Moved round the corner.

After another sleepless night with a lot of rocking, rolling, creaking and bashing the pontoon wasn't working too well due to the change in wind direction and the strong gusts. So this morning we thought bugger it we are definitely going to move today. Also water situation was getting pretty dire. Lady on the old boat called Zodiac which was moored in front of us said that the winding hole up the way was narrowed by a sunken butty that had broken free from its mooring. This may make turning round difficult especially in the wind.
Paul took the dogs out came back after around 10 mins saying we were going to go NOW as there was a lull in the wind, not only that he told me he was going to REVERSE back to the junction BLOODY HELL Paul are you mad or what. Now I had a dilemma, did I stand on the back of the boat or walk the tow path to the junction to watch out for moving boats. needless to say I took the easy option and stood on the back. As we reversed past the boat behind us we waved to the couple who were still in bed (it was only 8am at the time) think we gave them a bit of a shock.
We reversed on tick over letting the wind do some of the work, everything was going swimmingly until we got to the first bridge, because the bridge was causing a tunnel effect the wind was at its strongest point so the bows were all over the place but once through we carried on with no problem. Reversed round the triangle and got onto the water point where we spent about an hour filling up. We are now just in front of nb Moonshadow hopefully a bit more sheltered as Paul tells me we are on the "lee shore" (do what) away from the bad weather expected this weekend.
Now have to walk to the village to see if the prescriptions have arrived. Don't think we will be able to make contact with Paul's brother in Oz this weekend via Skype as the signal isnt too good here.

Oh what a night.

Was last night blowy or what? All the time we were watching the TV we couldn't hear the banging at the back it wasn't until we were in bed that we realised just how bad it was. Obviously the wind had changed direction a tad, no longer was it hitting us broadside and keeping us against the bank. it was coming down the canal and hitting the rear quarter knocking us up against the submerged stonework.

I don't know what time Paul got up in the early hours, I thought he was going to have a cigarette but no, the hatch went back the doors opened and then the cover zips zipped, I was getting a bit concerned but he came back shut everything up and got back into bed. Needless to say I didn't let on that i was awake I might have been asked to make tea. After what seemed hours I was just dropping off (snoring was coming from across the boat) when the boat hit the bank with such a force it even woke Paul up. So that was the end of our nights sleep, it was 6.30 by now so cup of tea was in order.

Now Paul wouldn't be Paul if he didn't come up with some contraption to keep us off the bank and here is the picture. A plank of wood just happened to be floating by so he retrieved it and made up a small pontoon and even if I say so myself it works a treat proof will be tonight when the forecast is for more high winds.

I decided to go to Daventry leaving Paul to watch over things here, there is a boat moored up near by and it turned out to be Beccy the boat painters boat so Paul told her he would keep an eye out while she was at work. Have changed the lead and got Lou to remove some unwanted programmes from the notebook. When I got back on board we tried out the lead and it is weird to see everything that is on the laptop also on the TV screen, don't know if we will ever use it but at least we have the option.

Quiet day.

Yesterday after we returned from Daventry I asked Paul how long we were going to stay here as we need repeat prescriptions and I wanted to know which PO to use. "we aren't in a hurry to get any where" he says, so off I toddled in the rain to post said prescription requests. This morning he says "shall we move today as the weather is fine" well I could have throttled him. After spitting out my dummy we are still here and will be until the prescriptions arrive.
Had to walk the rubbish and toilet to the sanitary point, as we left the boat met up with a nice couple walking their retriever, they are from nb Moonshadow as yet don't have a blog of their own even though Maffi and now us have told them how easy it is to do. Hope they take the plunge soon.
This afternoon I unearthed a couple of recipe books to get a bit of inspiration fed up with eating the same things all the time. Found a couple that suited the ingredients I had lined up so I thought I would mix the two together and come up with a culinary delight. Of course I had a wise crack from Paul "so we are having casserole again" No, we are having Beef cobbler with a few extra ingredients thrown in. He just can't keep up with my cooking at the moment as on Sunday I made a CAKE. Our friends when they visit always bring what is loving called "Boat Cake" they e mailed me the recipe so as I was bored I thought I would give it a go. Turned out nice even if I do say so myself in fact there is only one slice left. Paul has been having his with custard as a pudding (he also has cornflakes and custard!!!!!) As the beef was simmering on the hob I unearthed another recipe for some oat biscuits and they are now cooling on the side. Trouble is with all this home cooking of sweet stuff it doesn't do your waist line any good.
Paul has just returned from Tradline fenders where he has had to buy another length of rope to make Crystal a new long lead as the old one rotted breaking in a couple of places.

Guess where we have to go in the next few days, that's right Daventry, to the computer shop to change the lead we bought to connect the TV to the laptop should we need a larger screen. The one we were given had the wrong fitting one end. Not Lou's fault as you cant see what is in the packets.
It has been so nice today not rushing around catching buses, still haven't managed to get the jobs done we planned to. Too much talking and not enough doing that's our trouble.
Quite a bit of boat traffic today, seems everyone is taking advantage of the good weather.

Windy or What?

Wont bore you with our too-ing and fro-ings on Saturday suffice to say we have sorted out the rugs they are being remade it was the company that did the whipping that got it wrong. So in another two weeks we have to go to Rugby to pick them up. This time we are going in the boat cant face two bus journeys. Have picked up the Samsung notebook and it is soooooo fast its bliss. Of course the dongle signal is a bit intermittent but I am having fun.
Friday night was very windy and me being a bit of a woose as far as the wind is concerned (I remember 1984) I didn't get much sleep. Saturday night I slept like a top and Sunday we did absolutely nothing.
Today it was back to Daventry to top up the larder just in case we decide to move in the next couple of days depends on the weather of course but when we do move it will be back towards Hillmorton.
Have decided we want to go to Coventry on the bus soon for a visit to the motor museum and the cathedral, may even do a bit of Christmas shopping who knows.

Busy again.

Yesterday was a busy day for us, yet again. When we went into Daventry for the shopping Paul had gone into a computer shop to ask for some advice about our laptop. Yesterday we took the bull by the horns and took the thing into the shop to see if there was any hope and un-fortunately there isn't. We had compiled a list of things that were giving us a problem, the chap (called Lou) stopped us when we had mentioned a few, he said that listening to us it would be uneconomical to repair, it transpires that the laptop is about 6 years old, we have had it 2 years and it was second hand then, so all in all it hasn't done too bad. Now the next problem was a new one! Did we go for another lap top or a conventional tower and screen. Okay, I can hear you telling us to go to Comet or Curry's but my daughter recently had a problem with her laptop which was 6 months old and Curry's didn't want to know, it had to be returned to the manufacturer collected by courier, now we don't have the luxury of being able to go up this route so our thinking was, at least if you use a small independent store you have personal service a face to talk to if you have a problem and as we are going to be in the area until the spring should a problem arise we could sort it easily. Any way after about an hour in this little shop we were totally confused, Paul favoured the tower option but where would we put the screen and keyboard, I hankered after another laptop but we didn't want Vista we wanted Windows 7 or XP. Lou rang round for a laptop to see what he could get us for our budget and came up with an option but although it had Vista there was an upgrade to 7 this involved a voucher system which would be sent out, so all in all we were flummoxed. I'm sure Lou was relieved when we said we would go off for a coffee to consider our options. Hour later we were back in the shop he threw a spanner in the works by asking us if we had considered a Netbook well the answer to that was no we hadn't, in fact we hadn't even seen one up close. Pros and cons were weighed up and we will be going back in the morning to pick up the new Netbook which comes with XP but should we wish at a later date 7 can be installed. I also wanted Office put on which Lou is doing at a third of the cost of Comet. Although smaller than our current laptop the key board on the Netbook is the same size, it is only the screen that is smaller but we can plug it into the TV should we want a larger screen. It has everything that we want and a battery life of 4-6 hours. Crowning glory, cheaper than a laptop what a result.
When we got back Paul decided to install the new chimney liner but this involved cleaning around the roof fitting so that he could get a nice tight fit. The fire was already alight and un-be known to him the residue of the cleaning had lodged in the bend of the chimney, within seconds the boat was full up with smoke and all the alarms were going off. With no hesitation Paul removed the fire plate from within the fire jumped onto the roof and pushed the chimney brush down into the fire to clear the obstruction, this was achieved at warp speed, by now all the windows were open to let the smoke out (curtains need a wash now) at least the fire was at last burning normally. The new liner was fitted and since then there seems to be less tar residue running on to the roof this has yet to be proven. Had to leave the windows open for a few hours to clear the boat of smoke and smells. Hope the neighbours didn't think it was my cooking.
Had a phone call from Carpetrite to say the rugs were ready for collection so this morning it was on the bus into Rugby and then another bus to Brownsover (what would we do without our bus passes). Everything was parcelled up and as it was raining we didn't want to unpack the rugs. Caught the buses back to Braunston Paul going on ahead to the boat as I couldn't keep up with his long strides and we didn't want to get the rugs wet. I took the dogs for a quick walk while Paul unwrapped the rugs, when I got back on the boat I could sense there was a problem as there was a definite chill in the air and the language was very ripe. He was absolutely fuming, when we had ordered the carpet which was to be cut into the rugs we gave them a drawing of how it was to be cut so that the pattern on two of the pieces matched, but no, although the drawing went with the carpet they got it completely arse about face. Paul wasted no time in getting on to the phone to Carpetrite, he asked the young lady to retrieve our drawing from her bin, it was agreed that it had been cut incorrectly and we now have to go back in the morning with the carpet. Hopefully they may get it right this time, Paul cant understand how some dip stick finds it so difficult to read a drawing. We aren't being picky the two rugs being side by side looked awful with the pattern not matching and anyway we paid over a £100 for them to get it right. So tomorrow is going to be yet another day of bus journeys, firstly to Rugby then back to Daventry for the computer.
Thank goodness Friday the 13th is nearly over.

Braunston.

Yesterday we left bridge 81 and made our way to Braunston in the rain, well it wasn't heavy rain it was that really fine stuff that gets you soaked through. It was cold as well, were going to stop at the sanitary point but there were two boats there so we had to give that a miss, one of the boats was tied to a tree and its stern swung out and nearly hit us as we went past, it was on about 10foot of rope.

We are now on the Puddlebanks yet again and as there is a boat on the only decent mooring we have the plank out at long last Saffy has got the hang of walking the plank, Crystal just launches herself onto the towpath.

Couldn't get a signal for the laptop yesterday probably due to the awful weather, today no problem. This morning we caught the bus to Daventry for the shopping had a quick look in Homebase Paul has come up with a new idea re the fiddler rail round the kitchen shelves and needed some door knobs, needless to say they didn't have what we wanted. So he popped into Nobles and they have ordered him just the thing, should be in tomorrow. Paul also went into the computer shop to check out this new Windows 7 that has just been launched. As we are thinking of getting a new laptop he wanted a bit of advice. Chap was very helpful just have to save up now.
A new bilge pump had to be fitted as ours was inadvertently switched on and it burnt itself out. Don't know how that happened but too late to worry about it now its over and done with. Shall check in future to make sure everything on that panel is switched off.
Will probably stay here till next week then who knows where we will be, probably towards Napton in the country for a few days then back towards Rugby and beyond.

Exciting e mail!

Yesterday was a very quiet day, wet in the morning but a bit better in the afternoon so the dogs did get their longish walk, it was left to me to do this as Paul was talking to his brother in Australia via Skype. Had to take advantage of having a decent signal as no doubt once we get to Braunston it will be non existent. When I was allowed access to the laptop I checked the emails and there was one from The National lottery ( I had bought tickets on line) headed "exciting news" well I knew I hadn't won the euro millions so what was the "exciting news" I was beside myself with anticipation, went into the account and found to my surprise that I had one £10 yes a whole £10 I would have preferred a few noughts after the 10 but I should be grateful for small mercies and who knows I might be on a roll now and the next e mail I get in another year or so will be to tell me I have won a million. A quarter of a million would be nice we could have a new boat built while we are still living on this one but all this is just a distant dream but then some one has to win and I have as much chance as the next person.
I thought we were moving today but obviously got that wrong, so tomorrow it is when the weather forecast is cold and wet good job it isn't far to Braunston!!!!!!!