I have never liked routine – I remember when our daughter Holly was born and everyone said ‘get her into a routine’. I thought it sounded very dull. My dad had a routine of going to church both morning and evening to say prayers – as a child I thought that was a bit excessive and my mother just thought it was an excuse to get out of helping with the chores and the children! But as I get older I realise the positives of having routines, especially when everything around is a bit topsy turvy. Being on the boat and in lockdown, it has been comforting to know that we can connect with friends and church at certain times of the week, even if three of the church connections are first thing in the morning. So a further routine is the ‘Saturday morning lie-in’ often preceeded by a late night film and a double gin, so very welcome! Last night was no exception and infact we also slept at the other end of the boat (due to the damp patch on the mattress!) on the large double sofa which , apart from leaning to one side so R kept rolling into me, was very comfortable. Also very warm as that is where the stove is situated. Imagine my disappointment when I was abruptly awoken at 0730 to be told by R that our boat had come adrift in the night at one end and we were currently across the canal! Luckily no other boats had come along so we hastily put on some clothing and sorted the problem. The boat was secured by ‘pins’ that our driven into the muddy canal bank and at first we thought someone had deliberately lifted them in the night but we were relieved to find them still attached to the mooring line albeit in the water! Another lesson learned – check the pins when the towpath is a mudbath as it is easy for them to become loose and then get blown away by a strong wind.
The rest of the day was a mixture of quite a few conversations with passers by (more opportunity at the weekend as so many people use the canal paths for exercise); updating my blog and a walk to Waitrose to get R on the move and buy yet another paper to soak up the every increasing pool of water in the bedroom cabin. Time to let James know the situation is not improving.
Have decided that I am fed up of takeaways so am looking for inspiration to cook simple suppers in a very limited space with a gas cooker that is OK but not very powerful and trying to use as few pots and pans as possible. Any successes will be posted under ‘Narrowboat Living’ and ‘Recipes’. It might appeal to other lazy cooks who just want to get a quick and easy meal on the table without too much fuss!
NarrowboatTLC 