Monthly Archives: April 2023

A Quick Wash And Brush Up. 28th April

*updated since this morning

Today Mick has headed down to Goole to give Oleanna a check over and a touch of TLC. When last we visited I was ashamed of how dirty the floor was! So a visit to do a touch of spring cleaning was needed before we move back on board.

Here’s hoping the trains behave better than on his last solo visit.

Goole Station today

He has instructions to purchase a new mop, the one we have has a very solid foam head and takes several days for water to penetrate it to be able to wash the floor. So he’ll pop into trusty Boyes on his arrival and if there is the correct oil in stock he’ll purchase enough for the next engine service. *No mop was purchased today, 10 litres of oil and a new kettle instead.

A visit will also mean being able to give Alastair a gentle nudge to prompt him into doing the jobs before we move back on board, we’ll be wanting to be off pretty smartish. *The requirement of a new Engine mount means the jobs are being delayed until the mount arrives and can be fitted. Spring cleaning consisted of a very good hoover top and bottom, but no mopping.

Evidence of Alastair on Oleanna’s stern

Back in Scarborough we’ve had a change over of lodgers which means the house is really quite busy. The jobs list is slowly having things ticked off it as there is only really Mick working his way through it at the moment. But as of Monday I’ll be joining in again as my Sockathon will have finished.

Only three more days to go, including today. So far I have kept up the sock a day routine which means that I am heading for 15 pairs in April! My reserve pairs of socks will be knitted after all.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=one_page&utm_content=page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=50a5d3dc7102451d994bd901f237e68f

A post last week on a women’s Facebook group suggests I could have knitted at least another 7 pairs to raise money. There will be quite a bit of yarn left from the donations I had so I’m considering knitting more but as and when I have the time. Boating, seeing old friends and soon Panto designing will be taking over. But if I can raise a few more pounds for Dementia UK that would be fantastic.

Talking of funds. Last night after an update post on Facebook I had a couple more donations which has taken me just over my target. Thank you sooo so much to everyone who has sponsored me. There is however still time to make a donation to help me keep knitting for just a few more days. An episode of Downton Abbey has been watched a day. Watching them so close together shows just how horrible most of the characters are and what trials they all endure. Yet there is caring too. We’ll not finish them all by the time we’re back onboard, so they will have to fill rainy afternoons. Here’s hoping there aren’t too many of those as we’ve the River Aire to navigate first and we don’t want to be held up by flood water!

We’re all counting down the days now to being back afloat. The freezer is gradually being emptied, I may have to make some pea soup to finish off the frozen peas and chicken stock. I also made a boo boo when making cheese scones the other day, so there is a batch and a half of basic scone mix frozen, just requiring yoghurt egg and cheese to be added for any emergency cheese scone moments in the next few days.

0 locks, 0 miles, 27 socks so far, 1 toe too, 8 pairs to weave ends in on, £626.97 *£641.97 raised, so far, 1 dementia nurses training, 1 boat with filthy floors, 1 wall prepared, 1 new boiler, 2 sides of flashing sorting, 15 windows, 1 decorator, 0 scaffolding yet, 1 tube of Captain Tolleys for the shower, 2 more lodgers, 16 fingers, 20 toes, 4 paws crossed that we get away smoothly, 1 van about to be booked, 1 boat floor still requiring mopping, 1 new engine mount required.

More Socks!

A day trip to Goole

Mick picked up a hire car this morning, the original plan had been to use it for trips to the tip and charity shops as the room known as the Shed is being paid some attention. Boxes of old electrical things, my broken sewing machine headed to the recycling centre and boxes of redundant pans amongst other things, headed to St Catherine’s Hospice shop.

The little boot once the recycling and charity things had been removed

Having the car for a whole day and not to use it more would have been a waste, so I suggested a trip to see Oleanna, returning a car load of our possessions to help stagger our return to life afloat. Mostly my work things were packed deep in the back of a Fiat 500. These items won’t be needed until we’re back afloat so shouldn’t be missed.

The best display of daffodils on the Wolds, in our opinion

Once our jobs around Scarborough were done we set off across the Wolds, Bainton roundabout daffodils looking fantastic today despite the grey heavy clouds.

I’d taken along a sock to carry on knitting. I’d cast on the toe last night so hoped I’d not have to look down too much as I knitted, I can get a touch of motion sickness in a car. Thankfully my plan worked and I’d almost got to the heel gusset when we arrived in Goole.

Knitting round and round in the car

Oleanna sat being buffeted about in the wind. Caution required stepping on and off the stern as she was being pushed away from her pontoon.

Only boat moving was a gravel barge today

We unloaded the car and I set too stowing the office cupboard again. The dinette cushions were removed and model making kit and paints were tucked away in the corner. Then the stern steps had to be lifted and turned out of the way to gain access to where I store my scenic brushes.

Damp traps emptied and refilled

Mick checked things over with the inverter. Last time he’d visited he’d done a firmware upgrade and there have been a few things he’s not been able to check on remotely since, mostly historic data. The router was rebooted which settled things. The remote camera needed an upgrade and a reboot too before it’s images could be viewed again.

A hatch pack up lunch

A pack up with a cuppa each was enjoyed with the view from the side hatch. Just a shame that the wind blowing Oleanna about was making such a horrendous din on the fenders. Mick spent sometime trying to improve things, hoping to stop the creaking for the sanity of our poor next door neighbour!

Re-battening down the hatches

Then it was time for us to get back in the car and return to Scarborough, driving towards very big fat black clouds and through hail showers. Kind of glad we weren’t wanting to go anywhere by boat today!

Knitting with a view

Sockathon news is such that I’m managing to keep up with a sock a day despite my fingers starting to dry up and my dodgy right hand tending to be quite stiff in the mornings. So I’ve decided to release a few more pairs to knit for people. Last year I managed 9 pairs during March. April has 30 days, 1 sock a day means 15 pairs! However, I’m going to be cautious. We’ve another day trip coming up soon which will wipe out half a day or so of knitting, not sure I can manage knitting on a bus! So as it’s the 13th April, I’m going to aim for 13 pairs, which may increase to 14 or 15 during the month. So if you fancy a pair get in quickly, first come first knitted!

UPDATE. Within 24hrs all the extra pairs of socks have been claimed. I have 14 pairs to knit in April, plus a couple in reserve should I manage more! Donations now stand at 84% of my target.

Lil, my Mum, on holiday in 1971

Twenty one years ago today my wonderful Mum, Lil passed away. Last year I wrote a blog post all about her Link here. She’s the reason I’m raising funds for Dementia UK with my Sockathon.

If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target then please donate to the following link. I’m hoping to raise enough to help train a specialist nurse to offer support to families who care for someone with dementia.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=one_page&utm_content=page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=0ce2fbe36b8d4110b416073942417dd7

Thank you to all those who have sponsored me already. Socks will be posted out at the beginning of next month, unless I can hand them over in person.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 happy milkman, 1 half diddy car full to the boat, 2 boxes 1 sewing machine for recycling, 1 big box for charity, 6.3 pairs socks knitted, 70% towards target, 3 more pairs up for grabs, so be quick, be very very quick!

Firmware and Footwear. 5th April

Goole/Scarborough

Last Fridays post was filled with woolly goodies. Two more Independent dyers had sent me some yarn for my sockathon. What kindness! The two parcels together most probably had enough yarn for 14 pairs of socks. Thank you so much to Jem (Under The Olive Tree) and Beth (Beehive Yarns) for your generous and wonderful support.

I had a day out to Leeds to visit the Hello Stranger Yorkshire exhibition. Lots of photos from shows over the last four years and how the pandemic was coped with and how the industry has changed since. Designers were invited to add their details to a map of Yorkshire. One colour string showed where Yorkshire designers lived, the other where people from outside Yorkshire have worked. As I fitted into both categories and neither I decided to have both colours of string on my label.

I made sure my return to the station included the wonderful markets and the Exchange. Must remember all that fish when we pass through Leeds in a few weeks time!

Saturday morning started with me casting on the first pair of socks. These were to be knitted in yarn that I had bought for the challenge, matching the logo colours of @dementia-uk. In the post that morning I received a card from their Fundraising Officer wishing me luck, what a lovely touch, especially hand written, my sister-in-law would approve.

So far I’ve managed to knit a sock a day, that’s an average of 8 hours clicking a day. I go to stretch my legs each day so that my natural posture doesn’t take to being a seated one. The occasional move from one chair to another also helps. Podcasts are listened to when I’m going round in circles and we’ve taken to watching an episode of Downton Abbey each day, starting from the very beginning. We may have to up to two episodes a day as there are 50 in total. Blimey some of those servants are really really horrible!

Mick has been seeking out new insurance quotes for Oleanna. For some reason our renewal quote from GJW had gone up whilst reports on social media suggest other peoples have gone down. Craftinsure are by far the cheapest for both contents and the boat, however some things are not covered such as laptops. Why are they so much cheaper? How are they so much cheaper? Do they pay out without hassle if you need to claim? All questions Mick is seeking the answers to before we commit ourselves to a new policy.

Oleanna on a sunny day

The days, weeks and months are ticking away. Time to visit Oleanna and give her engine a run, check her over and now that we have a date we need to be back on the boat for, give notice on our mooring. Mick took the train down to Goole an easy and familiar ride now, whilst I sat on the sofa knitting.

The daffodils at Oleanna’s stern are long past their best and the scraped paintwork turning orange on the gunnels shows that she hasn’t moved anywhere for sometime. Hopefully there will be time to give things a good rub down and repaint before too long.

Clear view to NB Ivy

Mick sent me a photo looking out through the new window in the pram cover. A vast improvement from the old one which not only had holes in it but had become a touch white making the view a bit foggy. The boat opposite our bow has had a change of name, a very wise change by Lisa.

Mick ran the engine and went to see Laird and also had a catch up with Alastair. Sadly Viking Marina are out of diesel at the moment, so the tank still hasn’t had a fill. Then it was time for Mick to plug the laptop into Oleanna’s brain and give the inverter a firmware update. This new version means we can control the charging of the lithium batteries more, especially when the temperatures are really low which lithium’s do not appreciate.

Daffodils and gunnels past their best!

With everything locked up, Mick headed back to the station with the intention of being back in Scarborough to eat with me before I headed out for the evening. Sadly there were problems on the tracks. A vehicle had run through both barriers of a level crossing at Gilberdyke. This meant all trains had to run slowly and that Mick’s train which normally would have continued on to Scarborough stopped in Hull.

The chandelier at The Bike and Boot

The next train northwards followed a slow train and by the time it had reached Bridlington it itself had been cancelled as the train behind had just about caught it up! In all it took Mick four hours to return to Scarborough by which time I’d cast on the toe of sock 5 and decided to give myself an evening off. Spent at the Bike and Boot with old female friends I used to work with at the SJT. It was very nice to see every one in the flesh, many I’ve only seen on zoom get togethers over the last few years and those have gradually petered out.

The Chippy model box waiting for me to be creative

Another parcel has arrived at the house. The empty model box for Chippy Panto, all ready for me to start designing. It made sense for it to come here, rather than us trying to guess where to get it sent to in a months time.

For those wanting to know what panto will be this year, I can now confirm it will be ‘Cinderella’. But not just any old Cinderella, this one will be set in Latin America! So the music will most certainly be toe tapping. Sadly the budget won’t stretch to a visit to South America for research purposes, the internet will have to do!

The Sockothan continues and if I continue at the current rate then I should manage to beat last years pairs by several! Thank you so much to those near and far (Hello Canada!) who have sponsored me. Thank you also to those who’ve requested socks. All socks on my list are guaranteed to be knitted in April so make sure you’ve made your donation on the JustGiving website. I may be opening the challenge up for more sock requests in a weeks time, so if you feel you missed out first time around you’d best keep an eye on the blog.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=one_page&utm_content=page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=24d4cbd0b51e43b6b706a2a67292be11

Us!

So much yarn, 5 socks, 5 days, £100 cheaper, 2 barriers, 1 notice given, 1 inverter updated, 8 hours each, 67% of target, 1 evening off, 6 old friends, 1 slightly numb bum, 2 circular needles, 9 years of boat ownership!