This mornings Geraghty Zoom covered subjects such as mobile scooter drum kits and heating the front garden.
Today we had a visit from Tracy who runs the moorings. She wanted to see if we knew what our plans were and check we were aware of how much electricity we were using. Well we’d guessed it would be quite a bit, the washing machine has been working and we’ve not run the engine for two weeks other than to check the alternator. So 100 units wasn’t too much of a surprise and at current costs it works out to £2.50 a day. We’d use a little bit more than that in diesel if we were charging the batteries with the engine every day, just a shame we’re not moving whilst doing it! We’re hoping to move off just as soon as river levels are safe, hopefully later this week.
I found where the extra miles on Canalplan had come from, two Barford Mills I think. One on the Great Ouse, the other on the Avon. I’d also taken Oleanna on a trip down towards Stratford basin via Lapworth Bottom Lock. All sorted now. A third more miles than we did last year, but fewer locks.
Steak Pie will never be the same
Panto now seems a life time ago, but for the acting company they have been playing two shows a day. This afternoon was their last performance, their 97th! Here’s a montage of Instagram posts The Theatre Chipping Norton has put together from the actors accounts. These posts have kept me amused over the last few weeks.
Well done to all the cast and crew. I think only two or three shows had to be cancelled due to actors being ill, the understudies certainly had to earn their money, one having to play three different roles one after the other and two staff members went on with scripts in hand when they ran out of understudies!
Slumped and sulking Contessa
This evening the Pippins will have amused everyone with their Pippin Panto. The smallest Pippin getting to wear the biggest costume, the Contessa’s huge pink frock, all four foot of her. I so hope the crew get tomorrow off before the set starts to get dismantled. Within the week there will be little sign panto was ever there and the stage floor will have a nice new fresh coat of black paint.
Bye bye x
0 locks, 0 miles, 100 units, 300 miles lost, 100 locks not worked, 1 chicken and feta tray bake, 8 fingers crossed, 2 paws crossed, 4ft nothing in a colossal dress, 50th Chippy Panto behind you, oh yes it is!
Time for the annual round, a long post so sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.
The New Year kicked off with winter maintenance in the house. Having two hallways proved time consuming refreshing the woodwork and patching up the worst of the wallpaper. But this was broken up with weekly walks to see the sea. I resumed work on the development showing of #unit21 for Dark Horse and a Christmas present of a cheese making kit proved very tasty in creating my first ever Yorkshire Curd Cheese Cake from scratch. I plan on having a second go at this soon!
In February work progressed in Huddersfield towards opening night, the floor painted, final costume fittings and then the set and lighting added. All while Mick serviced our life jackets and Tilly grew more and more bored of life in the house.
Once the show was opened we had a trip down to London to catch up with the London Leckenbys for a belated Christmas, on our way back we visited Oleanna. When ever we could we visited Blue Water Marina to do jobs and have a pack up lunch. The stove was reblacked, walls washed down and cupboards sorted through.
Then at the end of February, Mick and I left Tilly in charge of the house, we packed enough clothes and food for a couple of days boating and headed to Thorne to move Oleanna through Thorne Lock before a winter stoppage began. Blimey it was chilly out there, but wonderful to be back afloat and moving Oleanna to Goole. Now we were all set to move back onboard and have a few weeks of pootling about in Yorkshire.
Back at the house we made it ready for the first of this years lodgers. Our boat Christmas tree was retired into the back garden where we hoped it would thrive, this of course was before we knew a drought was on it’s way! Tilly said goodbye to the dragon that lives up the chimney, left Seville and Valencia to look after the house before having to endure the car trip back to boat life.
After a few days sorting ourselves, including having one of Joan’s gluten free Chinese takeaways, we unplugged Oleanna and backed out from our mooring at Goole Marina (Boat House). We spent the next three weeks bobbing about between Pollington Lock, Doncaster and Goole. Maintenance jobs were ticked off the list.
Alistair did engine and weedhatch jobs, Frank joined us a couple of times to do carpentry jobs, our galley drawers no longer have a life of their own, the covers had a good scrub and a spray of Wet and Forget to help them keep clean.
In March I’d set myself a charity challenge, to knit as many pairs of socks in the month as I could. Nine pairs knitted for people in return for sponsorship, I also got a very generous donation of yarn from Lisa on NB Summer Wind.
Our plans had had to change as Thorne Lock still hadn’t closed, but was about to! Plans to visit York and West Yorkshire were abandoned, we’d bought ourselves a Gold Licence for the year so wanted to make the most of it. So on March 24th with all the jobs done we turned our backs on Goole and set off into the sunset to see where 2022 would take us, all three of us grinning from ear to ear.
We made our way to Keadby ready for our booked passage on the tidal River Trent, the fast route south. A phone call from a boating friend in need of support meant we’d be doing our best to make use of the spring tide to reach Cromwell in one go despite the weather forecast. We spent a couple of days doing what we could to help in Newark before we needed to be on the move again.
On upstream to The Trent and Mersey keeping up our cruising hours and Tilly hoping we’d stop with enough time for her to explore each day before cat curfew.
Up to Fradley then onto the Coventry Canal, we played leapfrog with NB Free Spirit for a couple of days.
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, up the Curdworth Flight then a turn left onto a section of the Grand Union we’d not been on before at Star City. Up Garrison Locks, Typhoo Basin and then the Ashted Locks where we now have the measure of that Tunnel! A mooring space at the top of Farmers Bridge had our name on it. This was handy for a road trip to swap lodgers and for visits to the dentist. It also meant we were in shot when a group came to jump the top lock!
Fast forward to 6:15
Our route out of Buminghamsaw us through Edgbaston Tunnel, down Lapworth followed by Hatton. A pause was needed for Tilly’s annual visit to a new vet, the one here the closest to the canal we’ve visited so far, also handy for The Cape of Good Hope!
At Napton we joined the Oxford Canal and headed for Braunston, pausing to stock up on goodies from the butcher. On the Grand Union we made our way up over the hill and started our descent down The Long Buckby flight back towards tidal waters.
On the 1st of May we turned left at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm dropping down the flight to the River Nene. We’d only been this way once before and that was when we’d just bought Lillian (NB Lillyanne) back in 2014. We bought ourselves a second Abloy key, showed our Gold Licence to the chap at Northampton Marina and started our journey down stream, time to explore.
A decision was made to head down to Peterborough taking note of places we’d want to visit on our return journey. We worked our way through the guillotine locks, many button operated and others with the wheel of cardiovascular overload.
Tilly loved many of the moorings apart from those in Peterborough where crowds surrounded the boat and meant returning from shore leave was impossible for several hours.
In two weeks we reached the end of the river at the Dog in a Doublet Lock. Here the river becomes tidal, we’d save that trip for another time and turned back upstream to head for the Middle Level.
Here we wanted to explore all the drainage channels, but decided we’d do that on our return too. So we took the direct route and crossed the low lying waters in three days arriving at Salters Lode on Mick’s birthday. The levels out on the tidal stretch of the Great Ouse needing to be just right to get through the lock, turn and head upstream to Denver Sluice.
A lovely GOBA mooring was found on the River Wissey and eventually the sun came out for a birthday barbeque, we’d made it to the Great Ouse.
The remainder of May was spent exploring the River Wissey, Ely and The Little Ouse. Brandon Lock sits at the most easterly point on the connected navigable network for boats Oleanna’s size. Sadly a build up of silt stopped us from getting her bow into the lock, but we did get her as far east as was possible, ticking off the fourth point of the compass.
There was a trip to Hull Truck to meet old friends at a gala evening followed by a meet up with Micks family back in the Fens. At the end of the month we got to know Neil the seal at Ten Mile Bank moorings as he basked in the sun and took sunset dips in the river.
The Jubilee was seen in at Denver, we lit our guiding lights as a Lancaster Bomber flew overhead heading to see the Queen. The Relief Channel gave us a good mooring to be able to have a trip away to celebrate Dawn and Lee’s 50th Birthdays in Scarborough, we went as Wallace and Gromit and won an Oscar!
Another visit to Ely to see the Cathedral, Farmers market and meet up with Heather from NB Bleasdale, the first of many this summer. The River Lark was explored, the end of navigation reached with a handy mooring outside a pub.
We headed for the Cam, our paths crossing for the first time with Ken and Sue from NB Cleddau. Then onwards in to Cambridge where we visited colleges, ate chilled medication and had a day trip to Duxford so that Mick could sit in the pilots seat of a Trident 2, a seat his Dad had sat in on many a flight.
Oleanna squeezed along each of the three Lodes, Wicken, Burwell and Reach. Wicken Lode a magical place and a day visit to Anglesey Abbey with it’s wonderful gardens.
Then we headed onto the Old West a river with a very different feel than the Ely Ouse. A pause was needed when we reached Earith for us to have a tour of Heathers new to her boat GT. Once off the tidal water we were on a different Great Ouse again. Here St Ives, St Neots and Hemingford gave us sunsets, D shaped locks, huge meadows and wonderful towns and villages to explore.
As the temperatures started to rise I needed to do some work. Cruising happened in the mornings, my Panto script and sketches were done in the shade of what trees we could find. White sheets were bought and we hoped for a mooring with shade for the really hot days that were to come. Tilly took to lying on the floor and we took to wearing wet t-shirts to help us to keep cool. Thankfully the hot blast only lasted a couple of days then the temperature dropped and we could continue to head upstream.
July 21st we reached the navigable limit of the River Great Ouse, having to reverse some distance to be able to turn round and return to Bedford for the River Festival.
Here we met up with Ken and Sue, Jennie and Chris from NB Tentatrice and Heather again. Plenty of things to see, do and hear. The boat parades, raft races, vintage cars, all sorts kept us busy for the two days.
Now at the end of July we alternated the days between cruising and my work. More beautiful days cruising and more wonderful sunsets, one day off to visit Cambridge for some more chilled medication and to see the Hockney exhibition.
August saw more hot days. Trips to London to celebrate birthdays, panto meetings, catch up with best friends and travellers over from Australia.
On the 15th August we crossed back from Denver Sluice to the Middle Level having really enjoyed our three months on the Great Ouse. Now water levels were a worry along with having enough time to reach Oxford for me to go to work in October. We made the decision to come back and explore the Middle Level another year, maybe we’ll cross The Wash to get there!
By the end of August our progress up stream on the River Nene slowed to a halt. First one lock broke then another two ahead of us. We’d recently been accepted to join the Reflections Flotilla on the Thames to mark the Queens Jubilee in a few weeks time, now that time was ticking away.
When we did get moving again we had to make up our cruising hours. With the news of the passing of the Queen we didn’t know if the flotilla would still be going ahead, we carried on at pace waiting for news. Back up the River Nene, turning onto the Grand Union, working our way southwards. The news came through that the flotilla would go ahead, but now in remembrance of the Queen.
With a couple of days to spare we squeezed into the Eco-Moorings by Islington Tunnel. Two days of catching up with family and more friends over from Australia before we joined boats heading along the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin. An afternoon of activity saw numerous narrowboats festooned with white lights.
On the 24th of September the Thames barrier was closed and we all headed out of Limehouse Lock up stream to Chelsea where we clung onto buoys until the early evening when the flotilla started to muster.
Getting on for 150 boats all displaying white lights got into formation and headed down stream. Crowds stood on the illuminated bridges and Tower Bridge opened up in a royal salute as we passed underneath. What a truly amazing day.
Now we had to head towards Banbury, back round the Regents Canal as a leak in the engine bay needed testing on the calm waters of the canal rather than the tideway. By the time we reached Brentford we were confident with Oleanna’s engine again. On the Thames Tilly got a birthday present of a night on a Cliveden Island. Sadly we got an unexpected present on our arrival in Oxford, a second red line on a covid test! Panto painting couldn’t be put off so we made our way gradually up the Oxford Canal keeping our distance from people at locks and taking maximum doses of paracetamol.
A week of painting in Banbury before I moved to Chipping Norton to stack up the hours over the next four weeks getting the 50th anniversary panto ready. Rendez Vousing with Oleanna at weekends in Banbury and Coventry kept me sane. Mick had to single hand across the summit of the Oxford Canal to avoid the first of the winter stoppages.
All three of us were back onboard by mid November, covid free and vaccinated. We took things slowly now, time to rest up, meet friends, gather family and pootle towards Christmas. Our 20th Anniversary was celebrated with a Chinese takeaway at Alvecote Marina, a planned stop which ended up being extended due to plummeting temperatures. The canal froze, there’d be no moving the outside for Tilly!
Temperatures lifted dramatically and the ice just about vanished in a couple of days, we could now be on our way to Christmas. Alrewas was a good place to spend the festive days, a very good butchers and a village with lots of character and humour.
Bookings in the New Year had been made for passage on the tidal River Trent for us to reach Yorkshire, but this would not be. The Trent had risen before Christmas, Cranfleet Flood Gates were shut ahead of us, so no New Year at Hazelford Lock. Instead our alternator played up and we sought out a mooring to hook up to and see in 2023.
This year we’d been wanting to explore again. This year we cruised miles of new water, made new friends, got too hot, got iced in, got stuck, got to be in the first illuminated flotilla on the Thames for 300 years. What a great year it has been.
So our vital statistics for 2022 according to Canalplan are
Total distance is 1249 miles, 6½ furlong and 555 locks . There were 88 moveable bridges of which 29 are usually left open; 156 small aqueducts or underbridges and 18 tunnels, a total of 7 miles 2 ¼ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.
This was made up of 227 miles, 1 1/2furlongs of narrow canals; 363 miles, 2 furlongs of broad canals; 85 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 269 miles, 1 furlong of small rivers; 234 miles, 7 1/4 furlongs of large rivers; 69 miles, 6 furlongs of tidal rivers; 176 narrow locks; 232 broad locks; 54 large locks; 2 locks on major waterways.
731.7 engine hours
1156.1 litres diesel, 5 (although we’ve got 1 empty now) gas bottles (used for central heating as well as cooking), 28.5 litres oil, 3 oil filters, 1 fuel filter, 2 air filters, 1 water pump, 2 new belts, 690kg coal, 1 overnight guest twice, 6 packs Dreamies (not enough!), 56 friends, a record breaking 41 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval (4 in one day!), 15 pairs socks, 2 shows designed, 9 lodgers, 2 lots gluten free puff pastry, 9 supermarket deliveries, 30 boxes of wine delivered, 2 lost unicorns.
Thank you all for joining us on our journey. Wonder where we’ll get to in 2023?
Tilly is now quite bored of being here, she’s used this outside up. Although having said that she seems to have found her own shore based facilities as the litter box has only been used once in the last week.
That’s a big puddle
Rain overnight and this morning. A short shopping list was put together and Mick set out to head to Castle Donnington to the Co-op. As he thought the path he’d followed (which was the road pre-bypass) last week was now under water meaning he had to cycle round big roundabouts with quite a bit of traffic, but thankfully he didn’t get wet.
Not much to report really today. I’ve been working my way through our journeys for 2022. Managed to get to the end of the year. However Canalplan is 300 miles and 100 locks more than Water Explorer suggested that we’d done. Even though I’ve been checking the route Canalplan has taken us between places I seem to have managed to do a large detour somehow! I’ll give it a check through tomorrow.
Cosily simmering
A beef and beetroot curry was put together this afternoon and sat on top of the stove for a couple of hours before it required finishing off in the oven. I just love the smell of this curry. Accompanied by an homemade gluten free nan bread each, it was all very tasty.
Tasty
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 round up to September, 300 miles out, 100 locks out, 3 portions of curry, 2 nans, 2 contented warm boaters, 1 bored of here Tilly!
18cm higher than yesterday, just starting to come down
This morning the river reached a new level 2.42m. Today there has been no rain, just a shame there is more forecast for overnight!
Cranfleet Flood Gates have been closed since the 23rd December, so I wanted to see what the levels were like at the Shardlow gauge then, so we have an idea when the gates might be reopened. Unfortunately the EA Live Floods page won’t let you go back to look at historical data, but Gaugemap does.
On the 18th December the level was 0.57cm, it then rose to 1.4m and by the 23rd had fallen to 1.148m. So our 2.42cm this morning is a long way above that.
Flow rate might also have something to do with when they choose to close the flood gates.
They obviously knew the level and flow would increase in December. Below is todays flow chart, maximum 172.372m. That’s one heck of a load more water zooming down stream!
Think we’re going to be here a while longer!
Derwent Mouth Lock yesterday compared to 9th April 2022. That’s Oleanna sat waiting for the lock to empty.
A day with more numbers. I’ve started to work out last years mileage, locks etc using Canalplan as I’ve done every year. This always takes a long while remembering all the little journeys we did back in March back and forth to Goole. Not having Water Explorer to look at means I’m relying on the blog more, reliving our year.
Noting our journeys
Mick has spent more time trying to get our old trip computer working with Nebo. It has installed a new operating system, it just won’t reboot now! Instead we are considering using an old phone inside the boat. A couple of phones have been found and charged up to see if they might be suitable. One isn’t, the other will be tried out when we eventually get to move again.
Cheese on toast for lunch, yum
Even more numbers. I started to cut out the vinyl numbers for #unit21 today. I have them the correct way round this time! Using a scalpel I cut round the outline. Then I weed out the bits I don’t want, leaving what I do want attached to the clear cover which holds the numbers in place. I had wanted to do a box round them, but that felt like a huge waste of vinyl. I may cut strips to use instead.
Hunting round for some envelopes I bought before Christmas I ventured into one of the front cupboards this morning. Here we store Christmas, the white sheets from the summer, spare covid tests and extra wine glasses. I noticed that a corner of the wine glass box was wet. This was on the bottom shelf.
Had the damp trap in the cupboard filled up and over flowed? I’d refilled it with crystals not very long ago and today it was still empty. As I removed things from the cupboard I found a small puddle that had been sucked under a plastic bag on the middle shelf. At the rear of the cupboard it looked like moisture had been getting in at the corner, the holes for the shelf brackets showed signs of damp too.
Getting a good airing
Everything was removed, including the shelves. Dampness mopped up and then we set the heat wave fan blowing at it to help dry it out. Just where was it coming from, or was it condensation collecting in a far corner from the stove? With the recent downpours it could be rain water that had been driven in by the wind. Mick ventured outside to have a look.
Yes I know the roof needs a good wash!
First possible was the starboard nav light, although this was a touch low on the cabin side. It was however half full of water. Mick emptied it, dried it off then reattached it adding a new layer of black tack to the outer edge to help seal it. After he’d tightened the screws he popped a drop or two of Captain Tully’s Creeping Crack on them. The port side nav light was also emptied of water.
Could it be coming from the poppers from the cratch? Some of these are on the overhang, so unlikely to be them. Another couple are quite high up on the cabin side. They also got a drop of the creeping crack. The cupboard was left airing with the fan on or the rest of the day until we needed the space to go back to bed. The contents were edited and then returned to the cupboard, hopefully there will be more air in there this time.
The Lady in Grey
This afternoon I headed out for a walk down to Derwent Mouth Lock to see what the levels looked like today. I took the route by road to start with and walked past The Lady in Grey.
Back in it’s day
The house was built in the 1770’s for the Soresby family who moved to Shardlow when the canal was proposed. Their land spanned the cut giving them two areas for wharfs and warehouses for their canal carrying business (More info on the Soresby family can be found here on the Shardlow Heritage site, which is filled with information on the area).
When it was the hotel and restaurant
The Lodge was transformed into a Hotel The Lady in Grey with it’s restaurant it was highly regarded. The name came from the ghost of a headless young lady said to be hunting for her mothers lost jewels that her wicked sisters had hidden. Then it was a Thai restaurant which closed in 2008, this sadly was when the decline of the building is thought to have started. In 1967 it was awarded Grade 2 listing. In 2012 it is said that planning was sought for the buildings demolition and the site to be used to build three houses, this was refused. 2015 it received listed buildings consent for change of use back to a single dwelling with 5 bedrooms, things were looking up. However permission was refused to build eight dwellings in the grounds alongside the canal. Most probably the proceeds from these new dwellings would have afforded the restoration of The Lady in Grey.
The building is now in a poor state, the council seeking action from the owners, a s215 notice has been served on them requiring them to deal with the poor quality of the building. Such a shame. Most of the windows are smashed, wooden boards cover many of them. Photos from the local facebook page show the interior in such a dilapidated state. Here’s hoping that this once handsome house can be saved before it falls down.
Photos on the left are from yesterday, right today.
The towpath to Derwent Lock is now very muddy, slippy slidy muddy. The lock remains empty, well empty to the level of the river. I guessed about 14 inches lower than the canal today. The lock landing is now under water the edge of the river only noticeable by the tops of the ladders. The red level markers, one now is no longer visible, the other only a few inches away from being submerged.
Flooded fields
The parallel path that runs a little bit lower than the towpath is now submerged for lengths. I walked along it for a while relieved to be off the muddy towpath, only to find another length submerged and having to back track to the towpath. Two new boats sit above the lock awaiting levels to drop and there is one space available in front of the pubs.
Overnight the levels are forecast to rise more. Will the car park by our mooring get flooded? Will the EA flood gates be closed on the canal, if this happens we’ve been told that Shardlow Lock will be padlocked and it’s bywash blocked off too to protect the properties in between.
One day it will stop raining.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 more leak or is it condensation? 2 drowning nav lights, 1 house with great potential, 1 more lodger booked, 1 hour of numbers for next year, 11 Dreamies, 9 inches, 14 to go, 1 vat of bolognaise.
That’s one heck of a lot of water coming downstream! During the day we had notices regarding flood locks being closed down stream, including Newark. At the moment there are daily updates on the Trent Link group on Facebook. Lots of charts to look at daily, we know we can’t go anywhere, but it’s still interesting.
The rain hammered down for much of the morning.
More numbers to do today, more checking things through before I filled in my balance sheet.
Lots of boxes to ignore
This afternoon it was time to log on to the Government Gateway and fill in my tax return. There is lots to read and check through, would it be best to go the Rent a Room direction or go the income and expenses route with income from our lodgers?
Mick made himself scarce and went for a walk, leaving Tilly and myself. In the end I gave Tilly an extension to her shore leave as she just would not shut up and let me read. That’s when Mick arrived back, at least he doesn’t sit by the back doors getting increasingly noisy!
Over the top
Mick walked down to Derwent Mouth Lock to have a look at the river. Today the water was just about level with the towpath, in places it was over the top. Not much of the red river level marker showing either. On New Years Day the level was 1.76m so today it was another 9 inches higher. The less muddy path back to the village was quite full of water in parts too.
Above one red the other not far to go
Notes read, boxes filled, I was soon submitting my tax return and as very much expected I owe them no tax, just my NI voluntary contributions for the year. You can now see how many years you’ve contributed, a feature I’ve not seen before.
Lodger figures were passed on to Mick who then added them to his tax return. All done and dusted for another year.
Broccoli Bacon Pasta tonight.
0 locks, 0 miles, 48cm in 24hrs, 2 tax returns submitted, 1 meowy cat, 0 tax, Class 2 NI paid, 11 years to go.
Another early morning, well for Mick returning the van and sending off the costume returns. Frustrating that despite the returns going back to the same company, they had to go in three different packages, one to Poland via UPS the other two by Evri. Because of the two different couriers it meant Mick having to visit two different Premier stores in the torrential rain before returning the van.
On his arrival back to the boat he put on his chefs hat and cooked us a breakfast. As he cooked, a stream of water appeared from the window above the cooker. There was so much water coming down the glass outside, the water had filled up the frame and was finding it’s way inside. This year I haven’t got round to taking the windows out and giving the frames a good clean out. The drain holes on this window were almost certainly blocked. So as Mick fried and poached our breakfast I donned my coat and provided myself with some pointy thin sticks.
Co-op bacon not as good as Alrewas bacon
The drain holes were totally blocked. Prodding from above and then below saw rivers of muddyness drain down the cabin side. I managed to do enough of a job to keep the water draining away and not entering the boat. A better more comprehensive clean out is required before too long, but that will require a warmish dry day as each window will need to come out of it’s frame.
Having now got soggy legs and Mick having had the early start we both deserved breakfast, it was very yummy.
Tilly really wanted to be out, but the rain was putting her off. But in the end her need was far greater than staying dry and she sprang off somewhere on the towpath. She soon returned much relieved and came for some Dreamies. The next few hours as I worked my way through the last few items to order for #unit21 she came and went as often as any cat could. The day gradually drying up, but the towpath remaining very wet and extreamly muddy. My list of jobs bore the brunt of Tilly’s muddy stamps.
Good job most jobs were done !
Time to sit down and do figures. Time to finish off last years accounts, add up my design fees and money from lodgers. Downloading bank statements takes some time, then reconciling them. Things are a little more complicated this year as my self employed year doesn’t run the same as the tax year for our lodgers. Maybe I should move my accounting year and maybe I am too diligent with the figures. It all takes time and concentration (well only a couple of afternoons worth), which isn’t helped with Tilly coming and going, demanding Dreamies every five minutes! Mick was understanding and watched some old episodes of All Creatures Great and Small with the subtitles on, after all he needs the figures from the lodgers for his return too.
Still some more to do tomorrow, then the tax return filling in, only to be told I don’t owe any tax just some National Insurance contributions, which I already know.
Numbers and notes
Dinner this evening was jacket potatoes with the remainder of the chicken from our Friday night roast and some homemade coleslaw. One day we will finish the red cabbage bought for Christmas!
0 locks, 0 miles,1 van returned, 3 parcels, 3 refunds, 20 rolls of tape, 1kg green confetti, 2nd payment, 4 hours of numbers, 4 muddy stamping paws! 1 overdue catch up.
Topics in the Geraghty zoom this morning included foxes, calculus, hyacinths and magnolia trees. Good to see everyone again after Christmas and the New Year.
1.55m up 2 inches from yesterday, the River Soar is closed again
I needed to make the most of day light hours so I was soon out on the stern. Wind direction was checked, then Mick helped remove the starboard side of the pram cover, extra ventilation required today.
Milk pods
Rain had been threatening for most of the morning. When it struck it did it in style! We’d chosen the right side of the pram cover to remove, but the rain still came in. Things were moved round, items removed from where rain water gets diverted on the roof. Just about everything important stayed dry and by lunchtime the milk pods were finished. They moved into the cratch to free up space in the stern workshop.
Now the moment of truth. Would my measurements of the stern doors have been correct and had I built the giant mug to those dimensions. Tilly was locked in the bedroom. I lifted the mug out from it’s position on the dinette, over the kitchen units, a few inches to spare there. Then offered it up to the back doors. I could have hooked them out of the way, but that might mean they wouldn’t end up being as open as they could be.
How much space past the doors?
I rested the mug on the top/threshold of the door. Very little light could be seen either side. I then carefully pushed the mug through the opening. PHEW! It fitted. I really had no idea what I would have done if it hadn’t. Phew! Maybe 2mm to spare. Phew.
Thank goodness for that!
The rest of the afternoon I spent sticking yoga mats to the inside of the mug. It sat on off cuts raising it off the wet deck. It pee’d it down again and I risked having the back door open for some fresh air, the sides of the pram cover back on trying to keep everything dry. This did mean the back of the mug got a little bit damp, but it should dry out fairly quickly.
With next to no room to work in and day light fading fast I had to stop. The large pieces to cover the outside of the mug would have to be done elsewhere with more space. The mug was lifted onto the hatch just enough space between it and the pram cover for it hopefully to stay dry overnight.
Sun setting, time to stop work
Items were packed up to take to Huddersfield. Not having the mug in the corner of the dinette made the boat feel so spacious!
Happy bunny
The evening was spent replacing the bunnies ears with longer versions and watching Happy Valley. The Piazza in Huddersfield featured as a location. Tomorrow we’ll be delivering the giant props to a unit that was just out of shot, I’ll have to check if there really is a chemists there.
Despite the bucketing down rain Mick headed off to catch the bus this morning, thankfully not getting too wet. A fourth elbow joint, a mask and masking tape for my work along with a Saturday newspaper and the eternal hunt for pink cat food in gravy.
With the boat to myself I got the sewing machine out from under the dinette, time to make a pregnancy bump from a cheap calico bag and some stuffing. Rebekah, the actress, is very small so I’m hoping the pad will look like she is nine months pregnant and not about to totally pop! I’ll try it on her next week and see if it needs making smaller or not.
Too much Christmas chocolate!
A try out for some competition numbers that will get attached to the actors costumes for one scene. I’ve bought some vinyl that can be cut into shapes and then ironed onto fabric. The instructions on line were for use with high tech cutters and big irons that all cost a fortune. I would be using a scalpel, scissors and the cheap travel iron we have on the boat. I followed instructions, but not correctly, I’ve ended up with numbers back to front! Thankfully this was only a try out and I’ve plenty more materials to get it right next time.
Masked up
Mick returned with the shopping in sunshine. A quick lunch was then followed by a couple of hours cutting, gluing and sticking. Today the milk pods got two thirds covered before I was loosing the light. My new mask seemed to be doing the job, but fumes seemed to be getting inside the boat instead! Here’s hoping it doesn’t rain too much tomorrow so I can take the sides off the pram cover as well as wear my mask as there is still plenty more stinky sticking to do.
Chopped in half ready for chips
Time to get on with more jobs inside. The panto potato was cut into chips and I made up a couple of card trays for them to be fixed into. Some painting will be added at some point.
Handle
Then time to turn attention to the giant mug again. The handle was tried out, then attached inside. The rest of the work now needs to be done either outside or elsewhere. I still haven’t tried it through the back doors! That will all be fun and games tomorrow!
Sticking the bottom bits is easier if you are inside
As Mick came back from Derby there was a boat coming up through Shardlow Lock, they had just come off the river. He chatted to them. They had come from the River Soar along stretches that were mostly amber but some were in the red. The river reopened on the 4th January. Sadly for us our route is still closed at Cranfleet Flood Gates. If our original plan had been possible, today we would have been sitting at Keadby waiting for Vazon Sliding Bridge to reopen following the rail strikes.
Pinky sky
We watch the levels and watch the weather. We could be here for a while yet.
More emails were sent regarding flooring for #unit21 this morning. This ended up with a proforma invoice that required payment before 1pm to enable it to be collected early next week. My credit card ended up being stretched that bit more, but thankfully the price hadn’t gone up over Christmas and it will be sat ready for collection.
Delivery!
Our Sainsburys delivery arrived at the end of the towpath. There’s not much space on the road so a bit of nudging out of the way was needed for someone to get past, Mick was there with bags to decant the shopping as quickly as possible so the van could head back off. Everything was stowed away before I got my work things out for the day.
A box of potential power
Mick had been getting tracking information regarding our alternator this morning. Would this actually arrive as planned? Through the hedge I could see what looked like a DPD van heading towards the farm. Mick popped his shoes on and walked up to collect the alternator.
Hooray! Just when to fit it now? Should it go on straight way, three bolts and a bit of cabling to do. Should it wait for the existing one to stop working completely? Should it wait to be fitted by a mechanic? How much longer should we stay on the mooring? We won’t be going far for a while with the river in flood. Mick is thinking about it.
I got on with making up the forma for the giant mug. The base dimensions should just fit through the back doors on Oleanna, so I won’t be able to get much further than just the basic shape. Also covering it in the yoga mat has to wait as I’ll be using contact adhesive and there is nowhere near enough space onboard to lay things out to glue, let alone dry and all the fumes.
Sheets were cut to length and then scored so that they would follow the curve. Glued and held in position to dry with masking tape. A second layer was added, laminating two layers would make it stronger.
False base on top
The actress will stir a giant spoon in the mug so I worked out the maximum depth needed for this. I then made a false base to slot inside, this will help to keep everything together. It’s now ready to have a handle added, just need to get a plastic pipe back from Derby on the bus!
“It’ll be okay, so long as it’s not here for long!”
Just where to store the mug until it can be taken to Huddersfield? I’d hoped to make this on land where there would be more space than in a 7ft wide narrowboat. Would it sit in the corner of the dinette? Not quite, but taking out the corner cushions gave it just enough space. Phew we won’t have to move it several times a day just to be able to go about our daily lives.
Tilly thought it was very good especially the new route behind it. Mick thought he’d be able to live with lack of elbow room at the table. ‘It’s funny you making BIG things and not models’.
Mick has spent some of today starting to work on our trip computer. As Water Explorer is no longer, we’re hoping to be able to reconfigure the computer to be able to run Nebo. It may take a bit of doing!
