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”
Tag Archives: narrowboat
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”
Naked men, amazing women, safety precautions and searching
Some weeks are just packed with “things” that bear no relation to each other but create a very satisfying sum of their independent parts. This week proved to be one of those weeks. We crossed into Lancashire – stalwartly flying our Yorkshire Rose flag… and I am no longer complaining about the heat. Now IContinue reading “Naked men, amazing women, safety precautions and searching”
Hot stuff
If we had £1 for every time someone says “Is it cold on there? Or “ don’t live on your boat in winter do you?” – we’d be rich! No one ever seems to ask “Is it boiling in there at this time of the year ?” though and the answer is a resounding YES! Continue reading “Hot stuff”
Pickingupducks 