RANT - rare event but RANT nevertherless

Finally I have succumbed to the dog poo rant.

It really pisses me off when dog owners carefully pick up the dog poo wrap it securely in the bag and then leave the bag at the side or (occasionally) in the middle of the path, draped on fences, hanging by gates/stiles and many other variations.  Worse there is the chuck it out of sight into the undergrowth brigade.

Now I appreciate in their feeble minds they think that they will pick it up on their way back home and the woman who left the bright pink bag on the path two yards from the back of my boat did indeed do just that.  EVENTUALLY  This is all well and good when they do but  often on a walk you don’t come back the same way, you might have intended to when you set off but the day is lovely you are enjoying yourself so you change your mind and do a circular walk instead.  What happens to that lovely parcel you left behind?  Well it stays there, and from the state of the path I walked the other day the bags get absorbed into the path structure when it is wet and muddy until all you see on the ground on a dry day are corners of bags sticking out saying take me home you imbecile.

If you have done the hard part of picking up the dog poo into a bag then carry it with you until you either get home or find a proper dog poo bin.  (and I don’t mean in a discarded trunk left presumably by an equally inconsiderate boater from whence it will never be collected).

For all they say that some bags are bio-degradable they are not really.  What happens is they gradually degrade into smaller and smaller pieces until they are tiny little balls. So we can’t see it any more and therefore it no longer exists.  But it does exist and the sea is full of these floating little darlings.

And as for chucking it into the undergrowth in a bag. . .  Wrong.   

I recently heard of two horses that died and their autopsy showed their stomachs were full of dog poo bags that had been thrown into their field.  Apparently horses are attracted to the cereal content of dog poo and not having opposable thumbs end up eating the whole bag.  If horses are so attracted presumably out in the countryside do are deer and other herbivores.   

So if you are a supposed animal lover and presumably are because you have a dog, don’t throw a bag into the undergrowth.

As far as I am concerned bags are only for removing dog poo from built up areas.   

Where there is a hedge use a small trowel and removing the offending article from the path where someone might step on it, place it out of the way under the hedge where it can decompose naturally.   

On the towpath also remove it from the area between the path and the canal because although you the dog owner are not going to walk in it.   

The likelihood is some poor unsuspecting boat owner will when they are mooring up.   

They have other things on their minds at this point.   

Stepping in it is one thing but when your ropes land on a fresh one.  YUK   

Oh and while I am thinking about it could owners of male dogs please stop them from peeing on mooring bollards – especially when there are boat ropes around them, ditto water points, boaters chairs, shopping bags – generally anything upstanding that the dogs might feel the need to scent mark, that either belongs to someone or someone might handle.

The other day walking around a reservoir we saw three identical white bags – clearly someone with more than one dog.  One draped on the fence, later on one at the side of the path and further on still the last one at a junction.  As we were turning around at this point the dog poo fairy (aka my partner) picked all three up and deposited them in the bin back at the carpark.  So the dog poo fairy does exist but he cannot be everywhere.

To balance this I saw a boat at a lock and the woman on board walked to the front of her boat opened one of the front lockers and took out about 20 small bags which she put into the correct bin.  So I know there are some good dog owners out there but I am afraid you might be outnumbered by the wronguns.

And yes I do like dogs - it is the owners that fall short in my estimation.

 

CRT workboat

The other day Bobcat assisted in the removal and replacement of a faulty paddle.

 The paddle would neither fully drop nor raise.  When they removed it you can see why.  You shouldn't be able to see the two rods that run top to bottom.  The lads reckoned that if it had been  left any longer they wouldn't have been able to remove it at all and it would have meant a proper closure.  On a similar paddle elsewhere someone with a long throw windlass had bent the rods forcing it down.  Which meant the paddle indicators would have looked like the paddle was down but actually it wasn't and it was now impossible to remove manually.

Waiting for the replacement paddle to be dropped down to him.

All in all we were in the lock for about one and half hours and that was mainly waiting for the replacement one to be delivered.  They had to remove the old one and measure it before putting in the order!  We provided cups of tea to keep up moral.

T'owd Bag and T'owd Goat

So there it is the old bag.  What with all the compromises it is not the bag I wanted.  The leather is too stiff which is the main thing wrong with it as far as I am concerned.  Still I enjoyed doing it and I took it to work on Friday and the cleaners liked it and I have a commission from one of them!!!  So I will make her a going out type bag,  much smaller, softer leather hopefully she will like it when I eventually make it.


And the old goat.  I forgot to include goats on the previous picture and they were a very important part of my growing up.  I would wander the hills with the goatherd, and the goatherd boy. I would ride on the back of the billy goat (very bony) and play with the kids.  Very Heidi.

So my last painted porthole has of course got a goat eating the licence.

From inside the boat  you can see that the piece of paper is apparently British Waterways headed paper.  However it doesn't show through outside as I put it on at the end and the white paint is very opaque.  Never mind I get to enjoy the joke even if passers by don't.

She is called Geraldine.

The place where I grew up ...

In pictoral form

I lived on a mine in the north of Portugal from the age of 3 to 11.  I loved it there.

So we have the mountain top that we used to go to in the winter to ski.
and we have the dam where in the summer we went to sail the mirror dinghy that my dad made. 

We camped on the various islands just like swallows and amazons.  We even copied their make shift tents.  My parents slept in the proper two man tent and us kids had sheets draped over rope with pockets to hold the stones in at the edges.  Even the dog came too in the dinghy although there was always the danger of a capsize.  She shared a 'tent' with my brother while my sister and I shared the other 'tent'.

On one memorable occasion the dog ate the bacon that had been set aside while something else was cooking on the fire!!!  Well she was a labrador what do you expect?

The rows of houses are where the miners lived.  Most are empty now but the mine is still open 2 or 3 days a week.

I am going back to visit again this year.

Lovely day out yesterday

I had these three lovely ladies visiting (my sisters in law) on the boat for a jolly.

Quite my favourite ladies

The three monkeys

The intrepid one

Instead of a Sunday roast dinner they had to make do with homemade parsnip soup!  However after many family birthday parties held at my house they know not to expect a large spread anymore.  They of course always catered brilliantly with homemade birthday cakes and the obligatory trifle.  I digress.

We didn't go far but it did include one lock and I deliberately  let the boat drift against the weir above the lock.  I casually said to Jill as she was the one sitting on the puppy pad that she had to go and pole us off at the front and blow me she just got up and walked down the roof and picked up the correct pole and did it.  No questions, no quibbling, no worries.  I was well impressed - no action shots as I was busy at the back end.  Her sister managed a couple but as they were of her backside I don't think she would want them published anyway!

The weather was good too so all in all very pleased with the day.  I think they might come visit again.  They are certainly very welcom.

Bag

So I spent the weekend on a leather bag making course.

The curly stuff is the lacing and the small piece bottom left is how to start and finish - apparently.

and I appear to have come away with some meccano!

I am a bit cheesed off if I am honest.  I wanted a bag, I designed the bag before I got there, I was hoping to come away with the finished article.  However the whole of Saturday morning was spent listening to him talk about all the tools and different types of leather etc etc Saturday afternoon we made templates for our bags out of paper for stapling together to make sure we had our dimensions correct before unstapling ready for him to cut the patterns out of the half a cow.

However there were 5 of us and only 1 cutting board.  A lot of wasted time.  Very, very frustrating.

So Sunday morning I was there bright and early (9.30) as were two others bit more chat and discussion and then he laid all the pieces out on the hide to work out the most efficient cutting and keeping the spine for straps etc.  It was about 11.30/12pm before the first pieces were handed back to us for trimming.  We now had two cutting boards - the second one was big enough for maybe three people to use but still only two cutting implements.  And then for punching holes - only two implements.  Aaaarrgh.

The course finished at 4pm.  At 3pm I was really beginning to panic.  I was nowhere near done as I had an inner pocket in my bag.  The course leader said he would punch my holes while I worked out where they should go.  In the panic I made a mistake with my straps thinking there should be a buckle at the other end so had to cut off a bit more off the length (hope they are still long enough).  At 4.30pm I finally left (the last person) without it turns out punching any holes in my straps, without finishing the leather (nobody did), without having any colour on the leather (one person did) and without doing any lacing (nobody did). 

Now we knew we might be lacing at home but to not have had time to tidy up the edges and do any dyeing is a bit much.

In my humble opinion he should have cut out the patterns from the cowhide Saturday evening ready for us to do what we had to do on the Sunday morning.

Now for those others on the course that had an interest in leather making before and therefore had some tools at home, going home with unfinished leather is probably ok.  But for those like me that haven't ...

Anyway I popped into Matlock with my 'bag' and visited a leather place to buy some dye and finishing stuff and they very kindly lent me a punch set so I could do the last set of holes.  How brilliant was that?  I have done them and will return the set tomorrow.  They also gave me information on how best to finish the leather off without buying loads of equipment I may never use again.  So I am feeling a little better about how this bag may turn out.

Not convinced that I have sufficient lacing to do all that has to be done but the course leader only lives in the next village and he said no problem if more was needed.  But a lot of work still needs doing before I can assemble my meccano.  I will show you the finished article as and when but don't hold your breath

We are on the road again, wearing different clothes again

So I spent last night on the boat amidst utter chaos. 

This morning I attempted to locate stuff that I really didn't need on the boat while the car was right there next to the boat and generally make room.  Of course with emptying the engine room at the beginning of winter for the work that never got done you can imagine delving into cupboards and hidey holes was tricky.  No doubt I have missed loads but hey the girl can carry it for another year!

I have treated myself to a lovely new mifi EE (Argos annoyingly didn't have the O2 one in stock) and good job too.  I had to do the last lot of wages for 2015/2016 today.  It works brilliantly so far.

I have done my first bit of boating for the year by heading East and turning around. 

This year, my son, I am mostly going West.

I put my painted portholes in this morning and I am very pleased with how they look.

Chuffed I am, chuffed.

Right off to finish de winterising and putting stuff away.