Following in the tourists steps.

With the Little Venice Cavalcade over for another year and with little to do until we head for the Rickmansworth Boat Festival, we took the opportunity to join the masses on the tourist trail. Yesterday Keith went off to a BT works reunion, where he met up with fellow workers he worked with 27 years ago in London. The one thing about reunions is you meet up with people you had totally lost contact with over the years. A good time was had by all from what Keith said. I was home alone in the afternoon, so took myself off to investigate Edgeware Road and all it had to offer, making sure I knew how to get back to the boat, as I am not that great with directions and can get myself lost easily. The Edgeware Road has a variety of shops, large and small. They supply all nationalities who reside in the area. It was busy as the market was taking place, so after a walk around I headed back to the boat, and the jobs I had left behind when I went out.

Keith is still getting over another virus he picked up since receivering from the one he picked up before we went into dry dock at Uxbridge on the 11th April. He still has a nasty cough, but he assures me that he feels fine. So with his assurance we decided to head into the West End to go and see Harrods.
I have seen it plenty of times on the TV, and always wanted to have a look inside. As Keith had never stepped inside the store either, we joined the throngs of tourists and took the tube from Paddington into the West End and arrived outside of the Harrods store. It really is an immensely grand place, which is just as impressive on the inside. I did find it really rather too posh for my liking and some of the prices of things was quite shocking, but I suppose if you have that sort of money then you can buy anything. For one pair of Jeans they were asking £297. If you bought three pairs you got the third pair at half price hahahaha now that is good of them. After having had a quick peek into another persons life style, which was definitely not for us we left and headed for Covent Garden, with its street entertainers and market stalls, which was much more our scene. The gentleman in the photograph (above), was catching a cup, saucer and spoon on his head after balancing them on his foot. It was really entertaining and he was brilliant at drawing the crowd in. We had thought we may go to the London Transport Museum, but with it being £10 for each adult, we soon changed our minds. Sarah Siddons, the oldest working main line electric locomotive in Britain, which is housed in the museum, will make special trips between Harrow-on-the-Hill, via Rickmansworth to Amersham on Sunday 17 May as part of the Rickmansworth Festival, so we look forward to seeing her there. Before lunch we walked around Somerset House. You cannot help but be amazed at the architecture, it really is quite stunning as are all the old buildings in London. In the courtyard they have 55 fountains which in the summer dance and in the winter you can skate on the ice rink.
Although I find London an exciting and vibrant city, as a country girl born and breed, I do find the crowds of people overpowering, and if it were not for me holding Keith's hand most of the time, I would surely have got lost. Thankfully Keith knows London well, from his days working in the capital, so I just followed as he led the way. We stopped for lunch at the Thai Square Restaurant, where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch. With lunch over, we once more joined the crowds and headed for Chinatown, which dates back to the 17th Century and beyond. It has plenty of places to eat and drink, not to mention the Chinese Supermarkets, where you can buy your very own genuine Chinese produce. If you are coming to London you really must visit Chinatown, and soak up the atmosphere of a place steeped in history.
We also walked around Leicester Square with its cinema's and theatres. We have promised ourselves that one day we will go and see something at one of the many theatres. At the moment there is so much to see.
Having enjoyed our jaunt out, it was time to head back on to the tube at Leicester Square and get off at Paddington Station. The tube was packed today, due to work being carried out on the Circle and Jubilee lines. At times we felt like sardines in a tin. Keith assured me it is far worse on a week day at rush hour. So back onboard Hadar, we have settled in for the rest of the day. I sat watching a film, whilst Keith took a nap. It has been a wonderful day.

Reuters gives Hadar a mention.

As we are sitting in Paddington Basin I thought I would do a trawl through my favourite blogs and I saw that Andrew on Granny Buttons did a write up about Reuters, who did a piece on the Little Venice Cavalcade, which quoted us in their write up. Thanks Andrew for drawing my attention to the write up.
Whilst at the Cavalcade, Keith and I must have chatted to hundreds of people over the three day's, including Rebekah Curtis from Reuters who has written a piece about the Canalway Cavalcade. London's canal boat dwellers live in city oasis. The piece she has written whilst giving good publicity for the event, has misquoted us a little. Firstly Rebekah writes ""We're continual cruisers, we keep moving 24/7," said 47-year-old Jo Lodge, who travels all year round with her husband Keith selling coal from their boat to the canal community in Leicester". We are Continual Cruisers, who sell coal from our working boat, but we have not yet begun our coal run on the Leicester. That begins in October, having been given permission by British Waterways to trade on this section of the Grand Union. Rebekah then writes "Her husband Keith is one of many boat-dwellers whose family has worked on boats for generations, and is deeply rooted in the floating community in which some boaters were even born aboard". This is not correct. Keith worked on Pisces for a few years in the late 60's, his family did not work on the boats. The only family member he knows of who worked on the boats was his Grandfather who was a lighterman on the Thames, so unfortunately Rebekah did not quite get the facts right. It is hardly surprising when you consider how hectic it was on the Saturday when she spoke to Keith and I. Rebekah then rang me up a couple of days later asking me a question about something she had written in her note book, because she was unable to read her own writing LOL. It may have been a good idea if she had run this piece past us first before publishing it. I told her, she should have been a doctor if she has writing that she cannot read, which made her laugh. I do wish that the press would get their facts correct before going to print, as there is nothing worse than being mis-quoted.

Since posting, I contacted Rebekah via e-mail. Rebekah has replied promptly apologising profusely for the misunderstanding, which we have accepted. We wish Rebekah well with her reporting career.

Time to pack up.

For anyone going to a canal festival, they only ever see the glamourous side with the festivities running like clockwork, but for those who help to set the festivals up all over the country, they know how hard it is to actually get things up and running. It is not a matter of just putting up a few stalls, organising the boats and the music. The organising for each event takes months to sort out. Not only do they have to organise the site, they have to talk to lots of different departments, which include the Health and Safety and Enviromental Health departments. This past week Keith and I have learnt a lot about how much effort is put into organishing an event this big. Today we also learnt how difficult it is to pack it all away. There is a lot of waiting around to be done as well, such as waiting for the trucks to come and take the porta loos away and the fencing people. It is not an easy job, but we have had the most wonderful time. Today it all began early with us joining the other volunteers from the Waterways Recovery Group. They had already taken down the stalls, the banners had to come down, as did the marques for the beer tent and food stalls. The beer tent by the way sold out completely of beer and cider. I helped to pick up litter, as the area has to be all neat and tidy, which would be checked by the local council. When the porta loos firm turned up, I donned a high visability coat and offered to stand in the road, whilst the company pumped out the porta loos, (Oh the glamour of it all). They then took the loos away. Standing in the middle of a busy road is not to be done by the faint hearted. One four wheel car driver, came around the sharp bend and got very close whilst talking on his mobile phone (Shame on him). Our long day ended with a fish and chip supper and a couple of glasses of wine with the group to wind down after a long and busy day. Keith and I have met a wonderful bunch of people, which included Karen and Gary on NB Fox, Dave and Maria on NB Daisybob, Bob on NB Glenfield, Sarah, Sammy, Mike, Christine and the other volunteers who made it a excellent weekend for us and everyone, who visited the Little Venice Cavalcade. having seen it from both sides, I would say that the next time you go to one of these events with your boat or on foot and complain about something, just spare a thought for those who have worked hard behind the scenes to put the event on. Bare in mind that they do it completely unpaid and why not actually volunteer your services, even if it is just for one day. You will certainly see the less glamourous side. If any from the Waterways Recovery Group is reading this. Thank you so much for making us feel very welcome and for all your hard work. See you another year we hope.

All good things have to come to an end.

Yesterday evening, Keith and I gathered up a couple of cushions, a bottle of wine and glasses and sat on the bow of Hadar to enjoy the sounds of "The Rhythm and Blues Brothers", who came to last year's Little Venice Cavalcade and were absolutely brilliant. They did not disappoint last night either, if you are a Blues Brothers fan. We sat out listening to them until 11pm and then were invited on to Paul and Eileen's boat "Destiny 2" for a coffee. The chatting went on until we realised it was 12.45am. Surprisingly none of us were that tired, we were just enjoying each others company and the chatter, which was not all about all things boating, which made a nice change.
This morning (Bank Holiday Monday) started well with some sunshine, but it soon clouded over and rain began to fall, which did not bode well for the rest of the day. Thankfully the rain was intermittent and did not stop the public coming out and enjoying the final day of the Cavalcade.
Keith and I were summoned to the Horse Bridge for 1pm in our traditional outfits. So we duly obliged and went to the bridge, where we were announced as the winners of the Vic Trott Trophy for best dressed boat people.We are now the proud owners of the Vic Trott Trophy, which we will be looking after for a year and a bottle of white white. It was quite an honour to win something as neither Keith or I are ever that lucky normally and it was not as if we knew we had been entered into this competition.
As the day wore on the few drops of rain kept subsiding and things would warm up a little, but the sun never put in an appearance all day. Events at the cavalcade carried on regardless and later in the day the Historic Boats paraded in the pool. These included the Narrow Boat Trust Boat Nuneaton, Victoria, Indus and Pictor, Fulbourne and Angel, Ara and Archimedes, Gerald No13, Bantam, Chiswick and Gemini. It was wonderful to see so many Historic Working Boats in one parade. Sadly other Historic Working Boats had left early due to other commitments.
With the event announced closed at 5pm, it really felt like an anti-climax some how after all the hustle and bustle of the past couple of days. As people left the event on their boats, others came in from the visitor moorings to take their place, helping to swell the numbers in the pool. So that has been the Little Venice Cavalcade 2009. It has been an excellent event and everyone has worked so hard. We look forward to coming to the event again over the years to come. Tomorrow we will help with the hard work to take all the banners and stalls down, someone has to be prepared to stay behind.

Keith and Paddy claim the fame factor.

Sunday 3rd May.

It has been another manic day at the Little Venice Cavalcade. Unlike the hot day we had yesterday, today has been chilly and cloudy at times, but still the place was packed with people. Yesterday the bar ran out of beer and cider, so that is how good yesterday was LOL. We enjoyed another day of chatting to people and having our photographs taken. Yesterday evening Keith and Paddy had their photographs taken and it is now on the front page of the canal section of The Thames Guide. Paddy can never resist having his photograph taken. I think I was cooking dinner at the time.

We had an expected visit today from Maggie, Mark and family from NB Forever Young. We met Maggie and family at Shackerstone last year. Maggie if you are reading this, we hope you enjoyed your day and it was lovely to see you all again. Happy cruising this year. Today has been the boat handling competition, which has been fun to watch in the wind. Historic working narrowboats Nuneaton and Victoria took part, as did Fulbourne with Elaine sat proudly on the bow.Passing through we saw Historic narrowboat Tarpoley. Yesterday we met one of their volunteers Penny. Also passing through were the Historic working narrowboats Indus and Pictor now owned by Liz and Dan. It is fabulous to see so many working boats in one place. Tomorrow is the final day of the Cavalcade, so we are hoping the weather will be kind to us. If you have nothing to do tomorrow, why not come down to the Cavalcade, it is a fantastic event for anyone, whether you have a boat or not.

Let the festivities begin.

Saturday 2nd May 2008.

Wow what a hectic few days, what with helping to set up the Cavalcade site and then the moving into the pool it has been manic. I really do not think people realise just how much hard work goes into setting up a site for a Cavalcade or Festival takes. We spent the morning helping to build the railings on the pontoon, which goes up against the island in the pool, we then went out on to the island to do some tidying. When I say tidying I mean loping branches off of the willow. We left the loping to Bob, Keith helped to gather the cut of branches whilst I and the others stacked it on the island. We always had in mind not to disturb the nesting Canada Geese and the pair of Swans to much, who were both on eggs. After that it was time for lunch in the works compound and a nice cup of coffee. Dave who is in charge of the work group works wonders in getting everyone to where he wants them, but for us that changed yesterday (Friday) when we were called to move out boat from out of the Paddington Arm and into the Pool for the festival. We were being put in ST42, which gave us a great view of the island, so we would be in the front row for the Blues Brothers music on Sunday evening.
The moving around of the boats to get them into the pool takes some organising, and it did not help our cause when we got a pile of rubbish around the prop arghhhhhh. So we turned Hadar around and went back into the Paddington Arm, cleared the prop and tried again to moor her stern in against the bank, this time making it alongside NB Destiny No2 owned by Paul and Eileen Garner. Later in the day we were joined by the Pinnocks four boat on the otherside of us. Working Butty Fazeley being moored alongside us. Micheal has done a fantastic job restoring her and she looks a treat with his motor Clover. After finally getting moored up, I then washed the boat down and cleaned the brass, because we had been covered in sap from the trees. it had been a long day and we were bothy ready for our bed by 10.30am, knowing full well that Saturday was going to be a challenging day. We were up early. Paddy was walked, all the last minute cleaning of the brass was done, and Keith and I dressed for the part, he in his usual boatmans gear and me in my boatwoman's bonnet, blouse, skirt and shawl. The morning was extremely manic with losts of people wanting to take our photo and ask us questions about the boat and its history. We had the local papers asking for interviews and photos, as well as a young reporter from Reuters, who interviewed us.
Before lunch LadyBanana paid us a visit with her partner Robert. it was so wonderful to put a face to the name, having followed her blog for such a longtime. So LadyB if your reading this. Thank you for taking the time to come and see us, it was lovely to meet you both and show you around our home. Adam from NB Debdale came and said hellow as well with Simon from NB Tortoise.
We have had the most wonderful first day of the Cavalcade, meeting old friends and lots of new people. The funniest thing that happened today to us was at lunch time. I made us some sandwiches and bought them out a long with a Victoria Sandwich, which I made earlier in the morning and put them on the drop down table in the back cabin along with a cup of coffee. Keith and I sat down to lunch and then we discovered that people still wanted to take our photographs, so much so that they were down on their hands and knees taking our photographs whilst we ate lunch. I turned to Keith laughing and told him that I now knew how a monkey in a zoo felt LOL. it really was quite strange. The whole day has been a huge success, so much so that the beer tent ran out of beer and cider at one point, which has never happened before on a Saturday. It has been the busiest Saturday for years so we have been told. Lets hope the next two days are just as good.

Setting up.

It has been a few days since I posted and that is because we have been very busy helping to set up for the Little Venice Cavalcade. If you have ever helped to set up for any festival, fete etc you will know just how much work is involved. Tuesday some of the WRG (Waterway Recovery Group) arrived and we juggled the boats around to make sure that everyone could get on and off their boats, as we also have a couple of very elderly dogs to consider as well.

Yesterday (Wednesday), it was a day of waiting for things to arrive. One of the first things we had to sort out was the setting up the camp compound. Which is where all the planning is done, as well as eating and lots of drinking of tea and coffee. Later in the day NB Belfast arrived, she is the accomodation boat for the volunteers who have offered to help out to sleep on.Keith and I have been made very welcome by Dave, Maria and the team. They depend a lot on people offering their services, whether it be for a day or for the whole event. What we are both loving about helping out, is the fact that we are meeting up with people from all walks of life and yet we feel after chatting to them, that we have known them for years. We have met one or two familiar faces, one of them being Bob on NB Glenfield, who we first met when we arrived on the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal over the winter, when everyone was frozen in. During the evening we were joined onboard Hadar by Tom from working boats Ara and Archimedes. Tom took over the diesel and coal business last year and has been doing a roaring trade. We spent a most enjoyable evening in his company, drinking tea and chatting about anything and everything to do with boating.

This morning the Marques arrived by lorry before Keith and I were even awake. Because we could here the work going on around us, we thought we should put in an appearance, so got up, had breakfast and joined in with the work party. I unfortunately am not feeling so great today, so have not done a lot. I am hoping that this afternoon I will feel more myself, as I am not one for sitting around watching others do all the work.

The Marque company were in charge of erecting the marques, so we got to watch them do their stuff. The one thing that you notice about helping out at such events, is that there can be long periods of waiting around. This is due to the fact that not all of the things needed arrive when you need them to. After the marques went up, the tables and chairs arrived, so it was all hands on deck to move them from the van to one of the marques. Some of the group have gone off to Camden to pick up a boat with further equipment onboard and that will arrive sometime this afternoon. There has not been a dull moment and everyone is getting a long really well. We are all waiting for the moment when everything happens all at once, it will then be manic. I will keep you posted on the progress made.

Spring Sunshine at Little Venice.

View looking up the Terrace. View from the Maida Hill Tunnel end of the pool. View from Rembrandts Garden.Spring has sprung.From Rembrandts Garden.Spring glory in flower. Marmite enjoying the sunshine.

Onward to Little Venice.

Friday 24th April.

Slough Arm to Little Venice, 17.1 miles.

Over the past couple of days we sat on the Slough Arm mooring, finishing off paintwork and enjoying the peace and quiet. But come mid-afternoon that peace and quiet was broken by the sound of mini motorcycles roaring up and down the towpath, with children riding them, with no helmets on. Now this subject does tend to get peoples blood boiling and that includes mine. If these children are determined to kill themselves that is up to them, but what gets my goat is the fact that they are travelling at such speed, it would be impossible for them to stop if they met an oncoming walker, cyclist or someone out with their dog or children. I see it as a fatal accident waiting to happen. Ok thats my rant over, I will leave it up to you to pass comment. The buck though always stops with the parents, who have bought these items for their children. Whilst I got busy painting the back counter, Keith finished off the Buckby Cans, which look stunning. I then set about rubbing down the front deck, hinges and locker cover, as they all needed refreshing.Ignore the feet in the photo above Lol.
Having done all the paintwork, whilst we sat down to dinner last night we made the decision to move off today as another motorcycle roared past with two children onboard, one was no more than 6 years old and neither had helmets on grrrr.
This morning we left the mooring, firstly heading for the sanitary station to empty the toilet cassette and the rubbish. We stopped at Bulls Bridge to go to the Tesco supermarket and were amazed to find the moorings empty. it seems that these days the moorings are patrolled by the Tesco warden and you can only stay 2 hours, which is plenty for shopping. Whilst I put away the shopping Keith, set off down the Paddington Arm of the GU. We were now heading for Greenford where we hoped we could moor for the weekend, but when we got to the Black Horse Inn moorings there was no room, so it was onward to Alperton, but we decided that we would not bother mooring there as we would be the only boat there, but carried on to Kensal Green. The prospects looked good for a mooring, but it was to shallow on the run into the 14 day moorings, and the moorings themselves were full. Not even after the moorings could we get in. This was not our day.With it being such a gloriously sunny day, the Terrapins were out in force, sunbathing on logs along the canal. This made me giggle. This is taking open air living to the extreme LOL.Having enjoyed a pleasant days cruising, along a beautiful stretch of the canal if you ignore the floating rubbish and the factories. We arrived at Little Venice, passing NB Gerald No13 who was moored on the Terrace moorings, with Keith and Chris onboard NB Crystal Haze and found a mooring just inside the Paddington Basin Arm, which is where we will stay, whilst we help to set up for the Little Venice Cavalcade, which we are really looking forward to. Since being here we have had a visit from Roy on NB Gerald No13 and Wide Beam Minerva has pulled in to moor up in front of us. it has been a wonderful day and we are both pleased to be back in London.

Just a quickie.

Wednesday 22nd April.

Cowley to the Slough Arm Junction, 0.6 miles.

Last night Keith took me out for a meal to celebrate my Birthday, we had a lovely meal at the Malt Shovel. Well worth a visit if you really cannot be bothered to cook.

This morning we were woken up by the birds singing and the thump, thump of an engine as a boat passed us by. The sound of this engine is instantly recognisable as NB Gerald No 13. Roy was on his way to Little Venice. (See you there Roy).

We took the decision to move to the entrance to the Slough Arm for a few days, as we want to get some more paintwork done, which we cannot do at the Cowley moorings because of the trees. Our boat was covered in tree sap which has made the roof and sides very sticky. We left the 7 day moorings at 9.30am for a 20 minute jaunt in glorious sunshine.
Wouldn't it be nice of this weather lasted all Summer?
We will be staying here for a few days, before heading to Little Venice, where we will be helping to set up for the Little Venice Cavalcade at the beginning of May.

Keith and I received some great news via an e-mail today. Over the winter we cruised the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal. We were researching the possibility of doing a winter coal run on this section of canal, which would be from Mount Sorrel to Crick including the Market Harbrough and Welford Arms. Having been asked by a few people to be the coal boat on this section, we contacted BW reagarding this. This afternoon we received an e-mail from BW who have given us permission to be the coal boat on the Leicester Section, yippee. So if your thinking of wintering on the Leicester Section and you need coal, keep us in mind.

Taking it easy at Cowley.

Monday 20th April.

With Keith still feeling under the weather, we have been taking it easy whilst at Cowley. Keith has spent a lot of time sleeping and did not get up until lunchtime yesterday, but I have always thought that sleep is the best healer. Whilst he has been sleeping, I have been out and about chatting to other boaters. It was a pleasure to meet Duncan again on NB Zendu. The last time we met was when we had our other boat NB Misty Lady. He and his wife are still selling painted Canal Ware and jewellery. They have headed off this morning. I have also met Keith from NB Crystal Haze, he and his wife Chris are heading for the Little Venice Cavalcade as well. Yesterday a couple knocked on the boat, and it turned out that the lady had been following the diary since Hadar was just a base plate. It is always lovely to meet people who read our diary, whether they are boat owners or not. This morning the Land and River Gravel Boat caught my attention, and as Roy from NB Gerald No13 and I stood chatting, we watched in amazement as this huge boat manouvered into Cowley Lock. I helped with the lock gates and found out that unladen she weighs in at 30 tonnes, but loaded she can weigh 110 tonnes, which is really impressive, but yet she is still very manoeuvrable. Her steerer was telling me that even with her size, boaters still think they can take her on, especially in bridge 'oles. Now we all know which boat will win that battle ha ha ha. Her bow has the battle scars to prove it. At Cowley Lock, there is a lovely tea room called the Toll House. You can get a fabulous Sunday roast for £5.99 if you do not fancy cooking. Over the weekend it was very busy, as was the Malt Shovel pub. Where we are moored alongside the recreation park below Cowley Lock, in the park grounds someone has carved out this really lovely working narrowboat from an old tree trunk. The park is a very busy place, with football pitches, a childrens play area, Crown Green Bowling area and plenty of places to walk. Paddy is making the most of the park. He has loved walking there and playing ball. It looks like we will be here until Wednesday, giving Keith a couple more days to get over this virus he has picked up.

It's time to move on.

After a week of enjoyable toil and nose to the grindstone, Hadar is all ship shape and ready for the off.
Our Alarm went off at 6am, and I immediately got up and had breakfast, closely followed by Keith, who had not had a good night again. I took Paddy for a walk across the park, where the sun was coming up above the town of Uxbridge.
When we got back to the boat Keith and I did a few final things to prepare Hadar for leaving the dry dock, like disconnecting the landline and removing the gang planks. Chrissie and Paul did the same, we were all champing at the bit to get going.
Andy arrived at 7.40am and opened the paddle, which allowed water to come flooding into the dry dock.

It was no more than 20 minutes and the dock was full and both NB Anjuna and Hadar were once again afloat. We enjoyed our final conversation with Chrissie and Paul, who have been an absolute pleasure to share a dry dock with. Perhaps we should arrange to do it all over again in two years time. I reckon it worked so well, because were were like minded people. I am not sure I would want to share a dry dock with the neighbour from hell, as it is not as though you can just pull up pins and move, like on the towpath, you are stuck with them for a week. I hope that Chrissie and Paul did not think of us as the neighbours from hell, even if my singing was aweful when I had my Mp3 player going whilst polishing the boat. I have a naughty habit of singing along to the music, when I have my earplugs in. Once the dry dock was full the gates were opened and we were on the move yippee.Chrissie and Paul were the first to leave the dock on their boat NB Anjuna, which looked stunning, they were trying ever so hard not to touch the sides. We followed closely behind them, exiting out into a bright but very chilly morning. It was so nice to see proper light, after the artificial lighting we had endured for a week. Getting Hadar out of dry dock was a little more difficult being 70ft long, because boats are moored opposite, which gives very little room for manoeuvre. It is a 24 hour mooring and yet these boats have been there for weeks and not moved on. Now why does that sound so familiar?

We waved Chrissie and Paul off, as they were heading towards Denham and we were heading towards Cowley. It felt lovely to be on the move again, but no sooner had we set off we were descending Cowley Lock and mooring up on what were permit holder moorings last year but have been turned over to 7 day moorings, where Roy on NB Gerald No13 was already moored up. This will be our home for a few days.

Almost there.

Friday 17th April.

Having worked really hard all week, today it was nice to relax a little knowing we only had a few things to finish off. Having walked Paddy, my first job of the day was to walk into Uxbridge to do a little shopping, nothing to exciting, but things that needed to be done, like banking and food shopping. Just the usual mundane things that we all need to do from time to time Whilst I was away Keith painted the engine exhaust lagging with white emulsion paint in the engine room to seal it all in a hard exterior to keep it neat and clean, but also to stop Marmite from using it as a clawing post. She absolutely ruined the first lagging by clawing away at it. Painting it with white emulsion paint not only stops her from damaging the lagging it also keeps it clean. On returning from my shopping trip, which I managed to do without getting lost. I set about stowing away all the paint cans we had used throughout the week, I then began wiping down the gunwales and the bow, getting rid of out muddy footprints. After some lunch Keith and I then put the bow and stern fenders back on. Hadar was now coming together. I cleaned the brass on the summer chimney and then Keith attached the brasses. It seems that it is always the little jobs that take the time. With all the jobs finally out of the way, there was nothing else for it but to have a nice hot shower. I then did the last of the washing and drying, which meant I could fill the water tank back up. Hadar was now ready for the off on Saturday morning. After dinner we spent a lovely evening at the Hillingdon Boat club in the company of Mike and Julie from NB Solveigs Song, who have a mooring on the Hillingdon Canal Club moorings. We got to know them both through the Boats and Canals Forum, and have remained friends ever since. Over a couple of drinks we got chatting about the past years adventures, and the progress of their boat. It was also a chance to talk about what we hope to achieve in this coming year. There is always so much to stay to friends and just so little time, because before we knew it, it was home time. Mike and Julie if you are reading this, thank you for a lovely evening, we look forward to doing it again sometime. We got back on the boat and I could not help but notice the boats had move from behind us on the canal, so we had a clear view of The General Eliott pub all lit up at midnight.

We are almost there.

This morning our post arrived, thanks to Tina, who packs up our post and sends it on to us from time to time. It always feels like Christmas when the post arrives, because we never really know what to expect. After I had unpacked the box which the post came in Marmite claimed it for her own and made herself comfortable. The past couple of days have been long days especially with Keith not feeling 100%. We continued doing the paintwork on the boat. It has been worth the long days because Hadar is now looking very splendid. Today I finished painting the stern. I then washed, T-cut and polished the cabin sides and cleaned the brass. Keith has continued to work on the two Buckby cans that we have, they are beginning to look nice now. He needs to add another coat of red and then the white bands.Keith then gave our summer chimney a coat of black gloss to refresh it a little, as it has spent the winter under the back counter. Tomorrow the brass on the chimney will be cleaned.Yesterday after walking into town and having lunch at the Tai Pan, a chinese buffet restaurant, which was scrummy, I set about washing down the inside of the back cabin, now that the stove is out. All of the ribbon plates were taken down one by one, washed, dried and put back after I had washed the walls down. It does get very grubby over the winter, because the stove gives off a lot of dust from the fire, so it is no surprise how dirty everything was. In the photo above you can see our latest acquisition of a new ribbon plate. It is just to the right of the glass globe of the oil lamp. It is a hand painted picture of Annie Sanders by Joan Wandsworth, and very pretty it is too, and a welcome addition to our collection. The stove was given a coat of stove paint and will then be polished in a couple of days. The final job of the day was to hang the new curtains I have made. I now have a winter pair and a summer pair of curtains.
Tomorrow will be a day of finishing off and then packing away the paint pots and brushes.
We have had a few visitors over the past couple of days. Daisy and JohnBSA from Boat and Canals, Daisy is looking to crew a boat with someone, as she wants to learn the ropes so to speak, so if anyone wants a crew member for a few days then contact Daisy through the Boats and Canals Website. Mike from NB Solveigs-Song also paid us a visit yesterday. Today Roy from NB Gerald No13, along with his whippet Thomas arrived in Uxbridge and came to find us. They are coming to the Little Venice Cavalcade which takes place from the 2nd-4th May. So after another long day, we are now settled down in front of the TV watching a DVD, I am quite sure we will be in bed early again.

Busy, Busy, Busy.

Keith and I have been extemely busy with the blacking of Hadar, despite the fact that Keith is a little poorly with a cough and throat infection. Having jet washed her on Saturday, Sunday the hard work began with the first coat of blacking on the hull. We also blacked the gunwales of the hold. Thank goodness for the invention of the roller, it is a Godsend when blacking, as well as a good brush, all of which will get binned when we have finished. It is a lot of hard work, but well worth the effort. But I would say to anyone starting out, if your not sure of what to do, then get a boatyard to do the job for you, it does cost a bit more though. Blacking a boat yourself does keep the cost down once you know how to do it. Once the first coat of blacking was done, we set about rubbing down the stern.The bow took a lot of punishment over the winter, as we were ploughing through ice which was as much as an inch and half thick. The ice took some of the blacking off which had to be patched before we completely blacked the hull.Then hey presto it was done. All shiny and new. It always looks so nice when it is freshly painted and you feel like you have really achieved something. It's a shame to put her back in the water LOL. My last job of the day was to rub down the roof, as I wanted to start on that first thing in the morning.

We worked so hard that we were in bed early, but neither of us slept that great, Keith because of his cough and me, well it is my age hahahaha.This morning the schedule was to paint the boat's roof, with red enamel paint. It looks a little like red oxide primer and is extremely good stuff. I was surprised that it did not take me long at all once I got going. Whilst I did that Keith rubbed down the gunwales of the cabin, which are done in the same red enamel paint as the roof. Keith also rubbed down the undercoat on the stern ready for me to gloss, later in the day. In between doing these jobs, Keith touched up the sign writing on the bow and I touched up the paintwork on the engine room doors.Keith last job of the day was to rub down the Buckby can, which he has had for over 38 years and it still had its original paintwork, which was peeling off and looked very sad. Despite the fact that the Buckby can now has a few rust holes in her, we felt it was worth rubbing her down and giving her a new livery. Her first new coat of paint was some aluminium primer. My last job was to machine the curtains for the back cabin. Tomorrow we will be putting the second coat of blacking on the hull. It has been a very long day and we are both tired, so I am drawing to a close now, so good night.

Swan and Bottle to the Uxbridge Boat Centre.

Saturday 11th April.

Swan and Bottle to the Uxbridge Boat Centre, 0.6 miles.

Last night we were both looking forward to a good night’s kip, as we knew that today would be the beginning of a week’s hard work. So neither of us were too chuffed when we did not get a decent nights sleep. Keith did not sleep too well, just because he was thinking of what was going to happen today. I on the other hand did not sleep because of a selfish boater. Last night as always I made the back stove up, this took place at 8.30pm and as always I had the back doors open to allow the smoke to dissipate into the night air. There was not a sound from any of the three boats moored behind us. But by the time we headed off to bed, which was 10.45pm, I could hear a boat engine running, one of the three boats behind us was running its engine. To say I was miffed was an under statement, but I was hardly going to go out in my PJ’s to find the culprit, so I closed the back cabin and to be honest the engine did not sound too loud, so I thought it would not disturb our sleep too much, even though your not suppose to run your engine after 8pm, but obviously this person was extremely selfish and disrespectful. I did sleep until something jolted me into waking up. Feeling all hot and bothered I got up to get a drink and was totally incensed to still hear the boat's engine running. I got back into bed and began to wonder if perhaps something had happened to the person onboard, maybe they had fallen overboard, so could not turn their engine off, or maybe they had died onboard from carbon monoxide poisoning, as we are too well aware it does happen. No sooner had those thoughts gone through my mind the boat's engine was turned off and peace was returned to the cut. But now I was wide awake and despite trying to go back to sleep, it never really happened. So Keith and I were now both awake, and waiting for a time which it was more acceptable to get up.
Just recently I have been reading other peoples blogs when they also talk about disrespectful boaters and I can now add this event to the long list of things that are really totally out of order, by people who have no respect for others. If this boater needed to run their engine at such a late hour due to boat problems, then ok fair enough, but surely they would have the decency to knock on the other boats to explain their actions. That is what we would have done.
After a disrupted nights sleep, we got up and had breakfast and I walked Paddy. It was raining which made for a damp start. At 8.35am we left the Swan and Bottle mooring to head for the Boat Centre, where the dry dock was waiting for us to enter. We are sharing the dry dock with Chrissie and Paul on NB Anjuna. They are a lovely couple and we will greatly enjoy our week in dry dock with them. I am quite sure we will have a laugh whilst doing the hard work.
It took sometime for the water to drain out of the dry dock, so we did not start work on the boats until after lunch time. Paul suggested that because Hadar's hull was much cleaner than their boat's, that we should use the pressure washer first, which was really nice of him, because they had arrived in the dry dock first and we thought they should use it first.Keith got to work with the jet washer cleaning Hadar’s hull off. Apart from where the ice took the blacking off the bow over the winter, Hadar’s hull has faired extremely well, she was pretty clean. We then set about rubbing down the stern as the red, black and white needs repainting. We now have to wait for the hull to dry so that we can start blacking tomorrow all being well. I will post more photographs as we progress.

Harefield to Uxbridge.

Friday 4th April.

Harefield to Uxbridge, 4.1 miles and 4 locks.

After a couple of nice days in Harefield, we were going to head off, destination 'The Swan and Bottle' moorings in Uxbridge. It was not a particularly nice day, no sooner I opened the back cabin doors, Paddy and I were met with drizzly rain. Paddy therefore made his walk a quick one, he then did an about turn and legged it back to the boat, where he knew his breakfast biscuits would be waiting.
At 9.25am we let go, it was now drizzling quite hard as we approached Black Jacks Lock, where a family of Australian's were watching our every move. The lock was full and a boater waiting to come up opened the gate for us, this was much appreciated. We were lucky all the way down as the locks were either with us or someone was coming out of the lock, leaving the gate open for us.
We arrived at 'The Swan and Bottle' mooring, where there was room for us to slide into. Before taking off our coats and wet gear, we walked down to the Uxbridge Boat Centre, to let them know that we had arrived, as we are due to go into dry dock at 9am tomorrow morning.
For the next week we will be hard at work blacking Hadar's bottom and doing some paintwork jobs, so we may not be able to get online. So think of us up to our armpits in bitumen, whilst you are enjoying your Easter Eggs LOL. Have a wonderful Easter break whatever you are doing. I will take pictures and post if I can.

You can find us on ............

These days there are so many ways to keep in touch with friends and family over the internet. Keith and I are now using another site for keeping in touch with friends and family. You can find us on Face Book now as well. So if your a Face Book user come and say hello. You can contact me on my e-mail address jo_lodge@hotmail.com and I will be happy to add you.