In Two Minds

We are in two minds what to do today. We are currently heading from Saxilby to Torksey but we are still undecided if we will stay at Torksey or head to Dunham Bridge.

And Relax

After a long hot day at work it is time to finally relax.

Is It Possible?

Is it possible to have too many BBQ's?

We seem to be living on them at the moment, at least four a week for the past few weeks!

There is just something about cooking over coals outside. Of course the trick is to try and but healthier items on there. Sometimes we manage and other times, well we just succumb to temptation.

Last night we had some spicy tomato burgers, jerk chicken breast, halloumi and vegetable kebabs and spicy garlic muchrooms. Very nice they were indeed. 

Time for a change tonight though. We have promised ourselves some fish and chips from the tiny little chip shop in Grenoside. Despite living just down the road for over ten years now we have never yet eaten from this little chippy. So we plan to remedy that tonight on the way back from the woods.

DIY Tuesday

You may, or may not remember that a couple of weekends ago we had a weekend at home and cracked on with a bit of DIY. 

Well yesterday it was time to unveil Liam's step and see if it had made the grade. First job was dragging it and it's box it was cast in to the bottom of the steps. No easy task as it turns out the step is really very heavy. Then we had to heave it up the steps, take the wooden shuttering away and take a deep breath and home the face was fair enough to use.

We needn't have worried. Liam's first attempt at casting concrete went really very well and we now have a step with no cracks in it. It isn't quite finished yet as the edges need grouting up but that is a job that can wait until next week.

At least now we can get to the front door without fear of falling into a gapping hole beneath the steps!

Wet It Now Forget It

I don't know about you but I like to do a job where I can see the results as I am doing the job?

I like to see that the effort I am putting in is going to some use.

So when we took all of the canopies off on Saturday and sponged on the Wet and Forget solution, and then hung them on the pontoon to drip dry, and then put them all back on the boat again to properly dry, I was somewhat dismayed to see that the green in the canopy seams was still present.

But of course the whole idea with this product is that you wet it and as the name suggests forget it. The product takes time to work it's magic and kill all of the mould and algae. We should start to see some improvement by the time we go back to the boat on Friday and then it should continually improve over the next few weeks. 

I hate waiting for results. Hope it works now!

Fiskerton Fen June 2018

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Perfect Day

Yesterday we had a brilliant day. Sydney was in his element charging around on the river bank and we got the canopies treated with Wet and Forget. We did this in the morning as we knew it was due to get hot.

With the hoods back on the boat to dry it was too hot to sit onboard so we headed to the pub at Short Ferry for a few dinner time drinks before heading back for a bbq on the pontoon and walks in the nature reserve.

A perfect day.

All By Ourselves

We arrived at Fiskerton Fen quite late last night as we had an unplanned pub stop in Burton Waters with friends before setting off. But it did mean that we cruised down river to the back drop of some splendid sunset.

Sydney thought all of his birthdays had come at once when we landed and he was charging around like a lunatic in the grass.

To The Fen

Decision made. This weekend we are heading to Fiskerton Fen, if of course we can get on the mooring this time.

To improve our chances of getting on the mooring we are going to head down there tonight. None of the jobs we have planned to do tomorrow require us to be in the marina, so we might as well do them tomorrow wherever we end up. It is set to be a hot weekend so we get the jobs done that we need to do early on and then we can spend the day coming and going as we please. 

I suspect a walk to the pub will be in order, but which one?

What to Do?

It is forecast to be a very nice weekend, so what to do with it?

Well first of all we have to get some jobs done on the boat. We now only have four weekends left to go until we head off to the Norfolk Broads for a couple of weeks. So it is time to knuckle down and get those jobs sorted out.

Nothing major but the canopies need spraying with Wet and Forget to remove the mould that has started to appear in the edges. This shouldn't take too long but does need the hoods to be dry to start with and a period of dry weather for the few hours after it has been applied. The weekend looks ideal for this.

And then we have a dodgy earth to sort out. We noticed a couple of weeks ago that the fuel gauge was being intermitent and a few other items were being hit and miss so we believe we need to trace a loose earth connection. That could be fun!

But these jobs won't take all weekend. Far from it. We should be finished by midday tomorrow so then where to head? I'm thinking we may try for Fiskerton Fen again on the Wiathm, but we shall see.

Where's the Audition?

Sydney was in something of an odd mood yesterday. He was a little bit overly giddy truth be told. So when he took himself and his toys off to bed early, something which in itself is unusual as he always sits with us downstairs until bedtime, we knew that something wasn't quite as it seems.

After ten minutes I went up to have a look and found Sydney practicing for the next Andrex puppy advert with the toilet roll and holder. Naughty Sydney!!

Lovely Leftovers

We have not had any leftovers for a long while as we had not cooked a Sunday roast for a long while. But last night we made the most of a heap of left over roast chicken by making a very nice blue cheese, chicken and bacon stroganoff. It might not look great on the plate but it certainly tasted delicious.

We still have a load of chicken left so tonight we are going to have a chicken and mushroom pie if I can convince Liam to make me some pastry. His is so much better than mine. Must be the bakers genes he inherited from his granddad!

It is doubtful we will be enjoying left over roast again before we go on holiday as we have so many little odd jobs to do on the boat before we go that we will be down there every weekend between now and when we set off. So we will make the most of tonight's offerings.

Stepping Up

It made something of a pleasant change to spend a weekend at home in Sheffield. It gave us a chance to get some jobs done around the house. I did some more painting which Sydney decided he was going to help with hence his nice coloured streak in his tail. And Liam cast a new concrete step for the front door. This is still curing and has a few more days to go yet before we can reveal it from it's plywood box and see if it has been a success.

Being at home also gave us a chance to give the house a proper clean from top to bottom. It looks much better now although we didn't think it was that bad to start with!

But it wasn't all work and no play. We did the rounds yesterday visiting family and then we had time to have a drive out to The Strines for a quick drink although we should have cottoned on that with it being Fathers Day it would be silly busy, so we only had one quick drink before heading back to The Cow and Calf closer to home. 

Then with one more drink consumed it was time to head home and start the Sunday roast chicken. I do miss not having a roast dinner on a Sunday when we are on the boat.

Happy Again

Sydney is finally his happy self again today. We have done the Fathers Day rounds so now time for a long walk and then back home for a nice roast dinner.

DIY

We have had a morning of carrying out some DIY this morning. So it was a full English breakfast to start the day.

We have just finished our jobs for the day so it is off to the local for a couple of dinnertime drinks whilst the paint dries.

On the Doorstep

There will be no boat for us this weekend as we have said grumpy dog to look after at home. But it will give us a chance to get some jobs done around the house this weekend.

I will be doing some painting while Liam will be busying himself outside making a new front door step as one of our current ones has given up the ghost and cracked up. I think there will be much swearing going on this weekend.

Tonight we have a visit to the vets to squeeze in after work and then we will be having a quiet night in with a few beers and a takeaway curry. One of the benefits of staying home is we have a brilliant Indian takeway right on our doorstep, well not literally but you know what I mean!

Grumpy

We have one very grumpy dog on our hands this week. He went in for his neutering operation on Tuesday and don't we know about it.

He isn't in any pain, the vets team have done a brilliant job and he has been sent home with pain relief should he need it. But he hates his collar. I think to him the collar is worse then the stitches!

Saving Fuel?

The little Honda outboard inexplicably decided it wasn't in the mood to get us back from the Pyewipe on Sunday afternoon, so we had to get a tow back from Hewy Lewy on her maiden outing since having an engine rebuild.

We are still none the wise what was wrong with it as when we pulled back into the marina it was absolutely fine again so we did make the last 100 yards back to our berth under our own power at least!

Off we go

Syd keeping an eye on proceedings

Back through the gates

Almost home

That Is Not Grass

We fully expected Sydney to get fooled by the "Witham Grass" at some point, but didn't quite expect it to be pretty much as soon as we had stepped off the boat at Bardney over the weekend. He got a bit of a shock when the "grass" gave way and was suddenly liquid!

This is not grass!

A quick hose down to get rid of the duck weed.

A quick shake off

Then time to have one last look. Are you sure that isn't grass?

Another Fine Weekend

Despite not getting moored up where we had intended too at Fiskerton Fen this weekend we had a lovely weekend none the less. We have not visited Bardney for quite a while so it made a pleasant change helped of course by the fabulous weather we enjoyed.

Yesterday we had a steady run back stopping off at Washingborough for a spot of breakfast, scrambled egg on a toasted bagel filled a hole, and then after a long walk around the village we called into the Ferry Boat for a couple of refreshments. 

Back on the move again we were quickly through Stamp End Lock and Lincoln before heading back to our berth. Time to chill out now with a couple of drinks at Harbour Lights before heading to Woodcocks for dinner, or so we thought. The queue for drinks alone was huge so we opted to jump into the dinghy and head to the Pyewipe instead where we enjoyed a lovely meal and a couple of drinks with friends before heading back to the marina and getting ready to come home this morning.

Another fine weekend.

Not Fiskerton

Unfortunately our intended stopping point of Fiskerton Fen was full so we carried on a bit further and finally settled on the Bardney village moorings where we were treated too a lovely sunset.

Down River

After a nice early afternoon in Lincoln we are now heading down the Witham hopefully to Fiskerton Fen for a BBQ.

Another Weekend

Another weekend is upon us, just seven and a half hours of work to go before we head off down to Lincoln.

This weekend we plan to drop down onto the Witham possibly heading to Fiskerton Fen but we shall see, maybe we will head further downstream, we are not sure yet.

But first I have an appointment to have my hair fettled tomorrow morning in Lincoln. So tonight we will head to Saxilby to have a few drinks and perhaps get a take out before heading into Lincoln tomorrow morning.

With my hair done the day is then ours to do what we please. We may head into town for a couple of dinnertime drinks or we may just head straight off down river and have an afternoon walk to the pub from the moorings instead. The choice is ours and to some extent we will just see what the weather does and then decide.

Good Boat Buys

We all like a bargain buy right?

Well our latest bargain buy which has turned out to be a useful piece of kit on the boat is our new vacuum cleaner.

We bought this a couple of weeks ago when it became obvious that our little handheld rechargeable Hoover just wasn't up to the job of dealing with the extra mess that a little doggy makes.

We borrowed a similar unit from a friend and were very impressed with it. So much so that after a lot of searching on Ebay we came across one that looms very similar but has a higher powered motor. The blue one we have bought has a 835w motor where as the one we borrowed was a 650w motor. For the princely sum of £37.99 it was too good a bargain to miss, we had to try it.

We were slightly concerned that our 2kw inverter might struggle with the initial power surge on start up, but we needn't have worried. It works just fine on the inverter and of course when we are plugged into shore power. The motor is fairly quiet and the suction is really very good. The amount of dust it collects from carpets and upholstery which look clean is really very impressive if not somewhat embarrassing. 

The unit seems to be very well put together and of a decent quality which is surprising given it's very reasonable price tag and fairly small size and it seems to be very robust. I guess only time will tell how well it will stand the test of time and the use it will get on the boat but so far it has a big thumbs up from us. Well worth the price.

Where to Visit

With our holiday on the Norfolk Broads fast approaching we have been starting to decide where we would like to visit. Of course we would like to visit everywhere and with a full two weeks at our disposal we will be able to see more then we usually can in our seven day sprint around the area. But even with so much time on our hands we still won't be able to see everything, so a list is in order.

So far we have, in no particular order:

The Locks Inn at Gelderstone. We only discovered this place on our last visit and it is brilliant in the sunshine.

Loddon. A favourite pit stop of ours. Maybe this year we will stay for the evening.

Unusually we want to stop at Great Yarmouth this year so that we can take Sydney onto the beach for a long walk and a play in the sea.

Horning. Despite all of our visits to the Broads we have never stayed more then a couple of hours here. Maybe time to remedy that this year.

Of course we have to visit Wroxham.

The last time we went to the Broads was the first time we had taken Naughty-Cal up to Coltishall. We always visited by hire boat so will be sure to head up that way again.

Stalham. Home of the massive Richardsons yard and also a convenient stocking up spot with a huge Tesco store and a fine butchers in the village.

St Bennets's Abbey. We couldn't visit the Broads and not stop off here.

Norwich. It had been many years since we last visited and we had forgotten how nice a place it was.

Salhouse Broad and the Fur and Feathers Pub. Both firm favourites and Sydney will love playing on the beach by the Broad.