Monday 22nd January Day 184
In the real world it’s Wednesday 31st January and I’m finally feeling well enough to crack on and write my blogs which means the weekly blog is back! ((it’s about time Peachy but I’m sorry but being well won’t last. Well in real life time you’re better…))
I wake up feeling surprisingly okay today so make the most of it and we crack on and finally start the boat jobs. We probably have about another six weeks in the marina until we get out on the cut again weather permitting, we may go sooner if the weather picks up. I’ve never known so many storms in such a short space of time and don’t fancy cruising in that kind of weather.
Anyway, we get up both ready to DIY which is rare ((I’ve still got the swear jar standing by!)) First job is to move everything out of the kitchen and dinette area and into the bedroom since we are sanding today and I didn’t want to get everything covered in dust, then it’s sandpaper at the ready. We set about sanding the dinette as we are going to varnish some of the panels and paint the others, just to make it a bit more homely and freshen it all up. Then the other area for sanding is around the stern doors. The control panel cupboard, around the steps and wood trims.
We also manage to finally fix the control cupboard door which has been hanging off and a real nuisance since we bought the boat in May 2022! I cannot believe we will have been living on a boat two years come May. Anyway, as is usual with jobs you put off for ages, we sort it in about 20 minutes and finally we can look in, check wiring etc without having to hold the door open fearing its going to fall and rip out all the wiring.
It’s pretty much a full day of sanding as I also tackle one of the doors which has about 15 layers of green paint. I want to strip it back to wood as where it’s situated it gets a lot of use when we are cruising as that’s where we store things we need, so hence lots of dirty hand prints which are difficult to get off after time. A good varnish and it will be easier to wipe off and will look better.
It’s nice to get stuck into these jobs now that I’ve finally sent my book off to my publisher for editing. I probably won’t get it returned to me for maybe another month depending on their timeline so it means I can crack on with the DIY. I also need to get the canal book in some order and do some research on areas to add in. I want to publish the canal book in time for Xmas so I need to get as up to date as I can. It’s a ‘year in the life of’ ((I wouldn’t bother buying it as most of you will have already read it if you’re reading this)) Hey, don’t put off my readers. There will be a lot more to it… hopefully! I also need to crack on editing my psychological thriller. ((Yeah, yeah we have heard it all before. Your mum is going to disown you if you don’t finish that thriller!))
I need to start thinking about the cover for the canal book, as I said before I was interrupted, ((Sorry, i’m sure. Just keeping it realistic)) it’s a year in the life so started in July 2023 – July 2024 so if I can be somewhere near then i can get it edited. Unless I decide to try and get a publisher for it. We will see.
That’s it. ((Peachy it’s probably a good time to commit a murder as you will probably have no fingerprints left after all that sanding – there you go a free idea for a book – I literally do all the work around here!)).
Tuesday 23rd January Day 185
Today we catch the bus into Stafford as we need to get some bits and bobs for the DIY jobs on the boat. We also want to look at some vinyl and carpet for the kitchen and dinette area. I really like Stafford, it’s got everything you need shop wise. We, of course, do the usual charity shop wander to see if we can find any bargains. I spot some good jigsaws but I was lucky enough to get a couple for Christmas and don’t have the space on the boat to store more.
Uh oh, just as I start to think I’ve got away with this illness I start to feel very, very tired as we are walking around. ((Oh come on. You’re stringing this one out Peachy! Just have a cold or something and get over it)) It’s not my fault. It’s this time of year. I used to think getting ill was because I worked in education and when it was the new term after Christmas everyone got together and shared their germs but I hardly see anyone now. I think it’s probably due to a lack of vitamin D to be honest. ((Do you remember that time you went to the doctor and asked him for a prescription for a holiday abroad?)) ha, ha! Genius idea – I reckon a good week in the sunshine at the beginning of January would top everyone back up to avoid the winter colds. He was the best doctor ever, even if he didn’t write me a prescription for a holiday.
We pop into Sainsburys to pick up some shopping and then it’s back to the boat. ((Well, at least you’re not boring everyone with tales of emptying the toilet all the time like you do when you’re cruising. I bet everyone is looking forward to reading about that again!)).
Wednesday 24th January Day 186
It’s more boat jobs today as the sanding is finished so it’s time to crack on with the painting and sorting the kitchen. Back when we bought the boat in May 2022 we sanded and painted the ceiling and all the walls as we didn’t want quite so much wood showing and our intention was always to live with it for a bit and then see what else we wanted to do and now is the time to crack on whilst we are hooked up to the shoreline for electric and can have deliveries to finish the job.
It’s going to take two coats of undercoat and three coats of the green paint which is very tricky to use. It really is the worst paint I’ve ever used and wouldn’t buy it again but because we used it in the rest of the boat, we need to use the same make and colour. Next time we repaint we will use something else. Anyway, it’s starting to look really good. Although the boat is an absolute tip. I thought it was difficult doing DIY in a house, it’s nothing compared to a boat. There is just no space to move everything from one room to another but hey, ho, we will just have to live with it.
We finally decided on a vinyl flooring for the kitchen and dinette and put the order in. We cannot wait to get it down and see what it looks like. Hopefully it will be the modern look we are after. ((You’ve not mentioned being ill yet?)) Well, I took your advice thinking people will be sick of it but I have been ill with a cold so just rested in between doing jobs ((I knew my encouragement of pulling your pants up would help!))
I normally upload the YouTube vlogs to Patreon on a Wednesday so my Patreons can enjoy ((That’s a strong word)) them before they are live to everyone else but the internet it playing up ((That will be your endless moaning deflecting it)) and I leave it for an hour and it’s only uploaded 1% before I give up. In Jersey when I had access to proper internet it took 20 minutes to download and upload from Canva to Patreon and YouTube so just shows the difference.
If you would like to take a look at our Patreon account then please do click on the link. You can just sign up to follow our Patreon account and not the monthly subscription. It’s where i share the vlog early ad free but also any cruising plans and hopefully some book special offers to come! Day done. Until tomorrow.
Thursday 25th January Day 187
In between cracking on with the boat jobs and resting I attempt to upload the vlog again to my Patreon account but that fails again. I finally manage to get it to upload to YouTube but it takes four hours. ((Soul destroying Peachy!)) I know, boat life for you. We did have a Sim card in the router but the price has increased from £10 to £25 per month as we had an offer so we we’ve had to cancel that. I’m going to try and either go to the farmshop coffee shop ((Of course you are)) or put my sim in the router when I need to upload and download videos. I need to sort the videos from Jersey and the boat renovations so need a good signal otherwise it will take forever.
We are getting itchy feet now ((OH for God’s sake not another thing wrong with you!)) Not like that, it’s a metaphorical statement – I think, is the right word? ((I don’t know, you’re the author!)) I mean in the sense we are feeling like we want to cruise. We can leave the marina, well other than when we have been frozen in for a few days and then come back as we are paid up until the end February. The main issue with marina life is that the view out of the windows is just another boat. Obviously on the stern and bow you have a bit of a different view out but it’s cold sitting out there unless it’s a sunny day of course. We are planning to go out for a couple of days as soon as the weather is right so we can finish the grinding on the bow ((Oi, oi!)) come on now Brackets, you know I mean angle grinding. If you remember we cannot use noisy tools in the marina so we need to get this job done before we can finish the painting done and we want to paint the bow and stern before we leave so the paint has a good few weeks to set properly before it has us walking on it and ropes pulling against it.
After more jobs done it’s time to get everything out of the bedroom so we have somewhere to sleep.
Friday 26th January Day 188
I should really have been promoting my fantasy book but what with boat DIY and being poorly it totally slipped my mind. I really enjoyed writing my fantasy series Festival of Time and every so often the characters slip into my thoughts and I wonder what they are up to. It’s strange how you think of them as being real. ((Bit like me Peachy. Imagine if you writing me made me actually real??)) I dread to think! This is a along the theme of a book written by R.R.Haywood called Fantasy Land. Well worth a read if you get the chance.
Festival of Time is about time travel through portals between different worlds. It opens with Thanan, Star and Pol; the three main characters being trapped on a world they are trying to escape; hence the name of the first book; Escape which is three years old today! It was a real challenge to write a trilogy because you have to make sure you tie up all the plot lines and I was determined from the outset that the series would have a proper finish and the reader wouldn’t be left wondering what happened. It really was a pleasure to write and I feel a little bit sad that I don’t sell more copies. ((You need to promote them Peachy!)) I know, this is the difficult part. I would say writing a book is the easy part ((OH yeah, of course it is. All the moaning you’ve done the last few weeks!)) that was partly because it was editing. It’s an absolute joy to write a new novel and I’ve now spent probably a few years editing stories I’ve already worked on. I really feel the need to write something new.
Marketing books is a whole different skill set to writing a book and I’ve spoken before about how when I’ve written a book I just want to move onto the next one but I still need to recoup some money from the producing the Festival of Time series as I paid for editing, typesetting and the fabulous covers. So if you’re into fantasy then please do take a look at the link below. I’ve been told by a few people the series should be made into an Amazon or Netflix series so if there is anyone reading this who can make this happen… ((Clutching at straws there Peachy!)) I also need to develop the board game I’ve spoken about before which runs along side this series but I need to find somewhere who can produce it and then find the money to create it but it’s on the list for ‘ONE DAY’
Wow, you’ve actually managed nearly a whole blog about books! I know. Sorry, for all those people who follow my blog just for the author stuff. I know it’s been taken over a bit by the narrowboat life but that is still part and parcel of the general life and trying to ‘make it’ as an author. This April it will be 6 years since I started this writing journey and other than it would be nice to have a more of an income from it, I’m very pleased with the progress I’ve made generally and maybe I just need to get a bit better at marketing!
In boat news… Chris tried to catch the bus into Stafford today to get me some eye drops and cold remedies as I can now barely open my eye but the bus didn’t turn up! He will try again tomorrow. Day done. until tomorrow x
Saturday 27th January Day 189
Uh oh, it’s finally, finally got me and I wake up feeling quite ill and the eye
Uh oh, it’s finally, finally got me and I wake up feeling quite ill and the eye infection has spread to both eyes so all in all I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not adverse to enjoying staying in bed all day but not when I’m ill. Chris even asks me of I want a doctor so I must look and sound a bit rough. What a faff that would be getting a doctor to come or actually get to one when I’m still registered with the one in Newark.
Of course, as I try and stay in bed to rest someone starts working on the boat next to us. No-one is living on it and when we check someone is fitting a cratch cover. There is a bit of noise ((Wait a minute. I thought you weren’t allowed to make noise!)) one rule for one, Brackets it seems as over the coming week people are definitely using power tools but hey, ho. We are not the type of people to moan to the staff. If they can get away with it then good on them. We know what it’s like when you have a job you need to get done on a boat.
Chris banks up the fire and feeds me before heading back to the bus stop and into Stafford to get me some medicine. I get up as there is no point trying to sleep and do some gentle faffing and tidying in between lying on the sofa in front of the fire with cold patches to soothe my eyes. Thank goodness for audio books. My eyes are way too sore to read, watch tv without squinting or use the laptop so audio books are my go to for a few days.
That’s it for today. Being ill is so boring when we have so much to do. I really wanted to get a coat of green paint of the dinette but that’s the way it goes.
Sunday 28th January Day 190
Today is a bit of struggle but I will not let this illness beat me. After bathing my eyes so I can open them and drinking a few cups of coffee which is my go to prescription for a cold. I have to rest between jobs but between us we manage to get the first coat of green paint on the dinette. I do the cutting in with a brush and then Chris goes over it with a roller and we have a wry smile at the sound of people working loudly on their boats.
I normally upload my weekly blog today but there is no chance as five mins screen time is about the maximum I can manage before it’s just too painful. So, I upload the blog for tomorrow with the intention of just uploading a daily blog so I will write, edit and upload as I go along until my eyes want to work again. ((Sorry for the pirate jokes Peachy. I didn’t realise they were so bad. It’s because you’re so dramatic all the time. It’s hard to know if you’re just playing up)) Thanks, I think! Anyway, that’s enough screen time so until tomorrow. Day done and week done if you’re reading this on Sunday. Thanks for sticking with it despite me moaning! x
Links…
Read Escape part of the Festival of Time series here. Only 99p!
Check out our Patreon account here.
C.L. Peache 