Friday, February 28, 2014

Rainbow wish

We have been spoilt really here at Rugby we have all the shops we need as well as entertainment if we want it.. We are also on call for any problems which might occur.. We have had good company and neighbours in Keith and Ann on n.b. Oakfield and been invited round for a lovely mulled wine afternoon with nibbles.. So it has been great and what we needed.  The latest on Al's Dad is he is booked in to have a pacemaker and we don't know as yet when he will have his tumour treated but it won't be done by zapping it with an electrical currant. It might have to now be done by a different method by using alcohol (sounds good to me). We wait for the next session. We also wait for Al's results for a lump she has found on her rib cage, yep its all going on.. We hope to move tomorrow to get the wheels turning again..  Lets take Derwent6 under the rainbow...

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Blogger's reunion

We have been sitting tight at Rugby waiting for a call as to when Alf will have to go in to have his pacemaker fitted.... Nothing much has happened where we are but we did have the police walking by saying some boats had been broken into around here.....its good to see them checking things out.
 
We decided to move just to have another change of scenery, so early today we set off just to get the wheels turning again and also top up with water.. We started off in sunshine and things soon changed as the clouds came in just as we started to turn.
We got on to the water point and we weren't on long as we didn't need a lot of water..

We then found a spot to moor and the sun came out again.. After setting the telly up and cleaning the mud off Derwent6 we settled down to warm up again.. 
After breakfast we had a boat come past us and it turned out to be Sue and Vic on n.b. No Problem. They moored up and after a quick chat they came round for a coffee and a catch up.
They arrived at midday and we also invited Keith and Ann off n.b. Oakfield who were moored in front of us.. As always we put the world to right and caught up on all our problems and adventures.. It was lovely to see them all looking so well..
In the afternoon Sue and Vic decided to move on and we all said our goodbyes, lets hope we see them in the Summer......

Sunday, February 23, 2014

It's all going on

Well its been a busy few days and we made our way down to Kent on Wednesday afternoon.. We first checked out Alf (Al's dad) to make sure he was ok from his admission into hospital. He was discharged after being thoroughly checked out..  he seemed fine when we saw him and he was preparing himself for going into hospital again on Thursday night for his zap on a tumour in his liver. 
We got up on Thursday after a bad night and did a few jobs round the house for Alf before getting ready for Del's Auntie Betty's funeral. We had to be at Eltham for 12.30pm and there met all the family and friends.. This is the thing with funerals, why are they a time when you meet up with long lost family and friends, surely we have all got it all wrong.. It was not a nice occasion, but it was just lovely to catch up with everyone.
She was a lovely Auntie and she will be sadly missed.. At the wake it was drinks all round and also all the old photos, here is one of Del's Auntie Betty and his Uncle Peter who now are both reunited.

There were some lovely memories in all the photos and they won't be forgotten. We had to go at 6.00pm as Alf had got a call to be admitted into hospital. Al picked up Alf's bag and then got the train to King's in London while Del looked after Pam ( Al's mum). Alf was settled and Al got back at 10.00pm.
After another bad night we were up early as Del was going back to Derwent6 and Al was visiting her Dad.. We got the train back into London while carers looked after Pam, and Del carried on to Rugby while Al went to see her Dad. Del had just got on the train out of Euston when he received a call from Al saying that Alf's operation had been cancelled due to his heart misfire, and he now has got to have a pacemaker fitted so he can have the operation to his tumour. This will be done in the next week or so.
Ho Hum we will be sitting tight, so Al can get down to support her Dad and it looks like Del will be moving Derwent6....
Al arrived back on Saturday afternoon and the sun has been out. This gave Del time to do the brasses and get Derwent6 shipshape.. We are now chilling and building up energy for the next phase..

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Loaded Up

After a day of staying in Braunston we got up early and set off.. It was light drizzle but the forecast was good and sure enough, the sun came out half hour into our trip..
We soon pulled up to the place where we had got wood on the way down and loaded Derwent6 to the hilt.
We were rocking around a bit and lower in the water, but we just took it easy.
It is still very quiet on the waterways and we never passed anything till we got to Hillmorton Locks..
 We could see showers in the distance and got caught out on a few but they were very light..
We had no problems through the locks as they were in our favour and then we moored up at the bottom.
When we stopped we set up the telly and Del wiped down Derwent6 as it was still wet..


We'd had a call earlier from Alf (Al's Dad) saying his blood pressure had dropped dramatically and the doctor wanted him to go to hospital to get it checked out. He sent for an ambulance and Alf was taken to A&E. They kept him for 4 hours and after some thorough tests allowed him to go home, but the problem will need to be investigated further. Poor Alf, another one to add to the list!


Monday, February 17, 2014

Sunshine at Last

We left early in the morning to bright sunshine and soon pulled up to the spot where Del had left the wood.
We were soon loaded and then set off again. We didn't get far before we were stopped by a boat being poled back under a bridge to a mooring spot. We were happy watching and waiting.
 After we got through we were out in the countryside soaking up the sunshine.
As we pulled into Braunston it still seemed very quiet, we then topped up with water and then pulled round onto the pump out at Braunston. The tank was only half full but we felt it needed a good flush out so we filled it with clean water and then gave it a good rinse.. We timed it right because as we left two boats arrived waiting to use the facilities.
We were going to go out of Braunston but we spotted the mooring we like opposite The Boathouse pub

We had some lunch and then settled down to watch the Winter Olympics and the FA Cup..  We did stop and chat to people walking by on a very pleasant Sunday afternoon..

All cut to size

It was still a poor day on Saturday with heavy showers and strong winds but Al still decided to go to Rugby to sort out a few things such as getting some cards and just some shopping therapy. Del went to work hunting for wood.. We had had a good tip off (if you see the comments) of a fallen tree, and Del walked down to have a look. Sure enough he found the tree and was busy cutting it up to size and then sorted it out to pick up in the morning.. Lets hope no one finds it first. Al got back at 1.30pm and we then watched the football and Chelsea exit the FA Cup.. still finishing off the chocolates from last night.... Come on Arsenal tomorrow..

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Valentine's Day Special

It was a horrid day with another storm hitting us with wind and rain, so we stayed snug inside Derwent6 as we got battered against the alcove.
We watched the Olympics for the best part of it hoping the dish would stay on the roof. We had a couple of bangs where things got moved around a bit and we lost the signal when the rain just got so hard you couldn't even see the dish.. Al being Al had prepared a lovely romantic meal in the evening with hearts as serviettes and candles.
We had a lovely starter of onion rings and breaded mushrooms and then a real chunky steak meal with all the trimming's . To finish it off we had a chocolate sponge pudding with little heart sparklers, she's such a great girl.. 
We listened to all our favourite romantic music we danced to in the seventies, and fell asleep on the settee in each others arms, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! 


A window to move

We woke up this morning to the sound of hedge cutters and lawnmowers doing the towpath, but as we were on the move today it did us a favour.
We were behind n.b. Inca who were also on the move and also have a blog. We pulled out of Rugby leaving it empty and made our way down to Hillmorton, where we filled with water. This tap is a bit slow so it gave us time to have some breakfast and sort out the rubbish.
N.b. Inca pulled up behind us with the same idea and we had a chat for about half a hour..  We both filled and went through the locks together till they stopped to sort out their cassettes.
We got to the top of the locks in good time as they were in our favour and then spotted some wood from fallen trees in the winds we had recently. Del loaded enough onto Derwent6 to fill the locker..
We then pressed on and Al made a lovely Hot Chocolate with marshmallows to keep us warm on the stern deck.
We carried on till we moored up at an empty Onley. It was lovely having it all to ourselves (but we did think we were a bit exposed in the winds we were expecting), and also a nice new gate had been installed, wonder who paid for that.
Del soon had the chainsaw out and chopped up the wood we had collected..  we managed to just get the telly set up to see our girl get gold in the winter Olympics.
Al then made some cupcakes for a evening of sport

Lunch in Town

Lovely day on Monday and there was a bit of movement around. We said our goodbyes to Gary and Beryl on n.b. The Answer, and then we run the engine early and got the coal in and then set off for Rugby.
 It is only a 20 minute walk into the town centre and when we arrived we got a call from Keith and Ann on n.b. Oakfield.. We met them in the New J D Wetherspoons the Rupert Brooke..  we got our meal and a beer each for £5.99, can't go wrong..  We had a lovely chat with Keith and Ann and had a couple of beers, while the heavy showers came down outside.. Thanks guys for a lovely lunch.
We picked up a few bits in town and then got the bus back to Derwent6.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Rugby With Friends

Lovely day today after a short sharp shower which produced a lovely rainbow to wake up to.. 
Del's first job was to check out the telly. Al had brought back the old Sky box and we changed it over. Hey Presto it worked after a little tweak from the dish which had been blown about in the wind.. So it must be the unpredictability of the HD box.. When we plugged in the HD box again we still got Null on the satellite signal, so it might be the area..  We don't need HD telly that bad, so its back to the old Sky Box for us.. and thanks for your comments of help..
As the sun had come out Del took the mud off Derwent6 while Al run the hoover round. We also had a chat with Gary and Beryl on n.b The Answer and arranged to watch the Rugby with them with a few drinks. There was only one problem we didn't have any.. so we popped down to Tesco's and got a couple of bottles of wine and some ale. They came round at 3.30pm and we had a good old chat about our problems and where we planned to go, but I'm sure that will all change..
It was lovely to see them.. They had dinner on the go so had to leave at 6.00pm and we had our Liver and Bacon while watching some telly..  Al had also brought back from Kent our new WiFi dongle but we were disappointed to find it was the wrong one because it wasn't 4G ready.. So we now have had to arrange a courier to deliver it into Rugby tomorrow to get it changed over. Life's full of adventures........

Sunday, February 09, 2014

Pain and Pleasure

As you may have gathered Al was back down in Kent and has been over the last few days. She had to go down first on Thursday for a MRI scan on a lump on her ribs which was affecting her lovely figure..  She had already had a scan but it wasn't conclusive enough. We get the results in a couple of weeks.
Al also had to go back to Kings Hospital on Friday to attend a pre-op with her Dad, which is for radio frequency ablation on the small tumour which is showing some slight activity. This will be zapped but he will have to have a general which he needed to chat about.. It turned out to be an all day affair.....
On the Saturday was Al's reward for all the hard work. She had arranged to meet up with her friend Sarah for a treatment at the David Lloyd fitness centre at Kings Hill near Maidstone.
It was a gift voucher from Al's 50th Birthday and Sarah had also got one for her 50th as well so it made sense to go together. They had a lovely chill out time with back and face treatments followed by a nice pub lunch in the afternoon in West Malling where they were met by Erica for a girls chat. Al then got the train back from there and arrived back to Derwent6 at 8.00pm.
While Al was away Del looked at the water pressure problem we have had and and has now sorted it out by pumping up the system.. and also some small engine chores like the stern gland greaser leaking and a small diesel leak from the heater boiler. The wind and rain here has been horrendous and levels have been up and down, so you keep loosening and tying up ropes. The fenders creak and it sounds like Derwent6 is an old galleon ship rocking to and fro. It does rock you to sleep.. It was nice to see Gary and Beryl on n.b. The Answer turn up behind us late yesterday and as the weather doesn't look much better it will be nice to get together from time to time.. 

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Just a NULL day, with Frankenstein


We woke up to a lovely sunny morning and it just made a change from rain.. We decided to move across the way from where we were as it was a sunnier spot and better views. Things were alright till we tried to get the telly signal. We could pick up the satellite Astra 2 but just got no transport code... it showed Null.. what is Null....Nil, Non, Nothing, Nought, Nowt, Goodness knows..  so a look on Google and he doesn't know either.. Oh well it must be the strength of the signal, so we will have to move back to where we was.. After a bit of maneuvering we got back on our old mooring, bit more muddy but hey ho.. 
So we set up the telly again, still the same strong signals on the bar graph, but Null on the transport stream so it won't search for channels.. Del tried everything with the dish till it nearly went in the cut.. After more surfing we have found out that its not a good idea to have a HD Sky + box on a boat where you have to keep setting up the dish, as they are unreliable. We did notice at first it takes longer, as when you turn the box on it takes about three minutes to do all its checks before you can turn it on, the old one only took about 10 seconds. So no HD for us, disappointing with the winter Olympics on the way. So we will have to pick up the old box next time we are down in Kent..
So with no telly we decided to go to the cinema again and see the film "I Frankenstein" worth watching if you like films like Batman.
We went to the 4.30pm showing and we were joined by three other couples so we had it nearly all to ourselves.. We were back to Derwent6 at 6.10pm and had a lovely tea with a ginger beer to chill with.. and our music of course!!

First Kiss 35 years today

Yep! February 3rd 1979, 35 years ago Del kissed Al on the stage of the village hall in Shoreham Kent, going to youth club. We danced to "Three times a lady" by the Commodores, our first dance together. Alright you can put your hankies away now.. 

We set ourselves a task today to sort out our phones and internet signals as our contracts had run out..We have been looking round at all the deals in the January Sales and they have been very good and some lower that what we are paying at the moment. So we had a chat with Vodafone and we had a lot of claret as we have been with them 18 years, and it paid off. We got a new phone Sim tariff with double the minutes and unlimited texts and 1Gb for the internet on the move, for £2.00 less a month than we're paying now and only on a 12 month plan.....result.
As for the dongle we decided to stay with Vodafone as they still have 2G on their network and we have never not been able to get a signal. They kept our rate the same and gave us more Gb, they also threw in a new wifi dongle which is faster and 4G ready. As we were loyal customers and we had decided to stay with them they gave us a credit which will come off the next bill and also gave us 3 months unlimited internet on the phone, Thank you Vodafone!!!
Then just to top it all we have been given a HTC Desire S phone by Bernie and Sarah so we are slowly getting up to date.. Happy with our lot and a lot better off we decided to celebrate our special day, so we went down to Frankie and Bennys for a nice meal reminiscing about the last 35 years and that first kiss. We went for the cheaper menu which was £11.95 for two courses and a extra £2.00 for a third course which we had. When we got the bill we then found out it was Manic Monday Madness where they take 25% off the total bill... For our food we had three courses for £10.00 each, what an end to a perfect day..  and here's to the next 35 years!!!

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Rugby In Rugby


We have been sitting tight over the weekend and believe it or not watching Rugby in Rugby.. We have all the wind and the rain thrown at us over the last few days, but we have just been keeping warm. Al still hasn't felt right, but we are soldiering on..
We have everything we need at the moment and are in the right place.......

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Phew! Empty and Full, followed by a Wolf

We couldn't hear rain when we surfaced this morning, unusual you ask as we have had so much of it recently. Al had a good nights sleep for a change and felt a bit better, so a chance to go and fill and empty tanks.. Del got Derwent6 ready as Al wrapped up to help.. We first went along to Clifton Marina services and waited for Jay to turn up.. Its a bit tricky to get in here, but desperate as we was it felt good to have a tank emptied which had gone four weeks. While we were plugged in it started to snow, but it turned out to be only flurries, it was still very cold.. 
We passed Brownsover at Rugby and then turned. Just before we turned hawk eye Del spotted some wood so we swung Derwent6 round and moored up on the Aqueduct.
Al helped Del load a few logs onto the roof, before we pushed on to the water point.. You could hear Derwent6 gasp as the water went in, Ahhhhhhhh! Del then unloaded the wood we had just loaded and while we filled chopped it all up and loaded the locker, it took it all. So another job, jobbed, what next..
We had to fill the cupboards up so we stopped at Brownsover and after a quick cup of tea and a warm up we put our coats back on and walked down to Mr Tesco's.   We brought too much and struggled getting it back, but we managed it. Al by this point was worn out but we had food at last for lunch. It felt like it had been a long day with what we had done so we chilled in the warm all afternoon as the snow flurries turned to rain in the afternoon.
We had some Cinema vouchers given to us for Christmas and Al thought it might be a good idea to go and take her mind off her chesty cough. So at 7.00pm we  made our way to Cineworld and got seated at 7.45pm to see Wolf of Wall Street a three hour film....
It turned out to be very good and didn't seem like three hours at all.. its all about sex, drugs and how money can ruin you.. We got back to Derwent6 at 11.15pm, and had a honey and lemon before crashing into bed...

No Chance!

Al didn't have a very good night due to the fact that she felt rough. She has had a chesty cough and feeling very hot and cold so Del got the honey and lemon out and she snuggled down for a bit.. It didn't help that it was very wet outside and it was that horrid drizzle where you get soaked.. So plans for moving off today went out of the window. Al got up at 10.00am and we watched the weather to see if there would be a break in it.. No chance! So we have no water, a full waste tank, and no food on board, oh well it could be worse, we might have run out of coal.. It has been a lot colder today so we were pleased to have the fire going, even though we are on our last logs of wood.. Al got her head down again this afternoon so lets hope she feels better for tomorrow when we have to move no matter what!!!