Happy Easter everyone! I was delighted to be near this boat this week in a bit of serendipitous mooring! Hire boats packed with multigenerational holiday makers are evident on the waterways this week, which is great to see. As Boatdog and I passed a moored one we heard a small girl being reassured by herContinue reading “Reflections on many, many things!”
Tag Archives: boatlife
Resuming work/life/move balance
Humans (and dogs) are adaptable beings. We’ve slotted comfortably back into our usual move-moor routine after the winter mooring and winter stoppage delays. The weather has been glorious, which has made boatlife and the usual chores that go with it, a delight. Cleaning windows in the sun is a pleasure. Watching the sunlight stream throughContinue reading “Resuming work/life/move balance”
Sometimes you just have to move on…
We’re back on the move, with this week encapsulating the variety of life afloat on the inland waterways of Great Britain. In five days we’ve travelled 28 miles up 42 locks. We’ve moored in a city (surprisingly quiet considering we were alongside university student accommodation), outside a village (peaceful) and in the middle of fieldsContinue reading “Sometimes you just have to move on…”
Biophilia indoors is bringing evident benefits
One of the most popular and most watched episodes of Grand Designs was that of woodsman Ben Law, handbuilding his cruck-framed home in the Sussex woodland he manages. The thought he put into making the wood the centrepiece of his incredible home and the care with which he handcrafted every element appealed not just toContinue reading “Biophilia indoors is bringing evident benefits”
A week of Ws
Work. Wood. Wall cupboards. Work. Weirs. Waiting. Wallpaper and a bit more Work. That’s our week – how’s your week been? This weekend, we will be getting the wall cupboards and the final work done on the kitchen – thanks, Ben. It’s been a week of sanding, oiling, seriously admiring and stroking the tactile curvesContinue reading “A week of Ws”
Handcrafted beauty and making a stand against the U.S.A.
Glorious weekend weather, a talented and hard-working carpenter (with serious muscles), and an accessible hard-standing towpath have made a massive difference to our life afloat this past week. We now have the bulk of a beautiful, bespoke kitchen plus dining area, crafted from oak, maple, black walnut, and beech. The sun (and there has been someContinue reading “Handcrafted beauty and making a stand against the U.S.A.”
Living Jenga = excitement & chaos
Older boats are like older houses. You start one job and another 6 make an appearance. They also demand because of their dimensions that doing work anywhere affects another area because everything has to move to produce working space. This week is a major milestone aboard Preaux, a week when we are making another massiveContinue reading “Living Jenga = excitement & chaos”
We’re done – it’s over.
That’s it then – all over. How did that happen so quickly? For the first time in our five years of working and living afloat on a narrowboat, we took a winter mooring. Somehow it’s been nearly four whole months that we have remained (most of the time) in one place. Some people go intoContinue reading “We’re done – it’s over.”
It’s time for clearing the decks – are you?
Spring’s sorting out is going on all around us. Many birds are busy nesting, female ducks are once more putting their lives at risk as the mating season begins (males can and often do drown the females if they mate in the water), buds are busily forming on shrubs and trees, and early bulbs areContinue reading “It’s time for clearing the decks – are you?”
A Lover-ly time to be afloat
This week has seen a flurry of red roses, cards with hearts, and lots of soppy messages on social media. For many, it brightened the gloom of this often dreary time of the year. For others, I recognise it’s depressing or underlines loneliness, and for some it’s all hype and unnecessary. It made me thinkContinue reading “A Lover-ly time to be afloat”
Pickingupducks 