Blue skies and sunshine, we are off on a day trip to Shugborough, the National Trust House close to the canal but so much faster by car! When we were there a couple of months ago they said it was worth a Christmas visit so we will meet up with H and J and enjoy one of her infamous picnics – I am well prepared in many layers as there’s a bite in the air.
It’s been a busy week kitting out the boat in the most practical ways possible. Reusable sticky hooks have become my best friend – so clever, if you want to move the hook you just pull the sticky bit clear of the hook and reposition. The downside is that I have to remember which door various kitchen implements are hidden behind and then hope when washed up they get put back in the same place. I could be doing a lot of searching! Online shopping is also invaluable, finding stools that can double as side tables, fire irons that can be hung on hooks. Just have to make sure we don’t lose the goodwill of the marina reception by using them as a repository.
Our trip to the Midland chandlery at Braunston was a highlight of my week – how sad is that?! I never knew there were so many useful things I could buy for a boat and how long I could browse and chat about the merits of different toilet systems with the very helpful sales person, a boatlubber herself. However what I was chuffed by was going to the Braunston marina and meeting L who can make us a couple of circular rails to circumvent our stove pipe so that we can hang clothing to be dried or, in the summer, use the area for hanging outer garments. L told me he has had the same idea for his boat, just not got around to executing it yet. So satisfying utilising all the heat and ergonomically using the space.
We need to replace the tonnau cover on the stern as it has ripped along the seam and is so brittle it’s impossible to sew. Without it the engine area will fill with rainwater and in heavy rain the water will also come inside the boat through the doorwell. A disadvantage of the cruiser style open deck but outweighed by being able to be sociable when cruising the cut. Seeking advice we have had to try and repair the tear with duct tape and prior to leaving the boat we will fasten a tarpaullpin over the tonnau. Fortuitously the weather was drier yesterday than predicted so we got the duct tape in place, now we have to wait and see if it holds.
Returning from Braunston to the marina on Wednesday, I was reminded that not every day is sweetness and light on the water. R started the day out of sorts as I discerned from the clattering and banging going on in the galley, not helped by his boiled egg being so undercooked he then tried to fry it. Not sure the result was terribly successful. Small niggles can escalate when there are just the two of us and there aren’t many places to hide! He is contending with a post covid cough and a searing on his middle finger from a metal mug used to heat the milk for my coffee so I should definitely be more forgiving. Luckily he bounces back to good humour, probably far quicker than me and so the day improved. It was bitterly cold and steering the boat along the cut for two straight hours had me chilled to the bone even through my many layers of clothing. Operating the three locks, just prior to our marina to assess how difficult they are, soon warmed me up and gave R a break from lock duty. The recent heavy rainfall had helped the water level to rise so we encountered no empty pounds. There is an art to manoeuvring the boat backwards into her berth. Complicated by windy weather and because she is situated behind another boat on the same pontoon, you have to squeeze between the narrowboats on the adjacent pontoon so there is not much room for error. R is much more adept at this than me and managed to guide Naomhog safely home without the air turning blue.
With a measure of trepidation we entertained our first supper guests, not quite knowing how successful I would be at producing a meal for four especially as I decided to do all the cooking on the wood burning stove with the addition of my ‘wonderbag’ to keep the risotto hot once cooked. Desert was an apple flan and I was pleased with the success of heating it on the stove covered by a stainless steel bowl! All was edible, thankfully, but the best part of the evening was getting to know our new friends, C and J, who coincidentally have a narrowboat moored 50yds from us and they are parents of friends of our daughter. Being much more experienced boaters than ourselves, we received many helpful tips and are hopeful that C is going to come and explain to us the intracasies of getting the TV working by the careful positioning of the aerial and retuning the said TV.. He even has an app on his phone which helps with the positioning of the aerial! Having spent the first 30 years of our married life without a TV it seems a strange priority to have now but in the past we’ve been more readily distracted by having people around to keep us entertained.
Much later the same day:
Would you believe by the time we got to Shugborough the rain had set in and it was noticeably fresher. We did enjoy the decorated trees followed by the said picnic in the back of the car – accompanied by steamed up windows, the careful balancing of hot coffee from a thermos, cheese and ham sandwiches and mini cold sausages which Pluto happily devoured. All very British! We did bow out early and forgo an afternoon walk which meant en route back to the boat we had time to call in on R’s uncle and aunt in central Birmingham. They have recently moved to a high ceilinged Georgian terraced house in the city centre which is full of character and whose four floors are connected by a narrow spiral staircase providing ample opportunity to keep them both fit.
A phone discussion about the merits of solar panels, a much more successful visit to the on site launderette and then grilled salmon on the wood burner completed the day although R did insist on us watching one of those schmultzy Christmas movies set in Brooklyn New York which was more like a modern day Barbara Cartland story. I was going to liken it to a Mills and Boon romance but it definitely was not X rated enough!
NarrowboatTLC 