Planning another leap or two this month

If January was our time of hibernation, February is time for preparation. Preparing for what we need to do, for getting ourselves and the boat to the right place, and making sure we are all where we need to be. It is still a time for planning rather than big movements because this is theContinue reading “Planning another leap or two this month”

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”

Winter of some content…just

December and winter came hand in hand to a canal near us as they did for many people in diverse locations this week. We love winter on the boat when it’s crisp and cold outside and cosily comforting inside. The cold as we open the back hatch takes our breath away, but when we returnContinue reading “Winter of some content…just”

There may be trouble ahead…

Preparation for the future is essential, and something many of us put off but we can’t. We have been getting ready for winter as the first winter storms chivvy us. Getting a full-time liveaboard boat winter ready is very different from prepping a house or a car or a boat that sits in a marina.Continue reading “There may be trouble ahead…”

Unwinding

After a period of frenetic activity it’s important to unwind, but how? In our case it’s doing things we haven’t been able to do because we’ve been absorbed (happily I might add) in the mechanics and demands of travelling afloat. We are seeing family which is what we came to do, catching up with friends,Continue reading “Unwinding”

Interrogating the season

Bet it’s bad in winter – you don’t live on it all year round do you – guess you don’t move at this time of year? Constant questions boaters face at this time of year. Our responses are usually always the same – it’s cosy inside as small spaces are easier to heat – it’sContinue reading “Interrogating the season”

Gratitude – the gift that gives

Io Saturnalia! Happy Solstice! and almost Merry Christmas! Are you ready – wi These significant festivals begin this week with the official start of winter. It marks a time of ending and beginning, launches a time of taking stock, counting our blessings if you will, and being grateful – all of which done positively isContinue reading “Gratitude – the gift that gives”

Iced up and frozen solid

What a week – snow, ice, frozen ropes, rain, fieldfares, owls, kingfishers and fantastic community spirit. Living afloat on England’s inland waterways makes us much more aware of that archetypal English conversation staple – the weather. We live in it much more than we did amid bricks and mortar. Winds buffet the boat, sometimes gently,Continue reading “Iced up and frozen solid”

Winter’s coming so we’re planning and ham-ming it up!

The first frost arrived this week hard on the heels of the clock change, and a need to have the fire lit more often now to keep us cosy. The frost caught me by surprise meaning the early exit the dog and I make through the stern hatch turned into farce. The hatch was frozenContinue reading “Winter’s coming so we’re planning and ham-ming it up!”