Heading Home

Sadly we are now heading for home. It's been a lovely weekend with great company but over far too quickly. 

Kinema

It's another lovely day on the Witham and today we are relaxing with the boat club at the Kirkstead Bridge moorings, just a short walk from Woodhall Spa. 

As we had the day to kill we took the bikes out for a ride through the woods and stumbled across the Kinema In The Woods. 

A small cinema would you guess it in the woods. 

Another Fine Morning

Well it's another fine morning here at Fiskerton Fen. 

Time for a few coffees, a walk around the reserve and then the short walk to the farm for some eggs before setting sail for Kirkstead Bridge. 

What Goes Around......

Well you know what they say. What goes around comes around and this chap was certainly due his come uppance. 

Couldnt have happened to a better chap.

Story taken from The Daily Mail.

"Captain' of replica U-boat charged with £1.1 million VAT fraud and money laundering after Customs raid on his submarine

• 'Capt' Richard Williams, 54, of Blackpool, faces five fraud allegations 
• 
  
• He and partner Laurel, 32, charged with £1.1million VAT fraud
• 
  
• Relate to sale of disability products to individuals, rest homes and  NHS.

The self-styled captain of a replica U-boat has been charged with £1.1million VAT fraud and money laundering after a Customs raid on his submarine. 

'Capt' Richard Williams, 54, of Blackpool faces five fraud allegations alongside his partner Laurel, 32.

He has been charged under the naval title  - and a series of other aliases he is claimed to have used - after the raid on his self-made barge in January 2012.

The replica U8047 was moored outside the Royal Armouries at Leeds at the time of the customs raid, after Williams had toured the waterways of Northern Ireland and northern Britain. 

Williams appeared before Manchester City Magistrates Court and was bailed to appear at Manchester Crown Court in May.

The charges relate to the sale of disability products to rest homes and the NHS - as well as to individuals.

Williams - also known as Stephen Howarth - and his partner were summonsed to appear at court 15 months after their original arrest.

In May 2011, Williams spoke to the Mail while touring around the Liverpool waterways dressed in full German submarine commander regalia. 

He told reporters he was a former mobility scooter salesman and had spent more than £50,000 building the U boat.

He also revealed that the boat had been subject to attack from passers-by who thought that he was a Nazi."

Having had the misfortune to meet this chap in the flesh I would say it is more likely he was subject to attacks due to his very obnoxious behaviour.

Hopefully this will be the last we have to see of the character for a very long time.

I wonder if he will wear his uniform in prison.......

Back to Boating

As this is a boating blog I suppose the subject matter ought to get back to boating!!

Last weekend we just pottered around on the Fossdyke. I was due a hair appointment in Lincoln on Saturday morning so it made sense to head down to the boat club on Friday evening and have a few drinks there before spending the morning and much of the afternoon doing a spot of shopping and enjoying a drink or two in the Royal William, right on the waterside of Brayford Pool. Eventually we set sail and made the epic five mile journey to Saxilby were we spent the evening drinking and enjoying a fine pizza from the recently opened pizza shop opposite the moorings. The first time we visited the shop they were newly opened and the food was a bit below par. This time it was vastly improved I am glad to say.

On Sunday it was a lazy morning of drinking coffee, reading the news and generally chilling out, before heading back to the marina to give Naughty-Cal a good scrub. She was looking a little grubby around the edges but is now gleaming white again. We had to resort to a stronger cleaner on the bow non slip which does mean that we will have to repolish and wax the topsides as it has stripped the protective wax coating but the boat does look much better for it. 

With Naughty-Cal cleaned and ready for this coming weekends bank holiday we head out on a short bike ride along the towpath. It has been many years since we last rode bikes and mine was beginning to show signs of not being happy after being rudely awoken from its ten year slumber in the garage. The tyres were beginning to crack up and various parts have started to rust in the few weeks it has been outside, so Liam has taken it to work to fit two new tyres and also service it and grease up anything showing signs of dispair!

With the bike fixed we shall stick it back on the roof of the boat and set sail for Kirkstead Bridge this weekend where we will be spending two nights with the Lincoln Boat Club.

Beans on Toast

Beans on toast. Student food or a healthy start to the day?

These particular beans (Tesco healthy living reduced salt and sugar) claim that a half can provides two of your five a day. Washed down with a glass of fruit juice this tots up to three of your five a day.

Go steady on the juice though as it contains lots of sugar. Its also worth looking at the salt and sugar content of the beans you choose as these can be very high in some brands.

Serve your beans on a couple of slices of wholemeal toast and you are adding yet more fibre to your diet. Again choosing a light spread, (we are currently using "Clover Lightest Ever"), will help reduce the amount of fat intake. Although only slightly every little helps.

Bread can be an unlikely source of high sugar and salt levels so again  it is worth looking carefully at the brand you are using.

Steak Out

I left Liam to do the weekends food shopping whilst I was having my hair done. 

I suspected what he might come back with and I wasn't wrong! He came back with some lovely rump steaks from the butchers in Lincoln market. Even better was the price, four huge steaks for £7! 

They were really very yummy as well. We had two last night for dinner with two put in the freezer for a later date.