Windsurfing

It has been extremely windy here over the last three days. Despite that, Stan and I braved a trip in the boat down to Streethay as I was seriously in need of diesel and a pump out. It took us quite a while but it’s a lovely thing to be full of diesel and water and empty of poo.

I am getting stronger and stronger but I’m not yet allowed to jump and so can’t easily get on and off roof to do locks and the lock ladders are also tricky. So I am very lucky to have help as both Jan and Stan worked the locks for me – all I had to do was steer. Yesterday we braved even stronger gusts of wind to turn the boat at the village of Alrewas, as she sits much better on my new mooring if  facing the lock flight.

Turning a narrowboat (or winding as it is known) in a gale is an exciting operation, akin to a fairground ride! You have to find a winding hole – in our case just past the first lock into Alrewas. You then note which way the wind is blowing and position your boat accordingly as, as soon as you turn broadways to the wind, the boat will start travelling quickly in a sideways direction. If you don’t manage to complete the turn quickly enough you can end up being blown past the wide part of the canal, provided for turning, and onto the narrower part which means you can end up being jammed across the canal with your bow on one bank and stern on the other!

You could have heard my engine roaring a mile away as I swung ‘Don’t Panic’ into the wind and turned her through 180 degrees. All very thrilling and the fact that I managed it OK has given another boost to my confidence.

Today I had intended to take it easy as not just my foot, but my whole body is aching after the exertions of the last few days. (It is amazing how quickly my muscles have deteriorated since being laid up and it’s a painful business getting them to work again – particularly my back). However, so far Bonny and I have been caught in rain of monsoon proportions on our morning walk. Then on our return the wind strengthened and blew my TV aerial down from the roof, bending all its prongs and in the process knocking my chimney into the cut. Bonny got out of the boat in all the excitement and showed every sign of running away. But I managed to persuade her back into the boat, rescue my chimney from the water, straighten out my aerial and tie it and my chimney firmly to the deck. I have now collapsed into my boat, taken a pain killer and put the kettle on. Hopefully my restful day will start here!!

Arctic conditions

It has turned seriously cold here now and the canal has finally given in to the big freeze. There will be no more moving to the water tap or anywhere else until the thaw arrives.

Here is the view from our mooring at present…

And here are some welcome visitors to my bird feeding station – a pair no less, so I am hoping for some baby woodpeckers come the Spring…

Bonny loves the snow except when it freezes to her paws and face…

It is hard work walking on snow and ice, but as long as I don’t fall I think the increased exercise is doing my leg the power of good. Off to fetch some more coal now as I am getting through a lot at present. Worth it though to have a toasty warm boat.

No more broken leg

I went to visit the physiotherapist yesterday with high hopes of being officially discharged from his care and I wasn't disappointed. Handing in my crutches felt like an official full stop to this particular saga. Steve, the senior physio (looks about 14) was fairly amazed at the rate of my recovery. He said I was about three months ahead of where he would expect me to be and didn't even add 'for a woman of my age', which he is prone to do. He put it down to my resting it properly when I first broke it and then really getting on with all the exercises and walking once I was allowed to. It made all the aches and pains of the last three and a half months worthwhile!

The prognosis for full recovery is good. It is still swelling every day after exercise but that should get less and less. My leg has mended nice and straight and is getting stronger every day. I only limp now when it gets tired. My ankle is a bit lumpy, especially where the metal work is, but I am long past worrying about the attractiveness of my legs!

It is just as well I am steadier on my pins as it started snowing last night and hasn't really stopped since. Bonny had a fantastic walk this morning. She loves the snow and so ran, rolled and burrowed in it. She streaked down the towpath and then came racing back with a snowball for a face. I would have taken photos but there really isn't enough light yet as we are currently in a bit of a blizzard.

I hope the cold weather doesn't last too long as I am getting close to needing to move the boat for a pump out. Still, today I am cosy warm, I have a full tank of water and an invitation to share a venison stew for lunch with my mate Stan so life isn't too shabby!

Busy on my new mooring

Sorry about the silence but since I moved back to my mooring I have found life has become pretty busy! I say my mooring – of course I mean my lovely new mooring. It is only a few feet away from my previous spot, but it is so much better!

This is a view of the lovely flat piece of ground where I get on and off the boat. If you enlarge the picture and look beyond the coal bags, that was my old mooring. The central tree trunk in the picture is exactly the spot where I broke my leg.

Fitzy – who had the mooring previously, sold me his garden bench and here is Bonny enjoying it!

I bought a new storage box as the old one which doubled as a bench had broken. Bonny immediately commandeered it as a perch from which to watch the goings on in the field at the back of the mooring. Lovely view!

We have much more useable space on this mooring and no overhanging trees. As soon as the weather improves I will start some planting.

I have loved being back on the mooring – especially this one, but it has taken all my energy to cope. My leg is improving in leaps and bounds (not literally yet!) but I have to plan the days carefully. If I am taking the rubbish up to the disposal point then I know I will have to put my foot up for a good while when I return. Ditto for shopping, walking Bonny etc. But I am managing all my jobs without assistance now which is great although it’s still nice to have Jan along to help sometimes.

We are standing ready for the ice at present. It was well before freezing last night and by tomorrow it will probably be frozen (forecast minus 10 tonight!) I have watered up (took the boat there and back on my own for the first time since the accident). We just hope that it doesn’t last too long. All in all though Bonny and I are extremely happy bunnies!

Happy New Year

A happy 2013 to you all.

I am well on my way to having a great New Year thanks yet again to the kindness of friends. Yesterday, with the help of Stan and Colin – another moorer at Hunts Lock, I finally completed my three month journey back to my mooring! It was accomplished in the pouring rain but I rewarded the men with a bacon and egg butty on arrival.

It is hard to believe that it was all the way back on 1st October when I was last here on the mooring. It was a little nerve wracking to get off the boat and walk around. I had forgotten how lumpy and how much on a slope my particular mooring is. I stood on the precise spot where I had broken my leg and remembered how it had been.

Bonny is delighted to be back and has been busy re-acquainting herself with all the smells and sights and revelling in at last being able to spend time outside. So far she has been brilliantly behaved – even off the lead.

Meanwhile, my next door neighbour Fitzy told me that he was moving off the mooring as they are going to start living on their boat and are planning to moor in a more convenient place for them. His mooring is much flatter than mine and so that much safer. I asked him if I could move on to his mooring when his notice period was up (you have to give a month’s notice to quit a mooring) He came to see me today and said I could move on immediately! He even gave me some wood for free and sold me his very nice garden bench for a pittance and a bottle of wine! I have written to the moorings officer to tell her what is occurring but she won’t mind as she was concerned about the safety of my mooring anyway, and CaRT lives in fear and trembling that someone will sue them when hurt on one of their moorings.

Finally Harry – yet another of my lovely neighbours -  came along just as I was starting to move the boat forward on to Fitzy’s mooring. He dropped his shopping and not only moved the boat for me, but then moved my coal and other bits and pieces from my old mooring to the new. He said if I needed any other help, I was to call on him any time. Can you believe it? People are just so kind and helpful and I have really noticed that since I injured myself.

So I am sitting here on my new mooring – only a few feet from my old mooring but it still feels like a whole new start. There are less trees here and so my solar panel will work better, but the main advantage is that I can safely walk around the mooring and that is brilliant. It’s going to take a while for Bonny to get used to her garden having moved, but she will adjust. It has helped Neville too as his new boat Percy is longer than Waterlily and he has had to moor partially under trees. He is planning to move up a bit, now there is space and we will both work on the moorings officer to persuade her not to re-auction the remaining space as it is very lumpy and bumpy and someone else might fall on it!

Photos to follow when it finally stops raining – if it ever does!

A Very Happy Christmas to my Readers

This is actually my neighbour Neville’s boat but I thought it made a nice Christmassy picture. Neville is actually selling Waterlily so if you are looking for a really nice boat – here you are and it’s on brokerage at Great Haywood!

I was due to go to my brother’s house for Christmas but my leg is not sufficiently mended to be able to drive to Sevenoaks. Instead I shall be endeavouring to be festive here at Fradley. I shall be having Christmas lunch with my lovely friends Graham and Jan, together with Bon’s partner, Bernie!

I shall be having a Boxing Day lunch with a more recent friend, but a good one - Stan. He is a boater, but also has a house at Fradley Junction. He was the man kind enough to take me to the hospital to have my cast removed and has been helping me ever since. He also enjoys visiting canal side pubs on a regular basis, so my social life has suddenly lurched into life!

My Christmas wish is to be able to, at last, return to my mooring before the New Year. I really miss the peace of fields rather than road and seeing my neighbours. My leg is improving every day and I am ready to practice pushing a wheel barrow. As soon as I can successfully transport rubbish and shopping, I will return. Meanwhile I have had my first little cruise, with Stan’s help. We took ‘Don’t Panic’ to Streethay to pump out and diesel up. I spent a sleepless night worrying about it, but for no good reason as it went fine. I reversed into a lock for the first time! I did all the manoeuvring and Stan did most of the steering as I couldn’t stay upright for the time required. I’m really glad to have been out on the boat again, as was Bonny who immediately took up her accustomed position on the roof.

I hope you all have a lovely and dry Christmas! I particularly wish that for my poor, flooded Devonian friends. I hope for you and for myself an accident free and hope filled 2013!

Another year passes…

It is my birthday today and so I have been spending a little time reflecting on the past year. It has been full of highs and lows; the highest high being my cruise in the summer, the highest bit of that was crossing the Pontcysllyte Aqueduct…

The low points include losing my job and breaking my leg…

I think the most significant part of the year though is the changes it has brought about in me. I thought solitude and ploughing my own furrow was everything and that anybody who ‘invaded my space’ was to be resisted. I indulged in that solitude to the full on my cruise and absolutely loved it. I came back dreaming of finding a solitary mooring, away from all the stresses and strains of living alongside other people.

Then I broke my leg, and in one stroke was totally dependent on the kindness and care of others. And how my friends rose to the challenge!! Despite me pushing people away and being generally unsociable, they looked after me and enabled me to move back onto my boat and survive on it. This has changed me at a profound level. I feel that I can really trust people for the first time in my life. Now I am seeing my friend Jan every day when she helps walk Bon and it’s lovely. If for any reason she can’t stay for a cuppa afterwards, I miss her! If anyone had told me that I had to see someone every day, be accompanied to go shopping, laundry, walks etc. I would have said ‘just shoot me in the head! But now I’m just grateful every day that I am moored in a community of such lovely people.

Here is Jan walking her dog and mine…