Author: Mary

Warren the pumpout man chugged by unexpectedly – luckily R was on the ball and caught his attention as we had need of his services. I also wanted to check he operated south of Berko for when we move on. He seemed in no hurry so I gave him a coffee and he told us how he ended up with his, to say the least, unusual and unique occupation. Over the years he has done many things but a few years ago fell in love with a boater so ended up living on the canals. He saw a niche market in dealing with human waste and went for it! I, for one am grateful as I am sure are many other boaters!

RR then arrived to look at our leak, sent by James who is still under the weather. RR had an Aqua Vac with which he quickly and efficiently extracted approximately 200l of water from underneath the floorboards. No wonder the boat was listing and I was in danger of falling out of bed closely followed by R – it wasn’t our imagination that the boat has been on the tilt! That’s the good news. Unfortunately he could find no cause for the leak, although that could be good news if the problem rights itself. All to do with water being pumped under pressure even when the taps aren’t turned on thus increasing the likelihood of a leak. We now have to keep the electric water pumps turned off when not using water and mop out the shallow well at the back where the water collects. Eventually this should dry up, the pumps can then be left on and we hope the boat stays dry with no further listing.

What was really interesting was hearing RR’s story. He used to live North but came south to be near his granny who needed help. He married and had a daughter but sadly this ended in divorce. Wanting to ensure his daughter still had a nice home he walked away with nothing, only to see his ex wife sell immediately sell the family home and downsize. Meanwhile he now lives on a 38ft narrowboat, seeing his daughter twice a month. HZe is keen to be a more hands on dad but that involves him buying a bigger boat so his daughter can stay over. The only affordable option is to buy a boat in need of refurbishment and on top of his fulltime job, make all the necessary improvements. Again and again as I hear these stories of what a parent is prepared to do to help their child I am humbled, realising what a steep hill many have to climb.

As we have decided to move on tomorrow it is farewell to Berko and I have to say I feel rather sad as I have grown fond of our mooring and the people around. Our new neighbours who R chatted to yesterday were sitting on the stern of their boat as we passed by so we fell into conversation as I was impressed to see them sitting outside with a glass of wine when it was quite chilly. This was normal for them as they like to watch the world go by. They moved onto their boat 10 years ago and said they have never looked back, much preferring it to their London existence of a flat in Notting Hill.

We were on our way to the allotment to see if we could find Clive and thank him for his kindness to us and say goodbye. Infact we found him outside his house repairing something. Half an hour later with darkness descending we left armed with another bottle of apple juice and in the knowledge that should we return to Berko we will be welcomed with a cup of tea, even venturing into his house, should that kind of behaviour ever become the normal!

We ended the day joining a Zoom advent evensong at St Andrew’s, our home church. For them it was the culmination of a day of prayer physically in the church, where individuals, or bubbles had a 45mins time slot to pray for all that is going on in the world. Listening to the first advent carol was like a soft light illuminating a dark path with the promise of something wonderful at the end of it. As we move into the season of advent and come to the end of our second lockdown I am sure we are all praying for better days to come where normal human interaction is possible and families and friends can once again be together.

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A friend of a friend in Berko very kindly charged our power banks overnight which we collected late morning after looking round the more expansive Berko Saturday market. There was a lovely cheese stall, meat, fish, veg – all you need to enable your supermarket shop to be very occasional, which might explain why the market was very busy for a Saturday in lockdown! An eminently sensible way to shop really – outdoors and relatively easy to maintain a social distance. Not so fun in the rain but the weather was kind and the slightly Christmassy atmosphere seemed to cheer everyone around. Lots of takeaway beverages – you can tell the popular coffee shops by the length of the pavement queues and the overflowing bins full of disposable cups! It’s good though to see people helping to keep fragile businesses afloat.

I had a call out of the blue yesterday from a friend of about 50 years standing (we obviously met in childhood!) who has been reading my blog as it appears and just wanted me to know it brought a smile to her face. It warmed the cockles of my heart. You realise, once you start writing, that it’s a fairly solitary and time consuming occupation, that also leaves you exposed as you open up about what’s actually going on in your head. To know that someone can relate to it is very affirming. That doesn’t mean they have to agree with what you are saying. The older I get the more I realise life is a rich tapestry of colour made up by each and everyone of us and our individual unique contribution to the world we are part of. K, my friend, mentioned radiators and drains – a brilliant description of those who radiate out energy and those who drain it from other people. I know I’d rather be a radiator giving off warmth and love but we all have our drain days. That’s life!

First morning we have woken to a frost. Beautiful but freezing so my solution now is not to get out of bed until at least 0930! Although today we were up at 8am for our weekly prayers with our Filling Station team. It helps to still feel connected and there is something comforting about the regularity of our meeting and praying, especially in these unprecedented times. We pray about all sorts of issues from national to local and personal, both friends and family.

Weekly trip to clean our clothes got me thinking how expensive it is for those who have no choice but to use the laundrette. One large load washed and dried is £10 – over £500 pa if you just go weekly! We will miss the cheery face of the manager – R wants to leave Birko before our next laundry date. Just as the shops open. I think he’s going on purpose as the shops look far too tempting. Imagine a whole month of window shopping and then not having free rein!

Found a coffee shop selling turmeric lattes – like marmite you either love em or hate em. Good thing we didn’t discover them earlier in lockdown as it was an exorbitant price but worth every penny! En route home we chatted to a boater going towards Tring, away from the crowds for a Christmas on his own. He usually spends it with his elderly mum but both think it too risky so are content to be apart, but it sounded rather sad. Then we passed the Rising Sun pub just as one of the owner’s, Nigel, was coming on to the towpath. Our friend Ben Boat Train, had recommended the RS to us but sadly for us it was too full to enter the night before the second lockdown began, so we only know it by reputation. Nigel recalls serving BBT and was chuffed that his was the main pub in Berko Ben had rated! It’s a sorry time for pubs like the RS (known in the trade as wet-leg pubs because they only serve bar snacks) as they can’t reopen unless they start serving substantial meals. A cornish pasty only becomes substantial if served with chips, or a salad. So you can’t just have a pasty – not sure what that’s going to do for the obesity crisis! Nigel told us canal-side pubs usually collect the bulk of their takings in the summer months thus enabling them to survive the leaner winter months. However this year lockdown 1 seriously depleted their takings. Now they can’t reopen until possibly March so he was feeling rather deflated about his prospects. He has over 60 different gins so R asked if that included his favourite, Jensen. Nigel went into the pub and came out with the tail end of a bottle and gave it to R refusing any payment. It reminded us of the widow’s mite. We’ve promised to visit his pub should we return in less restricted times and meanwhile we are more than happy to extol his hostelry on our blog!

Back at the boat we had a visitor on the towpath – Clive with the offer of a generator! He had taken our lack of power to heart and done something about it which was very thoughtful – going the extra mile. Then my regular weekly Zoom with a handful of very good friends cheered me further, all topped off with a delicious burger from The Meating Place. A treat before we leave, as this restaurant came highly recommended – well worth a visit should you ever be in Berko and fancy a burger!

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Waking to a clear blue sky lifts the spirits, even though by 1030 it really was still too cold to sit on boat bow wrapped in blankets! So we walked into Berko and treated ourselves to coffee at Cafe Nero (R tempted by the £1 mince pie offer!) and then replenished our ‘essential’ supply of whisky for R and in memory of mum, sherry ready for my Sunday tipple. As mentioned in previous blogs I have days when I question our purpose on the boat and ask for a Godly sign. I believe that happened today. Returning from town we were talking about how we would manage to isolate on the boat if required as we don’t really have an address for home deliveries. We fell to talking to a young couple on the towpath and putting the world to rights, as you do! L told us she hopes to live on a narrowboat for a couple of years once her studies have finished and we were talking about some of the challenges, such as coping with the practicalities of isolation. L immediately offered her phone number should we ever have need of help and we offered her tea should she pass our boat on one of her regular towpath walks. Later I felt cheered to receive this message from L saying that our talk ‘was the ray of sunshine I needed’. A small happening but I think God is in the small and every day. Later, sitting on the boat bow who should appear but Clive, our allotment friend. Transpires he owns a couple of garages right where we are moored. He declined my offer of tea as he had things to do before the light faded but we chatted so long that the darkness came. He was explaining that because the canal is in a deep valley any stoves producing smoke result in all the nearby houses getting smoked out. This was a real problem before the arrival of smokeless fuel and is still an issue if boaters are thoughtless as to what they burn. He then disappeared into his garage and reappeared with a homemade bottle of pear & apple juice, produced from the bounty of the local orchards. Such a kind gesture. And tastes amazing!

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Have just finished reading ‘Where the Crawdad sing’ by Delia Owens as it was recommended to me by a good friend. It would make a great read for a book club as I think there are many moral issues running through it. If anyone feels the same after reading it, let me know and I could set up an impromptu, one off, Zoom book club discussion.

Dis-spiriting day for no particular reason but a good descriptive word (by R) as to how I was feeling most of the day. Waking to a wet, grey day – the irony of being surrounded  by water, and even more coming from the sky, yet having no water from our taps was not lost on me!  We ventured forth in macs and wellies to the depleted Wednesday market in Berko and bought some great veg and berries, which cheered me.   The afternoon weather cleared enabling us to set forth with our saw and rucksacks to collect more wood. As per usual as R expended useful energy  sawing, I covorted around in the hope that my body still remembers how to bend and stretch! A highlight of the  day was managing to cook a passable loaf of sodabread which though I say it myself, tasted delicious – Great British Bakeoff eat your heart out!

I don’t suppose I am alone in feeling dis-spirited as we, hopefully, near the end of this second lockdown.  Even the good news of 3 households being able to meet for Christmas leaves me wondering what the pandemic fallout will be in January.  Yet having a blue day also leaves me with feelings of guilt as my lot is nothing compared to so many others who are either struggling with too much work or worried as they face unemployment; lonely because they live on their own or stressed out because they have no space and too many people around. Fearful because either they are unwell or someone they love is. Somehow, out of it all, we need to find the silver lining, the spirit of hope that will get us  through this pandemic. Just being kind, thoughtful and offering a listening ear may well go along way to help lift the spirits when a boost is needed.

A relief to hear from James that he hopes to be with us tomorrow or Thursday to help solve the problem of the leak in the boat’s water system. He assures us we can still have a shower and do the washing up without a flood and meanwhile we are enjoying sleeping at the far end of the boat with the woodburner keeping us warm. Infact it is increasingly difficult to motivate myself out of bed in the morning as it is so comfy. However a call from my elder brother got me going – he actually had read my blog and was more concerned than I about the water situation. He does know a lot about boats than me having enjoyed sailing all his life and rightly, takes a leak far more seriously than I am inclined to do. Ignorance is bliss and all that. I have every faith that between them R and James will get it all sorted. Let’s hope that’s the case or we will be home before we know it.

My other brother rang too, but not because he had seen my blog – he didn’t even know it existed. He just was wondering at my silence as I haven’t contacted him since embarking on this trip. That made me feel pretty bad but also incredulous that we have been on here now more than a month. Not quite the progress we were expecting to make but staying put in one town has been interesting and good to compare with our home town (which was recently voted the snootiest town in Surrey!). The traffic in Berko is certainly on a par but even on the canal we are getting pretty crowded. There’s a widebeam boat that has parked up by the water point and should really move on once the water is topped up. He’s been there three days now and in addition I am quite surprised that a double narrowboat has parked almost directly opposite him!

I find myself talking to strangers, in a way I never do at home, and engaging in many more conversations. Reminds me of a verse in Hebrews Ch 13 v 2 ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it’. Somehow it is far easier to be bold in a place where no-one knows you but perhaps it is also due to this different pace of life that we are experiencing and enjoying.

The pictures below of the sunset arose because as I was sitting enjoying a cup of tea on the bow of the boat, a lady passed by and told me there was a beautiful sunset which I actually couldn’t see until I walked along the towpath. What surprised me was the difference in colour with the two photo’s taken minutes apart.

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WATER – I have come to respect and value it now that I don’t have it in endless supply. Infact for part of today we have not had it at all on the boat and you can imagine that is quite problematic when we are all meant to be washing our hands more often and for longer. Ironically the first thing we did this morning was go and fill our water tank up to the brim. But then James suggested we turn the boat water pump off, thus cutting our water supply , because whenever the pump is on more water leaks inside the boat. Luckily we have 2 5L flagons that we can keep refilling and I can heat water in the kettle and use it sparingly for cooking, washing up and hand washing. It is the labourious process of refilling the flagons that makes you appreciate and try not to waste the water you have. Having said that, because we had the engine on a lot today we had copious amounts of stored hot water and I did infact have a bath while R mopped and mopped the floor (he has his vv stockings on so can’t luxuriate in our 4ft bath at the moment!).

Today I was quite the housefrau. I found the vacuum cleaner and hoovered all the carpets and floors, then washed off all the floor mud (thankless task really!). R and I swept the chimney (involved a lot of soot) and rearranged some of the furniture. A challenge in itself to find anything you can move anywhere else on the boat but I managed! I just like variety. The worst part of the day was definitely emptying the potty cassettes. The Elsen that we thought was mended was infact blocked yet again. The only positive was that I remembered to wear a mask and rubber gloves! The Elsen is very close to the watertap which is why the two jobs are often done together and take quite a bit of time. Closer to the water tap than the Elsen is a Greggs – anyone remember the vegan sausage roll advert? R had one of those for elevenses and for sustenance before the reverse manoeuvre required to get our boat home. Quite a tricky feat since a wide beam had decided to moor up next to the water tap overnight (frowned upon as the moorings for the watertaps are meant to be kept free) and on the opposite bank a double narrow boat had moored. The air turned a bit blue in the 15 mins it took us to go 30yds backwards!.

I had decided to cook a vegetarian cottage pie for supper and the only missing ingredient was cavelo nero which I wasn’t too fussed about as I nearly always improvise any recipe I am trying to follow. So we went off for a lovely country walk (with the saw and rucksack – R found some wood on a bridle path which was an ideal spot for me to do my exercises as not so public as the Waitrose carpark!) and ended up in the allotments above where the canal runs. Who should we bump into but our old friend Clive, who we spent a long time chatting to a few weeks ago. He and another Clive (confusedly!) were tending a bonfire but he immediately left it to offer me, wait for it, cavelo nero from his allotment (I wasn’t to tell his wife!) and swiss chard. Delicious. Just as we were about to leave he called us back and gave us some freshly picked carrots from the allotment of ‘Fred the carpenter’. One of Fred’s many parttime voluntary jobs had been to make cobteeth for an historical windmill in Hertfordshire. However he died very recently and just before his death he asked Clive to make sure his allotment goodies were equally shared out. And that is how we came to have delicious freshly picked carrots for supper!

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We started the day by joining our home church in a halfhour prayer Zoom meeting that has become a regular happening this lockdown. There is something very strengthening and reassuring about praying together and to give thanks to God for all the blessings we have, even when we may feel life is an uphill struggle. There is a natural propensity to feel fearful when in the midst of change and especially in the middle of a pandemic but I would rather try and hold on to hope and this is easier to do when we can share our fears with others who understand and who believe in a God who loves us. That doesn’t mean life will be easy but any challenges we face are somehow eased when we know we have friends walking with us. Hence why I believe prayer is so important and that Jesus is the best friend we can have.

It was a beautiful Novemeber day so we set off to walk to Tring, about 7 miles from Berkhamstead and good for R’s varicose veins! En route we saw a grebe and a kingfisher and a kite lazily circling overhead on this calm windless day. The kingfisher was camera shy but I did manage to photograph the grebe. The kite was too high in the sky! We had been recommended Tring to visit by BenBoatTrain as it has rather a fine brewery, which sadly and not unexpectedly was closed on Sundays. However we did find a small italian restaurant called Mimi’s doing takeaway ‘Calzini’. Think Calzone and go small. It was absolutely delicious and such a good alternative to a toasted sandwich.

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Arriving back on the boat pretty tired we found the wet patch in the bedroom cabin to be so wet that we emptied a few buckets of water using our boat mop. James suggested we turn off the water pump when not using the water until he comes to investigate further. The thought of a leak and not knowing exactly where it may be is slightly concerning as I am not quite sure how he will find it….

Evenings are spent usually watching Prime Video, iplayer or Netflex. So a couple of recommendations of feelgood films. – a charming czech film called My Sweet Little Village ; a swedish film called ‘A man called Ove’ (and I would really recommend the book too) – it’s about grief and life going forward and ‘A streetcat named Bob’ – a true story of a homeless drug addict and how he turned his life around by befriending a stray cat.

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!

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Funny thing waking during the night thinking your feet are damp and then finding in the morning that the bed actually is a bit wet! Slight panic that the leak on the floor is now exacerbated by water coming in from the ceiling. Then to discover that as a result of using two hot water bottles to air the bed for the first time last night, one of them is now empty!! So relief that we know the cause of the wet but a challenge to work out how to dry out the mattress sufficiently!

A wet day so such a lot of mud on the towpaths. We have slightly moved the boat to the end of a cul-de-sac so that we don’t have to use the towpath unnecessarily. Having collected a bag of laundry from a service laundrette around the corner we then headed into town with the wet sheet and more laundry to the coin operated laundrette. As is normal (for us!) R has in his backpack a saw so he puts this to good use as we are waiting for the laundry to wash and dry. Then we move on to the Waitrose carpark where he finds more wood to chop. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I turn my back on the shoppers (not wanting to see the expression on their faces!) and do a 10 min Joe Wicks workout whilst R busily saws. Laden with too much wood and laundry to allow us to shop we return to the boat. Then later in the afternoon we go and do a Waitrose shop, choosing there for the free newspaper that we can subsequently use to soak up more floor water! At least R is getting his fair share of walking. Having been told he needs to walk alot, it is like saying how long is a piece of string. The poor man is being walked at least twice a day, like a dog! If we were at home we would naturally walk quite a bit just around the house but there is only so much walking you can do on a narrowboat!

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