Seasons greetings everyone

Happy Xmas!

This will be our final post for 2013, as we're leaving the boat until 7th January, visiting family. Christmas Day will be spent half at my daughter's home in Malpas with her family and my younger daughter who's come up from Brighton, and in the afternoon we'll travel to Ombersley to be with my parents. On Boxing Day we'll drive up to Lichfield to see my eldest sister and her children and grandchildren.

On 28th December we'll set off again, this time onto the M5 to Exeter, to see my youngest sister for a New Year, leaving there for my next sister down in Southampton on 2nd January.

On 3rd January it's a short drive to Brighton to celebrate my youngest daughter's birthday, then back to my parents for a night or two before heading back to Tattenhall.

Phew! How lucky are people who have family all living within a short distance of each other! I often question how we came to be so far apart. It wasn't always like this. For many years we all lived in Sutton Coldfield, and spent Xmas and New Year together. I guess it's just how it is nowadays for many families.

We were really touched on Saturday night, when we went for our weekly night out at the Marina Bar (Scotty's), and were told we had a couple of letters and a parcel. As we weren't expecting anything, we were curious as to who had sent us what! 

One of the envelopes contained a Xmas card from Angie and Dave, from NB Lady Esther, the couple we met at Market Harborough (we blogged about the synchronicity of meting them in April). They'd sent us a wedding card to the Dog and Doublet in September 2009, after following our blog. We were really touched they'd taken the time and trouble to get in touch again - thanks guys, hope to catch you again in 2014.

Seeing the package I wondered if I'd ordered something and forgotten - what a delightful surprise it turned out to be. A Marks and Spencer's Hamper of delectable goodies from our friends in Sheffield, Sarah and Fred. Now gifts like this we can handle, they're not bringing unnecessary 'stuff' into the world. Yum!

And so this is Christmas, and what have we done? Well we've had an amazingly adventurous 2013, which included memorable and magical things such as: 

• Saying a sad 'Haere Ra', farewell for now, to family and friends in Gisborne and other places in New Zealand
• Moving from New Zealand to England in March, returning to the Inland Waterways in April after buying NB 'Areandare' 
• Welcoming on board zillions hordes of vivacious visitors from England and even six New Zealand friends on separate occasions who've made room in their holiday itineraries to spend time with us
• Catching up with fellow narrowboaters who we'd met in 2009 and 2010, as well as getting to know lots of lovely new kindred boating souls
• Barry returning to NZ in August, successfully selling his 'Home Brew Supplies' shop 'Ezimade', AND obtaining stage 1 of his UK residency visa
• Experiencing life in a Marina for the first time, meeting some great people, and being just a short bus ride away from my eldest daughter and grandsons - bliss!
• Barry returned to UK late October - for the foreseeable future ;-)
• Two articles published in the Gisborne Herald Weekender supplement about our 2009 and 2010 travels
• Appearing in Waterways World twice (one was in the January 2014 edition, but it was published in December so we can count it!)
• About to spend my first Xmas in England for nine years, and Barry's first since his one and only other  in 1976

Mesmerised by the glitter and tinsel of the Xmas shop in Chester

How many baubles can you fit on one Xmas tree?!

When we drive back to Tattenhall on 7th January, all the colourful lights brightening up the dark nights during December will have been taken down which is a shame. Wouldn't it be lovely if people left them up until spring?

Happy Christmas everyone, and we wish a peaceful and prosperous New Year to you all. Thank you for reading our stories and sharing our trials, tribulations and thrills.

We look forward to connecting once again in 2014, as we embark on our year of making it happen - focussing as always on enjoying time with family and friends, whilst vitally next year taking forward ways of earning sufficient funds to sustain a minimalistic lifestyle living aboard our narrowboat, whilst continuously cruising the Inland Waterways - from 1st March 2014.

It's going to be interesting!

Waterways World feature once again, and a wonderful weekend

We're currently feeling a little like 'Retiring Afloat' pin-ups having appeared as the feature photo in two consecutive Waterways World articles! When we sent in six photos of 'retired' boaters, we didn't imagine them using the ones of us, especially not such large ones lol! 

It's quite disconcerting to see ourselves staring back like this ...

January waterways World article - featuring Richard, Rivka, Sandra and Barry aboard Areandare

The lovely Pam and Terry from NB Rooster's Rest appear once again on the contents page. Sadly they didn't publish a few other photos of 'mature' couples on boats that we sent in (Sue and Vic from NB No Problem were one). Maybe another time.  Once again, the photo was taken with someone else's camera, this time Richard's from New Zealand - now he really IS officially 'retired' and drawing a pension!

It was the lovely Helen and Andy who brought said copy of WW to the boat last weekend, when they came to stay for a couple of nights. What fun we had. Andy managed to get two blogs from the visit, you can read them here and here. He took some fabulous shots of Barry feeding our friendly swan (don't show the children!) - by getting him to literally take the bread from his mouth! Yes he is completely crazy fearless!

We had a cracking day in Chester, having persuaded a very reluctant Andy to experience a bus journey (damn the bus driver for being late entailing an uncomfortable wait in the cold and rain - that didn't persuade him one iota of the merits of public transport!). We walked the walls once more, and while Andy and Barry were distracted with their lenses, Helen and I ducked into a quaint-looking pub for a drink. Now Andy, in his blog, suggests that he and Barry talked the landlord into letting us stay for a drink after closing time. The reality is that Helen and I were chatted up, in their absence, and they suggested actually locking the doors so the boys couldn't get in, while the girls enjoyed a pint! Now that would've been a table turning event if ever there was one!  In the spirit of the festive season, we decided to show goodwill to our men, and not torture them ...

A grainy shot from Sandra's iPhone (must clean the lens more often!), Barry, Helen, Sandra and Andy in the very old-worlde Albion Inn

There was a plethora of memorabilia from in the early 20th century to keep us amused - this one below is especially for all the lager drinkers in England and New Zealand - mostly for you Tony Fox!

The Albion Inn, where the landlord has remained continuously for 37 years, and the interior decor iconically captures the essence of the 1914-18 Great War - well worth a visit if you're in Chester

Oh, and to finish, we're celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary today. This year we're off to the local 'Letters Inn' for a couple of drinks, a Chinese meal and to St Albans Church to sing some carols.

Barry and Sandra sign the register 22nd December 2009, Wainui Beach

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 ...

Photography by Barry - getting to know Tattenhall

Staying in one place for a while has the distinct advantage of being able to get to know the local area. You'll all be very happy to hear I've managed to get Barry to give me some of his recent photos from our explorations, which coming posts will feature.

Today it's Tattenhall's turn, our closest village. It's a thirty minute walk away from Tattenhall Marina, or a five minute, two stops, bus ride. Sadly the walk is marred by the fact that there's no footpath, so we take our lives in our hands each time we choose the exercise route (and the buses aren't terribly frequent), dodging speeding cars and trucks by jumping up on the tiny piece of turf on one side of the road. We've been told, by the barman at The Letters Inn, that a pavement is planned to be built at some stage. Maybe by next winter?

Tattenhall is quite a small place, with a population of around 2,000 people, but still manages to have three pubs and so far I've counted three hairdressers too! Apparently it also contains 27 listed buildings, designated by English Heritage. What a joy to be 'parked' nearby.

Tomorrow we'll be back at The Letters Inn to watch The All Blacks thrash England at Rugby - I'm hoping Richie will be playing, it's a while since I've seen him ...

 St Alban's church

Little Morton Hall, one of the listed buildings, which can be seen from the footpath next to the church

There's also a small library at the back of the primary school which Barry and I have joined, so we can keep up a supply of reading material for the cold, dark months ahead. It's the place we can book onto the internet and print anything we need, before we invest in one for the boat.

The Barbour Institute holds all sorts of functions, film nights and classes, and yesterday I started 'Zumba Gold' classes there (dancing exercise to Latin American music - for the over 50s!). I'd contacted the instructor not long after Barry went to NZ in August, but there wasn't enough interest at that time. It meant getting up earlier than normal, and walking to Tattenhall in the rain, the day my body decided to start a cold! Fortunately two of the others in the class (of four!) were from Tattenhall Marina so I got a lift back - hurrah!

The Barbour Institute

Lots of delightful  houses in Tattenhall, and still an abundance of flowers blooming in autumn

Barry's photographs in print

A few weeks ago we were contacted by Waterways World seeking photographs of retired couples living aboard narrowboats, for an article they were publishing. Barry looked in his files and found some lovely shots. The piece is in the December issue, though we haven't had a chance to see it yet, so keep a look out for them! There may be a few familiar faces ...

Back to Droitwich!

No, not by boat, by train again!

I'm spending a few days with my elderly parents, whilst aiming to negotiate the minefield of what support could be available to them via the NHS/their GP/Age Concern, etc.  It's certainly not simple, and I suspect there's been a lot of budget cuts since I last worked clinically in the NHS in 2001. Fingers crossed though I've armed myself with a few possibilities to discuss with my dad's GP tomorrow.  We shall see ...

Barry meanwhile is 'boat alone' again - and I suspect loving the peace and quiet! He's moved from Penkridge, where I left him on Friday morning, to Stafford.  So if anyone's around the area, do go and say hi to him.  I'll be back on board before he gets scurvy (he always jokes this happens when I leave him for any length of time and he has to rely on his own cooking skills), which I hope will be Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

Last Wednesday meanwhile we both had a very special treat - Helen, from Wandr'ing Bark and Wild Side fame, scooped us up (as she'd been to their boat at Calf Heath) and took us to her and Andy's home in Sutton Coldfield.  We were supplied with gin and tonics, a beef casserole, then Eaton Mess.  Marvellous and utterly delicious! Though the kitchen did sway a little (and we only had one gin and tonic, honest!) - it's unnerving when that happens due to your balance centres mistaken belief that you're still in a floating home.

Helen featured in this months 'Waterways World'.  Disappointingly she didn't get a write up for being the ONLY narrowboat trader at the St Richard's Festival, but did get the kudos of a photo - and if you look very closely you'll see Barry and I lingering at her delicious jams and preserves stall too ...

Helen and Andy's house was teaming with jars and bottles of produce for their business - it has rather taken over I think!  But in a good way.  Business is booming, and if you want to know more read the 'Canal Boat' article - they generously gave her more than just a photo!

It's difficult to believe tomorrow we're already into July, the seventh month of the year - incredible!  We have a few more lovely visitors coming to spend time with us, so I'm hoping this beautiful warm weather (27 degrees apparently at Heathrow airport registered today, warmest day of the year) is going to last ...