Tuesday 6 September
We are on our way. Way to where, I just don’t know yet. Nor do my humans; nothing new there then.
This is our fourth adventure for those of you that are new to my travels. After travelling some twenty-eight European countries since twenty-thirteen, we decided to explore the waterways (mainly the canals) of the U.K. After a series of setbacks and dilemmas with our recently purchased narrowboat – to be referred to as V.P. or N.B. in future writings – we set off yesterday. Because V.P. wanted to remind us who is the boss, she began slowing down quite quickly after leaving Tardebigge. Tom pulled over on to the towpath in order to take a look at her workings, and realised that the gear box had flooded. Yelp!
Leigh stood holding the centre rope to keep V.P. from straying and Rosie and I had a mooch around the towpath. After a while Tom gave orders (I keep thinking Leigh is back in the Navy; as Tom drives the boat she must be the subordinate rating) to us all to jump aboard. V.P. then limped to a very conveniently located boatyard.
Apparently the ‘O’ ring on the gearbox needed replacing. It was done this morning, much to our relief. According to the boat engineer, this is a common fault on NB’s and only cost us a mere fifty pounds. Now, you may think I am being flippant here but…a few weeks back Tom told us the word ‘boat’ stands for ‘Bring Out Another Thousand’, and I can tell you this is very true. Everything on a boat costs much more than it would in a house. We have spent an awful lot of money on fixing up V.P. but we will not give up on her. She now looks, and is, ship-shape. All the bodge jobs – and there have been many – have been sorted out in a ‘good and proper’ manner. If you are wondering what I mean by bodge jobs here are a couple of examples:
1. Every light fitting and electrical connection had wires either hanging loose or just twisted together instead of having a connecting block joining the wires. A fire hazard for sure.
2. When Tom replaced some of the interior ‘tongue and groove panelling’ he found it had been fixed to the wall with…double sided tape. Looking on the bright side it could have been Blue Tack!
Anyway, here we are, moored up for our second night at a pub – no surprise there eh? Last night my humans ate at the Weighbridge Pub in Alvechurch; award winning beers and a hearty dinner in a pub built around a Weighbridge made for a good night out. Rosie and I stayed home alone for an hour and Rosie was not happy! Tonight, Tom is meeting a couple of buddies whilst Leigh relishes the thought of having time to do notalot! She may wander over and meet the guys for a quick drink, but she has a video meeting with a contact in New Zealand first – isn’t technology amazing (when it works)?
All in all we have had an enjoyable day today. The weather has been warm, we had a family of almostgrowncygnets pop over to say hello, saw a beautifully vibrant kingfisher darting in and out of the water (the turquoise of his feathers appeared almost fluorescent), Leigh picked blackberries and made blackberry and apple yoghurt-topped pudding, and I enjoyed toddling off down the towpath a couple of times.
Unfortunately, Tom came and fetched me back quite quickly – what a meanie? Leigh laughed when she saw me trotting back toward the N.B. – she told me that I seem to acquired a newly found confidence; perhaps I have!
Woof
Martha xx
Travels with Martha – Worse things happen at sea!
It is around four o-clock in the afternoon on Wednesday fifteenth July as I write today’s diary. The start of this new adventure began yesterday when we collected our narrow boat from Tring. Mega-excited, and full of optimism, we loaded her up with the contents of our faithful caravan and set off for a pub about an hours cruise up the cut. As Tom steered, Leigh thought she would have a quick clean up and start to put some of our things away. Thinking a quick clean up would be in order was the first mistake. Have you ever moved home and as your last items go in the removal van you pop back into your old home to make sure you have left it spick and span? Leigh always does…and she assumed that the previous owner of the boat would too.
Now, before I rush ahead let me take you back to the beginning of this adventure – which we decided upon whilst overwintering in Spain. On our return to the UK last month my humans started looking for a narrow boat to purchase. All we needed was a boat had been manufactured after the year two-thousand, with a decent sized living area and in good, clean condition. Should be easy enough eh? It wasn’t. We saw lots of tatty, old narrow boats and a few that were (in Leigh’s words), ‘OK, but not doing it for me’ and a couple of gorgeous boats which were not quite big enough for the four of us. Then we came across an advert on eBay for a beautiful blue narrow boat that floated our boat – pun intended. Yelp!
This boat was well designed with some lovely features, and the owner was Prince Charming himself (slight exaggeration). My humans loved the boat – although she was over budget – and Prince Charming explained that because she was, ‘rather special and a bit unique’ (plus the fact that we had seen a lot of boats in the same price bracket which were not quite ship-shape), he couldn’t do a lot on the price. We all agreed that she was worth the money and paid a deposit to secure the purchase. Prince C. also took us out on a day trip to see how she ran – and all seemed good. We then booked the necessary boat survey where she was pronounced fit for travel and she became ours on Monday.
Her name was originally ‘Drunken Duck’ but had been changed by Prince C. to ‘Dancing Duck’. Now, superstition has it that you shouldn’t change the name unless the boat is out of the water but because it doesn’t seem to have brought any misfortune on Prince C. we threw superstition to the wind. As it happens, I don’t believe in superstitions generally – although I do hold my collar until I see a human if I see the back of an ambulance. Anyway, to bring you back to last evening, when Leigh started to clean she retorted that ‘Dancing Duck’ should have been named ‘Dirty Duck’. The hidden parts – drawers, fridge, cooker, microwaves, cupboards were filthy.
The lesson here is to check everything if you purchase a boat, a house, a caravan or whatever. Because my humans believe in keeping things clean (and pretty sound people) they often believe others (especially those who portray a pleasant character) are the same. How on earth Prince C. could live like this I have no idea. Funnily enough he sold the boat to move in with his girlfriend – I pity her. She’ll soon be answering to Cinderella methinks!
There are a few other issues with the boat which Tom will need to ‘de-bodge’ and sort out. The biggest problem today is that the engine started cutting out. Tom called an engineer out – a really helpful guy – who spent some hours trying to fix it. We now have a day or two moored up here – just north of Tring – waiting for parts to arrive. Yelp!
Once we get to our planned mooring at Tardebigge in Worcestershire we will spend a few weeks sorting the boat out. Leigh is looking forward to purchasing a new fridge, a sofa-bed, seat cushions for my work station (dining area) and microwave, to replace the ones in the boat already. When she is in tip-top condition we will get her out of the water, black her bottom and set off – although we are not sure exactly where yet. That is pretty usual for us, as you will know if you’ve read my previous books. You will also know that my humans are as dogmatic as me and Rosie and we will not let this tricky start set us back. We will re-name the boat ‘Very Pinook’ when she is out of the water at Tardebigge, which will suit her when she is superclean and looking bambox (as Leigh’s mum would say).
Before setting off today Leigh, Rosie and I went for a swift walk up the cut. When we got back to the boat Leigh noticed that Rosie’s paw was bleeding quite profusely. Tom bathed it and managed to get it to stop after about ten minutes and Leigh found Rosie’s dew claw by the door – she must have caught it and ripped it on when getting back on board. Yelp! That was just the first accident of the day.
Whilst travelling this morning we hit a flight of locks, one after the other. Poor Leigh didn’t even get chance to jump back on board between them, as they were so close together. She had two minor accidents resulting in a red, swollen finger and a cut, swollen and bruised ankle. After closing the gate of one particularly tough lock, the windlass spun off and bounced off her leg. Actually, she was lucky it didn’t break a bone. Limping along, she carried on and did the next lock – and then a small miracle happened. Both humans were grabbing a quick cup of coffee when a lady called at the boat. She told Tom that she and the guy with her were lock volunteers, and wondered if she would like him to operate the next couple of locks for him. He said that would be marvellous, explaining about Leigh’s injuries at the same time; the volunteers then proceeded to do the next three locks whilst her ladyship drank coffee and sat up front chatting. Both humans thanked the volunteers and the lady volunteer told Leigh that she had had the same experience with windlass at the same lock, so she would get it checked out.
Around midday we stopped off at the Blue-Bell cafe near Marsworth, for sausage sandwiches and scones. Rosie, Leigh and I then went for a lovely walk around a pretty reservoir. On the way back to the boat we rounded a corner and encountered a rather huge heron! He took a quick glance at us and launched into flight so effortlessly, and in silence, that I couldn’t help but marvel at him. I thought we would have heard the sound of his wings furiously flapping, yet there was not a sound. It was really exhilarating to be upcloseandpersonal with such a fabulous catcher of fish.
The other experience that made me realise how wonderful life on water can be, is when I spotted a flock of Canadian Geese swimming past our boat. They were all adults so I didn’t take a great deal of notice, but when I looked out of the window a few minutes later I could see they had been joined by some youngsters; not exactly chicks but very young geese. It was just so lovely to see them all swimming along. It was as if the parents had been off to whoknowswhere and then returned to take the little ones out to play. A little later on (when we were still moored up while the engineer and Tom worked on the engine) Leigh, Rosie and I ambled past the geese – who were now sitting in the sun on the bank of the canal – and they hissed at us. I had never noticed how geese hiss and stick their tongues out at the same time. They reminded me of those rugby players who do that funny old routine called something like the ‘hacka’. I just watched them out of the corner of my eye and thought to myself, ‘How rude?’
The last accident of the day was when yours truly went bounding down the boat to see what Tom was up to. As I ran past the bedroom and up the steps to the stern of the boat I fell into the engine bay. I hadn’t realised that the floor access would be open. Yelp!
Woofs, Martha xx
P.S. Funny thing is that Leigh, Rosie and I all have poorly paws now although Leigh’s is her back paw and Rosie and mine are front paws!
Travels with Martha…a new beginning!
15 May – Tring comes up trumps!
Oh I am so woofing excited. Have you read Narrow Dog to Carcassonne? I haven’t yet (for several reasons) but it is on my list for at least one reason – my humans have only gone and bought a narrow boat for our next adventure. Yelp!
It all started when we were in Spain. The four of us were discussing what to do on our planned return to Blighty. Leigh and I definitely didn’t want to move back into a brick house, cottage, or the like; we just don’t feel we want to settle in one place, nor do we want to live a traditional life. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with traditional life, or living in one place, but we are just not ready for it yet. That is the one disadvantage of uprooting and living the life of a traveller for three years – settling back down is going to be difficult. The thought of it makes me feel a tad claustrophobic. Strange isn’t it?
Anyway, since arriving back in the UK we have been to visit a few boatyards where we have managed to view a variety of narrowboats. We started out with no idea of what we wanted but after chatting to boat-owners and brokers, and looking at different sizes and layouts, we just knew when we saw the last boat of the day today that it was ‘It’; it was ‘The One’; it felt like ‘Home’.
She is a traditional narrow boat, fifty five foot in length and beautifully appointed. As you enter from the stern you come into the bedroom (we would have preferred a boat with reverse layout where you enter via the galley, but this is a small sacrifice). There is a contemporary headboard in light grey that Owen (current owner) has created – this makes the bed appear very cosy and homely – you then come to a little corridor with a door off to the bathroom – which is super and looks just like a bathroom in a house (better than we expected). You then come to the open plan living area.
The kitchen is very neat and thoughtfully laid out with a large window to let the heat out when cooking, the dining table can be used as a work-station (handy for my writing), the long L-shaped sofa has a dogbedsize space between it and the log-burner. There are lots of nice features including mood lighting, which I imagine will make the boat seem supercosy during the long winter evenings. There is an even a T.V for the humans – they can watch Ceasaer Milan all they want but if they think I am in any way ‘trainable’ they are very misguided. You’d think they would have learned that over the last nine years, yet they still try now and then. Yelp!
As I sit here, typing away, I can hear Leigh excitedly yapping on about re-covering the dining chair/bench in leather, and buying new bed linen and towels in duck-egg blue. Tom replied by saying if she sees buying a boat as a ‘shopping opportunity’ then he may want to ‘up-grade the engine’. I think that is a little unnecessary myself but I do fancy a duck-egg blue blanket…on the sofa.
Woof, Martha xx
PS Leigh here – don’t worry, Martha is not allowed on the sofa, so if you come to visit you will certainly not end up covered in dog-hairs. That. Dog. Is. In. For. A. Shock. – A new training routine is going to be set in motion!
It’s a Girl Thing – Dressing Up
Dressing Up
Whilst we have been living like grown-ups, in a proper house (finca) for the last six months, I have managed to catch the news on BBC1 most mornings. I do enjoy the Breakfast show and like to listen to Steph who does the business news – she brings a bit of fun (and glamour) to the programme.
Anyway, this morning she was discussing the pros and cons of ISA’s, with an independent financial advisor (whose name I forget). The F.A. Not only gave out some excellent advice, but also looked gorgeous; as I was watching I thought, ‘I love her purple dress, it’s just my style and colour’. Then I realised I have a very, very, similar dress…somewhere in storage along with so many of my things.
Sharing my thoughts with Tom, I realised that I soooo miss dressing up. I used to dress up for work, for going out to dinner, for lunch with friends and for shopping trips. Nowadays I dress up very infrequently; the farmer would think I’d gone nuts if I paraded around the orange and lemon groves in a dress and heels.
When I do dress up it is in the same few dresses. Four at the last count, which gets a little boring. A lot boring actually.
We are headed back to the UK in a few weeks where I am hoping we will be able to buy – and live on – a narrow boat for twelve months. You are probably now thinking, ‘Surely you are not going to wear your purple dress and heels on a narrow boat…’, and you would be partly correct. But…I can at least bring it (and a few other darlings) out of storage so that when I go to work (delivering trainings mostly) I can wear it and take delight in dressing up again.
I did dress up a couple of weeks ago actually. Tom had given me the gift of a Spa voucher, including an overnight stay with dinner and cava, for Christmas, and we managed to use it over the Easter weekend.
It all went well; the Spa and Golf resort (La Finca) was gorgeous. Very minimalistic but serving spectacular food, having an immaculate and large spa area, and offering huge rooms (we could have fitted our caravan in twice-over). However, I looked like a safari.
I had taken my zebra-print maxi-dress and the only high heels I possess just now – leopard-print! Thank heaven the dress was a maxi – at least the shoes were partly hidden. I didn’t know whether to make the high-pitched yip of a zebra, or the guttural sawing sound of the leopard, when I looked in the mirror. I ended up laughing like a hysterical hyena. Hey-Ho.
Dressing up, whether you are a little girl mooching through your dressing-up box, or a big girl getting it right (or wrong in my case)…It’s A Girl Thing,
Hugs, Leigh X