In the Marina

Today I left Sonflower at the marina, where she will be for over two weeks. We are having a sofa and bookcases and a cabinet fitted into the saloon. This will make it more comfortable as a cruising boat. The project will also give us more locker space to store the clutter that accumulates on the boat in a tidier fashion.

The previous owner of the boat had her extended by twelve feet. The extension has never been fully fitted out. The tongue and groove pine is beautiful but there has been no permanent furniture. Whilst this flexibility is good in some respects, we found that the clutter creeps to cover all the space available. By putting in seats with storage under we will be forced to keep only what we really need.

Much of the boat's woodwork is glued to the structure with 'no more nails' or its predecessor. Much of this is coming to the end of its useful life and so the carpenters are going to remove much of the lining at the rear of the boat and re-fix it in a more satisfactory manner. We also are having new hardwood doors as the rear doors and frame are rotten.

We have also asked for a feasibility study and quotation to fit a calorifier for the bathroom. More about that later. The boat has only a gas water heater at present and the use of engine waste heat for water heating has to be the green way forward. It may legitimately allow us to self certificate diesel used for heating rather than propulsion to save tax.

The engine is also being fully serviced.

All in all we hope this will fit us well for the summer.

As we cruise we will be planning other aspects of a re-fit to make her grandchild friendly as well!

Meet at the Bridge

Bridge 100 on the widened section of the Oxford/Grand Union Canal between Napton and Braunston is a neglected location. Nick Atty says "a motley collection of boats collect here".

On one side there is a length of piling that collects those of us who no longer moor on pins. On the other side there is a good firm stone capped bank that secures a pin nicely and collects hire-boaters who have no option but to moor on pins on a towpath.

This last week we have been on a cruise to take the boat to Stockton Marina to have some work done. A diversion to Braunston was planned to have breakfast at "The Gongoozlers Rest" (opening hours Wed to Sat 0900-1500h.}

We moored just before Bridge 100 on the piling as there was a cloud in the sky, we were fifteen hours early for breakfast and we needed to stop. It was about 4.30 in the afternoon. There is a wonderful view from here over the Warwickshire farmland.

The next morning we set off for Braunston for breakfast. Under the bridge I could see a Wyvern Hire Boat moored on the stone embankment As we passed it, I was shouted at. I wasn't going too fast. It was friends of ours, Brian and Elizabeth with their two daughters. They were moored 200 yards from us but we were separated by the bridge 100.

Of course I stopped and came alongside and we chatted for a while. They expected to be in Banbury for Friday so we met there this evening and had a lovely evening dinner with them and caught up with all the news.

To think all that separated us that evening was that neglected Bridge 100.

I wonder how many other times that bridge has kept people apart rather that joined them!

[Breakfast for four was enough food for the whole day at three pound fifty a head! Full english is four pounds eighty for egg, bacon, baked beans, tomatoes, fried potatoes fried bread, mushrooms, black pudding, two slices of bread and butter,and a cup of tea or coffee.]

Nee Nah Nee Nah

Easter Bank Holiday Monday and we are all tucked up inside and snug warming ourselves against the icy blasts as the temperature outside plummets to below zero.

Then we get a call from a friend who are enjoying a canal holiday with friends on an Ashby Boats 10 berth 68 footer. There's been an accident and one of the crew has a suspected broken finger. They had come down the Ashby and the Oxford canals as far as Fenny Compton Wharf. Could we help?

As soon as we finished lunch we dropped everything and got in the car and headed through blinding snow showers for the Wharf Inn where we rendezvoused with the casualty. We swapped our two boys for the casualty, her mother and her sister and headed for the Horton Accident and Emergency in Banbury.

Two hours later, triaged, examined, x-rayed and strapped up we returned to find that the nb Bosworth had made good progress through Claydon flight and was emerging from the bottom lock.

The cruising plan had been amended however. No longer was the target to get to Banbury or even to Cropredy. The crew of intrepid arctic navigators were now willing to allow the captain to turn the craft at the next winding hole and return by the way they had come.

After a perfect turn we ascended two locks together and then left them to enjoy the rest of the holiday on the return to the Ashby Canal.


In spite of the most unseasonal weather the whole crew seemed in excellent spirits. We hope to hear all the news of their exploits over lunch on Friday.

Anuone seen ny galsses?"

Yes, that is what happens when one hasn't got their spectacles. I met a boating m8 at the GF club for a beer on Friday and managed to lose my glasses somewhere between the bar and the table. What is most annoying is that I had already managed to lose another pair on Thursday and these were the "spares" with one of the nose rest bits missing from when I dropped them on the floor and trod on them while looking for them!

The most amazing thing is how much you miss them Blogging is so hard without them U wukk be in the opticians tomorrow morning getting anoither eqo pairs.

We meet again

Here are Jo and Keith with their beautiful replica of a GUCC Northwich Class working narrowboat, nb Hadar. Jo left me a message to say they were in town and I walked down to the 14 day moorings to meet up with them again.I love to chat to canal folk. Funny, the conversation came around to engines again! This time their wonderfully restored National DA-2 Deisel which sits proudly in the engine room. Not just any old National 3 cylinder engine like we saw recently restored in Canal Boat (Dec 2007) but this one is one of just TWO! Must make getting spares a little difficult!

The boat is a real worker too, proudly displaying a commercial license and having a cargo of coal on board for any prospective purchasers. Jo made it clear that They were not trying to intrude on "Dusty' who is the boating coal merchant on this stretch of the Oxford Canal. They had spoken with him very recently about the nightmare of diesel excise duty changes! They want to stay on good terms. But....if anyone is hard up for a bag or two the stock is there!

Jo reminded me that it was 2005 when we last met in town and they were then in the process of having Hadar built. It was good to see the dream come true and I wish them well on their travels around the system.

You can keep up with them on their Hadar's blog. Can SONFLOWER'S LOG be promoted to "Boaters we've met" now Jo?

Catching up

This morning I was in need of getting out and the First Mate had noticed nb Griffin moored in town. I gave the skipper a call and caught him practicing the organ in St Mary's Parish Church. He told me his wife was on board because she was sitting a chicken-poxy grandchild. I decided to get some excercise and walk down to the boat to have a chat.

They are amazingly talented people who demonstrate that retirement is not a time for sitting still. Acting as locum organist, singing in cathedral choirs, grandchild sitting, sick visiting and keeping up with the shopping from a continuously cruising narrowboat by public transport is an amazing feat.We came away from having coffee and a chat with a sense of wonderment.

Having spent a couple of weeks in Banbury because of its wonderful transport links to Birmingham, Reading, London and playing the organ in a local church in Sundays they are now moving onward toward Loughborough as a hospital boat!

They plan to spend a bit of the summer on the same canals as we plan to visit. They will be pointing the other way when we travel north so we may bump into them then for another catch up session.

Booked In

Richard has finally responded after a reminder on the phone. SONFLOWER is now booked in for 10 days hammering and sawing at Kate Boats in Stockton. Hopefully the work to the saloon will make the boat more comfortable for the new role that she has as a holiday boat. We hope to provide seating around the stove for the family and visitors. All we have to do is get the boat to Stockton Marina on time.

That should not be too demanding. Stockton is only a day and a half away for a good ownership timeshare crew doing 4mph and cruising all daylight hours. It will probably take us most of a week, cruising for an hour or two before breakfast and lazing around most of the time with a fishing rod in my hand. Nice bream at Braunston, carp at Cropredy and Fenny Compton (NO FISHING in the marina or between bridges 136 and 137A to protect the hundreds of HUMUNGOUS carp that dwell in the marina and feed out of your hand) plenty of good roach almost everywhere. There are also a lot of jobs that need doing apart from the BIG project.

Before then we will need to clear some of the accumulated clutter out of SONFLOWER. It is really amazing how one collects novels that you know you wont read again, magazines with one article that you might read again and newspaper to light 100 fires instead of just the one. That is without the cupboard full of half used batteries, secondhand brass screws, handles, rope ends, a horn that stopped working three years ago but I might get round to repairing sometime and another one that is new but never worked properly anyway......

Also there is that cupboard under the sink with two 'spare' water pumps that need overhauling, or the front locker withere the never used anchor is stowed and on top of it are all the pots of paint with a remnant remaining that might be useful sometime for touching in.

Probably enough to keep us at a refuse disposal station for a couple of hours! Better look one up on Nick's Canal planner.

......bring in the new

Here I am settled into an arm chair with my laptop on lap enjoying a little rest after an interesting long weekend. I returned yesterday from the Ramsey/Capio Treatment Centre at the Horton Hospital, Banbury having had a knee replacement operation.

I cannot describe the difference. Obviously after an operation where one's bones have been sawn, drilled and filed to fit a prosthetic knee there is discomfort and some pain but to be able to walk without a limp is fantastic. I cannot thank well enough the surgeon and his team and the wonderful junior doctors and after care staff on the ward for making it a very pleasurable weekend. I now have to continue to follow the advice of Kevin and Holly the wonderful physiotherapists.

Of course, I wouldn't volunteer to do it again unless I have to. But, so far, everything seems to be on track for a real improvement in my quality of life. I might even be able to help with the locks in a year or two's time!

Wild Weekend

It has nothing to do with the slow pace of life on the canals.

It has nothing to do with the dream to spend our time just pottering very slowly from town to town exploring the whole inland waterway network.

It has everything to do with realising a dream of driving an open top sports car through open countryside in the sunshine.

This last weekend, my eldest daughter arranged a weekend for her and her sisters and brothers in Maidstone while Fran and Peter went off for a weekend drive in the country in a BMW Z3.

We drove to Maidstone in our lumbering diesel people carrier and arrived at about 11am. Having settled the boys with their sister and discovered that we did fit in the little Z3, we headed south with the roof down toward the Weald of Kent. We didn't do quick. This wasn't a race but the realisation of Peter's dream. The next stop was the beautiful National Trust Nymans Gardens where we had NT carrot and coriander soup and rustic home made bread. The prices are extortionate but we are supporting a good cause! Fran makes better soup as well!

Then we headed along the South Downs to Midhurst, from there to Chichester and a lovely drive beside the sea inlets to Fareham. Here we had tea with friends that we hadn't seen for years. A great time chin wagging about our respective kids to find that their dwarf daughter was representing Great Britain in shot put the Paralympic Games in Beijing. Beat that for a brag!

Thence to Bournmouth and a very poor attempt at finding the PremierInn. A few extra miles on the clock here!

Dinner was with more of our 'old' friends from days gone by in a super gastropub. I don't often wax lyrical about this sort of establishment as they are popping up beside the canal everywhere. Here was a real delight. The ambiance was excellent but minimalistic. There was no musak to distract, no clatter and obtrusive noise in the dining room and we seemed to be eating on our own in a crowded room! The service was excellent but discrete. No interrupting "everything all right Sir?" They knew it was all right. It looked right on the plate, steak and lamb cooked perfectly as requested, pasta al dente, sauces textured but not double creamy. There was no rush. We booked for eight and were a little early. We could have gone to the table straight away but there was also no problem in us having a drink in the bar before the meal, the maitre D making sure the barman knew our table number before we had even ordered.

I cannot fault Twenty on the River. The only thing is that we have to return in the Summer to enjoy the river views and al fresco dining!

We had plenty of time to eat, unhurriedly and had plenty of time to converse and catch up with the passing years. A delightful evening.

Thence to the hotel for champagne, chocolates and adult entertainment- match of the day! In the cup, Chelsea won 3-1 and Arsenal lost 0-4. the end of a perfect day.

After breakfast in the morning we scraped the ice off the car and headed back toward Kent. This time we went north up the beautiful Stour valley to Salisbury. Thence to a pub at Ropely (near Alton) for a drink. Fran was a little cold but the pub was warm. After a full english at the hotel we didn't need lunch so we meandered back through the Surrey lanes to places that we had walked to in our teens. We staged a photo shoot in the woods.

Then meandered back through the Kent/sussex lanes to Edenbridge and Tonbridge. Following the Medway valley back to Maidstone we stopped in Wateringbury at the Crown City Chinese restaurant for their 'eat as much as you like' Sunday menu.

Back to the children and the moment when we had to swap back into the Peugeot 807 and leave the dream behind.

A wild and wonderful sunny and brilliant weekend ended with an uneventful drive back to Banbury and our own beds. Tired but really happy.

Another lovely Day

Yes! So we took SONFLOWER for a couple of miles, two locks and a couple of lift bridges with the standard crew. A two hour trip.

People were in town for the school holidays. One grandmother had come to town by train with her little charge to see the boats. The little boy 'helped' with the lock gates his grandmother obviously worried that the little darling might fall in. "You get more worried with grandchildren than your own" she said.

We chatted with other boaters on the way to the boat. Petty thefts seem to be the topic of the day. Not just because we had the genny stolen but another boater bought his own fishing rod back from "Cashconvertors". At least they keep good records and photos of the people who come in to cash the goods in, so one thief has been identified. Maybe he's admit to other petty crimes and improve the local crime figures without the local police lifting a finger!

It was good to stop and talk to Bob on nb Nomad Dream on the way back. They are in town for a couple of days.Very sadly we had to tell them of the demise of Somerfield and that there is now no supermarket in the town centre. We have the privilege of buying superfood from Marks and Spencer these days if the town centre is the only place one can get to. They had already passed Tesco so we told them where to moor to shop at Morrison's on their way out of town.

It was great to be in the fresh air.

Probably my last little cruise for a while now as tomorrow I am having a new half knee fitted at the Horton Hospital. I'll tell you how it goes.

A Bit on the Down Side

Today we received an early morning text.

A dog-walking neighbour to our boat had noticed that the Bright Yellow Robin-Suburu 1700i Generator that sits on our rear deck was missing. A thief had cut away the fencing surrounding the deck to release the generator, chain, lock and all, during the night.

We surveyed the damage with disgust. It is not the first generator we have had stolen. Each time something goes "missing" I feel violated. Not a nice feeling.

We talked to a few of our mooring neighbours who said that recently there had been people up and down the towpath who didn't say "hello". This is unusual because dog walkers, tow path walkers and boaters are usually an affable bunch who at least pass the time of day and politely acknowledge one another. It doesn;t take much to wish someone a good day does it? These people obviously don't care.

As it was a lovely day, we started the engine and blew the winter cobwebs off. Just a couple of hours run to stretch her legs a little. Sonflower seemed to enjoy her outing and behaved impeccably as we proudly cruised through town and back again.

We only saw one boat on our journey under power. Surprisingly, this was Dancing Duck, the day boat from Tooley's Boatyard, hosting a boat handling course for none other than three BW employees brightly kitted out in high-viz and life jackets. Why "surprisingly". Well I would have expected BW to have the expertise to train their own employees to handle a narrowboat and secondly would have expected them to use their own workboat! It is moored in the centre of town next to Tooley's yard.

We had lunch with other boaters at the GF club Just like old times.

Now the hassle of police reports, insurance claim and incident reporting. It makes one sick.

Visit from a Carpenter

I have been on the boat recently.

I had a visit from Colin and his boss Nick who I hope are interested in doing a small refit of the saloon of the boat. We have been struggling along without proper fixed seating and with plastic boxes of "things" around the place. We are hoping to install a proper bench with storage lockers under it.

At the same time we have found that the 'no more nails' type of glue that is sticking the boat together has come to the end of its useful life. We need to have a lot of the lining pine stripped and re-fixed where it has sprung. A new pair of hardwood rear doors and frame are also needed.


Hence the need for a carpenter.

I took the opportunity to thaw the ice from the insides of the windows again by lighting a fire.

While I was on the boat I heard a terrible grinding noise. It was the sound of 'Sawdust' breaking the ice as it came past. It is hard to describe the sound and I can't do better than Tom Rolt did when he described the ice-breakers coming to Banbury in the 1947 thaw. A thunderous sound in the distance getting louder and louder accompanied by clashes, cracks and squeaks as the ice is broken and slid sheet over sheet. This sound was accompanied by shouts, in our case Alan who lives on Sawdust, who is usually sing at the top of his voice as he goes by, was now shouting encouragement to the boat to make progress through the 6mm glazed covering.

I wondered why he hadn't waited a little while and what made his journey so pressing at the time. The ice strips the water line of blacking and can damage the waterline blacking of every boat he passes as the ice sheets are broken and pushed aside.

Musn't grumble though.

Merry Christmas

I wish all readers of this blog a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.


I hope that you all have happy boating.

A bit Disconcerting

British Waterways "trial" of auctioning vacancies at their canal mooring sites is now under way.

It is a bit disconcerting to find that the mooring next to yours is published on the site while the boat that usually moors there is away cruising. Of course, we have no right to moor on any particular part of the mooring site but you get used to having the same "neighbours" and to find that the space where one of them currently moors is up for grabs from 12 December is troubling. Hopefully it is another moorer who is moving on. A quick look along the mooring today, however, didn't reveal anyone whose permit expires before Feb 2008, except one who has already expired and, I suspect has just not put the new permit in the window yet.

I wonder where the 17m space is!

Also disconcerting is British Waterways guide price is what I pay for my mooring at present. Any bid will probably be considerably more than this. Will this be BW's guide to future prices?

Been Travelling

Sonflower lies neglected on her mooring.

The whole of the half term holiday has passed and she hasn't been anywhere at all.

However, we have been places. You know, people to see , things to do!

The first reason to go traveling is pictured above. This bundle of peacefulness is EliG (Elizabeth Grace). Our youngest grandchild and first grandaughter. So we had to go and visit her parents and have a cuddle of her! She is about two weeks old now and growing fast! Her Mum and Dad are doing well and enjoying the wonder of parenthood.




The second reason to go traveling was to make a visit to Minehead. This was to stay at one of the most interesting training hotels in the country, Foxes Hotel and it coincided with a steam festival weekend on the West Somerset Railway. So we had a ride on the steam trains and a vintage bus and visited their museum, Dunster Castle, Medieval Village and Water Mill and enjoyed a lovely weekend.

Returning today wasn't fun. It rained most of the way but we did see a perfect rainbow!

It is good to go traveling but it's so much nicer to come home.

Ghastly News

We have been so busy this last two weeks. With the Canal Day last weekend and the Canalside Folk Festival this we have been a little pre-occupied.

But all of us are shocked about the latest news of the death on Tuesday of Maurice Batts of nb Tina. The newspapers described him as a 64 year old gentleman. That is a truly wonderful description. Along this part of the canal he was well known for his visits to the town from Grimsbury Wharf, to get water and then moor just below the footbridge to take a few moments in town to quench his thirst with a pint or two. He was always ready to pass the time of day and deserves the title "Gentleman"

Our sympathy and prayers are with his family at this dreadful time.

O what a lovely day

Here is nb Sonflower all dressed up on the morning of Banbury Canal Day. This is a festival for the town with markets, entertainers, boats and so much more.

Getting there wasn't such a problem. We only had to turn the boat around and head about a quarter of a mile to the town centre. We did this last Friday evening to be there well ahead. The Day itself is on the Sunday. We needed Saturday to clean up a bit so that we could receive visitors. So Saturday was spent cleaning her inside and out, polishing the brass and then rigging up the bunting.

We were moored under the Tom Rolt bridge. This spot had been specially selected by the Vicar of Banbury because we were to be the backdrop for the Christian worship service in the afternoon. The amplification needed power (my generator) and last year (2006) it had bucketed with rain all afternoon so the bridge would provide shelter for the faithfull should lightning strike twice.

We were representing Boaters Christian Fellowship alongside the crew of n.b. Scyeffe who was moored next to us. The vicar's boat, Noah's Ark was also in town but a little bit farther away. Our purpose for the day was to welcome people on board. Over 5000 people expected to turn up to the day and many of them have never been on a boat. What they expect to find inside I have no idea but they seem surprised to find most of the things they have at home! Like beds and a table and chairs and a cooker and a fridge. We have no television so this might confirm to them that we are a bit strange!

All in all we made teas for a good number and showed scores through the boat. It is a great time just to be able to chat with people about boats, boating and living aboard, and showing that as Boating Christians we are nearly normal.

Alex also had fun with the passing children by puppeteering through the swan hatch with two of our favorite puppets, a huge frog called Nyall and Harry a pink hippopotamus. We also gave out balloons to any children who asked. Many were so surprised that we didn't charge for them!

At three o'clock the people gathered for the Service, organised jointly by BCF and Banbury Christians Together. The generator started, the amplifier worked and we were joined by a six piece band to accompany the hymns. Our skipper spoke about the lawyer who wanted the secret of eternal life and Jesus' story of the good Samaritan. (To read Jesus' conversation with the lawyer go to the Bible in Luke chapter 10. )

By 4pm, the crowds were dispersing and the day was ending. We sat on board eating delicious jerk chicken from the Caribbean hot food stall and reflected on a tiring but worthwhile day.

Oh, I forgot. The theme of the day was 'pirates' and there were quite a few about. Three in particular were about nine feet tall! They were fun entertainment for the milling stream of people who went past all day.

Monday was spent returning to the mooring. With so many boats in town the two mile round trip took us over 3 hours.

Tom's best Birthday week ever

This was received by email from my nephew Tom. (See previous post "In the beginning. . .")


My Best Birthday Week…Ever!
Having over exerted ourselves during the Notting Hill carnival at the start of the week, Ang (my Fiancee) and I were looking forward to filling the remainder of my Birthday week with relaxation. As my Uncle Peter explained, we were over the moon when the Sonflower was made available to us.

Uncle Peter’s tuition was very thorough, but not overly so. We soon found that maneuvering a boat 57 foot long and weighing more tons than I can comprehend was no easy task for complete novices as we were. I was glad to find that Uncle Peter was very keen for us to take the controls and learn from the driving seat. I recall that when I was learning how to play tennis, my coach had told me that you can learn everything you need to know about hitting a ball well in a day, but to do it takes practice. Even so, I caught myself wondering how much had sunk in to my sieve like brain as the list of things to remember and consider grew. It was my hope that what I was inevitably to forget would be remembered by my better half as is so often the case in our relationship.

The tuition was largely without incident, apart from one collision into the side of a particular tricky narrow part of the canal. I was to learn that guiding a boat through a clearing of no more than a foot each side was tricky at the best of times, but when that foot is to be judged 57 feet in front of you, the task is altogether more daunting. It was clear after this collision that this boat was no bumper car and I was clear in my mind that this was not something I wanted to do again.

Uncle Peter appeared happy to leave us with the keys, however Ang and I sensed how precious the narrow boat was to my Uncle and perhaps I could not blame him for being slightly apprehensive.
The fresh air ensured we slept well that night. There is no denying that the following morning we both were nervous about the journey we were about to undertake. We had looked at the map and decided on a realistic goal for the day. From Banbury, where we were moored to Cropredy. This encompassed a few locks and a dreaded turning point before heading back the following day.

I was to be in control of steering for the best part having taken to it slightly quicker than Ang the previous day. It was very easy to forget how slowly we were moving due to the fact that steering still required a lot of thought and concentration. As such, it was to my surprise when a rucksack laden man strode past us on the towpath on one occasion. Ang was to be in charge of navigation and locks. The going was good and as the journey progressed we became more relaxed and started to take in and enjoy the experience. Corners were rounded, locks were tackled and oncoming boats floated by.

What I had not expected was the willingness of others to help us along the way. On the first day Ang did not open a lock without somebody to take care of the second lock gate. We were thankful for this help and I thought that perhaps the fact we sized up each lock and talked through the process before starting each one may have given away our novice status.

I was soon becoming more comfortable with my steering and was prepared when we arrived at Cropredy to turn the boat around. I had learnt that turning the boat was no easy feat and involved a lot of aiming, stopping and starting - things which did not come naturally to a boat of such length and weight. The turn itself would have been faultless had the boat been one inch shorter! As it was, I found myself attached to the concrete bank by the knot at the front of the boat (he means the button, Ed). This was quickly overcome with a firm push, which enabled me to swing the boat ready for our return journey.

Having visited the Red Lion in the late afternoon for a few celebratory drinks, we looked forward to our evening meal that did not disappoint (Starter: chorizo sausage, main: steak and ale pie, desert: chocolate cheese tart). Evening entertainment consisted of a pub quiz where the locals got the better of us.
I think we were both very relaxed about the journey home, we enjoyed the journey so much that we deliberately over shot Uncle Peter's Mooring place so that we could get another lock, lift bridge, turn around , lock and lift bridge again and were able to fill the water tank before finally reaching the end of a most enjoyable experience. We were truly sorry that this experience was at an end and very thankful for the generosity showed by the boat’s first crew.

I was also thankful for those people who had been so friendly to us along the way. I guess the canal and the people on it are far removed from the hustle and bustle of life in a city. The proximity to nature; the calm lack of urgency must make for a friendly environment. Friendly acknowledgements from passers by was something I fondly remember of living in a small village… and now the canal too.

Looking Forward

I am sorry to have been silent for so long.

This has been because of Owl's fall (See 'many a slip.....') and the need to continue life with only half the active crew. Also, because I have been slowed by the slow progress of my knee repair, I am not as fast as I could be. Early nights and early mornings have been the order of the day.

Breakfast, packed lunches, school bags to check, getting the boys to school/college, shopping, cleaning, cooking etc all take up a huge amount of time and energy. I do not want to be a single parent and do not envy those of you who have to take on that role.

Things are getting better. I have an afternoon of quiet as Pooh is out on an accompanied shopping trip and Piglet is playing with friends in Spice Ball Park. Owl is resting/reading in her recliner. I am tapping the keyboard.

What are we looking forward to? Well, in October, there is a great festival here called Banbury Canal Day . Sonflower will be there. We hope to have a great deal of fun and invite people aboard to show them that the inside of a boat isn't all that different to the homes they live in! A little cosier perhaps but most of the necessities are there! One of the main sponsors is Hook Norton Brewery so the ale will be good as well.

The other thing coming up is the Canalside Folk Festival At this wonderful few days of music, dancing and fun we will be doing a craft workshop on the Saturday. In the past we have made mainly little model canal craft but this year the weather has been so wet we are centreing on the most endangered species group on the planet- the frog. The TV mega series, Planet Earth highlighted that hundreds of species of amphibian are endangered. We will celibrate this wonderful little creature in paper and card. There will be origami frogs, dancing frogs, frog mobiles, frog games and a large green talking (croaking/belching) frog may turn up as well. Our motto is 'Frogs are Friends not Food'.

So there you are. We are looking forward to it. I hope you are too.

Coming Out

I think it's time to admit to a few things.

First of all identities.

Our crew of four, the main elements of our boating life are Eeyore (Peter); Owl, alias the First Mate, (Fran); Pooh Bear (Leon); and Piglet (Alex). All these nicknames fit very well.

I have explained why I am Eeyore: one of my daughters once commented on my answerphone greeting "you must stop sounding like Eeyore, Dad" but I can't!

Owl has always got many words to say on any subject and occasionally doesn't know what he is taking about. However, Owl is always loveable and friendly and helpful and does her best to help with the spelling.

Pooh is generally a philosopher with his own view of life. Some would consider him, erroniously, to be a bear of little brain. We know for certain that Pooh has a very good brain, but at times we find it difficult to make the same connections in the thought patterns.

Piglet is the smallest. Also very energetic, but certainly not quite as bouncy as Tigger for whose name he could have been a candidate.

We are Winnie the Pooh fans. Not so much the Disney version but the original AA Milne stories are dear to our hearts. We enjoy the poetry as much as the two books. Recently we have discovered Pooh and the Philosphers by John Tylerman Williams, Egmont Books, which confirms that the studies that Peter took part in in his teenage years over hunny and vodka were not in vain. It confirms that Winnie the Pooh is a Bear of Enormous Brain and can shed light on the fundamentals of human existence and purpose.


Secondly, we are Christians

Granny Buttons noted from my first post that the name of the boat gave away that we were members of the Boaters Christian Fellowship The blog is not intended to be a tool for evangelism or preaching to the unconverted. I have tried to keep it on boating and our life aboard. However, occasionally a reference to prayer, the Creator, or some other aspect of our faith may creep in. We cannot divorce our spirit from our material lives. They are as woven together as our boating is part of our everyday life.