Catching up - more steps and more power!

We're fast forwarding 13 days from our last published location, to get the blog up to date. To be fair, we've not travelled far from Market Drayton during that period, for various of reasons.

Last week I spent a few days on land in London with my eldest sister - staying in a four-star hotel near Regents Park. A luxurious temporary contrast to living in a confined space! We even had a bath in the room. Bliss! Conversely, witnessing hoards of people speeding around in their everyday busyness, reminded me once more why we've chosen to live slowly on a narrowboat.

Piccadilly Circus at night - busy, busy

Then on Sunday I left Barry again - to join my three sisters for lunch, and spend 24 hours with my mum and dad for Mother's Day, and my father's 94th birthday. Wow! Parents still living, together, and mostly healthy and happy. Miraculous.

Family celebration of a Sunday carvery, at The Leaking Well, Dunhampton

Barry gives the impression he loves being left alone occasionally, and manages perfectly fine without me - well apart from the kitchen/cooking challenge! I believe it's healthy to spend time apart. Living  together 24/7, however much you love someone, has its frustrations and challenges. The theory is we'll appreciate each other more too.

We're currently in Penkridge, having spent time moored at Cheswardine, Norbury Junction, Wheaton Aston, Brewood, Coven and Acton Trussell.

Here's a pictorial representation of our journey, with accompanying captions from Barry (as most of these journeys I've been 'working' indoors, or locking) ...

The wharf at Market Drayton

The happiest fishermen we've seen for a while!

Tyrley Locks looking a bit bare without all the foliage

Sandra taking it in her stride

Interesting to see cut hay this early in the season

Tyrley Top Lock

Through Woodseaves Cutting and the first of the high bridges, No 58 'Holling's Bridge'

Then 'High Bridge' with a fallen tree across the cutting

The winds and storms have done some damage to the trees through here

CRT workers were busy clearing it up and offered us as much wood as we wanted

It's an impressive cutting considering it was all done by hand

'The Wharf' tavern at Cheswardine, our mooring for a night

The sun came out in the morning making for very pleasant cruising

An old stable at Fox Bridge near Little Soudley

Past Cadbury Wharf at Knighton

Across the almost mile-long Shebdon Embankment (I guess this is where all the spoil came to from the cuttings)

The Anchor at High Offley, where we were recommended to visit - sadly we were a bit early and they were closed, next time we'll time it better!

Through Grub Street Cutting ...

… and under the famous High Bridge (yes, there's more than one called 'High Bridge'!) ...

… and another mooring at Norbury Junction

They were about to lighten our bank account considerably here!

So close to you Sue and Vic - another time …

As you can see, I managed some more stepping-over the lock gates - but admittedly I've also found myself unable to on another day. So I'm just going to play it by ear and not be too hard on myself. I know I CAN, and I'm fine if at times I can't, for whatever reason.

We were sad not to meet up with Sue and Vic from No Problem whilst at Norbury Junction, as they'd left their boat for the weekend. We haven't seen them since 2010 - maybe this year sometime?

The remainder of the canal arm to Newport, though it's currently under restoration

A panorama shot as we left Norbury the next morning

Travelling through Gnosall Heath

The picturesque canal-side Boat Inn

A very slow passage through Gnosall as there was a fishing competition stretched from one end of town to the other

Under the short Cowley Tunnel (81yds)

More high bridges unique to the Shropshire Union Canal (though they're not all called 'High Bridge'!)

We had a few days of no internet signal - so took the opportunity to watch the remaining episodes of Homelands Series One on the DVDs Helen and Andy had lent us. Goodness, that's gripping drama isn't it? We're hoping they have series two waiting for us …

We're still on the 'Fast diet', though with me being away, and we've both had a bit of a cold, it's gone down to one day a week for a couple of weeks. But that's okay.

Daylight saving has been and gone, so the nights are increasingly lighter and longer. The weather is definitely milder, and there's a definite promise of sunshine and blue skies - mostly! The trees are sprouting their vibrant new growth, daffodils are blooming their yellowness all along the towpaths, and the birds are tweeting away merrily.

Sadly the midges are also waking up as the temperature increases, and pestering us from time-to-time!

More power

Whilst at Norbury Junction, we decided to bite the bullet and buy new batteries. When we purchased Areandare almost 12 months ago, the previous owner had purchased one new-ish battery out of five. But their power, on the cut, just wasn't lasting. It's likely the 'new' one wouldn't have enough power to support the others. We figure that having to have the engine on so much to boost the batteries, when we're not moving, costs in diesel. So new ones should pay for themselves over a period of time. At least that's the theory ...

Barry managed to work it out so we have six domestic batteries now, which is even better. Since then, we haven't heard the alarm going off in the evening to say the power's run out.

So now we're up to date - hurrah!

Happy April everyone - one quarter of the way through 2014 already - amazing.

Ten fun and fruitful days - and a wet, windy Worcester!

It's been an interesting ten days, with two courses, two visits to the dentist (ouch!), a tick on my women's health check, three nights out, two nights with my eldest sister, catching up with lots of friends I haven't seen for years, and spending time with mum and dad whilst sorting a few things out for them. Phew!

I've succeeded in getting my mum as the main driver for their car insurance from 8th March, as my dad can no longer drive. Mum hasn't been the main driver for many years, so has no no claims bonus. When I tried to get myself on dad's insurance last year, with a company called RIAS, I was informed that as I hadn't lived in England for the past three years I was too much of a risk to be insured! Hilarious, as my dad at 93 seemed a far greater risk from my experience. Oh, and I had no claims discount for life in NZ, who'd accepted my UK no claims in 2005 when I arrived, but UK don't reciprocate. Why was I in the least surprised?

This time I took the opportunity to shop around a little, and got a great quote very quickly and simply from 'Saga' - who were quite ok with the fact that I'd been a renegade and lived in another country! RIAS quite happily let us go, without question.  When I phoned AgeUK for a quote, they said that because mum hadn't been the main driver for years, and had no no claims, they wouldn't insure her! Unbelievable! There must be loads of elderly women who haven't been the main driver for years and then need to get insurance. AgeUk are supposed to care for elderly people - it seems not in this case.

Hurrah for Saga!

Meanwhile Barry's been busy sorting things for his business on the boat. He tells me he was runner up at the shuffleboard contest last Saturday, and then again at the darts match at Scott's Bar at Tattenhall Marina on Thursday. I suspect he may've been losing on purpose, to maintain friendships! But then again …

My face painting course with 'Cases Faces' in Ormskirk, was fabulous! I've got most of the equipment I need to get started now, and I'm really looking forward to transforming children's faces magically and seeing their eyes light up when they see themselves as a tiger, a clown or maybe a butterfly? I just need to find some volunteers to paint their faces, take photos, and have a portfolio of my own creations ready.

I've always loved it when there's a face painter around at festivals, so it'll be neat to be the person painting! I've had a bit of practice on my grandson and his friends, as well as nephews, so it was good to learn more about the art of it and have a beautiful face to decorate.

 Me and Janet, from Cases Faces, with my butterfly face painted by one of the participants of the beginners workshop

My tiger - not bad I think?

I'm still working on a name for the business - does anyone have any ideas? I'm thinking of 'Magical Faces', but open to suggestions.

England is certainly turning on the charm for my first British winter since 2004 isn't it?  The memories of how long it lasts and how miserable the weather can be, is all coming flooding back to me! Excuse the pun - especially those who are marooned or suffering. Luckily in the Marina all is ok, and my family haven't been personally affected so far.

My parents are about twenty minutes drive from Worcester, and we drove there yesterday for my dad's podiatrist appointment. Fortunately it wasn't through town - we wouldn't have made it if it had been, as the main bridge was closed.

Hard to believe this is the same city we moored up at in June (see the post here). They're experiencing the worst flooding in history, with levels rising above the devastation of 2007. Mother nature can be very cruel.

Tomorrow I'm dropping in on Andy and Helen from Wand'ring Bark  - their land home not boating one. Just for a cuppa, a catch up, and to return a few DVDs they kindly loaned us. Then it's off to Ashbourne to stay with a friend I've not seen since 2009. Marvellous.

On Monday it's back to the lovely Barry, and AreandAre. By the time I get there she'll be out of the water and getting ready to have her bottom blacked before we venture back out onto the cut - two weeks from today!

Tattenhall take two, more about life in the marina - and credit where credit's due!

In the previous post, I missed a very apt photograph Barry had taken, which shows the measure of risk we take on our walks into Tattenhall. There's a tiny piece of grass on the right hand side that we can jump onto when there's cars/trucks coming either side, to avoid collisions. The hedge is spiky, so there's nothing to hold onto!

It's always worthwhile though. How fortunate are we to live so close to such a gorgeous village, with an engagingly friendly feel, well maintained and obviously loved by its inhabitants.

Life in the marina is peaceful, despite there being quite a few live-aboards around. We're managing to keep cosy with the central heating, the stove in the Boatman's Cabin and a small electric blow heater in the lounge/dining area. Admittedly I'm pining occasionally for the warmth of the New Zealand summer - it's my first British winter for nine years and it hasn't even officially begun yet so I'm remaining stoical whenever possible (Barry will disagree!).

Every Saturday night at Scott's Bar, opposite our mooring, there's some form of entertainment. It seems to be on a rolling plan of quiz night, dominoes knock out, 'Play Your Cards Right', and shuffleboard (see below). We've experienced three of the four, sadly we'll miss Brucie's game this Saturday as I'm off to my parents again whilst Barry is jumping on the train at Birmingham New Street (so long as Enterprise collect us on time in the morning!) to go to Brighton for two nights to see his mate Dickie. We've also heard from Ray of NB Stronghold, that he may finally get to meet Barry in person on one of the evenings as he also knows Dickie. Watch out Brighton!

For a few weeks now, the starlings have been flocking each evening and providing us with the most awe inspiring sights. They fly in at dusk, then seem to get into formation for a while, then break off into groups, and finally they all swoop down and land in a small clearing. It's like they're attending a planning meeting to discuss the best route and destination to escape the cold British winter ...

Our two resident mallards are frequently to be found almost knocking at the kitchen window, and I can imagine them quacking "Please miss, can we have some bread?" 

My Mondays and Fridays recently have been spent supporting my eldest daughter with our now two grandsons - so I hop on the 0815hrs bus, a ten minute walk away from the boat, for the twenty minute journey to Malpas. My prize for leaving the warmth of our bed at such an hour (I realise most people are generally up way before this!), is I get to watch the sunrise on a clear day. 

The sun rising on Friday - into a spectacularly clear blue sky ...

… the same view on Monday, three days later, the sun rising into a sky filled with criss-crossing vapour trails from aircraft - why is that? Different atmospheric pressure? Or is there a rush to fly away on a Monday morning?

Almost finally, here's the article I mentioned in the last post. Imagine my surprise to open up the page and see Barry and me staring back! Not what I was expecting at all. It's a colourful photo we adore, that epitomises our joy of being back on the waterways in April 2013, taken though by the very talented Andy Tidy from NB Wandr'ng Bark. We'd informed Waterways World that this particular shot was Andy's, but they have credited Barry on the side of the image.

On the contents page is a happy shot of Pam and Terry from NB Rooster's Rest, and we're reliably informed that there'll be another couple of pictures in the January issue. I'm not revealing who may appear then - as although we know which photos we supplied, we don't know WW choice yet, lol!

It's an interesting article about 'retiring afloat', although this edition mostly provided details of different boats to buy, rather than any interactions and/or instances of people's lived experiences of such a life. And you're right to be thinking we haven't retired - in fact we're not sure we'll ever 'officially' retire, and we're certainly not waiting to live until that man-made time and age.

Barry's been plugging away getting his new website up and running over the past couple of weeks, putting up shelves on board and making a top box; and we're just waiting to hear about a few set-up details before we can launch the details of his new business on the blog. And I may even reveal my plans for another small income stream which will work very well alongside his, during the summer months.

Watch this space ...

Business cards balls up!

As part of setting up and establishing my Life Coaching business in the UK, we've been working on new business cards.  We normally use ''Vista Print' for these, and needed to edit my cards from New Zealand to include my UK phone number, and website/blog address.

Barry's great at designing these things, and getting it all set out - but once we'd agreed the design something technical happened (I can't remember what it was!) and he had to start again.  Eventually we got it right (or so we thought), and ordered 250, along with some blog cards for AREandARE.

Expecting them to be delivered to my parents around 10th May, I called them before visiting on 12th, only to be informed they hadn't arrived.  By the middle of last week they (apparently) still hadn't materialised there, so Barry emailed 'Vistaprint' and they re-sent the order which was very good of them.

While staying with my parents last Friday night and early Saturday morning, I sorted out my dad's car breakdown insurance cover that had run out.  He's 93 now and gets confused at times, so wasn't clear what the reminder letter was about.  After I'd done that, I opened a drawer to keep the information in the relevant place - and there was a parcel, addressed to me, with the first order of the business cards!  My dad must've answered the door to the postman/courier, put them in the drawer (not sure why!) without understanding what they were, and didn't tell my mum.

So now we'll have 500 business and blog cards.

We began giving the cards out to friends and family to share with anyone they wanted to, or to place in prominent, suitable places.  We gave a handful to Helen, from 'Wand'ring Bark', and took a handful of hers for her 'Wild Side Jams and Preserves' business (on a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' theory).

The following day Helen texted to ask if it was ok to put a link to my website/blog on their blog - and let us know that it wasn't on the business card - we were flummoxed! We'd edited the cards intensively, or so we thought, but lo and behold, she was right!  In the process of the technical hitch and re-doing the cards, we'd missed the website off the final version!

So now we'll have 500 business cards, without the vital link that explains who I am, what I do, and what options there are currently for coaching with me!  Admittedly it's there on my Facebook page if you look closely and open the relevant link, but many people don't 'do' Facebook - avoiding it at all costs.

Here's one of said the cards - minus the website/blog address of www.awakeningyourlife.me.

Thank you Helen, it's amazing that we didn't notice and we're not sure how long it would've taken us to (isn't it funny how you sometimes see what you want to see?) - today I've ordered another 250, this time with my Life Coaching website/blog address on!  Now we just have to hope that my mum gets to the postman first, or we'll have to turn their house upside down looking for them in a few weeks time ...