It has been perfect weather for messing about in boats, but if you don’t have a boat as I haven’t this week being off house sitting, walking the canal towpaths is almost the next best thing. Boatdog, swans, ducks, Canada geese, moorhens and one of the largest grass snakes I have ever seen (must beContinue reading “Going cuckoo in the sun”
Author Archives: pickingupducks
discover.narrow.boat
As boaters, like all the emergency services as well as those who need their help, we have a lot to thank musicians who got lost when trying to find far flung venues or gigs. If you’ve ever got lost while following a postcode or trying to find an address, then you will know the shortcomings.Continue reading “discover.narrow.boat”
Going back – good or bad?
Some people say you should never go back to old homes, jobs or locations. On the waterways if you live aboard, the likelihood of retracing steps is high and this week one of us has also been north of the border on 4 wheels revisiting old haunts. So is it good or bad in ourContinue reading “Going back – good or bad?”
Mind maps – mapping the past for the future
How does your immediate world look? In these times of uncertainty it can be invaluable to focus on the minutiae of life, the things we can affect, and to ensure others know the good parts, the best bits. We’ve been struck this week by how unique our individual maps are. We’ve travelled this week –Continue reading “Mind maps – mapping the past for the future”
Offering thanks to ‘The Schemer’
We are only here moored this week in Derbyshire because 260 years ago an Act of Parliament brought into reality the vision of a self-taught engineer united with the foresight of two wealthy businessmen. Without James Brindley, politician and industrialist Lord Gower and Josiah Wedgwood a famous potter, the Grant Trunk Canal now known asContinue reading “Offering thanks to ‘The Schemer’”
It is just FAB in action
FAB aka Fading Affect Bias has been enacted on board nb Preaux in just a few days. Within hours of the flood warnings for navigation being lifted and the repairs to a lock ahead being complete, the sun came out and off we went. By the time we had navigated through Barrow Deep Lock, underContinue reading “It is just FAB in action”
Living in yesterday today
Guess what – we are still moored on the River Soar, and because we are back in flood again it seems we might be waiting a little longer! John Flower, a renowned landscape and architectural artist of the 18th and 19th centuries was known as ‘the Leicester artist’, and he knew the Soar intimately. HeContinue reading “Living in yesterday today”
Changes
The world is full of gloom and uncertainty but our own small world has changed completely in these past few days too. A week ago after a a day of dry towpaths and sunshine, the evening turned to rain – torrential rain. All night it rained and by the time we awoke the towpath hadContinue reading “Changes”
Marching on amid uncertainty and warring factions
March – the start of meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere. On the 20th of the month, the Spring Equinox or in the Pagan calendar, Ostara, night and day will balance. It is also a time of flurries of movement on the inland waterways, as the annual winter works programme which creates necessary stoppages acrossContinue reading “Marching on amid uncertainty and warring factions”
From joy to sunken dreams – in a single week
Life has been reflected in the weather this week. Living so close to the elements, to nature makes us feel part of the environment around us. A single ray of sunshine above the floods this week has had a ridiculously positive impact on our spirits, and a single drop of rain delivers out of proportionContinue reading “From joy to sunken dreams – in a single week”
Pickingupducks 