Staying chilled in a metal box isn’t easy, and that’s basically what our steel narrowboat is. Here in Leicestershire, where we’re bobbing about on the River Soar, temperatures are exceeding those currently in Mexico and the Canary Islands – according to my irrefutable source, the Leicester Mercury. Normally on a river in conditions like these,Continue reading “Losing my cool and blame me!”
Tag Archives: alternative living
It’s down to us all
We had a delegation from the future on board nb (narroboat) Preaux this past week and I am proud to believe they left impressed – apart from one who was aghast at how we could live without a 96 inch TV on board, even though I have no idea if one would even fit! IContinue reading “It’s down to us all”
The epitome of life…and England
Having now travelled the length and narrow breadth of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, including a voyage into the interior, it seems to epitomise life, and England too – today, yesterday and tomorrow. It brings amazing highs, significant lows and challenges. It is built on a long history, heritage and currency of diversity and community, spectacularContinue reading “The epitome of life…and England”
Locked in, up and down
The Covid pandemic has changed many things, the ways we work, relate to each other, behave and also our language. Pandemic, social distancing, furlough, epidemiology and lockdown have become familiar to us, many have been ones we’ve used daily. Here on the canals locks are also something we use daily, an essential to travel. InContinue reading “Locked in, up and down”
Escaping the rat race to increase creativity, productivity and happiness
Downshifting, slow living, living in the moment – all descriptions of conscious and mindful ways of living which appear, for many, to have taken on a particular significance during the pandemic according to media reports and social media posts. So what are they? And do they describe what we have done with our lives? DownshiftingContinue reading “Escaping the rat race to increase creativity, productivity and happiness”
Wishing you health and whatever floats your boat at Christmastime
Whatever your Christmas looks like, whether it is going to happen now or in the summer, we wish you well at this time of year. Thank you for joining us on the adventures our new life is bringing us – we look forward to more unexpected moments with you in 2021, and to welcoming youContinue reading “Wishing you health and whatever floats your boat at Christmastime”
Disastrous leak cancels our plans and ends in tiers
Sunday was a lockdown day with a difference for anyone boating on the Ashby Canal and for towpath walkers near Snarestone close to the current end of navigation on this restored canal. Thousands of gallons of water drained from the canal into surrounding fields as part of the towpath fell away resulting in a breachContinue reading “Disastrous leak cancels our plans and ends in tiers”
Fishy goings-on in a murky underworld
As on land, problems never seem to come singly on water. We’ve wrestled with onboard flooding and finally identified the source (our fresh water tank) so continue a now monotonous cycle of sealing, filling, evaluating, mopping and resolving. We have reduced the severity and number of leaks, identified and hopefully sorted them but working awayContinue reading “Fishy goings-on in a murky underworld”
Sinking feelings are bad news when you live on a boat
Water is generally regarded as a necessity for life afloat, but as we now know, in the wrong place it is both worrying and threatening. You only have to look at the news or cruise England’s canals to see that narrowboats do sink sometimes. New bulletins also bring us the heartbreaking destruction created by floodingContinue reading “Sinking feelings are bad news when you live on a boat”
Getting back on an even keel and learning to live positively in lockdown
We are having a very different living experience for this lockdown, and one I hope will make us much more appreciative of our floating lifestyle. It was a head over heart compromise and one which led to a lot of discussion. One of us was head…and one heart – I am sure you can workContinue reading “Getting back on an even keel and learning to live positively in lockdown”
Pickingupducks 