The new mat

How sad is this, I loved this mat so much I took a picture of it. Problem is - I put it outside on the pontoon while I was cleaning my beloved wooden floor and the rotten wind blew it away.

Its at the bottom of the marina together with a folding chair, fishing keep net, clothes airer and a pair of sunglasses.

Our nephew

Our Nephew steering the boat - he actually holding his line really well. Our family came down from Scotland and stayed with us for a few days, I hope they liked it. I think they were a bit shocked by how small our living accommodation actually is compared to what their used too. Just right for the two of us but a bit of a tight squeeze for four adults, a five year old and two jack russells.

My babies

Summer hols!

Just found this picture on the phone from 1st July 2008. We travelled from Ely towards Bedford and found a mooring site just outside St.Ives on a small island near Houghton Mill. We stayed for an afternoon and overnight and it was just perfect. I later found out that this was an old haunt of my mothers when she was younger. She used to visit the mill when it was a youth hostel and told me that she had spent many happy hours on the island just like we did.

Basil - the meercat

Our Basil, just loves to look at reflections in a picture that we have hanging across from the window. In the reflections he can see the boat next door and see the comings and goings of all the dogs that live there.

I know he loves his life here, he's a completely different dog. More relaxed, better behaved and so much more loving - he's the best!!!

The cake

Who says it can't be done in a kitchen the size of a postage stamp ! I haven't made a proper cake in years, so when the eldest son suggested that the whole family go to his for Christmas, I decided that I would do the traditional thing and make the family cake. I was really pleased with the results and at the same time I made some mince pies for the neighbours and delivered them along with the Christmas cards, all nicely wrapped in a silver and blue Christmas parcel. I am definitely feeling festive.

Finished!!!

All that space!!! Not as much as I had in the house, but plenty for me and hubs. Serving dinner is so much easier now - I don't have to put the washing up bowl upside down to make more surface space. The telling will be when we have people over. Cooking and serving a meal won't be a problem, but they will have to go outside to eat it!!!

The next job is a wall cupboard over the microwave, hubs will sort it!!!!

Lovely!

I promise!!! I will clean you everyday, I will protect you from Hubs bashing you about and spilling things on you. I will cook beautiful meals on you and always wipe you down after cooking. I love you!!!

Sad I know, but I have spent all my life making do and managing with cheaper or secondhand cookers. As you get older, the priorities change and I will not have to 'make do' any longer.

Isn't she beautiful!!!!

Hubs - in the calm before the storm

This is the hard part, taking the tiles of in order to make to old worktop light enough to move. This is the time for retail therapy and leave hubs to it. Might have to stay away for hours!!!! A girls got to do, what a girls got to do! I do hope he hoovers up afters (joke!!)

Ooohh bloomin lovely!

Isn't she lovely!!!! No more cold evenings sitting huddled up round the electric oil rad. We have our very own brand new 'Old Dutch'. Thinks I'm in love!!!!!

Its been a rotten cold miserable winter and this little baby is going to make our lives so much easier. She heats the rad up (40ft away) and bonus is that she keeps the hot water ticking over at a reasonable temp if left on long enough - I'm in heaven!!!

Old tiles - yuk!

This is the before picture of those awful tiles, they looked lovely when we first moved on. I think they were put on to enhance the kitchen just before it was sold. They were so impractical and never really felt clean cause it all gets into the cracks in the grout. Be glad to get rid of them - I will take a picture of the finish thing, but the washing up needs doing and I couldn't possibly take a picture of my dirty dishes - a girls got a reputation to keep you know!!!

Nearly there

Oh the joy of home cooking is just a few days away. Unfortunatly I have still managed to maintain my skills, so this means that the new cooker may get used instead of just looking good. It feels like we been 'managing' for such a long time, can't remember when we had a 'normal' day.

Well all the preps done and the boat is in the boat yard waiting for the gas locker to be done, chimney for the heater to be fitted and the diesel connected - not long now!!!!!

Summer time - Oooh can't wait

This is more like it - I had a lovely balcony garden where I used to live and I really miss it. I also used to work at a garden centre while at Peterborough, so I really got the bug for having a bit plant life around. So now the weather is doing a bit more of what it should, I thought I would add a bit of colour to my new home. Even though I say so myself, I think it looks the business.

It gets worse before it gets better!

All we are trying to do is put a new 'old dutch' heater in! Before you know it, the whole place looks like its been ransacked. I will be so glad when everything is back to normal. At least we managed to save the carpet and only had to replace the underlay. Though I think that at a future date, we may invest in a nice wood floor, but carpet is fine until we get the bank balance back on track.

Old newport - history!

Not the best picture - I know! Probably I have skaky hands due the the extent of the mission at hand. John took the old Newport heater out yesterday and found (as you do) that the job will not be as easy as first thought.

It all started a couple of weeks ago, when we came to a much thought about decision. We decided that the Newport was neither use nor ornament and started looking for another form of heating. We finally chose diesel heating again, mainly due to the fact that the fuel tank is in place and it shouldn't be too much trouble to install the new 'Old Dutch'. We had thought about a wood burner, but Hubs likes the variable heat option with the Old Dutch and we have heard and read some very good reports.

So, we went and put the order in at the chandlers and decided to do some prep work ready for when it arrived. Last night Hubs successfully to out the old Newport, then with a little bit of a fight, took up the old tiles that were on a wooden base. After removing the base, found a problem that we had not counted on. It must have been previous to us moving on the boat, but there are signs that there had been a substantial diesel leak at some time and the underlay of the carpet was wet with diesel. No wonder we have been ill quite a lot since moving on, its strange that we couldn't smell the diesel, but we put what little we could smell down to the normal use and the fact that we had to taken everything apart a few times because of the unreliability of the current cooker and stove.

So, what appeared to be a reasonable type of job has now turned into a nightmare. Is it me, or do we just seem to be up against it all the time. I am dreading going home at the moment, I know that it will be an absolute mess EVERYWHERE!!! So, the plan is - I'm going for retail therapy. Not the most reliable form of stress relief, but certainly helps short term.

The worst thing is, this is just the start of things to come as we have also ordered a new cooker and hob, this is coming in a couple of weeks and will have to be fitted professionally due to it being gas. To date we have had no gas appliances, so there will be a fair bit of work involved including a new piece of worktop. Hubs has assured me that it will all work out in the end and next winter will be a complete breeze compared to this last one. Why am I not convinced!
The calm before the storm

Mothers day

Well, what can I say! I might have sold the house from around the kids feet and run away to be a river gypsy - but I'm still 'Mum'.

I have just had the nicest weekend!, still had to do all the normal boat type jobs like filling with water, emptying the loo, washing, hoovering and cleaning but my middle son and his friend came to see me and 'Hey Presto' I was a Mum again.

I know my kids were of a suitable age for me to leave them to it (23, 22 and 20) but I have got to say I have felt very guilty. I now have a very nice life, I work part time and the rest of the time I do as I please (including looking after the boat and Hubs). Leaving the kids behind was a big wrench. The normal way is, the kids leave home and come back to visit when hungry or dirty. We did it a little differently, a couple of the kids went of to UNI and the middle son literally had to find accommodation with friends because the house was sold around him. Then we moved away from the area.

Now the kids can come and visit, but returning 'home' for any amount of time is not an option. Not having a 'nest' for my chicks does leave me feeling a little wanting. Perhaps this feeling is only natural and will pass when the warm weather comes and I can have a few more 'bottle of red wine to myself moments'.

But the weekend was a success and we even took a trip to the pub Five Miles from Anywhere on the Sunday and had a nice meal. It was a little windy and we got stuck against the bank for awhile, but thats what its all about - a little bit of adventure!, its good for the soul.

We're the one in the middle!

O there we are! Only just found my way back.

Don't do it hubs

Sunday 10th February 2008 - Hubs is determind to get the better of this heating problem, so even though the wheather is beautiful, we decided that he should spend the morning with his head in the oven, trying to find the problem with this blooming diesel heating. We appear to have a number of possible issues all going at the same time, such as pump overheating, points sticking and a poor burn. It all seems to work fine for a couple of hours and just when you think you have solved the problem - it goes wrong.

Poor hubs could not sort it - so while I was slaving over the automatic washing machine, hubs decided to fish instead and the three tiddlers that were caught over the course of the afternoon seemed to help a little. After a great deal of thought (over a few pints) we have now come to terms with the fact that we will need to ask for help. So we're handing it over to someone who knows and he also likes the odd pint in the Cutter. After saying that we got it going in the evening and just as we put the pizza in the oven the rotten thing went out - is it something we said!!!!
No cooking today - shame!

Start of a beautiful day

Saturday 9th February 2008. This is what we have been waiting for. The weather today was absolutely beautiful, so we took a trip up to Littleport and had lunch at the Black Horse. We took the fishing gear, but met some really nice chaps and ended up chatting until about 4pm (therefore no fishing was done). As the heating was playing up, we needed to get back and plug in again because it was going to be a cold night (didn't want to be without warmth, a coward I know). It was so lovely to spend the day with just jumpers rather that layers of clothing including waterproofs. We now know that this was the best move we have ever made, we are going to enjoy this summer!!!
Lets get on the water

New bathroom!!!!

Well - I am sure you will understand fitting a new bathroom in a house is not the easiest of jobs. Has anyone ever tried fitting a new bathroom in the smallest room on a boat?. We thought that if it was the smallest room it would be the easiest - how wrong we were.
It all started with finding a weak spot in the bath, which was conveniently covered with a bath mat when we purchased the boat. We decided that the bathroom was an area that could do with a bit of work and looked into purchasing another bath. We did get a little enthusiastic when we found a lovely deep bath that would have looked beautiful insitu, but we found out at our cost that we couldn't get it through any of the doors on the boat. So after feeling a little stupid, had to take the bath back to the chandlers and make do with the slightly shallower bath.
We then found that all the fittings in the bathroom are actually original and this was realised when we found that the bath must have been one of the first items fitted when the boat was built as we had to take out the bathroom sink, bathroom cupboard and bathroom door to get the old bath out.
After not being able to turn the water off (we should have drained the tank first), lots of towels and jugs later, John finally got the bath out. Unfortunately the bathroom sink got damaged in the process which meant we needed a new one. We couldn't find a sink the same size, so guess what - we had to buy a different sink and a new unit to go with it. We have now started to think new tiles and fixtures such as towel holders and floor tiles etc and all this is the tiniest of small rooms.
The only problem with any DIY on the boat is the mess, it can really get out of hand so quickly. Building the boat from scratch would have been easier, because at the moment, we have no water and no sink in the bathroom. The boatman's cabin has become a spare shed and any inch of spare space is temporarily used for the contents of the bathroom cabinet. Even the kitchen hasn't escaped and the old taps etc are sitting in the sink awaiting disposal.
When we sold our house and decided on this adventure, we were at a stage where everything had been done in the house - you know - central heating, double glazing, fitted kitchen, wall to wall wardrobes and the biggest most beautiful bathroom you could ever imagine. The shower alone was the same size (nearly) as the current bathroom. Now, we have 54ft by 6ft something of very compact living and because we can't stop touching or just leave it alone, we have become a floating DIY project.
Its a good job a love my husband.