Author: Mary

Well there really isn’t much to report today except am I glad I did my laundry and shopping yesterday! From the moment I awoke to the rain it stayed that way most of the day, as it probably did throughout the country! No cup of tea with the fisherman. The towpath was almost one big puddle! However I did venture forth at lunch to the open air cafe across the bridge, which has put up a small marquee with heaters so I was able to enjoy garlic mushrooms on sourdough. When I heard R had had a full breakfast at The Gorge I thought I could treat myself!

Back on the boat, in the dry, R arrived back and we got the stove going so all snug and warm, awaiting the predicted snow tomorrow! He wants you to know he’s the last of the big spenders – Minstrels and a peanut butter Kitkat. What more could a girl want!

No sooner had I waved goodbye to R, who has gone home for the night, but I got myself a date with a fisherman! Google, fount of all knowledge, found me a local wishy washy (chore for the day) and as I set off I chatted to a fisherman on the bank and offered him tea on my return. As I missed a road turning, I walked twice as far ending up luckily at another laundrette. By the time I returned, nearly 3 hours later (and all I did was one load of washing!) the fisherman was packing up to go so we made a date for tomorrow instead! Funnily enough when I went to look for the laundrette I should have gone to it had been replaced with a fast food joint! So I had happened upon the nearest one to the boat. The manageress was very chatty and it was sobering to hear how many dry cleaners and laundrettes have gone out of business. So much of their trade has dried up. She was telling me one of her biggest customers was a guy who owned a fancy dress shop. No parties, no fancy dress, so he’s out of business and subsequently her takings are down. Enterprisingly, rather than go under she is reducing her overheads by only opening 4 days a week and as there are plenty of machines this isn’t a problem for her customers so hopefully she’ll weather the storm.

Looking through my emails I found a reply from CRT re the Elsan saga. They tell me in response to my complaint they have fixed the Elsan today. Result! I hope it’s true as we are no longer there to find out!

Being alone and knowing how much R hates shopping I decided the afternoon was a great opportunity to explore Hemel Hempstead town centre and maybe indulge in some Christmas shopping. I set out blithly not knowing where I was but soon got directions and after half an hour the first shop sign appeared:

For those of you who know me well this is just one of my favourite shops because looking carefully you can find treasure! And today was no exception. Infact as they were restricting numbers it was very empty of shoppers and full of bargains! One of my favourites turned out to be a shortish elasticated warm skirt, perfect over leggings, for £8! Let me tell you on a boat it is not about style but warmth. Arriving home I put the skirt on top of my thermals and trousers and the extra layer has kept me warm enough not to need the central heating! Obviously, not knowing who may read this, I cannot divulge what I bought on the present front! Suffice to say, I filled my backpack, a reusable shopping bag and as I had purchased a plastic container for the boat, I filled that and walked home like a packhorse! Majority of Christmas shopping now ticked off!

Blessed with another stunning day,  clear blue sky and sun, but rather cold, as we found our way to Aldi to stock up on fresh provisions. Receipt noticeably lower than Waitrose but no free paper to then use as a floor covering to help keep the mud at bay! What an array of gin – obviously it is still a marketeer’s dream product with more adventurous flavours appearing. I do rate their dark chocolate too – a small bar of sour cherry and chilli just hits the spot.

Back on the boat, after collecting R’s train ticket home, we met on the towpath a man with a saw in his rucksack, just like R’s! So we fell to talking as he was very happy to chat – he says he has found the nearer you to get to London the less friendly people are. He’s trying to work out the best places to moor on a regular basis as he needs to get into London to visit his young daughter. He’s been on a boat since August so almost as green as we are about boating! And of course we got to talking about the potty problems – he told me the next Elsen along is as bad as the one we have just left! I was able to give him Warren the pumpout man’s telephone number which cheered him but I have to say I am not impressed with the CRT and their handling of the waste product problem. I am on the warpath and sent them my first ‘disgusted of Farnham’ email, hinting that we shall stop our monetary support of their organisation unless they pull their finger out and improve the sanitation conditions for boaters. Oh dear. Don’t think R thinks I should wade in all guns blazing!

Have had my first lesson on how to get the stove going which is a bit of a necessity for when I am home alone. Lighting fires has never been my strong point so may find myself tucked up in bed very early when R’s not here!How difficult can it be I can hear some of you exclaim? Well, I have lived in a house for 30 years with a stove and two open fires and not once have I successfully managed to get one going. There are definitely blue and pink jobs in our house (sorry to sound so un-pc) and fires very much fall into the blue category!

Just to finish on a high note, last night we really enjoyed watching Military Wives on Amazon Prime – a real feelgood film inspired by true events (that was after an aborted attempt to watch a film called ‘Unfaithful ‘ with Richard Gere – you could tell it was all going to end badly just from the title so we didn’t last long but then watched the last ten minutes just to see how bad it got and it did!).

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The rain has just started to pitter patter on the boat roof but I have just had a bath and hair wash and have no intention of venturing forth again today. To be honest I feel exhausted – the result of our first real exercise in a month!

We decided to leave Berko this morning and head down to Hemel Hempstead where R will easily be able to catch a train home for his follow up vv appointment, pop in to see his mum and pick up the post. We are allowed to move the boat in lockdown to ‘essential services’ and alternative ones are now necessary as the ones we were near in Berko became almost impossible to use. Firstly the wide boat (mentioned in a previous blog) still has not moved after a week, even though legally he should not moor on a water point. The double narrowboat is still opposite him so reversing back to our original space was going to be tricky. It was difficult enough just to get our boat near to the watertap without causing an obstruction. Then the Elsen (potty talk). I took a picture (be thankful I am not blogging it!) of the state it is in and plan to contact the Canal Trust as I think it is disgraceful that they do not make the functioning of the Elsens a top priority along the canal. I am sure they could be classified a health hazard and as it is they are few and far between, so when 30% of them don’t appear to work it’s a very sorry picture.

So 7 heavy old locks later and a swing bridge (great fun – you stop all the traffic!) both R and I can hardly speak. We did half each and walked between each one so it was quite a workout. As the locks were filling I also decided to do some Joe Wicks exercises just to help the time to pass. Seeing a lock fill is like watching a kettle never boil! We were so excited to moor opposite the Fishers Wharf cafe where we had on a previous walk had delicious coffee and cake. This time on the recommendation of a boater we had just passed R was going to go for the sausage and bacon butty – a well earned treat. Sadly since the first lockdown it is closed Mon to Wed so we’re going to have to be patient! Meanwhile I gave him leftover cauliflower cheese transformed into a soup – a poor substitute.

I can’t let today pass without a reference to my Scottish heritage and the sadness I feel at the absence of any Scottish dancing – St Andrew’s is a key date in my diary and not many years have passed without the fun of a reel or two with friends. I even gave instructions for an Eightsome reel in Shanghai at an ex-pats St Andrew’s dinner a few years ago and when the music finished quite a few bars too early the band told me that was all they were playing. I dont think they realised the Eightsome reel is a longer dance than most thus requiring more music! How amazing it will be when we can all enjoy dancing together again! Whoever would have thought holding a hand would turn into a health hazard.

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