Wow, this is different!

It's been quite a while since I last blogged, but we've not been idle. Putting housey matters to rest - or at least postponed them - we came back home to Kantara last Sunday.

We got the two pipes replaced in the engine, but I still have to dry the bilges completely. There's a few other small jobs I have to do down there, but the wind has stopped me. Seriously, I wouldn't dare lift the deck board at the moment. At the very least, it would result in bangs and scrapes to the paintwork. Yesterday must have broken the record as far as wind-speed in the marina is concerned. The waves on the pound were marine in size.

It was Grace's birthday yesterday, and we were going to go out for the day. We like the look of Burghley House in Peterborough. The forecast suggests today might be less inclement, so we'll venture out today.

When visited Claydon Manor a couple of weeks ago, photos inside the house were not allowed, so I put up NT photos in my last post. The weather outside wasn't keen on pics being taken, either, but I tried. These are all I got.

The weather hasn't really invited us out onto the cut yet, either. We've had it in mind for some time now that we'd combine a bit of cruising with a bit of boat painting, but... we'll see. Grace reminded me this morning that we still have to get the central heating pump replaced, and the system flushed, and we need to do it before we need the heating. That'll be next week then!

I've been particularly busy this past month or so completing my latest book, and it's now almost ready to be published.

I'm also working on an idea I've had for "Hints and tips for life with your feet under water". Since publishing that earlier this year, I've found new hints and tips I want to add to the book, so what I'm going to do is this...

I'll add them to the current edition, along with a link to a blog on which I'll post any future addenda. Readers of the book can then follow that link from time to time, and get the updates as they arise. I'll announce them on this blog, and on Twitter and Facebook. "Hints and tips" will be published as a new edition, and those who have already bought it will be notified by Kindle, and given the opportunity to update their copy simply, and at no cost.

I'm considering doing something along the same lines with my first book, too. More on that when I've decided. At the very least, I might give it a new cover!

More details of my books can be found on Amazon. Please have a look!

OK, so the weather forecast for Peterborough remains much better than yesterday, so we're off!

Home from home?

Ever since moving onto Kantara, I've looked upon the house as being our home from home ("a place where one is as happy, relaxed, or comfortable as in one's own home" - Oxford Dictionary) although the longer we were on the boat, the more I found Kantara to be the most comfortable. But the way this year's been going, I've been feeling that I'm homeless, bouncing between the boat and the house the way we have been, without any sense of being settled.

Last Thursday was the start of our second consecutive week in St Albans, and we're here until at least Friday of this week. Looking after the garden and Naomi and Eddie's cat, Samson, while they were on holiday has been simple enough, and we were glad to do it. I love being in the garden, so watering, weeding and eating some of the produce was great.

It's my numptiness, which resulted in us having various routine appointments this week instead of last week, that has delayed our return to the boat for the additional week. What we do once we're back is undecided. I think we're beyond the idea of planning anything. What we do know is that Roy and Lee will be with us on Monday to replace the perished engine hoses that the CRT man identified... whenever that was; time at the moment is even more elusive than normal. We know that painting has to be done on the boat. We know that Christine, Mike and Dorothy will be joining us on September 9th for a couple of weeks of faring. I know I have to finish my second "Feet" book. Soon.

Apart from that, don't ask me!

It was good to get out of the house yesterday, and get a bit of a break. We visited the boat, and spent a mere ten minutes aboard while we collected a bunch of things that would make the coming week a bit more productive. We then drove to Claydon, in Bucks, a National Trust property we'd not seen before, then, after a few hours there, on to Goring in Oxforshire, to pick up Jess after an afternoon gig there. The driving in itself was really pleasant, the journeys largely very rural,

I won't go into the details of Grace's laptop computer dying on her last week, and the very-near-loss of all of her files. If I did, you'd think we were feeling sorry for ourselves! (Only a bit, honest!)