Feliz Natal

Have a good one everybody.  

I am hopefully cat sitting in London 

provided the keys are found still under the mat of the person entrusted to hand them to me by my son!

Thespians - who would have thought they couldn't organise a puiab.

hey ho the cat should be pleased to see us, small boy left on Tuesday and we get there 2pm today.  Poor thing.

Toodles and see you all in the New Year.

It is like riding a bicycle

You never forget how to do it.

Although I imagine when you are older riding a bicycle might get a little tricky as your balance could be affected.

I am hoping to do a very interesting ride in NZ early next year and having bought some riding tights (I know who knew such a thing existed) I thought I had better see if I could still do it.  I hoiked out my old riding boots and half chaps (discovered they need some stitching but they held together for today) but I wasn't able to use my 'new' hat.  They have changed the rules and you have to wear EU approved hats PAS015 if you are competing and in this case riding someone elses horse.  I was surprised that this hat didn't have that spec as I know the one I was wearing when I landed on my head back in 1997 was a PAS015 (see first entry on this blog for that story) as was the one I bought next.

I booked a two hour ride with Derbyshire-Trekking which is all off road and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It was a mixture of places that I already knew plus some I didn't. Their immediate surroundings were just on the edge of where I could reach on a long ride from one of the places I used to keep my horse.  It rained the whole time but it was brilliant.  I wont be able to walk for the next couple of days but I am so pleased I have got back on a horse since selling mine 10 years ago (ignoring the bit of riding I did in the Canadian Rockies in 2013).

What I particularly liked about today was that I took my sister in law Ann with me in spirit in the form of her old riding/drover's coat.  It kept the rain off me and I hope she enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

RIP Ann.  We had a good day today didnt we chuck x

Les Biggs and his darling Jaq

May their love story continue to uplift us all despite the inconvenience of Les now being 'there' while Jaq and the rest of us are still 'here'. 

He will live on in all our hearts I am sure, and will be sadly missed.



I have written a final verse to Leonard Cohens 'Hallelujah'

(planning to sing it for everyone at my own funeral party but I think Les can have first crack at it.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q

I want to thank you all for being here
Supporting those that I hold dear
While I pass on to those who went before me
It's been a blast, but it couldn't last
Life is short and it sure went fast
But now is the time for the long good-bye
Arrivederci
Adios
Toodleloo
Good-bye

 http://boatlife.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/death-is-hard-work.html

So this is my small tribute to a lovely man, that I barely knew in real life but from following his blog since 2007, and then Jaq's blog 'So this is Love' I have felt a part of their life. They have certainly enriched mine.

xxx

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope you all have a splendid holiday season, that all your fires are warm and your drinks cold.

Unless of course you prefer a hot toddy.  or indeed a mulled wine.

ok rephrase

that all your fires are warm and your drinks are exactly as you wanted them to be.

😳

Canopy and Ships Cat

Bobcat now sports a very fashionable back canopy courtesy of Kinver Canopies.

and has a new resident Ship's Cat.

Hopefully now that Bobcat is 'small boys home' the canopy will help to keep any drafts out and when the cat is brave enough it will provide her with an outside space to view the world.

Cat survived the very long trip down to the boat on Thursday and last night was brave enough to join us on the sofa lounging in front of the fire and tv. 

Sofa is not really big enough for three in comfort.  Especially when the smallest seems to take up the most space.

Tonight will be Small Boy's first night on board without me to show him the ropes but I am pretty sure he will be fine. 

Plus he will be able to stretch out and relax.

So there we have it - my last post for a while.

Sniff.

 

We are still trying to trace this boat.

Big walkabout today which I can't be part of.  May be a completely different colour but the details will be still be obvious.

Hope you can read the flyer as it wouldn't let me upload a pdf.

This blog will be closed for maintenance until further notice

Well I am lending my boat to my son for him to live on while he is in Drama School.  It will be safely moored in a Marina so he doesn't have to move it at all.

I will be able to visit on occasion and maybe take the boat out for a jolly every so often.  He especially wants me to visit to cat sit while he goes and visits his girlfriend back in Sheffield.

So it has been head down and forwards to get the boat from near Chester to London in the time I have available.  In the end I did take the shortcut through Birmingham up the Wolverhampton Flight.  Dearly beloved joined me and I was jolly glad he did.  Moored overnight in Tipton someone tried to steal our bikes.  However cutting one of the curly bike locks alerted us and the scrote got back on his bicycle and vamoosed.

We had a lovely visit to the Black Country Museum.  Then on to near the Sea Life for our second night in Brum.  This was uneventful although ruined by the fact that though we moored up with a minute to spare to watch the footy England went and lost.  Dearly Beloved not happy. For me the best bit was getting to the Lapworth Flight in one piece.  Dearly beloved had cycled back to Brewood for the car while I boated and he arrived about half an hour before I did!

When I did the Lapworth Flight solo I tackled the first 4 the evening I got back to the boat.  Then the next morning I did three solo before a kind volockie took pity and helped me down the rest of the flight.  However while he went ahead to set the next lock a walker offered to help me pull the boat out of the lock.  I instead offered him my windlass so he could drop the paddle as this was of more use to me.  Not quite understanding my advice of "lift the pawl and do not let go the windlass" due to being German and his english not that great I had to stop pulling the boat and go and show him.  Of couse like an idiot I put my hand through to the pawl from the wrong side and lifted it and he let go the windlass. 

One full revolution later and thwack, ow.  Luckily I have very strong bones or that would have been one broken wrist.  Which would have made getting the boat to London interesting!!!

I will no longer accept help from anyone any more.  they can shut the gates behind me that is all.

Today I let the two boats behind me go ahead at the locks going up from Leamington so I could take my time and enjoy the journey without being pressured from behind.  Interestingly the boat actually tries to get into the lock by herself which is very helpful of her.  Only works on those weird very close to the lock landings where the bollards are in the wrong place for a close securing of the middle rope!  I was joined on the third lock by another boat and she was very interested in what to do as a solo boater!  I think she might have the wrong idea now.

Anyway the upshot is I will not be doing any boating next year.  I will be concentrating on helping himself knock down and rebuild the garage, learning to ride my motorbike properly and maybe going over 40mph?

It might be two or three years before I get my boat back so toodle pip.