Another ark U-turn

Rain yet again today. Ark plans retrieved from back-boiler. Spoke too soon yesterday. Dizzy spells (fuzzy-headedness) have returned with a veangence today but I have managed to remain upright so far, although St Georges have agreed to another head-scan ( to see if they can locate a brain?) and drug regime review in the hope they can prevent me falling off the boat. Canals are generally only 4 feet deep so do not present a major problem but locks are something far more dangerous. I have visions of looking like a lifeboat skipper or scuba diver when onboard. Next blog next year. Hope it is a good one for you.

Ark U-Turn

Woke this morning to sunshine and blue skies. Ark plans put on back-boiler.As it is our 4th granddaughter's 2nd birthday today we ventured over to Birmingham for her party. A good time was had by all. Passing over Birmingham for the first time in sunshine I was struck by the vast number of chain-store warehouses in the city. If the government are serious about solving the country's obesity problems the thought occurred to me they could blockade the roads around Birmingham and prevent the distribution of clothing. Residents would then be unable to buy new clothes and would have to resort to old garments long-lost in their wardrobe, most being too small, necessitating losing weight or going out naked. Health-wise I am reasonably OK with fuzzy headed periods being few and far between. Happy New Year to you and remember to keep chasing your dreams.

Water, water everywhere

It's still raining but aided by gale-force winds for a change, concocted to stop us getting bored I suppose. This boating idea is becoming more relevant and foresighted by the day. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but we should have aimed higher at the design stage to allow space for two of each animal, a real Tardis. We have sorted-out a cat flap and the subsequent security issues it raises. We just need to run it past Stensons in the New Year. Our cats are both female which does not bode well for the species. A fellow Christmas night victim today pointed-out the cannabis factory closed the day after the "party", which is a shame as my near-ready banana crop is now suffering with the cold and I have no way of saving it without the free heat and light supply from next door. What comes around goes around. We are beginning to plan for the official launch day (when TARDIS TWO can be sailed-away as a complete mobile home). Who to invite? Where can they stay? Dress code? Any vegetarians? What does everyone drink? What size life jackets? Children's oxygen tanks? Once the full completion date is known by us you'll be the next to know. Do not book anything for early February 2013.

Thermal underwear

Yet another wet day. We are already discussing who will be steering if the weather in 2013 is as bad as 2012. The original thought was to moor-up on wet days and move on fine days, but taking that literally means we may as well stay static in a marina - not what we intended at all. Lynne has already offered to steer on sunny days above 18 degrees, which seems to leave a wide variation for me. By way of enticement one of my Christmas presents from Lynne was a set of long-leg/long arm thermal underwear in brilliant white. Very fetching and extremely warm. Photo's were taken of my modelling session but they will only be released to the world if sufficient requests are received. Our next boat project is to find a secure boat cat flap for MCC to fit. A visit to PETS R US is planned. We might be getting old but we still know how to enjoy ourselves.

Rats/morons desert sinking ship

Post party it is strange the house next door has been empty and spookily quiet all day, evening and night.(not that i am complaining) Which is a pity as it would have been interesting and extremely satisfying to confront one of the morons in the cold light of day when they were sober and off cloud nine. I need to apologise for using rats in the title as they are far too intelligent to get involved in such a stupid escapade. Can you imagine a group of termites deciding to hold a noisy, all-night party in a communal mound and hope to survive? Which is the more intelligent species on earth? Humans or termites? I rest my case. Nothing nautical to report except to say it is still raining.

Goodwill to almost all men

If your Christmas day was half as good as mine you had a good time, that is, until 10pm. I had heard of New Years eve parties but never Christmas day parties, until yesterday. Next doors' event started at 10.00pm and continued unabated until 6.00am. What made it worse was we could only hear and feel the base and beat, without any of the words/melody (?)together with some extremely loud expletives,laughing,shouting and running about, generally up and down stairs. We had tea and coffee at 3.00am, tea,coffee and biscuits at 4.00am. By this time we considered we and our three guests had suffered enough,Lynne bravely knocking on the door and suggesting, very calmly, they turn down the noise as the rest of the street were attempting to sleep. The young lady, equally calmly, said she would see what she could do. Almost immediately the noise stopped but only long enough (I guess)for her to convey Lynne's request to the host, for him/her to totally ignore it and up went the volume even higher. A non-999 call followed with the promise of a visit from the boys in blue, which we assume happened as the beat (excuse the pun)and swearing ceased at 6.00am. Whatever the revellers were on should be bottled and sold in all party shops. Their stamina was something to behold. We assumed there must be a link between alcohol and a harvest from the cannabis farm in their rear garden greenhouse.We all enjoyed yet more tea and coffee before retiring for our long-overdue sleep to emerge, red eyed and shattered, at around lunch-time. It is raining again but the Co-Op car park has once again drained, leaving a thick layer of mud behind. At his rate we'll be able to moor TARDIS TWO outside our house.

Woodstock nostalgia

Do you ever get a day when a very old tune, often with fond memories, sticks in your brain and remains on "replay" whatever you do? Yesterday was mine. "Lay down" by Melanie - how obscure is that? Whatever happened to Melanie? Who cares and who the hell is Melanie, I hear you say. Lynne went last-minute food shopping in M&S at 01.45am (yes, you read that correctly) whilst I wisely stayed in bed quietly humming the aforementioned one and only Melanie hit. However, I did help her unload the car (Lynne - not Melanie) this morning at a more civilised hour. As you can imagine it is another slow news day as regards the boat so all that remains is to wish you a very happy Christmas and remind you to keep chasing your dream in 2013.