If i’ve calculated this correctly this should be my 100th blog post! I’ve obviously been writing a daily blog since we left for our narrowboat adventure back in July 2023 but i uploaded some weekly blogs until readers preferred a mixture. I’m very proud of reaching 100 blog posts as it’s not easy to keep up the momentum some days. I hope you’re still enjoying them.
Monday 29th January Day 191
Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me and offering support after a little moan recently. A memory came up on Facebook and i was saying exactly the same a last year so it’s obviously a winter thing. It’s muchly appreciated 🙂
It’s floor day ((Make sure you use your good eye!)) I knew the sympathy wouldn’t last long! As we wait for the vinyl flooring to arrive. We ordered it from best4flooring.com. the delivery isn’t due until this afternoon so we paint the final coat of green on the dinette panels and finish prepping the wood floor as we are fitting the vinyl straight on top so we have a nice level surface.
I somehow decide that it’s a really good idea to do our washing today. My thought process was that we will be hanging about waiting for our delivery so I can just keep popping up to the laundry room. I have two loads to do but there is only one washing machine and one dryer. I arrive to a feeling of smugness as the machines are free but then realise I’ve forgotten the washing powder or sheets that I use. ((Honestly!))
What I didn’t account for is that obviously as we are fitting the floor this afternoon once the floor has arrived everything has to go into the bedroom once again and the dryer here isn’t the best here so the towels, bedding and sheets don’t come out completely dry so I have to set up a drying station in the rest of the boat. I will add a video of it to Patreon which anyone should be able to watch! What a mess! I will add the link at the end.
Just as we are tucking into our lunch of noodles, of course, the floor delivery turns up and we scramble about rushing to get ready and out of the boat to meet the driver. At the same time the timer goes off for the washing. ((I’ve never seen you move so fast Peachy!)) washing brought back, vinyl flooring retrieved and it’s back to finish our noodles.
We were going to fit the flooring tomorrow but it’s about 2pm ish and we decide to go for it. I can tell you that fitting flooring on a boat in such a small space with many corners to go around the kitchen units and dinette is hard work esp when I keep having to have breaks because i still haven’t shaken this cold. ((the swear jar was overflowing!)) anyway, for a change we work well together and with a bit of patience we get the flooring down. It’s not completely fitted but we want to let the vinyl settle down before we do the final fit. Even now, the transformation is amazing. It looks so different and we love it. Cannot wait to share the vlog with you. Day done.
Tuesday 30th January Day 192
We get up and crack on with the flooring keen to finish the fitting and get the boat back in order. The surprise is that the wood trim we were going to change looks really good against the contrasting lighter floor and you can now see under the dinette ((no hiding stuff under the dinette now peachy!)) which makes the boat feel bigger. We are really pleased with the choice. ((and you haven’t mentioned multiple times that it was your choice. Nope, not you!))
Not much else to report today as we spend the day fitting the floor and making sure it’s all okay before moving everything back from the bedroom again. I will be so pleased when the boat is all straight again. It doesn’t make much disorder to mess up a boat as you will have seen if you watched the video yesterday. We have wanted to get achieve this finish since we bought the boat in May 2022, so it’s really big achievement for us.
It’s nice to finally have the dinette back in place as well as I have lots of admin and book stuff to catch up on. I’ve had some new followers on Amazon which is fab. If you have an Amazon account you just click on the ‘follow’ the author button and then when i publish any new books you’re notified. I’ve added a link at the end. Day done.
Wednesday 31st January Day 193
It’s the big boat clean and faff day along with wandering into the kitchen and dinette to look at how nice the floor looks. Because of all the sanding we have to give everything a clean before we put it back but it’s very satisfying. This also leads to us cleaning out the water pump in the shower room, as soon as the shower doesn’t drain quickly we know it’s time for a clean. It gets filled with soap and hair etc and it’s just good maintenance to do this job on a regular basis as otherwise it ends up smelling and potentially leaking which is what has happened before. ((Disgusting.))
Faffing of the boat done and it’s looking lovely and clean. I set up my camping chair in the lounge and set to cracking on uploading the tour around Manchester vlog to Patreon and scheduling it to YouTube for Sunday at 6pm. For some reason the signal seems to being kind today. ((I think last time your negative mood was blocking the signal)) you could have something there Brackets. When I used to live in York we had a stereo and if I went close to it when the radio was on it would make the signal go funny! ((Why am I not surprised))
Late in the evening I write up a little bit of my blog before treating myself to watching the last few episodes of the Last of Us – love an apocalyptic series and I appreciate how much we have done on the boat already but also that I’m feeling much better and have more energy. Day done.
Thursday 1st February Day 194
((Pinch punch first of the month and no return)) Darn it! Although in the real world it’s not the 1st of the month so it doesn’t count!
It’s a lovely bright morning as I’m sitting on my chair in front of a fire which is stubbornly refusing to light for some reason even though we have given it a through good clean and emptied the ashes. I’ve written a list and now I’m feeling much better, I intend to crack on and get some admin done today. This starts with updating the blog to try and catch up whilst also setting my photos to upload to icloud so I can start getting the next vlogs sorted. I also need to book my train tickets as I’m popping up to see family for a few days next week which also includes a lovely lunch out with some of my Patreons ((I think you will find they are my number one fans!)) I know, I know. They only read this blog because of you. They don’t realise what you’re going to be like once you get your own merchandise – which I am still thinking about a design before you mention it.
We are having a few days off the DIY, other than little bits and bobs and just enjoying the boat being tidy. I don’t know about anyone else but I struggle to focus on things when the environment around me is messy.
We have a food shop ordered for tonight between 7pm and 11pm. ((WOW. That’s late for you Peachy)) I know, but we needed shopping and it was the cheapest delivery time and tomorrow we are planning to go into either Stafford, Litchfield or Rugeley as we need some bits and bobs to finish off the DIY projects.
Lunchtime sees us tackling the usual boat jobs; emptying the toilet, getting some coal and filling with water. We are going to use our new gadget which measures how much water goes in. This will be really useful when out on the cut as all the water points vary with water pressure and as there is no gauge in the tank we never have any idea how much water we have or how big the tank is and as we are thinking of adding a washing machine onto the boat, it would be useful to know how much we have. ((coming to YouTube no doubt! Yawnfest))
After the boat jobs are done we decide to go for a walk. It’s the first proper one for me since getting back and the sun is shining and it feels proper spring like. Arriving back at the boat I make a coffee and then slip into the comfort of the dinette and the next four hours are spent finishing getting the blogs up to date and scheduling them. ((Wait a minute. You… as of this moment…. in time… this minute…. this second you’re actually up to date and have scheduled the following weeks blog??? Am I reading this right?)) yes, you are Brackets. Yes, you are. The nature of daily blogging means of course that you cannot write about it until you’ve lived it but just getting up to date is a massive win.
I’ve also planned a social media schedule for my New Zealand book as a little experiment to see if uploading pictures of our adventures on social everyday will generate more book sales. It will be five years on the 17th February which is just not possible it’s been so long.
Chris is currently editing the Jersey vlog with music! So we will see how that goes. It won’t replace the narrowboat vlogs will just be extra bonus content. Day done, very satisfying.
Friday 2nd February Day 195
We brave an early morning visit to the bus stop which isn’t actually marked as a bus stop. We stand on the bridge looking at the canal and watching just a couple of boat moving on the unusually quiet Great Haywood Junction which is normally a hive of activity. The bus turns up a few minutes late. It’s always a bit of ‘will they’ ‘won’t they.’ arrive on time.
We arrive into Litchfield. Is it just me or is it so hard to find anything you want on the high street anymore? We trail around the shops trying to find a few bits of DIY things and household items but it’s just impossible. Bring back Woolworths and all the Wilko’s shops – you could always rely on finding everything you needed there. We should have gone to Rugeley as at least they have a lovely independent hardware type shop when you can get all bits and bobs. It’s make no wonder places like Amazon do so well. ((are you finished?)) yes, just about. It’s just it seems a shame as I love wandering around shops but why bother when you cannot find what you need.
The bus is late to take us home so I end up missing the weekly book chat which is annoying but standard when using public transport in the UK and between the bus and the dodgy road i feel like all my bones have been shaken to bits when we finally get back. The rest of the evening is taken making a lovely tapas style tea and enjoying a few glasses of fizz. Nice to feel up to having a few drinks and chilling. Day done.
Saturday 3rd February Day 196
We decide to crack on with the rest of the DIY in the main area of the boat and it’s ready for a good clean after all that sanding in the kitchen and dining room. There are a few areas we need to tidy up which means the filler comes out first and then a repaint. I think we have finally found the right places for hooks, shelves etc. Although talking of shelves ((Yes please do. There is nothing as interesting as reading your blog to hear you talking about shelves. Riveting. If you don’t get a spread in Take a Break there is no justice in the world)) The shelves… I have been waiting for since we bought the boat as they are for my books. The books I’ve written and published so they are special bookshelves. It’s taken this long to really know how the boat works and how we want to live in it. So I’m creating a book nook! ((okay, fair enough then. That is slightly more exciting shelf talk))
There is of course the break from proceedings as the toilet needs emptying ((You know just because I said you don’t mention the toilet much anymore doesn’t mean you need to start!)) It’s a great faffing day getting jobs ticked off the list.
One of the jobs involves sorting the fire out as the paste isn’t working well. Once winter is done and dusted we will re-do the fire area again as we’ve changed our mind on keeping the tiles. As we will be taking out the flue to fit it all again properly we might as well change the tiles. Another job to do one day. It’s all safe for now to use until the weather warms up and we can stop using it.
We might possibly go our cruising tomorrow but we might just have to finish all these jobs and go out Monday. We will see how it goes and what the weather is like tomorrow. Jobs done. Blog updated and now time for a little glass of fizz. ((Another one!)) Day done.
Sunday 4th February Day 197
It’s a bit of a lazy start today ((Nothing to do with a few extra prosecco’s then?)) Hey a girl’s aloud a couple of drinks. Especially since I didn’t get to enjoy celebrating my book being finished. Also, the geese have decided to make their presence known in the early hours so we have a bit of a disturbed sleep.
Breakfast consumed and coffee drunk we finally get to stage of putting up my new shelves! Very, very exciting and they look fabulous. I still need to do some faffing as I intend to have a row just for the books I’ve published; because why not, after all those years spent writing them and all the hard work. I can see the bookshelves from the dinette where I normally work so that’s a bonus. They make the boat feel so homely and I’m very pleased with how all the work is going on the boat. If we carry on like this, then everything we want to get done will be finished before we leave the marina.
This morning we did wake up to it being a bit too windy to go out so may try again tomorrow. It’s annoying we have to go out of the marina to finish the grinding but looking ahead the temperatures are going back down to zero again so we won’t be able to paint the bow and stern anyway. We will just have to hope we get a couple of days decent weather so we can get it done before we leave the marina.
Chris makes the most of the lazy Sunday and goes back to bed for a power nap as I start to do some of my new jigsaw but I set that aside to get this blog finished and uploaded so I’m as ahead as I can be. I mentioned I’m off the visit family next weekend and want to enjoy time with them. I am going to take my laptop so I can work on the train. I’m itching ((Too much information Peachy)) to get into the canal book and make a start on the editing and research for the history snippets we are going to add.
It’s raining outside as I wrap this up. Time to make another coffee and get back to the jigsaw and listening to my audiobook. The third in the R.R. Haywood; The Code Series which I was going to give up on but glad I continued, even if it’s not his best series. There is still enough in the plot and characters and it’s narrated by Colin Morgan so a delight to listen to. I’m looking forward to hanging about in my reading corner tonight and tackling one of my many kindle books or maybe i might finish one of my paperbacks. What are you reading at the moment?
Another week done. Until next week. Oh and don’t forget our latest vlog should be on Youtube at 6pm. 🙂 x
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C.L. Peache 