answer is:

A kids fishing net – with a really thick pole, the top 4 inches of it was sticking up out of the water. We couldn’t work out how this “stick thing” was defying gravity & not moving with the water. So Dave went round to investigate & that’s what he caught with the (other) pole thing off the roof, not often you catch a fishing net with a pole(?) The net itself must’ve been embedded at the bottom, & unfortunately the whole thing got binned before I got chance to take a photo…

That’s what you call a hazard to your prop, well, this post started with pain so it’s going to end that way… Agghhh…       

Festive cheer & a very mysterious object

Thought it might be nice to deliver Christmas cards for everyone on the pier this aft. Well I had to use up the spare cards, I sort of over-estimated how many were required… Blimey that sounds awful, it really was done with Christmas cheer…

Subtle, not over the top of course…

Written inside was:

Happy Christmas

From Heather & Dave

“Takey Tezey”

Hallmark’s got nothing on that, & even though we’ve already been introduced to some folks, we still can’t remember their names. Turned out today we’d ALL forgotten each others names, so it’s not as embarrassing as it sounds…

Tell you what, considering how small this pier is, it has to be one of the most colourful. With Christmas lights everywhere, we’re on a par with Blackpool illuminations, strike that, better than. In fact the whole marina is lit up with a colourful plethora of twinkly things. So many more than we’ve ever seen on any marina, apparently there’s a prize for best tarted up decorated boat…

It’s got to be the one with Santa, his sleigh & the reindeer(s) on the roof. Others have one or the other but not all three. The same boat has also got lights all round the edges, dangly lights in the cratch & another lot wrapped all round the swan neck. Must be visible from the Space Station…

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On a different note: I found this today, so took a mystery photo, but what is it? I had no idea at the time. It’s the green thing you need to study carefully. (And being as it’s such a crap quality photo, that’s very difficult indeed), but it all adds to the excitement…

I’ve noticed Sue (nb No Problem) has been running a very interesting “wassat?” photo competition on her blog recently. So for copyright purposes this is the same but different, & it’s called “watsit?” Don’t worry Sue, I won’t steal your creativity, it’s just a “one off,” bit like me…

Settling in – the sequel

There’s a “right place” for everyone here. We just didn’t get it “right for us” first time. Imagine walking down worn out steps towards the water with no lighting, (where I fell on my bum). Then, walking down to the end of 2 straight piers almost towards the middle of the marina. Whilst also having to deal with gale force winds & being surrounded by open water on both sides (nightmare). That might suit some folks, but not us. Hence yesterday’s second relocation, after the first relocation, since we left the previous location…

Also the numbers on that mooring were 12 & 13, that’s THIRTEEN, hmm…

So we sat outside in the lux con this morning surveying our new kingdom, when all of a sudden Dave says “Hang on a minute, that’s Steve’s boat over there isn’t it?” Naw says me, “he’s over th,,, hang on, that IS his boat.” After getting things in perspective we realised it was actually his pier & our eyes weren’t deceiving us after all. Thing is, we still can’t get our heads round what’s where (takes a while on here). We must’ve driven right past his boat (in ours) yesterday without us even realising. I wouldn’t care, but we’ve been round there before – in the car of course, so that’s my excuse for loss of bearings, or anything else for that matter…

Anyway, I don’t think Steve knows yet, (else he would’ve fired off onto our recent ex mooring by now). I’ve worked out that “as the crow flies” their bow is about 75 yards away from our back end. However going round there by car is a good quarter mile, which in effect means it would be quicker to go by boat, how often (or not) can you say that…?

Not to worry, I’ve come up with the answer that doesn’t involve walking on water or learning sign language at all. We’ll just build a nice foot bridge across from here to there & we’re sorted…

PS: I finally got my Christmas cards done last night, yes the Christmas spirit has arrived. The lights have been up on the roof for ages, (well a few days). But the spirit arrived a bit late due to too much farting about with important stuff that gives you brain-ache. And that’s just the cards…

PPS: Which reminds me, have you noticed what a mind numbingly frazzling experience writing Christmas cards is these days? If people split up, (which they do) it may require up to 2 cards to be dispatched to different addresses, as opposed to just the one. Which also means another address to take note of, & that’s provided they haven’t got bored & moved somewhere else in the meantime. Then there’s the “special cards,” it all started so well, till it came to grandchildren, I still haven’t found any “grandchild” cards, why? There’s lots of them about, that’s grandchildren not cards…

Tesco – you listening?

Mercia Marina Rocks

Excellent service, we hated were we’d been put & I fell flat on my arse last night walking down the mile long pier, & before anyone assumes otherwise - yes I was sober… So today was decision time, we knew we’d find somewhere on here we were happy with, I mean it’s so vast there had to be, but could we find a widebeam mooring in the right place? Asking a lot & we knew it…

So this morning we went round with our map & found 2 excellent moorings, but when we went to the office they both had deposits on them. (I was gutted). Then the manager told us of a lovely little spot that we’d missed…

We went round to take a look at it, spoke to a few people on the pier & decided this was it, small pier, tucked away & out of the breeze with 60ft jetty’s. There’s some really nice folks around us, and we have a lovely view…

There’s a facility block close by (just for taking rubbish to the hidden bins in our case), plus there’s a recycling section. Why hidden? Well the facilities blocks look like swiss lodge cabins & the wheelie bins are out of sight & screened off. The car isn’t far away either, & another thing, there’s no need for massive car parks on here, they’re all just in little “one row” areas dotted here & there…

As the old saying goes: Seek & ye shall find.!

We were also overwhelmed when we got to our friendly little pier with the welcome we got, people came round to the boat to introduce themselves. And guess what, we’ve even got another Tilly just 2 boats down, except this one’s, well, he’s a he, rather than a she. But just as cute, sorta made himself at home on the back of the boat while we were chatting, (bless).

So I’m happy to report all is well at last, & we’ve found our new home – at last…

Bouncing back

Got things in perspective now, takes a lot to press depress me, so yesterday was an exception. One thing though, we’re not keen on this mooring, it’s too isolated & the car is about 200 yards away! Get a vision of us teetering all that way down 2 piers (joined in the middle) on Thursday, with all the shopping, in that hurricane we had, & imagine…

As for the duck tape problem, here’s another little nugget of advice to share with you from Chris on Farcebook, Quote: “Meths,, if it don’t work drink it an’ you will believe its gone!! lol.” Excellent contribution there Chris… It’s the kind of helpful comment I’d offer – and have done on several occasions – and will continue to do so in the future…

However, I recognise methylated spirit is a downhill spiral that can quickly escalate out of control, so if I sip it slowly…

Thing is, this duck tape residue stuff is on the front screen of the luxury conserveratory & during the course of today, we’ve noticed that rain makes it disappear…???

Right we’re off out to the “Green Man” pub in Willington tonight for a meal. It will be interesting to find out if the landlord is indeed GREEN…

Willington will let you know tomorrow… 

Settling in?

So we tried to remove duck tape residue off the boat today & gave up. It was used in transit to batten down the front screen – without battens as it were. Later on I posted my sticky situation on Farcebook & got some extremely helpful replies indeed. Except for Paul who just couldn’t help himself from throwing in “a flame thrower” as a solution – told him we’d try it tomorrow…

We’ve finally discovered where Bruce & Sheila (nb Sanity Again) & Barry & Sue (nb Adagio) are hiding. So now we all know that, no doubt they’ll be packing up their bags ready for a swift exit. In fact they’re probably making plans to run for the hills & vacate the area as we speak…

We also met the Pier Representative today, a very nice lady indeed, she came round for a natter & the mandatory cup of tea. [Good job we bought some new cups since we got here then] Tesco specials – if you bought a set of 4, you got 3 for the price of 2. If you bought a set of 6 you got 2 for the price of one. And if you just stood & thought about it without reaching for anything off the shelf, spontaneous combustion was imminent…

Anyway, after our little chat we were a bit disappointed to hear that the plans to start the pub / restaurant, shopping mall, swimming pool, spa, & gym have been delayed for so long, people are seriously doubting all the hype…

Turns out all the boaters want is a clubhouse, which is a great idea for social events, & they’ve been refused, several times…

Right, I’m off to help Dave sort out the “Top Up” TV problem – we haven’t got all the extra channels we pay for, & UK Gold (the best channel on TV) has disappeared too…

In fact nothing’s gone right since we got here really, our expectations are realistic, we’re under no illusions. But if there is a god GIVE US A FLIPPIN BREAK…

PS: Still not done the Christmas cards…

Changes

So where was TT overnight…? The obvious clever answer would be “between the 2 marina’s somewhere.” Or “somewhere between Lancashire & Derbyshire.” Well yes, but one of our friends here told us she was actually delivered to Mercia Marina at about 4pm on the same day she was lifted out. So at least she was secure even if she was a mess inside…

Blimey, the driver must’ve had his foot down to get there before dark. First of all we were told he couldn’t drive any faster than 30 – 40 mph. Then he said he’d be doing up to 50mph, would that be with an emergency stop perhaps? Hmm I wonder…

Anyway the kitchen now looks like it should…

 

A far cry from what we found when we walked inside on Tuesday…

After we’d sorted all that out, we went off & found ourselves a nice pub for some grub, & an early night – FAST ASLEEP…

Since then we’ve spent the last couple of days running round doing sack loads of mundane stuff. And today we tarted up the boat with Christmas lights inside & out, she might be a tart, but she’s sophisticatedly subtle…

Right, so before I go off to write my Christmas cards out (the list has been slashed this year). Here’s a couple of photos I’d forgotten about…

First of all a pretty sunset photo I took yesterday from our mooring…

And secondly a pretty spectacular rainbow taken through the car window on the way down here, it’s not often you can see exactly where they touch the ground…

PS: Going along with the title of this blog post, I’ve changed my mind, can’t be assed doing them there Christmas cards now…

Hoisted back in at Mercia Marina

It started off so well, Tuesday 6th December, there we were at 9am prompt, boat present, crane present, so as usual we were a bit late. Things hadn’t got off the ground as it were – so we didn’t miss anything. But it wasn’t all plain sailing (excuse pun). Up to this point we thought all was well, HA, read on, what a couple of fools…

Watch your head matey…

LOOK OUT, NO BALANCING BEAM…!

Lift & separate…

What the hell were they doing lifting a boat right next to that – in a wind…?

Dave’s reaction as she was swaying towards it. Just missed, but even so I was ready with the camera…

Second attempt…

And we have lift off…

Afloat again…!

But this is what we found in the kitchen when we went on board, we suspect it happened either when she was tipped up on a very odd angle the first time they attempted to lift her out. (Yesterday’s post). Or in transit, in terrible weather…

We were gutted, just like the kitchen, it was trashed & look how far the fridge freezer had moved…

Glass mixed in with food & broken pots everywhere, under the cupboards was totally jammed. One half of a jagged glass even ended up in the bedroom…!

So the first time we went on board at Mercia we were both in deep shock, but who’s fault was this? We asked the guy in the crane, “not our fault, must’ve been done in transit.” We didn’t even bother ringing the haulage company because they would’ve just blamed the crane driver(s). Wouldn’t care, but we’d packed everything away & taped doors / drawers up just like you’re supposed to…

Note: The crane hire covered insurance for lifting in & out, & the transport company covered insurance for transit. So they’re onto a great deal there between them aren’t they? No proof who’s to blame, so neither is responsible, & the customer has no come back…

In summary to this sorry tale, I’d advise anyone having a boat lifted out & moved somewhere else to check it after it’s put on the lorry. Sod elf & safety, get a ladder up there. Then check it again before it comes off the lorry. If there’s any damage at any time, take photos with a time stamp & sue their asses off…

And I won’t even show you the photo of our 3 door wardrobe that ended up across the bed. One of the doors is glass too, fortunately it’s intact, but Dave had to get help to put the whole thing back in place…

To be fair it was only when we got things in perspective later on, we realised it was all cosmetic. In the meantime I was in tears & spent the rest of the day removing bits of glass from every nook & cranny. Couldn’t be helped it got trodden through the whole boat…

On a positive note the marina is lovely & so is our mooring, but you know what, that day I never even noticed…