Llangollen...

Here we come!

The house has fell through... I'm not going to dwell on it, we've all heard the excuses and reasons why before. So, we've decided to sod the house search for now and have some 'us' time out on the cut!

It's still quite early in the year and as everyone raves about the Llangollen canal and all it has to offer a boater we've decided to head straight out for it.  

Actually right now we're moored at Hurleston Junction at the foot of the first lock leading onto the Llangollen Canal.  We've got a problem with the Vacuflush toilet though so I'm catching up with the blog whilst Jeff tries to fix it before we can cast away. Hopefully he'll be able to sort the problem pronto as it's promised to be a beautiful day and rain is forecast for late this afternoon and the next couple of days.

I'll write more later (and post some photos) but better go help with this bliddy toilet problem!

Later, (16th May)...

Firstly, from The Staffs and Worcester Canal:

I expect a lot of boaters have a similar photo like this one at Gailey Wharf from some time or other.

Gailey Wharf, Toll keepers' watch-tower.

The gentleman who topped up our diesel tank at Anglo Welsh (Great Haywood Junction) recommended Tixall Wide as a good place to moor - very quite but lots of wildlife he said - yeah right, they must have all been hibernating when we got there.

Tixall Wide

Acton Trussell, The Moat House

Early May and we made it onto the Shropshire Union Canal and found a nice mooring beside the Anchor... Unfortunately for us it was closed (not sure for how long) but hey ho we have plenty of food and drink on board. The hippies on the boat just down the towpath provided the music!!!

High Offley, The Anchor

High Offley, The Anchor

I read about Hack Green Nuclear Bunker in the Nicholson guide and decided to pay a visit. It was only a 5 minute walk from the towpath and we really enjoyed it... Definitely worth a visit if you're passing this way.

Nantwich, Hack Green Nuclear Bunker

7th May and we made it off the 'Shroppie Shelf' (notorious to boaters - just Google it and you'll see what I mean) and headed into the first lock at Hurleston Junction. Now, although there is a huge sign there advising that the locks are narrow and for boaters to remove fenders, we newbies thought that our low ones under the gunwhale (is there a boaty technical name for these) would be ok... Nope, got stuck half-way in so had to reverse out again and now with and audience. Jeff then had to quickly remove them before proceeding (knew that Swiss Army Knife would come in)... How embarrassing!!!

Does this only happen to us?

Others cruise on by...

Better carry this on in another post as I've run out of characters in my labels setting!

Waiting in vain

You're not going to believe this but we still haven't completed on the house purchase... I know, I know, it couldn't happen to anyone else! I'm really starting to believe Jeff (the worlds worst pessimist) when he says if something can go wrong it will go wrong!  Of our dilemma, I asked our solicitor "does this happen often" to which he replied no, it's very rare... Well, he's making a blinking fortune out of us. 3rd Time lucky thought I but it's starting to look increasingly unlikely to go through again.  For one reason or another the vendor cannot complete so I've given them a deadline of Friday to sign or we're pulling-out!

I naively thought the UK house buying process was going to be straight forward but no, the first property that we had an offer accepted on we were strung along by the vendor for about 10 days only for them to 'change their mind' about selling and remove it from sale without even telling us or with any explanation.   The next we got a little further along in the process, 3 months  to be precise when we pulled out after the vendor tried to pull a fast one.  We were about 7 or 8 weeks down the line with this house purchase when I discovered  that the seller no longer has to provide the HIPs here in the UK, I thought this was still the law but apparently it was suspended in May 2010 and now generally considered scrapped.  No wonder then that people can just put their property for sale on a whim only to 'change their mind' when serious buyers come along! The financial costs are really starting to mount-up now with solicitors fees (over £1500 so far) and storage costs (at £55 per week.  Which is where I ask myself again...Why have we got 2 containers worth of crap when I thought I'd sold everything in France?).  I'll add it all up eventually but don't even want to go there at the moment. So, here we are 3rd time (not) lucky and it's all starting to go Pete Tong again. Oh well, Friday is crunch day!!!

Pointless sitting around twiddling our thumbs so to try to take the pressure off a little we've taken some time out and gone for a short cruise to Fazeley this last week. The weather's been dry and sunny but with a bitter wind blowing just to take the shine off.

All quiet on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

Working boat with tug

Not surprisingly therefore the waterways were fairly quiet with just a few passing boaters and most of those were 'working boats'.

At Fazeley Junction, a fellow moorer and CC'er (nb Elaine) who we got chatting to was singing the praises of these 'fuel boats'.  It got me thinking 'how do boaters keep track and locate these boats' so I got digging I've discovered a useful site listing quite a number of them... http://lock13.co.uk/boats/coaldiesel.htm it's good to see some of them are taking advantage of Social Networking sites: FaceBook and Twitter.  What would be even better is if they could all use a GPS tracking system like that on WaterExplorer so that they can be tracked in real time! The guy on nb Elaine (should have got his name) was happy to hang around for a week waiting for a fuel boat but I can't imagine everyone doing that. Talking of Twitter I've created a list of Tweeters uniquely for #LifeOnTheCanals that you may like to follow for all things boaty!

Oh, whilst on our return journey I snapped a few shots of the latest marina being built of our local canals at Huddlesford. Still early days but progress is definitely being made on the '130 berth marina' although I'm not sure what the proposed opening date will be. Contact number for information is 01865 873900!

 


We arrived at Fradley Junction late Wednesday afternoon and moored up for the night before heading back to Barton Marina tomorrow!

Fradley Junction Swing Bridge

Fradley Junction

Life goes on...

I don't want to tempt fate but I think we should be completing on our house purchase in a week or two.   Well, we've done everything our end so I'm hoping it's only now a matter of days.  It's been lovely living on the boat even with all the other horrible stuff that's been happening in our lives but I will definitely be looking forward to having our own pied-a-terre again. What I'm not looking forward to is emptying the storage units!

On the boat front: we're absolutely itching to 'get-going' but reluctant to go too far with the house about to go-through.  The licence has just been renewed (12 months for £769.21) so we're all legal and Jeff has booked The Cat into the dry dock at Barton Marina to have a new stern gland fitted along with a few other jobs. The weather has been lovely the last few days and we managed to get out last weekend for a short cruise up to Shobnall.  Just to say a quick hello to passing boaters or exchanging pleasantries with folks at the locks was lovely!

I seem to have spent hours following other boaters blogs and their journeys so it was great to be out in the real world rather than the virtual world. Although I have picked-up loads of info from these boaty blogs.  One of the things I have been noticing is that a lot of these savvy boaters seem to have an on-line tracking system for their boats and being a gadget sort of person thought I'd like one for The Cat.  I discovered the website waterexplorer and ordered the GPS receiver as recommended and downloaded the Navvygator software. It was a bit tricky to set-up but I managed and it is now working. I have put a link on the front page of the blog so that anyone can now see and track The Cat's Whiskers progress on the 'interactive waterways map' - useful for our family and friends maybe! 

Well, we're back in the marina for now but many of our narrow boat neighbours are leaving the marina now that March is here.  We are starting to feel a little left behind. I'm praying the house sale does go through quickly and smoothly now and then we will be joining in all the fun with the wonderful boating community!

Just a quick note to say that I have found a couple of great websites for all things narrow boats including http://www.canalworld.net/ and http://www.justcanals.co.uk/ 

Ode to Ruben... Our lovable but crazy woofer!

I can't believe this day has actually come around...

Last night I made one of the worst decisions that I've ever had to make in my life, to have our dog Ruben put to sleep. It felt so wrong to be doing this to what is a essentially a beautiful dog but we've endured 6 years of fear and tension having lived with his unpredictable rages. I haven't stopped sobbing for 24 hours straight but I know I made the right decision.

It was by chance that I spotted his photo on an animal rescue site just over 6 years ago now.  He was just a month old pup and I fell in love with him there and then.

Definitely not the runt of the Littler!

He was the chubbiest one out of a litter of 8 and when he was 12 weeks old we took him home. We got him micro-chipped, jabbed and started training and socialising him with other dogs and people within days.  We also got him neutered at about 10 months. Everything was great for another 12 months or so and then he had to visit the vets to have a blade of grass removed from his nose (he'd been sneezing like crazy).  For some reason he went into a rage when the vet tried to treat him and she ended-up having to sedate him and keep him in overnight to get it out.  She warned us then that he had a nasty side and to keep our eye on his behaviour.  We poo pood it initially believing she'd been a little severe with him but it wasn't too long after that that he proved her right by biting me. Each time he bit us or somebody else we made every excuse in the book for him but I was always living in fear that it was only a matter of time before he did somebody some serious damage.

Over the last  years his rages have got slowly more frequent where by during the last few months we've taken to muzzling him each time we go out.  I couldn't put off the inevitable any longer and made the painful decision last night to take him to a local vets and let him go!

I am beating myself up about it, I feel like a horrible person for making that final decision and will be grieving for months but I also know I've made the best decision for all and I'm just going to have to live with that!  We've got some beautiful memories of life with Ruben and it's those I'll remember whenever I'm thinking of him. I'm seriously wary of any dog I come across now and know I'll never own another dog in my life... I never realised how hard it would be!

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. 

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. 

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. 

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigour; 

those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again,

just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. 

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing;

they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. 

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. 

His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. 

Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. 

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. 

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Rubens life was documented throughout my old walking blog from when we lived and worked in France, you will find lots of photos and stories about him there but for now I've posted some of my favourites of him below!

Cheeky Chappy!

Caught mid air!

Paddling in a brook!

Me and Rube!

Cooling off!

Poser!

Close-up!

Drooling!

The Reward!

Stalking!

Favourite pastime!

Living on the boat

We've been living on the boat since 22nd December 2012 and I can honestly say I'm loving it.

Barton Marina, Christmas 2012

Cosy Salon

It may be winter and freezing outside but we're all cosy and comfy aboard 'The Cat'... It's just so relaxing, totally 'away from it all' and just think, if we like it now, how much are we going to enjoy cruising and life aboard in the warmer months. It's just what we all needed after the stress of the last few months.

Galley Kitchen

Life in Barton Marina is very laid back with plenty going-on right on your doorstep.  Well thought-out and beautifully landscaped with scenic walks around the many lakes it has all the usual marina facilities plus more to make life easier for the boaters.  There is also 'The Waterfront Pub' which although quite new has a nice cosy atmosphere.  They have live entertainment every Friday and Saturday night and although we haven't actually been yet (we get too comfy in the Captains chairs) we can't hear anything from where we're moored at the far side of the marina.

Moored-up in the Marina

There's also a new Thai restaurant called 'Nipa' which looks very nice (we're due to dine there next Saturday night with friends) and various 'artisan' shops including an excellent butchers. The lovely 'unspoilt' village of Barton Under Needwood is a pleasant 10 minute stroll away and is well served with lots of services too.

Cruising the T&M

Although we like it in the marina we can't wait to get out on the cut.  Last weekend we managed to escape it's confines and had a little trip down the Trent and Mersey to Alrewas (about 2.5 miles).

 Mooring at Alrewas

Entering the Lock

We hadn't started 'The Cat' since arriving at the marina but I'm pleased to report that she started first time.  Such a relief after all the hassle we had with my dad's old boat... No messing about spraying the engine with 'Cold Start' and all that nonsense. ;-)  The photos I've posted here were taken with my new iPhone (a recent treat to myself), my friend Jean spotted them after I'd posted them to my Facebook profile and joined us for the journey back on the Sunday... I think she enjoyed her first ever Narrowboat trip looking at her face!

Jean at the bow

Talking about the phone, I'm really pleased with my new gadget, I've spent hours discovering all it can do and having it hooked-up to the internet with The One Plan from Three is absolutely brilliant, all you can eat data, tethering and no worrying about topping-up.  Perfect for when we really get cruising. It's great to be finally catching up with the 21st Century.

On the home front... We'll soon be the proud new owners of a nice little semi that backs on to the Wyrley and Essington Canal if all goes to plan.  It has a decent size garden for Ruben, a great outlook onto open fields at the rear and once we've settled in we'll be contacting CaRT to re-establish an end-of-garden mooring for The Cat... Watch this space!

Ps I may have cussed my dads boat earlier but 'Norwind' will always have a place in my heart (as it did in his) and I'm truly pleased to still be in touch (via Facebook) with the gentleman who is now the owner of
it. He wrote earlier this month to let me know that he and his wife spent boxing day aboard the boat and appears to still be really pleased with the old thing... The boat not the wife that is :-)

That's it for now... Hopefully next time I post we'll be 'in the house'!

What doesn't kill you...

I'm hoping that, that well known quote 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger' proves true for us as we really have been through a tough couple of months since my last post.

Just when I thought our life was settling down to some kind of routine again my father sadly passed away. We were just a few days into what was supposed to be our first joint narrowboat trip together. We'd just bought our own boat so that we could all have our own space... As much as I love my folks we've tried living together before and know only too well that it's not a good idea.  My mum and dad have been narrowboat owners for about the last 15 years or so and had probably covered most of the inland waterways network in England and Wales.  They were going to 'show-us-the-ropes' as they say and so we decided to do the Leicester Ring as this had a wide range of different locks, rivers and attractions to initiate us newbies.

Mum, Dad and Rita on Norwind

Looking down The Cat!

Ruben On the Bow of The Cat!

Norwind on the River Soar!

My mum and dad set-off from Hatherton Marina where their boat Norwind is normally moored and cruised up the Trent and Mersey Canal to Mercia Marina at Willington where we were waiting with our  boat The Cat's Whiskers. My Auntie Rita was also aboard Norwind (she goes cruising with my folks quite often).  We all set-off together on Saturday 8th September... The weather was gorgeous and everyone was in good spirits. We had a lovely couple of days but all too soon my dad was struggling with his health.  He'd been quite poorly for the last few years with his ticker, in fact he had appointment to have a pace-maker fitted on the 28th September. We all wanted to get an ambulance out to him but he was having none of it but did agree for us to ask my brother to come fetch him home.  He actually took him straight in to Walsall Manor Hospital but unfortunately he only lasted 24 hours before his heart failed and he died on the Wednesday evening.

My Lovely Dad 'George'

 We'd left/abandoned the boats on the Grand Union canal at Leicester... Norwind was moored-up outside the Hope and Anchor pub at Syston and The Cat's Whiskers was at Kilby Bridge at Wigston. Once we'd got the funeral over we had to arrange to bring both boats home to their respective home marinas. It was an awful thing to have to do, 'bringing my dads boat home' but we managed and of course then my mum had to decide what to do with it.  The obvious answer was to sell it and to cut a long story short whether it was out of anger, grief or something else she ended-up 'giving it away' to a chap who'd shown some interest in it via Facebook. I am still in touch with him via Facebook and hope to see Norwind again someday!

Norwind Rescue!

The Sunsets over Norwind!

 I'm pleased to say we still have The Cat's Whiskers and she's now moored safely in Barton Marina. We are so looking forward to cruising her properly next year and hope to have many years ourselves enjoying the UK Inland Waterways!

Stressed but happy!

The title of this post sums up exactly how I'm feeling right now.  It's been just over 3 weeks since we arrived back in the UK after leaving France and our old life behind us forever.  

We've sold!!!

We're now in a transitional period and experiencing the joys of renting.  We've taken on a rental property for 6 months in what my mum would call a 'ticky-tacky' house, a 3 bed semi on a typical sixties housing estate in Pelsall.  Pelsall, once a village but now a suburb of Walsall (don't tell the locals though, they still 'affectionately' call it a village) is fine and I can truly say that I'm feeling the happiest I've felt in a long long time. I'm not sure why I chose Pelsall to live... I don't know it too well to be honest, it's somewhere I've always just 'passed through' without bothering to stop but it's turned out to be perfect for us right now.  I've been following a few folks on Twitter from this area and one lady @JayneHowarth has a great blog called Common People: news for Pelsall that's great for picking up local news.  Pelsall is so much more interesting than I realised.  Behind our house there's a lovely wooded walk which makes up part of the Timberland Trail in-between the rows of houses that leads to Pelsall Wood Common and the Wyrley and Essington Canal - Perfect for exercising Ruben. It's just 5 minutes drive from my parents in Rushall and pretty much central for all our old friends and family.

Timberland Walk

Pelsall Wood Common

Wyrley and Essington Canal

Going back to the French house sale... It wasn't entirely stress free I'm afraid.  We had agreed somewhat naively with the agent to allow our buyer to store some of his belongings at La Treille before signing the Acte de Vente.  We were a little wary of this as it's a big no no in the UK but the agent assured us "this was the norm in France" so we reluctantly agreed.  We were alarmed a couple of weeks later when the buyer, his brother and buddie arrived in huge vans crammed with their belongings.  We'd already made space in the barn for him but no way was this lot going to fit. He almost filled the downstairs of the barn (about 30 cubic metres)! Because he lived in Nantes (over 5 hours drive away) we had also agreed they could stay overnight in one of the gites.  Me being the hostest with the mostest had prepared a hearty supper and made them very welcome. This happened another couple of times over the next 3 months whilst we were all waiting for the sale to 'go-through'.  Everything seemed to be going ok (besides that is me being taken into hospital with anaemia and ending-up having a full hysterectomy op - another story that I'll have to post about later) when 2 weeks before the completion date we received an email from the agent informing us that the buyer had a delay in getting the full funds and the date for signing was going to have to be postponed for 10-14 days... Arghh!!! The amazing thing was, was that the agent and the buyer thought it was perfectly ok for us to leave as planned and hand the keys over to them before we had received any payment and they would arrange for a proxy to sign the Acte de vente on our behalf.  We were having 'non of that' and made it clear that we were not leaving the property without full funds being paid in full and further more we would not allow the buyer and his family any further access to La Treille until this happened.  After a few days of frantic calls the buyer  miraculously managed to scrape together the 80.000 thousand euros they were short from their family... Wish my family had that sort of dosh at the drop of a hat!!!  Anyway, thankfully after that  it all went through without any further hitches. I've exchanged a few emails with Pascal (the new owner) of  La Treille Gites and everything seems to have gone smoothly with the gite guests who had already booked with us but arriving after we departed. 

Back in Pelsall; I wouldn't say I'm totally relaxed though as we're spending a lot of our time house hunting.  What's making it doubly difficult is the fact that we've decided to buy ourselves a narrow boat. We used to have a plastic 'cruiser' on the canals just before leaving for France 8 years ago and we had some really good times.  The other reason is that we think it would be a kind of investment.  Unfortunately things have moved on in the last 8 years and the UK inland waterways have become ever more popular. This has in turn made mooring in a marina very expensive due to demand.  So, we had the bright idea of buying a house on the canal with moorings; hence saving ourselves in the region of £2000 per year hopefully.  We've been looking for 3 weeks for a property matching this description.  There are plenty in the 1/2 million + price bracket but for our measly budget of around £200k is proving pretty hard work.  After viewing a few places we're realising how little you get for your money if it's a canal location you're after.  I'm spending hours trawling the net, 'drawing search area's around the canals' on rightmove.co.uk and putting requests out to all and sundry on Twitter, Facebook and anywhere else I can think of in our quest for this particular property.  It's not going to be easy but we are not beaten just yet and will persevere with our search for a couple more months before rethinking our plans.

Jeff and Dad

Jeff at the tiller

Mom on the Bow

Mom and Dad

We are taking a few days off from the house search now and again.  On Sunday we spent the day on my parents 'historic' narrow boat called 'Norwind'. An iron composite 'butty style' boat with a wooden top originally built at Saltley boat yard in Birmingham in 1905/6. It has been renovated and chopped down several times but still going strong. My father spends hours messing about with it. We had a leisurely cruise up the Staffs and Worcs for about 6 hours stopping for lunch midway. Jeff and I both had a go at steering the boat. It's surprising how much you have to concentrate and not very relaxing at all.  I think I'll stick to 'doing the locks' and sitting on the bow reading my kindle.  Ruben loved it by the way, hopping on and off and running along the tow path... think he's going to love the narrow boat life too!