End of the Working Day

I love coming home from work, putting on my jeans and boots and taking Alfie for a walk along the seawall.  It really is the perfect way to blow away the cobwebs.  Alfie absolutely loves going mad across the marshes and thinks that the seagulls are there to play just with him!  Tonight I took my camera with me and took some more shots of our soon to be neighbours, who, I have to say, are all lovely and friendly and I cannot wait to be one of them.

Getting to know Tollesbury

I thought I would show you a bit more of Tollesbury.  These pictures are of the creek with the tide just going out.  I am so lucky to live where I do, it really is a lovely little hidden part of England.

Container Gardening

I said before that I am experimenting by growing lots of fruit and veg in pots, boxes, wine bags and anything else I can find.  Today I found an old bosun's chair, which I got Pete to drill holes in and have promptly sown Pak Choi and beetroot in it!   Here is just a small part of the collection, which is all round the garden and house.  Today, I have had an egg salad, using some fresh eggs I was given and radish, lettuce and pea thinnings.  It was absolutely delicious and very satisfying knowing that it was all my own work.  On the barge we have very wide sidedecks and a lot of deck space so I will be growing as much as I can.  I have already potted up a gooseberry bush that I am going to put on board now to see how it gets on with the salty winds.  I have also talked the boat yard manager into letting me put a rhubarb crown into a tucked away corner, ready for next year.  Hope he knows that I don't really intend to push for an allotment area!!!!!!

Sunday - A day of rest!!

Pete cut out more of the deck yesterday, creating more headroom in the bedroom.  He is going to reuse all this steel when he raises the roof.  It was back breaking work, but I kept him going with bacon sandwiches and tea.   By the time he had finished he was absolutely filthy and had to go home and have a shower before sitting outside the club, in the sunshine, and having a well deserved beer.

Here is another picture of  boats in our bit of Tollesbury.  Look at all that lovely mud now that the tide is out!!  In the summer the kids go 'creek jumping' and get covered in the stuff, they then have to go and jump in the salt pool before going home to mum!  I think it is the reason that the boys tend to grow to over 6 ft round here.

Watery Ways - Last Minute Christmas Present Idea

For anybody that is interested in living on a barge, you should read this book by Valerie Poore.  It is a fascinating insight into her first year of living on the water and about her falling in love with the way of life.  There are some lovely snippets about Rotterdam and her 'faring' adventures.  I couldn't put it down once I'd started.  I got my copy from Amazon UK.

And then there was light!

Pete spent yesterday cutting a big hole in the boat.  He has cut this section out to give us some more headroom in the bedroom.  Next bit to go is the deck area that you can see here.  I was all for putting the bed under this area and not worrying about raising it.  But Pete, having whacked his head a few times, decided it had to go. It is also amazing how much extra light there now is down below.  This is not a very good picture as the sun was very bright!  I will post more pictures as the work progresses on this particular job.

Sunrise Over the North Sea

I am posting these two pictures just because I love them.  There is nothing like watching the dawn come up when you are at sea, it makes you feel really at one with nature.

The Freedom of the Sea

This is one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite poets; Emily Dickinson:

Exultation is the going
Of an inland soul to sea,
Past the houses - past the headlands -
Into deep Eternity -

Bred as we, among the mountains,
Can the sailor understand
The divine intoxication
Of the first league out from land?

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

It sums up the freedom of being on the water and the thrill I still get every time we set sail.

These pictures were taken on a trip from Tollesbury to Ostend last year.

How to keep eggs without refrigeration on a boat!

I found the following on ehow.com and I thought it was timely for Easter:

Instructions.Step 1. Realize that you can keep eggs without refrigeration. For many years people lived without refrigeration and kept fresh eggs handy for cooking.
If you are going camping or you live on a boat that lacks refrigeration you can still take eggs along and keep them fresh for several days if you follow these steps.
Step 2 Get a jar of Vaseline and dab some on a paper towel. Lightly coat each egg with the Vaseline, so that each is shiny and no spots have been missed. You can also use shortening such as Crisco.
Step 3 Store the eggs back in the egg container and wrap the egg container with a couple of sections of newspaper and secure it with a couple large rubber bands to protect it from shock.
Store them in a cool, dry place.
In cool weather conditions you may be able to keep eggs this way for up to a month but do not use any eggs that have a funny smell or color.

I know it is serious, but the thought of someone sitting coating eggs in Vaseline tickled me!!!!