Dreams of Summer

I must admit that as much as I love winter and winter boating, im getting a little bored of it now.

I want to be out on the sea, salt spray in the face, charging along, skipping over waves, not cooped up in the marina, moored to the berth in the wind and the rain.

This winter we have completed a number of jobs that needed doing, so that we can enjoy the summer months rather than spend them fixing the boat. Now the list of jobs is slowly dwindling and will culminate in Naughty-Cal being lifted from the water and chocked ashore towards the end of March for her annual spruce up, drive service, antifoul and polish. She will then be relaunched in time for our first holiday aboard of the year at Easter.

I cant wait.

Happy Birthday

Its a quick one today. Its my birthday, a whole 27 years old!! Anyway nothing special to report. Tonight we are eating at home, one of my favourites, Arctic Char with pilau rice, salad and homemade garlic bread washed down with a few bottles of Coors. Then we shall celebrate in style at the weekend with a nice meal in Lincoln and some beers with friends.

Thats all for now.....

Jacket Potatoes

Easy to cook, no preperation time and very versatile. You can serve them with almost anything you wish. What can be simpler to cook than a humble jacket potato?

Wack them in the oven on a high heat, lightly coat them with oil for that crispy skin then dream up what combination you will use for their filling. An hour or so later (depending on your potato size) pull them out of the oven, crack them open, fluff up the insides then stuff them full of your chosen filling.

Tonight i am having my potatoes with tuna and sweetcorn. The OH is having his with chicken curry. Im really looking forward to my spuds. We dont have them very often but really enjoy them when we do.

Cold but Pleasant

It was a pleasant but at times very chilly weekend. We had an unusually quiet friday evening with not another soul to be seen on the pontoons. A nice peaceful start to the weekend for a change.

Saturday was a bright but very chilly morning. We both awoke at around about 8am, having a few coffees and breakfast before getting showered, then giving Naughty-Cal a quick clean ready for her first real trip of the year. Just before mid day we set off for Torksey. We had the river to ourselves. Sheer bliss. We eventually decided to head back for the marina as the weather was a little cold and was if anything getting colder.

Yesterday was another day of relaxation with a small trip into Lincoln followed by a few beers aboard with a pan of hot stew and dumpings simmering away in the stove for a few hours. The smell was amazing and we evntually gave in and ate at 6.30pm before settling in to watch a DVD.

Neither of us wanted to get up for work this morning, it was lovely and warm in bed. None the less we had too.

About time

It seems to have been a long week so far but you can bet your bottom dollar the weekend will fly by.

We have been treated to wall to wall sunshine all week here in sunny Sheffield, with reasonable daytime temperatures and slight overnight frosts.

The weekend is here and the forecast is for more cloud cover. So we wont be treated to winter sunshine but the frosts should be held at bay.

If all goes to plan, which, if we are honest is rarely the case, we intend an overnight stay at Torksey Lock. Not a huge distance from the marina but far enough to give the boat a good run and make sure she is in fine fettle. Last weekends run out was a refreshing change, but it will be nice to get in a fair few hours cruising, rather than an hour.

Hopefully our domestic water pump should arrive next week, so hopefully this will be our last weekend with no running water. It isnt as bad as it sounds as there are nice toilets and showers in the marina, but it will be novel to have running water again. Washing the pots and brushing teeth with bottled water is getting to be a chore now. But with an end to the situation in sight im sure we can manage one more weekend. The replacing of the water pump is also sparked new interest in fitting a replaceable water filter to filter the tank water and make it suitable for drinking. Save on the space and expense we inherited by using bottled water.

Oh the joys of boat ownership.....

No Fuss

The trusty old (well not that old) Datsun (well Nissan really) has flown straight through her annual MOT as usual.

Its nice when at least one of your vehicles is genuinely trouble free. The Datsun rarely costs us more than general wear and tear items such as brakes and tyres.

Now Naughty-Cal, are you listening? The Datsun and the XR4i can go straight through their MOT's, so, can you go straight through your BSS?

Lets hope so. We have a few months before we have to worry about the BSS yet, but it would be nice to have a full house of passes this year.

Vegetable Tart

This is another simple dish that is easy to cook and can easily be converted to suit anybodies tastes however fussy an eater they are. For this dish you will need:

2 red onions cut into wedges, Cherry tomatoes,1 red pepper cut into chunks, 1 green pepper, cut into chunks. Olive oil for drizzling. 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry. Tomato puree, 100g mozzarella sliced,
250g grated cheddar, 1 egg beaten.

To begin preheat the oven to 220°C, Gas Mark 7 and lightly oil a flat baking tray.

Next put the onions, cherry tomatoes and peppers on a baking tray and drizzle them lightly with olive oil and roast for 15 minutes or until just tender. Allow them to cool slightly.

Then unroll a pastry sheet and lay on a baking sheet .Score the pastry with a sharp knife about 1 to 2cm from the edge. Spread the tomato puree onto the pastry within the scored line, then sprinkle the grated cheddar onto the tomato puree. Finally top the cheddar with the roasted vegetables and mozzarella, brush the remaining pastry borders with the beaten egg and bake it for 12-15 minutes, until the borders are risen and golden brown and the cheese is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and serve warm. We usually serve this dish with a fresh salad and warm garlic bread.

We always enjoy this dish and in the summer it is equally as nice served chilled at lunchtime.