Rhino identified

Sunny,windy and relatively cold this morning. The rhino is busy moving his head and the weather vane has moved. Having found my tree book in the loft I think I have identified his DNA as a Corsican pine.

Plant identification has never been my strong point and short of raiding  the host garden for  a sample that is the best I can do. Apologies to Monty Don. 

I completed one of my infamous long walks yesterday, the first for ages. No incidents or after- effects, which is encouraging. I am now taking yet another pill to counteract another side-effect of my pill regime, this time a very itchy rash. It has yet to "kick in" unfortunately and the walk did not help the situation. Happy days. No news on my pill change although the gradual phasing out of happy pills seems to be going OK.  

We are going over to TARDIS Two today hoping to secure glasses, plates and cups etc in readiness for being removed from the water tomorrow. The plan is for me to stay aboard tonight so I don't miss a thing tomorrow having expanded my knowledge of blacking via dear old Google. 

In the meantime we are checking for any mooring vacancies in other Mariana's to allow us to move to a more friendly environment until we are ready to permanently cruise, safe in the knowledge TARDIS Two is finished, safe and suitable. I'll report on blacking operations tomorrow evening.

Pit Bull & St.Bernard/Poodle Hybrid

Raining and chilly today. Summer is over? Tardis Two will be removed from the water Friday to be re-blacked. It is just a bit frustrating as we had planned to show and demonstrate her to friends from London over the weekend and they will be making a special trip for it. We'll have to rearrange or take a ladder. We still have confidence in the build quality (I think) but after-sales service needs to be questioned. Failure to improve it will inevitably lead to lack of customer confidence/recommendation inevitably resulting in loss of sales and so on. You or me could resolve the problem overnight. Everyone knows Pit Bulls are not renown for sales,let alone after-sales service, whilst a St Bernard/poodle hybrid would not scare anyone away and is easier to deal with whilst keeping your hands intact. I've seen it many times before where you are a customer until everything is paid for and a hostage thereafter. Some people who are confident they have a job for life have a similar philosophy, although they tend to miss the customer stage and jump directly to the hostage scenario. If the cap fits? We will need to visit MCC before Friday to secure plates, cups and glasses. We also intend to be there Friday morning and stay throughout the blacking process. We need to be confident we can disappear into the sunset without needing to return to Stensen yet again. The return to lousy weather is some consolation I suppose and the further delay gives me a chance to familiarize myself with the new drugs as and when I get them. The glass half full/half empty theory.

Weekend Reflections

A very mixed bag over the Bank holiday weekend. Firstly the weather. Typically variable for the holiday period covering all possible options with the exception of snow. Following yesterday's blistering sunshine Lynne's face resembles a beet root (only in colour I hasten to add in an attempt to avoid fatal injury.) To balance the equation my face resembles a chocolate Easter egg.
Tardis Two behaved impeccably, especially in difficult circumstances involving strange and life-threatening manoeuvres by two complete pillocks. The only downside being the strange and worrying loss of large swathes of hull blacking ( a layer of rubbery stuff applied to all narrow boat bottoms) which floated to the canal surface like spilled oil at sea soon after leaving Stenson marina. This will inevitably result in her being removed from the water to be sand-blasted and a new coat applied. Worryingly Marian told us she knew about the problem last week but failed to say why nothing was done about it at the time or why we were not informed prior to our trip. The failed catch on our sliding spice rack cupboard will also be attended to. There was worse news for the crew of Wegonanddunnit when large amounts of water needed pumping-out ( from the boat, not the crew) which will also result in removal from the water to check for leaks. The two fits on Sunday were worrying but the results were not serious enough for me to test my life jacket. The subsequent discussions regarding continuation (or not) of my boating career were particularly harrowing until a possible solution was agreed and found to work the following day. This involved keeping my blood sugar levels low, which seems to reduce the number of fits, and Lynne undertaking the bulk of driving duties. This mini crisis did little to help my scheme of gradually getting off the happy pills, but the exercise will continue, albeit slower than originally planned. Other than that the weekend was a great success with enhanced teamwork skills and subsequent relaxation levels. Yet again our plan of disappearing into the sunset has been delayed but at least all the hassles have occurred prior to leaving Stensen where they can, and have, been resolved. Every cloud has a silver lining. Talking of which, there were some spectacular wispy cloud formations yesterday but the lack of equally spectacular pylons took the edge off our excitement levels. UPDATE: My GP is really on the ball so to speak. She has yet to receive the vital letter from my new neurologist regarding changing my anti-fitting drugs, but will contact me by phone and issue a new prescription immediately it arrives. Tardis Two will be out of the water for re-blacking on Friday which rules out any weekend adventures or visits from interested friends and relatives. Remember what I said regarding choosing a good boatbuilder? This advice still holds true but it is a pity we ignored it ourselves. The boat is still good but the after-care is pathetic. We have yet to receive an explanation for failure of the blacking, which should normally last 2 or 3 years. We WILL get an answer. Watch this space.

Out of Africa

This will be shortish blog by way of return to terra-firma. As previously stated the Trent and Mersey canal is not the most picturesque I've seen. This photo of a dead tree adjacent to our first overnight mooring spot was the scenic highlight of the weekend. Adorned with vultures it could be anywhere in the wilds of Eastern Africa rather than the tranquility of Derbyshire..........In summary the weekend cruise was a great experience, enhanced by tropical heat today, Bank Holiday Monday, and reasonable weather prior. Healthwise Saturday and today were incident free, whilst Sunday was a disaster. A morning fit whilst steering created on-board havoc as I grimly held on to the tiller attempting to stay upright whilst Lynne tried to wrestle control of the boat from me. In the meantime we gently cruised into the canal bank and stopped whilst I regained my composure. Onwards we silently went to the next lock where I hopped-off Tardis Two to operate the paddles, only to suffer a "blank moment". Friends we were cruising with (Wegonandunnit)spotted my problem and helped with the lock until I got back on board. From thereon things went reasonably well until I was approaching a suitable night mooring spot very slowly. A sudden gust of wind forced me to make a glancing blow on the fenders of a moored tuppaware boat, the owner of which was justifiably very upset. It turned out he had a chip on his shoulder (or rather a box of lagers) regarding what he called "weekend cruisers". To say he was intoxicated would be an understatement but once he had vented his fury on us Lynne and Phil became firm friends, which saved us moving to another mooring spot. Wildlife-wise we spotted 4 swans on nests, one with four eggs. a skylark, cormorants and umpteen ducklings of various sizes. One strange sight was a World War two machine gun turret on the junction of the canal and the River Dove. Was this to prevent the invading German army following the river/canal to blow up the breweries of Burton on Trent, or the Luftwaffe using them as guidance to destroy the same vital war support factories? Being a long Bank Holiday weekend all the loonies were out on the water. One attempted to reverse moor on a particularly narrow section of the canal, blocking access to us and two other boats causing complete chaos. Another strange old boy was attempting to tow a boat stuck on a shallow canal edge, similarly blocking the canal. One lock we entered from the canal and emerged the other end into the River Trent without noticing too much difference, apart from road signs and bollards to segregate traffic. Following my fits the Wegonandunnit crew and Lynne discussed the best way of upholding my cruising dream in a safe way. Things looked bleak until this morning when Lynne offered to undertake most of the "driving" whilst I operate the locks and any "difficult" parts of canals/rivers. This arrangement worked well today, further improved by lunch at the Dragon. I have to say all this relaxation is knackering so I'm off for an early night.

In memory

I know I said yesterday's blog was likely to be the last until Monday as I'm away cruising for the weekend but I felt the need for one more. Another sunny day. The brightness of yesterday in weather and mood was spoiled late last night when my best friend informed me his father had died, aged 88. Lovely man. Wonderful memories. Even through the sadness we can all gain inspiration from someone having a full life to that age without gaining enemies. It gives me something to aim for.

Michael Jackson

Sunny and very warm, just in time for a Bank Holiday weekend cruise. Today marked a milestone health-wise. My private consultation was an outstanding success and well worth whatever it cost. The consultant was almost human and not only spoke with and to me, but also actually listened. No bar codes tolerated. The hospital reception desk resembled a Hilton Hotel whilst the waiting room boasted padded armchairs and a coffee/tea machine with real china cups and saucers plus stainless steel cutlery. The magazines were up-to-date and of high quality, none of the usual "Hello" and "Saga" types. Unusually he gave me a very thorough medical once-over, reviewed my lifetime illnesses and health related experiences before giving some straight answers and advice. My vacant/dizzy spells are actual mini epilepsy fits and despite whatever drugs I take they will continue, the aim being to restrict the frequency. Eventually I will need an operation but in the meantime "normal" life should continue, providing I wear a lifebelt whilst on the boat. My car driving days are certainly over. He will write to my GP to advise on changing my epilepsy drugs (hopefully to one with less side-effects) and also recommends phasing out the happy pills, which certainly pleases me. Despite the lack of good news I walked out feeling a million miles high. My next appointment with him will be on the NHS in Leicester. We had lunch at the Stensen lock cafe, served by Marian with a smile. What is it they say about very young babies? Was that a smile or wind? The swans have built a pathetic "nest" next to the cafe. The worst choice of site if ever there was one. The only plus point being it is not a Polish cafe. The Sky man (memories of David Bowie?) visited the boat again this afternoon to investigate our lack of TV reception. By the time he left some sort of service was resumed, but we only offered to see if it continues working over the weekend otherwise he will need to remove his gear and refund our expenditure. Sitting on the back of Tardis Two in brilliant sunshine reminded me I only have to sit next to a lit candle to attain a deep suntan. By the end of the summer I should resemble one of those Spanish beach Pedalo "assistants". A sort of Michael Jackson in reverse. As I will be boating over the weekend life will be blog-less for a while. Have a good time in the meantime.

Kamikaze cats

At 0430 it is impossible to predict what todays weather will be. I'll confirm later at a more realistic time. The reason for my early awakening was a very loud metallic thump from the kitchen downstairs where our two guard cats spend the night. There followed a lengthy period of what sounded like metal being dragged around, plus I had a minor dizzy turn. Both events encouraged me to reluctantly get out of bed. Almost fully back into the land of the living I ventured downstairs to discover two cats queuing for food behind the kitchen door. Nothing unusual there. A cloth bag, normally stored on top of a very high kitchen cupboard above the microwave was on the floor and an extremely heavy metal casserole pot and an equally heavy lid teetered on the edge of the very same storage spot. Either being dislodged would almost certainly have resulted in at least one crushed cat, a destroyed microwave, badly damaged kitchen top, broken floor tiles and yet more noise. Luckily none of the aforementioned disasters occurred, with the exception of waking me up at some unearthly hour quietly swearing to myself. Needless to say I neglected to give the cats a very early breakfast, made myself some coffee, started blogging and returned to bed.0830 I finally emerged from my pit yet again, this time to brilliant sunshine and breakfast of scrambled egg on toast. Outside it is wind-free and warm, which is typical of England. I spent some considerable time fitting my "African" weather vane to the garden shed yesterday. Until then it had lanquished in the shed, having been transported here during our move last September. It basically indicates the wind direction and, of course, there is not a hint of wind today so remains in the position I placed it. Today is an ideal one for cruising which makes my current predicament all the more frustrating, to say the least. At this rate it will be autumn before we get away.Confirmation of my private appointment arrived today and, boy, am I looking forward to it. A light at the end of yet another tunnel? I now sympathize with how an earthworm feels. A friend has asked to view Tardis Two this afternoon so another visit is planned. I'm not sure it is a good idea but these things have to be faced I guess.