Launderette

Blue skies, sunny and windy this morning, not that I actually saw much of it sleeping till almost lunchtime. The rhino is bobbing about. Our only-just ex-student youngest son descended on us last night, together with a complete wardrobe of dirty clothes. The washing machine is glowing red whilst the drier resembles one of those huge power station cooling towers, complete with plumes of steam rising several hundred feet into the sky, blocking out the sun for everyone in Anstey. The plus point of all this turmoil is the drier steam pipe finally permanently being fixed through a new hole in the shed side, rather than poking out of the door whilst in use. Since getting our new drier I had intended completing the job but the high pace of retirement prevented it. Another step back into middle class! For those of you living abroad, the class system is still alive and well in Britain.I suspect we are probably in the old-gits class at the moment, retired, old and insignificant. I am not sure what class we'll be in once on the boat. A large tupperware sea going gin-palace would certainly raise us to upper class, but where does a narrowboat fit? The gin-palace owners will call us bargee's whilst the middle classes will call us quaint. Both classes will call the narrowboat a barge, much to our horror. To us a barge carried coal or other industrial substances before the railways made them obsolete. We defend narrowboats and their owners to the hilt, which I guess makes us bloody canal snobs? We've promised ourselves, as boat owners, we will not look down our noses at hire-boats and their crews, as used to happen to us during our floating holidays. I certainly consider my boat handling skills match theirs. It is always a laugh watching the faces of a tupperware boat crew as we draw our narrowboat alongside in a lock.....sheer horror, as they quickly hang old car and bike tyres,fairy liquid bottles,inflated condoms etc over the side. 20 tonnes of steel versus a few ounces of tupperware equals no contest. I'm still trying to get my head round this boat owning lark. Trying to convince myself it is a reality, the fulfilment of a long-standing dream. Trying to believe we've achieved it with little or no spare money, largely thanks to Lynne and her infamous accountancy skills. We're broke again now. Materially rich, cash poor. But what the hell? At MCC I become an excited schoolboy with £20 pocket money in the Cadbury, Bournville factory shop. It is difficult to maintain this excitement away from the boatyard but I'm getting there. Depression, what depression? Launch is getting so close. Our Naval insurance company still owes us final settlement for the car, over a month since the accident and are still P*****G us about, although a noteable large improvement in their service means they phone us rather than visa versa at 8 pence a minute. If the Titanic owners insured with the naval company they should receive the cheque within the next few days.

Who ate all the pies?

Ignore the string of 100 watt bulbs, not part of the final internal decorations. Note the light blue exterior undercoat (2 layers)and the dark blue exterior top-coat (3 layers) Not sure what the official colours are but in car jargon they will be something like Arctic satin and Midnight blue. The interior ceiling is complete, as are the lower walls. What can't be seen are the completed electrics, central heating and fresh water pipes. The rhino was busily shaking his head and the cloud formations were wizzing past all day. In hindsight my dodgy spell yesterday was less of a dizzy spell but more of a fit. Not good news.

Rhino's & Status Quo

overcast day with warmer winds. I know if it is windy outside before I get out of bed because the Black rhino's head poking out from the house chimney opposite moves up and down. The perfectly shaped rhino head, complete with ears and horns is, in fact, a branch of a very tall pine tree growing in the garden of a very large house behind the terraced houses on the other side of our road. I would guess the large house once belonged to a factory owner or brewer, of which there were many in the village during recent history. When I get a chance I'll attempt to identify the pine species from closer range, otherwise I'll have to lean out of my bedroom window armed with powerful binoculars and suffer getting strange looks from the locals. I know it is a black rhino because it has a pointed lip, of which I have observed over many years at Port Lympne Animal park in Kent, one of two parks operated by the Aspinal Foundation breeding endangered species for return to the wild. Species successfully returned over recent years include black Rhino's,Western Lowland Gorillas,Wild Horses,Wolves and Pythons, to name but a few. Howletts and Port Lympne animal parks are well worth a visit. There are possibly more black Rhino's in Kent than Africa. The MCC visit was truly exciting today, particularly as the boat rocked for the first time when we were aboard (not as in Status Quo but as in Ferry on a rough day).The outside hull has been undercoated, the bow end topcoated, the ceiling completed and the electrics,plus central heating and water pipes fitted, as will become immediately obvious to you in tomorrow's uploaded photo's. Our Dragon loyalty card held over £7.00 before being emptied and added to today, a sad indication of previous activities. Following heavy recent rains flood plains were......er......flooded, but the roads to and from Stenson were thankfully passable. The return journey yet again punctuated by boat-blind searching, this time at Low Woods Furnishings, Belton. Exciting for Lynne, but mind blowingly boring for me.I have never seen so much material in one place before, with the exception of my first girlfriend ready for a mid-winter walk. However these things must be done by all boating pioneers apparently (blind hunting, not winter walking). Having bleated on about not having a dizzy turn for over a week this evening I had the mother of all turns, although I knew what was going on throughout. Lynne asked my name and date of birth, both of which I got right. Otherwise it was a good day. I'll keep my bloody mouth shut in future.

Brass monkeys

Summer-like weather with sub-arctic wind. A quiet day other than yet another visit to the doctor's. a new one this time. A young lady who knows her stuff and verges on the zany. I like her. Updated my drug dosage on her computer and changed my anti-indegestion tablets (yet another drug to combat the side effects of another drug). She offered to do my counselling to get me off the happy pills, which suits me. Should be a laugh and an immediate pick-me-up.She is still awaiting the letter from my consultant which I know from experience takes at least 3 weeks. (a one-finger typist like me?).Once received counselling commences. I can't wait. The naval insurance company are sending a £100 cheque as compensation for their incompetence,bloody-mindedness and stress creation (not their words of course). Still waiting for the final settlement cheque. An insider confirmed no company operates multi-car policies without major hash-ups such as ours, the computers and staff just can't cope. A lesson learned the hard way but worth noting if you're looking for insurance. I intend avoiding a multi-boat policy for Tardis Two. Boat builder visit planned for tomorrow so watch for more photo's once I work out how the hell to transfer them to the blog again, so it may take a day or two.

Katie Price/Dragons Den

Almost summer-like today with the exception of a very cold wind. One of our cats has taken to attacking the kitchen door to get our attention early in the morning, looking for breakfast. I was woken at 5.00am by scratching and banging, none too pleased. If the same happens on the boat I wonder how good cats are at swimming? The early start gave me the opportunity of watching the Australian Open final live on BBC. None of those annoyingly loud adverts endlessly repeated between games and sets. Playing Djokovic must be like hitting balls against a wall equipped with reflexes. Whatever you do the damn thing comes back, only harder. Murray played well, bless him. On another day he'll win, wait and see.(How long have you heard that?) After the game I went for my usual shower and made my regular mistake, only this time with my feared result.To reach the shower room we have to cross the back bedroom which has a large window giving good inward views from Woodgone Street. At night it is not a problem with the curtains shut, in daylight it has all the makings of a problem with the curtains open. Since living here I have escaped being seen,often conscious of having a narrow escape. This morning was an exception when confronted by a young mother with a pushchair walking up Woodgone Street. I am unsure if her expression was of surprise or admiration, but we both ended up smiling. I have often considered renting our back bedroom to Katie Price and make my jogging route up and down Woodgone street. Being retired often results in my waking wondering what day it is, let alone time and date.The delivered newspaper confirms the day and date, the kitchen clock the time. The thought occurred to me someone should invent a clock that confirms all 3 requirements, but I'm now told one already exists. Bang goes my planned appearance on Dragons Den asking for £40,000 investment in return for 2% of the company. Talking of Dragons Den, has anyone else noted how often they appear in adverts and on so-called entertainment shows? The only missing link seems to be Debora. I think she would do well on "Live at the Apollo". I used to know someone who's job it was to switch-on adverts for Sky at the appropriate moment during live broadcasts. It sounds a doddle but you have to concentrate at all times. He failed to do so one day, covering a last minute winning goal in a cup final with Fairy Liquid. He no longer works for Sky. I have now gone a whole week without a dizzy spell which is a great relief and indicates the changes to my medication are working.

Watford Gap termination

Rain overnight with blue skies and sunshine this morning, leading to wonderful cloud formations later. Some snow remains in Bradgate park. The pylons remain as ever.....pylons. Today I sadly discovered the Watford Gap phenomena will no longer be investigated due to the Rio having no outside temperature indication. Short of opening the window and sticking my head out of it for a mile or two either side of Watford Gap I can think of discovering temperature differences in no other way. In any case the chances of Eddie Stobart removing my head would be too high, although on the plus side it could reduce my tumour problems. Today was spent boat-blind material hunting yet gain, firstly in Loughborough and then in Leicester, again highlighting the difference between chalk (Leicester) and gorgonzola cheese (Nottingham). Still no success. What's more, both journeys were successfully completed without the aid of a sat-nav. Now that's progress. Lynne was offered the job in Nottingham but declined on the grounds of the extensive commute each way, the extremely low temperature in the shop and the high cost of car parking (£10 for 3 hrs). The offer was therefore changed to 3 days in the Leicester shop and 1 in Nottingham. Again the offer was declined. Lynne has a limited range of wedding thermal wear. We aim to visit the boatyard early next week and post more photo's.

Decisions,decisions

Lynne got the job but declined on the basis of commuting and parking problems (parking would have cost £15 per day). An alternative option has been offered involving part of the week in the Leicester store and one day in Nottingham. The jury is out on that one. A cheque arrived from the naval insurance company - not for the right amount - but what else did I expect? Another cheque for the shortfall will follow apparently. We intend retaining our personal registration plate and have all the necessary paperwork with the exception of The Kia Rio logbook, currently with the DVLA in Swansea. Once in our possession it should be a fairly painless process (famous last words). Healthwise it is a fairly good day so far.