This weekend in London, 50,000 of the 500,000 runners who applied will run the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon. It will be the culmination of hundreds of hours of training for each runner, many long, lonely cold, and wet hours through the winter, getting their minds and bodies ready for this moment. Since itContinue reading “Give, give up & give time to feel good”
Tag Archives: narrowboat
Logistics, history and waters meet for us
When you know something is going to be the last for a while it takes on a special quality, a poignancy, perhaps even an importance out of all proportion. That is what we’re aware of this week, and it’s good thing, a valuable opportunity. Our last cruising time for a while has been a mixtureContinue reading “Logistics, history and waters meet for us”
Many happy returns
Returning to familiar places, familiar things and retracing your steps can sound faintly boring but it provides new perspectives, new opportunities to see things differently if you are prepared to do so, and can foster moments of familiar comfort, alongside a capacity to still surprise. This week that’s exactly what we’ve been doing on theContinue reading “Many happy returns”
We can see clearly now
Our window on the world, or indeed windows on the world have changed dramatically this week. We see the wealth of birds and animals, people and the British weather around our floating home and office very differently today than we did this time last week. After years of planning, research, saving, and preparation – weContinue reading “We can see clearly now”
Cracking cryoacoustics at work
Snow blankets, dampens and muffles but ice, ice has a totally different way of changing life and the soundscape. Ice means you hear new things, you are separated but connected to other boaters in totally different, sonic ways. It disperses sound, it reflect sound waves and helps us hear more clearly. Like so many acrossContinue reading “Cracking cryoacoustics at work”
Heading out into the unknown
It’s been a harrowing start to the new year for so many. We know of boaters who have lost their homes, been washed off moorings by rising flood waters and either damaged or sunk by water or falling trees. We’ve been hugely fortunate having made the decision to base ourselves in a marina with controlledContinue reading “Heading out into the unknown”
Book keeping at this time of year
As well as the perennial “Isn’t it cold on board?” many people say they couldn’t move onto a boat because of their books. When we first moved afloat our books were a massive stumbling block, books from childhood, books from academic life, literature we grew up with, those books that drew us back time andContinue reading “Book keeping at this time of year”
Sink or swim?
Sink or swim is the refrain running through my head…along with waving or drowning. Our plan to beat the stoppages blocking our route to the Rochdale Canal has given us insights and challenges beyond our expectations. We’ve made our way across the country from west to east and are now moored in Nottinghamshire, on theContinue reading “Sink or swim?”
Locked into a communication cycle & going nowhere?
Years ago I ran a higher education Master of Arts degree in communications. This week has brought home to me again just how vital good, clear communication is to us all. In the mass media we’ve seen again the resulting maelstrom of rumour and speculation that takes off when hard facts are not communicated clearly.Continue reading “Locked into a communication cycle & going nowhere?”
Tough decisions, backtracking and emergencies – one hell of a week
Making tough decisions that result in backtracking on plans, goals and going against peer pressure are always tough, even when the vociferous peers in question are total idiots. That’s what we encountered this week, the oddest week we’ve had in our years afloat to date. We sat at Tarleton on the Lancashire coast last SaturdayContinue reading “Tough decisions, backtracking and emergencies – one hell of a week”
Pickingupducks 