Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Another oil change

It was wind and rain so it was a stay put day for us.. We have everything we need here including broadband speeds so we thought we would stay a couple of days and get everything up to date. We had some heavy showers during the day but it didn't stop us doing a few jobs. Al did some cleaning inside Derwent6 while Del changed the gearbox and engine oil.. Then we just chilled for the rest of the day, listening to the wind and rain lashing all around us.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Moving for Tank Levels

With the snow gone and just a little ice on the cut we planned to move and have a change of scenery.
Al walked along to the boatyard at Clifton and got all her sheets washed. When the tumble drier went on we moved Derwent6 up to the boatyard to have a pumpout and diesel..
They only had 200 litres left of diesel so they let us have 50 litres, they had a tanker coming on Thursday. They did let us fill with water which was good of them as they are on a water metre.. We then carried on to Rugby and then turned.
We then needed a Tesco's shop so we moored at Brownsover and Al picked up a few bits..We then couldn't be bothered to move as the rain got heavier and the wind stronger, we had timed it just right..

Monday, January 28, 2013

Sunday Lunch Treat

Wow all the snow has gone!!! We woke up to just a little bit of ice floating beside Derwent6 this morning and the golf course was flooded again...

Midday, we walked to the restaurant at Butler's Leap where we met up with Keith and Ann for Sunday Lunch.. We got in early so we didn't have to book and got a nice table.. We had a lovely meal and a good chat with them. In fact we didn't want to leave.
We got back to Derwent6 at about 3.30pm and Del then watched the football on telly (which is still playing about). In the evening Al watched Dancing on Ice while Del started on a job on the list......to sort out itunes and our music collection..

Slowly Clearing

Well we never got the snow last night and it didn't seem as cold as they said. We did get heavy rain and wind which helped to get rid of some of the snow. We woke up to bright sunshine and the snow was disappearing fast.
After breakfast Al walked up the shop to post a letter while Del wiped down Derwent6 after all the snow and ice. It just felt a lot warmer today, so Del did the brasses on the roof.
We watched the football in the afternoon and evening, after we got the telly going!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

All Prepped up, with nowhere to go

We were up early this morning as we felt we had a lot to do.. We have had weather reports that we are getting more snow so we are in preparation for this to happen. We had things to do such as get more wood on the roof, top up the coal bucket, get more water in before it freezes, Check the anti freeze levels, check the lagging on the pipes, and pressurise the central heating system. We are going to get temperature drops of minus twenty tonight so the fire will be stoked right up...Del managed to pick up all the loose branches in case we need them and also he broke up a crate on the roof so we have some kindling in case the fire goes out overnight.. Its all about preparation!!
Al got the bus into Rugby and met up with the boating gang for a coffee. She also had some shopping to do for herself and others, girl therapy!! She came back at 2.00pm and we then walked down the laundry to get the bed sheets washed and dried, but the waste pipe had split and we couldn't use it. Still it was a good plan!! maybe tomorrow (in the snow)..

Laundry Day

Well today we planned to get some laundry done and while we were at it we topped up with some more water.. At the boatyard they have a commercial washing machine and tumble dryer.. Al managed to get a big load in. Del sorted the wood out and topped up the Bucky can with snow so we have water to put down the loo and not from the water tank. Our levels have been good at the moment with water, diesel and waste at half a tank, so if we are careful we might just get through this cold snap.

Loads to Do

We got up early as we had loads to do.. We needed water and we also needed some more wood, and we had the telly to sort out. We had some breakfast and then Del started on the wood first..We had some on the roof so we first chopped this up and then went on the hunt for more.. We managed to find some not too far away so we filled the locker up.. It was a bit damp and got a bit snowy but we're sure it will dry.
We then walked up and got a couple of containers of water to keep us going for another couple of days.. Just as well we did because it started to snow again and turned very cold in the evening.. Del then had a look at the satellite dish and wiring, as we get a signal which flickers in and out of locking. When it all warms up things seem fine. Del found a nick in the aerial wire and thought that must be it..but it wasn't!  We are a bit baffled at the moment, so we have to leave the telly on for fifteen minutes before we can watch it. It might be the pick up on the dish or the Sky box playing up..

Well we have had enough of it now and are waiting for the big thaw and flooding. The towpaths will turn to mud and slush making things just as difficult. Al had cooked a lovely roast chicken which smelt lovely throughout the day which we had early evening..

Rugby Reunion

We had a very cold night last night, minus ten, and we had trouble keeping the fire in..
It was so cold we couldn't fill the tank with water today due to the filler pipe being frozen. We were having breakfast when we heard a cracking noise. Can you believe it a boat was coming along breaking ice..
As he passed us we shouted "what's the emergency?" "Got to get to Hillmorton today" he shouted as he opened up the throttle.
At 10.40am we caught the bus into Rugby with Keith and Ann off n.b. Oakfield. We quickly made our way to Weatherspoons where we planned to have breakfast. We met up with Paul and Lynne off n.b. Piston Broke. It was good to see Paul looking well. We caught up with everyone and put the world to rights as normal. We then parted and all did the Asda bit. We all did our small bits of shopping and then got the bus back. We tried to get on a different bus on the way back but had to wait a extra half a hour in the cold for the right one.. We arrived back to Derwent6 at 3.30pm and luckily the fire had kept in well. Derwent6 was warm and snug.. We then had a problem with the telly as the signal kept going in and out. Del had a quick look but it was too cold to sort out a fix. A morning job we think!! so it was out with the DVD's and a film. We went to bed early as the temperature started to drop.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Water and tummy top up with Oakfield

Well we needed to get water today..We are not desperate, but we thought it best to put some in while it was slightly warmer than of late.
So at 10.30am we walked along to Clifton Cruisers boatyard with our water and diesel container and got twenty litres of diesel and then twenty five litres of water..
It was no good using the sack barrow as the snow was too deep so Del carried the water and Al used the diesel can as a sledge and pushed it back to Derwent6.
After adding both we then walked back to the boatyard, where we then visited Keith and Ann on n.b. Oakfield.. They were waiting for us and already had the kettle on.. It wasn't long before they also had some cheese and herb toasties on the go.....We didn't stop there as we followed that with some hot rum toddy they had been given for Christmas, followed by some cherry brandy chocolates..yum yum!
We could have stayed with them all day. but like all boaters, when you want a wee you have to go!!
We said our goodbyes and then filled up our water container again and got it back to Derwent6, it went straight in...
With our full tummies and Derwent6 so toasty we had a little cat nap in the afternoon.... A lovely Day!!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Snowy Sunday

Is it cold on one of those boats through the winter?  Nah! (if you got some form of heating) but bloody hell it has been cold outside over the last few weeks, and we've got more to come.

It was snowing when we got up and we just worked hard to keep Derwent6 warm, and very warm and toasty it was too. We felt so snug it makes you feel excited when you look out at the cold winter weather.
We decided to have a walk in it even though it was still snowing and it was so pretty. Del wanted to see the football in the afternoon so a walk to the pub was in order. We arrived at 1.00pm and never came out till 6.30pm. (Del not happy with the Arsenal performance). It had been snowing all the time we were in there and when we came out cars were skidding all over the place. They couldn't get up the hill just outside pub, but it gave us a laugh. We had a snowball fight on the way home, not a good idea after a few beers, but this was a good shot.
We had about fifteen centimetres here and in the moonlight it was like a painting.
Derwent6 was still nice and warm as the fire had kept in ok. Al watched her Dancing on Ice while Del fell asleep......

Skidding to Rugby

We were up early as the snow on the ground made it look like midday at 8.00am in the morning. After some breakfast, Al set of to Rugby and caught the 10.40am bus. It was threatening to snow again but it managed to hold off. The bus was in a accident on the way as it skidded in the ice but everyone got out ok. It was caused by a runaway driver and the police helicopter was involved. With the chill factor high again we sat inside a very warm Derwent6, listening to music for most of the day......

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Are you ready!!!!

Well we've been busy preparing things for the snow we were expecting..We found some more wood we have put a can of diesel in the tank and also used the spare water we had on Derwent6, Oh and the Buckby can came back into use for the toilet.  So we were ready for it. The thing is you're never ready for it.
We woke up in the morning and it was fine, as the snow we got the day before was only a couple of centimetres thicker. But as the morning went on it snowed harder and harder till we had about ten centimetres, the problem was the wind which was blowing it all about.
You couldn't go out in it because it was bitterly cold and the biting wind in your face burnt your cheeks.. It was even blowing under the mushrooms on the roof and blowing through the stern doors.
So we just had to sit it out.. All this still doesn't take away how pretty everything is.. We love it!!
As long as the fire is roaring in the corner and you have food and water, who cares!!! We have been watching a few DVD's we got over Christmas and also playing our games we have on Derwent6. Where we are we can walk down the pub, we have a shop, and if we want to we can get the bus into town, we can even go sledging.
 So being iced in is not so bad!!  We like living here...(for a bit)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Search for wood

Well we have had a really cold night at minus eight on the thermometer. It was so cold that we had the fire lit all night and there was still frost on the bedroom portholes and the bungs were stuck in..
When we looked out the windows it was just so pretty. There was freezing fog which had settled on the trees and bushes which reminded us of why we love the winters so much.
On the down side we were very heavily iced in and things aren't going to improve over the next few weeks..
We are down to half a tank of fuel and we have twenty litres in a can. We have half a tank of water and we have twenty five litres in a container, and we have two bags of coal and no wood. So the next project was to find wood. Del set of in search for some and a mile away found a tree down. He brought back the branches he could snap off and then cut them up so we could put them round the fire to dry. That should see us through the next few days but we will have to use the chainsaw to recover a bit more. It's a bit of a hike, but it could be all worth it if we run out of coal. So it looks like we are here for the near future with the weather forecast showing cold into next week. It will be minus ten tonight so it will be early to bed to keep warm and wait for the heating to come on in the morning..

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Snowed in

We woke up late this morning after the weekend adventure we had, and were surprised to see the snow on the ground, even though they had forecast it. We were also surprised that the canal hadn't frozen.
You just get the feeling it is really winter when the snow arrives and Al was jumping around like a little girl waiting to get her sledge out. It came down quiet hard at first and Del managed to make a snowman, but it then just snowed on and off all day. Well we have used all our wood and we are on coal now, well we've got to use it up as we don't want to be carrying it round all summer.
We just shut the doors today as it was even too cold to go for a walk in it. It's one of those do nothing days................

Monday, January 14, 2013

Twenty one, Sixty one, and a 50th..Phew!

We said it was going to be a busy year and as you can tell it has started already. We got the train down to Kent on Friday and was met by David who kindly picked us up from Sevenoaks. It was David's 21st Birthday and we were down to see him and arrangements were made for us to go out in the evening. He then opened all his presents one of which was a weekend trip to the British Grand Prix.
We then all went out to David's favourite pub where we met up with loads of friends and then we all went out for a curry afterwards..David turned out to be a little bit worse for wear after it all..Oh to be twenty one again..
In the morning, funnily enough, we never saw David, but we said our goodbyes to Bernie and Sarah and then got the train back to Al's Mum and Dad's. It was their 61st wedding anniversary and we asked what they wanted to do.. 'We would love some fish and chips at home' they said, so we picked some up and had them back at home.. It was lovely to be with them on their special day. At 7.00pm we were picked up by Zoe and Greg. Zoe is a school friend and used to get ready at Al's house, so it brought back loads of memories her walking back through the door.. We then all set off to go to Essex where we were meeting up with Zoe and Al's other school friend Rachel. It was her fiftieth, the second of many school friends, and was having a party in Witham. We had a great time dancing the night away and the shock of the day was her boyfriend announcing to Rachel 'will you marry me', she said yes as he put on the engagement ring.

We left there at 1.00am and drove back to Whitstable.
After a couple of late nights and heavy drinking we were knackered on Sunday morning. We had a lovely breakfast and chat with Zoe and Greg before Greg kindly run us back to Whitstable station. We caught the train into London and then realised we had lost our tickets back to Rugby, somewhere over the weekend..  After a row with Virgin trains who wouldn't replace them even though we had all the identification with us, we ended up buying some more from cheaper London Midlands trains. It meant a slower trip back but at least we got back. We arrived at 2.30pm back to a very cold Derwent6 with ice on the roof. It took us three hours to get Derwent6 warmed back up, but it was good to be home. 

Thursday, January 10, 2013

New Year Breakfast

Yesterday we had a nice lazy day, although Del did clean out the bilge and greased the doors and hinges inside and outside Derwent6. Also some touching up of the paintwork was done He also went out on his bike in the afternoon trying to get rid of some of the lard from over Christmas. We are still on the hunt for wood but there is none in the area we are in and as we are due a cold snap we need to source some. Al cleaned Derwent6 and did the housework so we are dust free. Today we noticed it was a lot colder and we were glad of the fire staying in overnight. At 10.30 we set off for rugby with the plan to have a nice walk but in the end (and running a bit late), we got the bus instead. We got to Weatherspoons in the town centre at 11.00am, where we met up with Paul and Lynne of n.b Piston Broke and Keith and Ann of n.b. Oakfield for breakfast.  After the Happy New Years we caught up on what we had done over Christmas and once again put the world to rights.  As you can see no one wanted their photo taken though. They must have all done some very bad things over the last few weeks..
We then did a bit of shopping and looked around the sales for a bargain. We got the bus back to Derwent6 at 3.30pm and got settled just before it got dark. We plonked in front of the telly looking at the stars through the portholes in the evening whilst watching Stargazing.. Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Mild, Quiet and Cruising

We left early this morning and turned round, yep it was time to move we have been here too long.. You know when you just want some time to yourselves well we had it now.. We got that itchy feet feeling and had to have a change of scenery. After we had turned we filled with water, but we didn't need much, and Del got rid of the rubbish. CART (Canal And River Trust) had already started on the Buckby flight of locks.
We headed back to Braunston and made our way through the tunnel. We had the canal all to ourselves and the tunnel was empty. When we got to Braunston Locks we were surprised to find them all in our favour, touch!
With some good teamwork we were down them by midday. Braunston is just so quiet this year, where is everyone,
Still we decided not to stop and pushed on to another favourite spot of ours Onley.
 It was nice to see bridge 80 all finished.


We were having a good cruising day and the sun was trying to come out so we pushed on towards Hillmorton. It is just so mild for the time of year, is this the calm before the storm. We tried to moor at Hillmorton chandlers and were stopped as they had a power cut and the diesel pump wasn't working, a shame as it's 88p a litre here. Still we had half a tank and could get it at another time, lets hope that doesn't bit us on the bum.
We got to Hillmorton Locks and we spotted a boat in front of us, life at last! We were even more pleased when they saw us coming and set the lock up for us, they also must have wanted someone to talk to. We chatted as we helped each other through the locks which helped us time wise. We said our goodbyes at the bottom as they decided to moor up.
We pushed on to Clifton. After setting the telly up and wiping Derwent6 down we got in the cosy warmth inside. It had just started to get cold and we were grateful we left the stove going. This trip had allowed Al to get some washing done and also get it dry. In the evening we run some downloads..Well Bon Jovi's new single has been released today, and Del is already sick of it!!!