Started the day with a very apt anniversary card from R which explains why our marriage has worked so well!
I did give him a bottle of single malt whisky and 8 crunchie bars so he was quite happy! Morning church was followed by R sawing wood and me outside reading the newspaper. I was slightly surprised to then find R back under the duvet fast asleep until I remembered he had had his covid jab yesterday and one of the side effects can be fatigue. So I returned to the paper and enjoyed the sunny weather.
R, who has the next door boat was also outside and told me of a sad happening yesterday. A lady walking along the nearby towpath turned to talk to her friend, slipped her leg between the path and a boat, severely breaking it. Trying to regain her balance, she toppled fully into the canal. The ambulance arrived to transport her to hospital and nearly dropped her on the stretcher as they carried her down a steep incline. All a bit of a drama. The towpaths are often not safe and one needs to be careful especially when there has been a deluge of rain. A granddaughter of a friend, in an electric wheelchair, ended up in the canal and it was really difficult getting her free from her wheelchair, as she was strapped in. It took her months to recover.
As we will move the boat along tomorrow to use the Elsan and fill up with water, we walked to our next mooring to check on space and internet strength. Passed a boat waiting at the waterpoint and discovered the man, Richard, lived on board with his wife and family and he earned his living using reclaimed copper from pipes etc to upcycle it into jewellery. I looked on Etsy ‘Bybikeandboat’ (he also has a Facebook page) and he makes and sells bracelets, rings and earrings. Worth a look if you have the time. I think copper bracelets help against arthritis or is that an old wives tale? I suggested he might make some cufflinks as something a bit different so I shall keep looking at his Etsy page to see if he does.
I had hoped to be back at the boat by 4pm to try out a christian keepfit session, run by one of our rector’s children, which sounds intriguing. I often do my Joe Wick exercises to worship songs. Passes the time more quickly and helps me feel uplifted. We were later than 4pm so I ended up doing Joe Wicks in the cabin. Meanwhile R decided to also practice his accordian, which he did on the bow right next to our neighbour who hastily shut his cabin door! R next door has been telling us of the etiquette of not mooring too close to other boats and how some boaters can be quite unfriendly if you do. That’s all well and good but as the canals increase in popularity mooring close together is inevitable and if you want internet access, there are a lot of no-go areas. I have been reflecting on who has the right to be authoritarian about the canal as it belongs to everybody and just because you have lived aboard for a number of years, does that give you more ownership than the punter who takes out a boat for a fortnight?
Another uplifting Songs of Praise, listening to the stories of four of our church family, left me marvelling once again at the wonders of technology and how we have been able to have more meaningful encounters with one another through the medium of a screen!
Our children organised a family Zoom to wish us a happy anniversary and it was a treat to see them particularly as they are all so spread out. It was tinged with sadness as today marked the first anniversary of the death of one of our son-in-law’s closest friends who died in a car accident in Ethiopia. As an ethiopian this charismatic young man was achieving amazing things in Ethiopia and it is such a tragedy he died so young. Some people manage to make an impact in a very short space of time and he was definitely in that category.
Everyone in the family talks alot and it can be quite difficult being heard so when we are all together, whether in person or on Zoom we tend now to try and find out how each person is feeling by giving them a platform to speak uninterrupted. Very ‘unbritish’ but surprisingly moving and encouraging to sense them removing their masks and letting the family know how they really are emotionally. I was never that good at being a ‘baby’ mum. My hope in having a large family was that when the children grew up they would be there for one another and supportive of each other. The phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’ and ‘I may not like what you are doing, but I love you’ comes to mind. We have had some fireworks in our house over the years and we never spent a lot of time just as the six of us together without a ‘diffuser’ present, but I do pray that the bonds of family will be important to each of them and that they will always look out for one another. Now both my mum and dad are no longer on earth it is up to me and my three siblings to make the effort to stay connected. I think it is a tribute to mum and dad that we all want to and are making conscious efforts to ring one another in lockdown. I was very touched last July when my sister celebrated her 70th birthday and was only allowed six people in the garden. She choose her siblings and partners (her children and one sibling are abroad so couldn’t have come – that would have been a conundrum!) rather than her friends and it reinforced the bonds of family. When R had his bike accident the first person I called was my eldest brother, who dropped everything to come and be with me within hours. None of us live in each other’s pockets but knowing family is there is a tremendous comfort. It’s not always easy. All relationships go up and down but it shows the importance and power of forgiveness if family ties are not going to be broken.
NarrowboatTLC 