Monday 12th February Day 205
Mum and I get up early today as we have two more episodes of The Tourist to watch and I don’t have the channel to watch it on the boat. Wow, what a series. Highly recommend it if you’re into thriller/dramas.
At 11ish I finally say goodbye to the family and it’s back on the train. Once again, everything goes smoothly with the trains until I get back to Stafford to catch the bus. For some reason the bus company said part of the road is shut at the point where I need to get off but cars seem to be getting through okay. Anyway, once it arrives; late of course, I figure out that I need to get off in the village and walk back to the marina but that only adds about ten minutes to my journey so I will take that.
It’s nice to get back to the boat and we start making a list of everything we need to get done before we leave and decide to finally order the washing machine. I think I’ve already said that we decided to have a proper washing machine because we realised we have spent about £140, I think it was so far on paying for launderettes and after we used our special gadget for measuring water we realised the water tank on the boat holds more than enough water for us to use a proper one rather than the twin tub. Although I have loved my twin tub!
In the evening I was flicking through trying to find something to watch and found a documentary/biography on Arnold Schwarzenegger which was really interesting. I especially liked his attitude to life. Basically, stop moaning ((As if you could!)) don’t have spare time where you can mope around and get anxious or depressed, get up, get it done and be useful. I think they are pretty good words of advice. Day done.
Tuesday 13th February Day 206
Well, I was doing so well and then last night I had a terrible night’s sleep. ((Stop moaning. Get on with it!)) I am. I’ve taken on some freelance admin work for Newark Book Festival. Regular readers will know I’ve worked in many different roles for the festival and I’ve been a board member for a number of years. ((Boring… oh sorry board. My mistake)) This seems a great way to get some money back into the bank after all the work we have done on the boat. Working when not having an address for a fixed amount of time is very difficult ((Especially when you’re on ‘research trips’ all the time!)) and it’s great to be back involved with the festival – although keeping secrets about the wonderful authors we have coming this year is difficult!
Working with the festival has brought back memories ((Wow you’ve remembered something!)) I originally delved into the freelance world in January 2020 ((OH DEAR!)) yes, you can see where this is going! So there’s me all fired up working for the book festival which gave me the freedom to work on my writing and try and get a publisher and then the pandemic hit! What a baptism of fire that was – I’d never worked in the arts sector before so learning all that and then we ended up having to move the festival online rather than in person because of covid restrictions was a challenge. Also, because I’d just registered as self-employed I wasn’t entitled to any grants. I also had an agent interested in my psychological thriller ((which you still need to publish!)) but due to the big changes Covid brought about this didn’t go ahead. It was a stressful time but as with all these things in life, I learnt a lot, met a lot of people and they say everything is for a reason right? Here I am, four years later with a publisher, lots more books published, a YouTube channel – this was something I thought I would never do as I’ve never liked being on camera and lot more firm friends made from all these ventures. It’s funny where life takes you.
Anyway, it’s onto the dinette to crack on with some work so that’s it for today. Day done.
Wednesday 14th February Day 207
It’s Valentines Day in this world and this year we haven’t bothered with cards or pressies. Some years we do and some we don’t. We are both of a mind that you shouldn’t need to be told when to be romantic or do something nice for your partner but each to their own if people enjoy it then why not.
After getting some jobs done on the boat in the morning we brave the bus into Stafford because we need some firelighters ((How romantic)) and some DIY bits and bobs. We then treated ourselves to a couple of drinks in the pub ((On a Wednesday!)) I know, drinking on a school day! Shocking.
That’s it for today ((well that was riveting again!)) I know, it’s difficult to make the blogs interesting at the moment as we are focused on getting the boat done and I’ve taken on this extra work as well so that’s taking up more time. I promise it will be more interesting when we start cruising again! Not long now. In fact by the time you read this we will probably only have 48 hours left before we untie the ropes and see where this year will take us… possibly to bright lights of that place called London! Exciting. Day done. Until tomorrow. x
P.S. ((Oh, here she goes)) I did say i was going to do this whole promotion on my New Zealand book. I did do a few TikTok videos which went down well but i’ve failed on being consistant. I think i really should learn that planning promotional social media doesn’t work for me. I have to feel inspired to post which probably means i will die a poor author ((Eaten by fish and not cats or dogs or maybe even geese!)) but hey ho. Stick to what you’re good at… ((and that is??))
Thursday 15th February Day 208
Today was all about getting the vlog ready and uploaded to Patreon and YouTube. I had to film a little intro to explain what the vlog was all about as it spanned a long time period from when we arrived in the marina in December to more or less up to date and included our time in Jersey so thought I needed to explain. ((I’m sure that made it clearer with how you explain things!))
I’ve created and uploaded the short vlog to music in Jersey and I’m really pleased with how it’s been received ((I feel like you already said this somewhere but I cannot be bothered to go and check!)) No, I think I’d mentioned I’d created it but not uploaded it. It slightly different to the normal vlogs as it has music which we have to add the copyright information to the description to acknowledge the creator. We don’t want to get sued but also someone has taken the time to create it and make it free so it’s only right they get credit. Long term we need to look into option of music for the New Zealand vlogs which might also be live by the time you read this.
We have decided to try and broaden our viewers of the YouTube channel. It’s so hard as the YouTubers who get loads of views us the old clickbait. I’m really against this unless it is actually relevant to the blog but if you want to make an income from it, then it’s hard not to join in. For example: if you put on a vlog which says ‘disaster’ or ‘emergency’ ‘it’s the end’ things like that, we probably get 3 to 4 times the amount of views. Anyway, we are hoping by having a broad range of vlogs it will help us avoid having to use clickbait too much! You will see i’ve titled this blog ‘is the end?’ just to do a little test and compare against my other viewing days. I will let you know the stats.
My friend came to visit whilst we are still in a fixed location so that was most of the afternoon spent chatting and then a bit of freelance work and then delving into my latest book – The Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis – highly recommend this series especially if you love the Brontes. Busy day done. Until tomorrow. x
Friday 16th February Day 209
It’s up at an unsociable hour as the new washing machine is due between 7am and 7pm and there is some anxiety in the air about getting it into the boat, connected and avoid water gushing into the boat and sinking us ((A few pennies were added to the swear jar!)) It went surprisingly well and we now have a proper washing machine on board. It makes the boat feel even more homely and will be useful when we are cruising again and not having the hassle of finding a launderette and carrying our clothes for miles and miles.
I’m trying to work it out and I think the vlog for this should be live now… if you want to see the renovation of the kitchen and dinette from start to finish then have a look. We are so happy with it even if it’s taken a year and a half to get to this stage. Can someone please explain why time goes so quickly?
Oh dear… in the afternoon I go for a power nap because I’ve come down with another cold ((OH come on! You cannot even ring in sick to work!)) I know! I’m so annoyed with myself and this sets about a couple of days of proper grumpiness and many sessions of having a ‘word’ with myself to stop getting ill. Honestly, it’s so annoying that I cannot get on with stuff. Also, I end up missing book group again because when I get up I have some freelance work to do and had to get the Jersey vlog uploaded. The joys of being self-employed! Although generally I love the freedom and very grateful for this life, it’s just hard when poorly and I have no-one who can do the work for me!
I spent the night on the sofa flicking between feeling sorry for myself and feeling annoyed. ((YOU need some sunshine Peachy!)) I know, I think it’s a combo of lack of Vitamin D and peri-menopause it’s absolutely evil. I honestly have something different wrong with me every single day! I am deffo not coming back to earth as a woman – might come back as a dragon… ((are you delirious??))
At least the nights are getting lighter that’s something. I’m holding onto the day when I’m sitting on the stern, basking in sunshine, with a glass of prosecco in my hand appreciating this amazing life. ((you would probably just get sunburn lol)) Day done. Until tomorrow. x
P.S. Today we should be leaving the marina so pray for nice weather!
Saturday 17th February Day 210
This day is pretty much a write off as I’m in bed most of the day. Chris warns me to take it easy and have a day off which I sort of do but obviously do a little bit of faffing with the vlogs as well as social media posts. The problem with social media is that if you’re not consistent then the algorithms ignore you and you’re not going to get any traction or views but keeping this up is hard!
At least I manage to also catch up on some reading. As you can tell if you read this blog regularly, I’m not very good at doing nothing. I like being busy and having something to do. I love goals, spreadsheets and achieving things in life. That’s why I get annoyed when I’m ill. ((To be fair can you imagine what you would be like if you were on top form all the time?? Man alive, just think how long these blogs would be! You would be filming a new vlog everyday. A new book out every week. It would be exhausting for us! Most people can barely keep up with you as it is. You never even know how many books you’ve published.)) Fair point!
Does anyone else have a reading goal for this year? I’m logging mine on Goodreads if you want to join me. Day done.
Sunday 18th February Day 211
Still ill but decided I’m going to ignore it. I stay in bed for the morning and get the blog updated and scheduled for the week, then have some noodles for lunch as we have a food delivery on order but it’s not due until tonight and the cupboards don’t reveal anything healthier.
Chris is cracking on with the painting and the bow is finally all blue! Well other than the bits he still needs to grind which we cannot do until we are out of the marina. I’ve mentioned we need to get it painted as it needs a couple of weeks to dry without us having to stand on it, which won’t happen once we are out cruising.
That talk I had with myself must have worked as in the afternoon I have a burst of energy and create a video for TikTok – specifically booktok and it goes down really well and get just under 2k of views quite quickly. I found it pretty easy to learn how to create the video but trying to attach all my other social media account like Instagram and YouTube prove tricky but I get there in the end. I still think my social media will always be a bit random on how i’m feeling on the day and i guess i just have to make peace with that. There are reason people are paid good money to do these jobs!
If i’m never successful financially in any of my endeavours no-one can say I haven’t tried! ((I agree Peachy. You’re a trier that is for sure.)) must be true as you gave me a compliment. ((well I have to keep you going as without you I won’t be able to carry on))
Right, that’s this week done and spring cannot come soon enough. I’m so ready for some sunshine and lighter days. Day done. Until next week which should include us leaving the marina! X
links below as usual…
C.L. Peache 
