Category: Later London Living

And so another month draws to a close and I sit writing this from the comfort of my sofa! As our boat has been in a boat club that did not necessitate us holding a Canal River Trust licence, it became obvious halfway through May is was more economical to wait until June before returning to the boat.  The boards have recently changed from their red status but reading another boater’s blog, as he navigated off the K&A onto the Thames, I am rather relieved we did not attempt to travel any sooner. We did return to the boat last week and below is an account of what we did:

Last October,  whilst cruising on the Thames, our boat stalled,  which was pretty scary at the time and the problem seemed to be related to mucky fuel.  A bit of a surprise as we’d had the fuel polished in July.  Once we reached our winter mooring in Newbury we heaved a sigh of relief, little thinking it would be mid May before we could cruise again,  due to the red boards on the Kennet river. A problem with our Webasto heater led to us calling out an engineer,  who discovered that we had an exceptionally rusty fuel tank,  compounded by a quantity of water in the tank, more than could be accounted for by condensation alone. All pretty depressing really but once Joe emptied the tank,  cleaned it thoroughly and replaced the newly polished fuel along with the fuel filters, we felt a renewed confidence in restarting our cruising.  Obviously, keeping the internals of the boat in good repair makes all the difference to how the boat runs but so often you don’t realise there’s a problem until its a bit late.  My other half tells me the fuel got all joggled up when we were on the river stretch of the Kennet, resulting in the dirty fuel on the bottom getting mixed with the clean fuel above.  Regularly servicing helps but it can’t mitigate everything, so suddenly you find yourself in a bit of a fix. 

That’s rather like life.  Unless we keep our internal self in good order we can find ourselves sinking rather than swimming through life.  Negative emotions stop us from living well.  Holding onto anger,  bitterness,  disappointment hinders are ability to get up in the morning and just enjoy the day.  The less burdened our mind is from stress and worry,  the better we can function.  It isn’t always easy to do this in our own strength, especially if we facing some seemingly impossible situations.  Sometimes we need a helping hand.  Some people use therapy,  or mindfulness or finding someone they can trust to share their burdens with.  Personally I choose to pray to a God I believe in,  who loves us unconditionally,  and wants to be our helper throughout our earthly life.  Not only is he there for us in our ups and downs, but he forgives us when we screw up, a bit like cleaning the fuel tank.  The crud is removed and clean fuel replaces the muck  so  our internal being runs smoothly. We often live with the belief that we require no extra help from anyone.  This is especially the case when all is well and living feels easy.  However it’s when the hard times come along we realise life is not so simple.  Negative thoughts and feelings from previous years may get mixed into the present, often the case when someone is bereaved for a second time. If they have managed to bury their feelings of grief,  without dealing with them on the first occasion,  the second bereavement stirs up all the previous emotions and the new bereavement is doubly hard to cope with.  In addition to this,  we don’t want to run on an empty tank or run out of fuel! We may be good at helping others and not so good at self care,  so we end up depleted of energy and zest for life.  Now that summer is hopefully around the corner,  find opportunities to enjoy nature more,  go for walks,  chat to your neighbour or just relax in a sunny spot, watching the world go by.  We could all do with a bit of a recharge after this wettest of winters so I hope the sun chooses to shine!

Talking of rain and shine, the one thing I have noticed being back in London is how much the weather affects one’s mood. A sunny day and there’s so much to explore and do,  but once the grey clouds descend and the rain patters down, it’s hard to motivate oneself to leave the comfort of home. A disadvantage of city life,  at least where we live,  is that there is not as much natural light as we are used to.  A big contrast to being on the boat and we are grateful that we have the opportunity to experience alternating lifestyles.

I can’t quite believe another week has flown by and still we wait…. there was a glimmer of hope at the beginning of last week when the boards shifted from red to amber on the canal,  but a heavy rainstorm reverted them to red! Now we are nearer to the end of the month than the beginning, so I don’t feel like buying the required CRT licence which would be backdated to 1st May. It makes more sense to restart our travels on 1st June, assuming that we can!

We have briefly returned to the boat and its a calm,  peaceful evening,  the sound of birdsong a pleasant change from London sirens and the steady background noise of city living.   A fluff up of  the cushions (actually it was more,  open them, to see what each cover revealed – from spare blankets,  to knitted socks,  to teatowels – cushion covers are a great storage facility in small spaces!), a cup of tea and an episode of Ted Lasso left us feeling very much at home!  Our extravagance ahead of leaving the boat club is the purchase of a new fridge,  replacing the one that came with the boat.  Unclear of how old it is,  neither R nor I think it works efficiently and it certainly looks like it has seen better days. However,  as it is still working I advertised it on the K&A Facebook page, free to anyone who wanted to collect it and immediately we got a response.  We cannot remove the fridge until we turn Naomhog around as it will only fit through the bow doors, which are presently surrounded by water as we are mooed stern on to the towpath. We are due to have the fuel tank cleaned,  which can only be done with the boats stern in its current position. The new fridge is waiting in the boat club outhouse. Nothing is ever simple with narrowboats – so often, one job needs to be completed before another can commence.  The couple collecting our old fridge, who are only moored a stones throw from us, are delighted with the delay as they need to make room for the newcomer in their boat – a much desired luxury if the weather hots up.

So back to London and I decided to do a Lidl shop, the nearest one being about a mile away.  Lidl offered me a £5 discount on a £25 shop.  I still can’t resist a bargain! The shop went well and, having three heavy bags,  I hopped home on the bus, little realising until I reached the flat that I had left my keys dangling in the trolley, still attached to the lookalike pound coin. Dumping the shopping, a quick explanation to R and I found myself back on the bus,  praying that some honest person would have retrieved my keys. Which they had!  All this delayed my cooking of supper for Farnham friends coming for the evening to see us. They had a dreadful journey,  both ways,  which has not been the norm so far with visitors, but unfortunately, I think they will not want to repeat the experience any time soon!

A few local adverts for the Torrington Farmers market on a Thursday piqued my interest, so we wandered along,  hoping to find an array of market produce to purchase. In reality,  it turned out mainly to be a host of pop-up lunch stalls,  all rather expensive.  Then I spotted a stall selling veggie balls, macncheese balls, and meat balls,  all with salad or fresh pasta.  Profits went to help rehabilitate ex offenders, who also helped run the stall.  The guy in charge had done time himself and was aware of the difficulties of starting afresh after a prison term.  I would willingly support them regularly if it wasn’t for my waistline.  The deep fried balls were all delicious, but seeing them cooked in a cauldron of fat brought home the calirofic content. Well worth it once in a while as a treat and the only stall that was good value for money!

The weekend has been busy.  Friends from the north stayed for three nights,  one night with their two grandchildren of nearly a year and a toddler. It brought home the realities of family life in a London flat compared to a suburban house and garden.  Coupled with a Sunday lunch for 12, because our son decided he wanted to be near Arsenal on Sunday afternoon for the end of season match (no explanation needed for football fans!) along with a few of his friends.  I certainly baptised our kitchen. A simple cheese sauce took me three attempts. The first saw me using icing sugar instead of cornflour (wrongly labelled jar!). The second I burnt the roux, because of the absence of cornflour, I had to resort to the butter and flour method.  Finally, I made the sauce but could not find my food processor discs anywhere for grating the cheese. I’d forgotten what hard work that could be with a hand grater. And as to where my discs have gone……. how can I live in a comparatively  small space yet continually lose everything! Good thing it’s a sunny day – three loads of washing and a challenge to dry without resorting to the tumble dryer – the smart meter remote display is a bit of a reality check!

Making use of our swimming passes I didn’t get very far when I discovered I had everything bar my swimsuit. So I  did my 4mins HIIT regime in the cubicle while waiting for R to finish his lengths, which must have looked pretty strange from the outside with my arms popping up and down!   Went on an extremely crowded tube and as it thinned out, I realised,  even though I was carrying two backpacks,  no one offered me a seat.  I didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered!! Perhaps an older person being offered a seat is a thing of the past,  like so many other niceties that we used to take for granted.  But I did discover one useful freebie today – sign up for an Iceland bonus card and if you are over 60, they give you a 10% discount on a shop on Tuesdays – they’ve branched out and do some fresh veg, OK wine, along side some useful household items, so even if you don’t do frozen,  there’s savings to be had!

With the boards remaining ‘red’ on the Kennet & Avon River section of the canal we have enjoyed another week of  London life, embracing all that is on offer.  The freedom of  being able to walk for miles coupled with hopping on and off buses – my knee injury now allows me to run short distances –  it’s ironic how often the bus you see in the distance is the one you want, but the bus stop is further away than imagined and the only way you are going to get there is by a quick sprint. Having arranged to meet daughter C on Friday morning at Blackfriars bridge, I realised, unless I walked incredibly fast, there was no way I would arrive at the appointed time and my hopes of a bus hop were dashed as said bus drove past me mid way between stops.  Fortunately,  the bus was running ahead of schedule and as I neared the bus stop I realised it was still there, so with a quick short sprint and frantic waving of hands to the driver,  I managed to catch it up. C and I then had a delightful,  sunny walk, to Victoria to meet up with my sister, visiting from the provinces.  Lunch at Ottalengi’s cafe was a birthday treat coupled with celebrating daughter C finishing her film contract. The food was delicious,  especially the vegan chocolate bomb and slice of  pistachio rose cake we shared between the three of us.  Well worth the twenty minute wait for a table.  C then returned home to be part of a photo shoot her housemate L is involved with, prior to the release of a book she has written. L had asked me too, among others, and then found she’d asked too many people,  so I got stood down –  I’d been looking forward to my 15mins of fame, having my hair and makeup done!  Instead, I found myself dragging my poor sister through the crowds in Oxford St to peruse my favourite bargain shop,  T K Maxx.  Some things I over zealously upcycled in our house move,  deciding 30 year old towels did not warrant storage space, but visitors, coming to stay, find towel transportation slightly cumbersome. I decided to rectify this!

Earlier in the week my friend A came for a night and not only did we walk to every H&M in the vicinity (she was looking for a particular blouse that unfortunately had sold out everywhere) but we then walked to Marylebone Road to a hairdresser that sells an award winning hairbrush. I felt it would be a perfect birthday present from R to me! We discovered the shop was technically closed as A pushed opened the door and found her hand covered in wet paint, due to redecoration on the bank Holiday weekend! A very kind lady, realising how far we’d walked, in the rain, opened the till so i could purchase said hairbrush and,  hearing it was my birthday,  even included some expensive complimentary hair product for both me and A! An early night was called for once we eventually made it home coupled with a stiff G&T as a reward for an impressive step count!

The following day,  we walked to the wonderful health food shop near our local swimming pool because  I had noticed it stocked a brand of chocolate A was trying to buy but had been finding it difficult to get hold of.  En route home a man stumbled and fell,  banging his head. We waited with him until he felt stable enough to stand, and then,  supporting him either side,  we escorted him back to  his home, a nearby homeless shelter, realising he may be in a bit of trouble for being slightly the worse for wear. He was a very friendly chap and grateful for our help,  but a reminder to me how sad and difficult life is for many people and it’s all going on around us in plain sight.

A brunch with R’s nephew  found us in the throws of Notting Hill and I felt very at home crossing a canal bridge,  seeing the narrowboats moored up. We took a stroll along the Friday/Saturday Portabello street market, heaving with people and seemingly stretching for miles. A colourful array of stalls, presently mainly trinkets,  whereas once upon a time it used to be furniture and bric a brac. Easier to take a trinket home as a souvenir I suppose! I shall return again,  alone,  at a quieter time, so I can meander at my own pace and not drive R mad at my dithering!  There is no doubt the density of humanity takes some getting used to in our new habitat and learning when best to venture out will be a necessary skill.  We are fortunate that we can retreat to the boat when it all gets too much, although it is fair to say that where we actually live is remarkably quiet for London aside from the occasional siren.  You get used to them,  as we also have become accustomed to  the quiet tremble of tube trains beneath the house!

I didn’t think I’d ever manage to replicate the hospitality of our Farnham home in London,  partly because we live in a much smaller space, but that didn’t seem to matter this week when we had twelve for supper. My friend J produced the most amazing cake – really very London posh, so what it lacked in size it made up for in taste! There was even a slice left over, as it was so rich that it easily fed a dozen of us. The blend of Farnham and London friends made me feel very at home in our new abode and excited at our new venture.  There is always something new to explore,  from the wine bar that has been fashioned out of a previous London ‘underground ladies and gents convenience’! Not entirely sure I want to repeat the experience – seemingly still has the original tiles on the walls! To the amazing Kings Place  arts centre where we listened to a harpsicord and violin duo, performing traditional scottish tunes with a contemporary twist. They were amazing. Situated along the canalside, it incorporates a bar and restaurant, known as Rotunda, because it is round I imagine, had been on my list of places to try ever since we moored opposite it nearly two years ago.  It always appeared too exclusive and I presumed expensive, but the actual arts centre is priced so that it is affordable and enables the emergence of new talent.

A short return to the boat to spring clean and fill the water tank,  which took a very long time as it was totally empty.  We entertained a two year old who loves Rosie & Jim,  so her grandparents thought a trip to a real narrowboat would be fun, which it was.  Be even more fun once we can move, but it’s been good  to get back on the water and to feel the gentle rocking of the boat as we go to sleep.  I had forgotten how much it does that,  especially when R or I are just moving around! Fortunately we came back on a hot and sunny day, our dehumidifiers had worked a treat, so there was no feeling of dampness. Just a host of spiders webs and a gentle layer of dust to be swept away. The river is still running fast and overnight there was yet another downpour but we are feeling more confident that returning to the waterways is just around the corner!

What I am learning about parking….. we had a carpet delivered last week, 5m x 5m, so the carpet fitter wanted his van close by.  A traffic warden appeared.  I said I was new to the area and was happy to pay for a visitor’s permit once the carpet was out of the van, but wanted to avoid paying £47 for a trade permit.  The kind traffic warden gave us the necessary leniency to get the carpet unloaded and told us, with a visitor’s permit we could park in a pay by phone space.  When I checked this with Camden Council, they said we can only park in a permit holders space. The warden’s advice could have led to a fine. At the weekend you only have to pay to park for five hours,  from 0830 to 1330 on a Saturday morning.  However, the maximum time allowed for a visitor’s permit is 4hrs.  Our son P arrived on  Friday night by car and parked in a Pay by phone space, ready at 0830 to pay for an hours parking.  Then at 0930  the car had to be moved to a permit only space with a 4hr visitor’s permit. As well as getting one’s head around the parking, there is the congestion charge to manage, which is only free until midday on Saturdays and Sundays and then after 6pm.  Far easier not to have a car and make use of our travel passes and our feet!

Sometimes, though, a car is useful.  How do you get rid of a moth invested carpet if the carpet fitters and the council refuse to take it? It’s tricky getting to the dump without a car – I rang a waste removal service  recommended  by the council and Mr B quoted £100 for removal of carpet, having assessed quantity of rubbish by photographic evidence.   The men who actually collected the carpet charged us £150 which was considerably more than anticipated.  After challenging this with Mr B he agreed to refund us £37 but it made me wonder if we were being ripped off by the van men!

Fortunately for us, we do have friends and family with cars at the ready, which we appreciated greatly today.  All our daughter H’s belongings had to be relocated  from one storage facility to another,  after her unit was crowbarred open by thieves. We had no idea what to expect on arrival and were greatly relieved to find nothing had been stolen,  just a few things forced open to reveal the contents.  It was, however unsettling to feel someone had tried to rifle through her private possessions.  H lost her confidence with the company storing  her things, so we moved three car loads of boxes, across London. One car decided to avoid the congestion charge by taking a longer route and one car went straight through the centre of the city,  which took a far shorter time. The payback of the congestion charge was enjoying the spectacle of the various architecturaldelights through the ages. Every time I find myself  involved with H’s removals, and I have lost count of the moves she has had, I say ‘never again’.

We’ve found a wonderful piano bar down the road,  with a daily two hour happy hour.  The piano is constantly being played with requests from the clientele whilst a singer meanders through the tables. Coupled with a two course early bird set menu at our local pub en route home,  it makes for a reasonably priced night on the town, all done by 9pm!

There’s a swimming pool within a twenty minute walk.  Membership for the year is £7.30 and enables us to swim weekdays 8am – 4pm with no extra cost! The second time we went, a voice called out my name – the daughter of an old friend from Farnham was in the changing room with her three children.  What was more extraordinary was that she didn’t live nearby – she was just on a day out and decided the children might like a swim.  The bargain cost of swimming is negated by the wonderfully stocked health food shop on the opposite side of the road,  that happens also to sell delicious pastries and homemade bread!

We’ve been taking to the streets and walking hidden parts of London. R decided he wanted to see ‘The Monument’, so I found a 3 mile walk that began at Tower Bridge, with The Monument near to the end. Knowing how difficult it is to follow a walk back to front, we started from the beginning,  only to find there was so much of interest to see that by the time we got to Liverpool St Station we had run out of energy to complete the walk.  We shall pick up where we left off and eventually get to see The Monument, marking the start of the Great fire of London in 1666.  We may think we have it bad in this day and age but it’s sobering to think that the fire was only the year after the Plague that had wiped out a good many people.

For those of you who are Abba fans, I can recommend Abba Voyager as an entertaining experience.  I went with son P, who kindly gave me an Abba outfit to wear.  He himself ran out of time to find one,  so in a last minute dash,  R and I walked to a wonderful fancy shop which was a cornucopia of delight,  with very helpful staff.  I managed to kit him out with sale bargains rather than rent an outfit I would have to return the following day.  Walking to the venue alone,  a very kind man saw me looking a little lost and,  even though he was on a bike,  slowed his pace to walk with me – it was obvious from my dress where I was going! Not nearly so many people were dressed up as I imagined would be,  so I felt a little conspicuous, but I received quite a few positive comments for my efforts and P definitely looked the part too!

One stress of flat living is how to do the washing, without clothing taking over every radiator. I can put it outside,  as long as it’s not visible or drape on a clothes airer in our upstairs sitting room on sunny days. After much research into heat pump tumble dryers (which appear to be the most economical of the tumble dryer options)  I decided I would hang clothes in the utility room and use a dehumidifier to extract the water.  With only one small clothes airer the prospect of drying bedding still loomed as a challenge. Imagine my delight,  when walking back from swimming,  I  spotted a large clothes airer abandoned on the side of the pavement.  With my daughter’s voice ringing in my ears that this is the way people get rid of stuff for others to take home and use, if useful,  I felt uplifted at my first pavement bargain!

It’s a beautiful, sunny spring morning and I have just made first use of my London 60plus Oyster card for an early morning trip to my daughter’s past of town. The joy of crossing Blackfriars bridge, the old and the new mingling together to form a stunning array of architecture, the beauty of the glass constructions captured in the sunlight. A stripy multicoloured bus passes and I’m struck by the modernity of London, returning here to live after nearly 40 years. The energy and the buzz fills me with delight. There is always something new to see and so much to do.  A friend recommended a series of books “Hidden walks of London” and yesterday we embarked on a trip to the Barbican taking in the remains of the old London wall and a clutch of churches, some still resplendant, some but a shell of their former selves,  damaged either by the fire of London in the 17th century,  enemy bombs in the 20th century or just decripit by age and time. A visit to the Barbican centre to see half a five storey building  covered in 2000sq meters of amazing purple cloth, hand sewn together by locals in Ghana, organised by  Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama. It coincides with a new exhibition,  Unravel: the power and politics of textiles in Art. It inspires a great sense of wonder and worth seeing if you are in the vicinity before August 2024.

Walking through Postman’s Park (a location used in a film called ‘Closer’) it was very humbling to observe a wall of Edwardian tiles,  each one describing an act of self sacrifice, such as an 8yr old boy dousing the flames on his younger brother,  only for him to die when his own clothes caught alight.

Have you strayed onto the wrong blog? Where’s Naomhog and what happened to the narrowboat dream,  you may be wondering! This, my friends, is a detour and everytime you see it’s a “Later London Living” post, feel free to ignore if it is of no interest.  However, I have missed writing my blog and as the counterpart of our canal life is now a flat in central london, I thought it might be fun to share the juxtaposition of life on a narrowboat,  predominantly countryfied and life in the big metropolis.  Both are at times equally fascinating.

If we could, we would by now be back on the boat, heading along the Kennet & Avon towards Bath and Bristol. We cannot control the weather! Record rainfall means the Kennet river levels remain high and the streams flow too fast for boats to navigate safely. The delay has enabled us to move house and start settling into our new life. There have been some funny moments.  Like the first time we had to leave London,  for a thanksgiving service close to our old home, picking up our car en route, a bus journey away.  The bus stop is opposite our front door.  We managed to miss three buses before we eventually sorted ourselves enough to commence our journey.  Not helped by R deciding to use the ‘communal’ recycling,  unaware that if the door shut behind him, he could not get out. I suddenly received a panicked phone call from him, trapped in the cupboard. Thankfully, he had his mobile with him.  It may have been a while before I realised he was missing. I was busy making friends with the postman! Then, as we stood at the bus stop, he said he thought he might have forgotten something.  “The car keys” I remarked as another bus came into view!

Our move itself went reasonably smoothly and I can recommend our removal company,  who couldn’t have been more accommodating and helpful.   It was more problematic for the couple we bought from – although they were in receipt of our remittance, their bank did not release payment to their vendors, thus denying them access  to their new property.  My biggest stress was realising just before bed,  that the duvet I had thought was coming out of storage was  infact two pillows. Not much comfort to our friend D, who was staying the night. In the two days she was with us, she deep cleaned the kitchen and two shower rooms and helped us unpack all our boxes.  Almost fourteen years to the day, we helped her move house and she wanted to repay our kindness, which she certainly did. In a short space of  time we have painted some of the walls and hung all our pictures.  So now we are out and about exploring the locality, becoming familiar with our new surroundings.  Perhaps one reason we feel so at home is that we are a ten minute walk from the flat we lived in when we were first married.  And a stones throw from the canal – it was coming into London by boat almost two years ago that seeded the idea of a return to the capital and a radical lifestyle change.