I love being in the marina

What I love most about living on Kantara is cruising. Taking our home with us along miles and miles of canal and river. Waking up at a new spot most mornings, seeing new places, meeting lots of people, being out-doors, enjoying the scenery. And doing everything at a leisurely pace. But I do love being in the marina, too.

I've just finished washing the boat. Just a hose and a chammy. No bubbles, no wax. Not this time. I'll do that closer to the day we leave for the winter. Darren was washing Cream Cracker. He started before we even got up this morning. And Adrian and Myra were similarly putting a shine on Hereward. Sarah and Trevor turned up and prepared to take AtLast out for a couple of weeks. And it was fun. There was lots of chat. Lots of banter and laughs. Stories told, legs pulled. And that often happens here. People gather in twos and threes and fours around the marina and spend time with each other. In or outside the marina office, at any of the picnic tables which are dotted around the site. Walking dogs, or sitting on benches while the dogs wear each other out. Or simply standing on their boats and chatting across the pound. Voices travel well across water. You don't have to shout to be heard some tens of feet away. You just have to make sure that what you're saying's not confidential. It certainly won't be private!

I'm ashamed to say that I've never had that kind of prolonged conversation with any of our neighbours in St Albans. We just didn't have the time for each other. I'll have to work on it when we're back there in December.

Being busy but not very boaty

You know those days when the sun's out, it's warm for the time of year, the blue sky is dotted with small, fluffy white clouds, and the air is still? The birds are singing like they're practising for the Proms, and everyone's relaxed and walking in the park? Yeah? Well, we've had none of those. We've had rain, hail, sleet and none of the snow which everyone's been on about for the past three weeks. We have had some sun. It's out now as I type, and it's waved at us in passing several times. But the wind! It's crazy! The boat's shaking most of the time, swaying, and bumping the pontoon. The water in the marina's rough. The ducks would be surfing, I'm sure, but it's too windy for them. They'd just get blown off the waves. The geese fly sideways. Swans don't even bother trying. It's windy, believe me! Phil and Jacquie of NB Achernar went out on Saturday, headed for Market Harborough. I don't envy them. The rain's been torrential, and the wind...!

We've kept busy. Me with writing, Grace with sewing and jewellery-making. She's made a beautiful necklace and matching earrings to wear at a family wedding in a couple of weeks' time. And an extra pair! Plus there have been the normal jobs which are routine in a boat. The Arrens, Karen and Darren from NB Cream Cracker, came round for the evening on Saturday. Bottles of their excellent home-made wine, a delicious meal prepared by Grace, and six hours of chat! A really good time. I wish I were Irish, and had "craic" in my vocabulary. I don't think English has one word for it. But craic is what it was. Good craic.

Last Monday, Grace and I went to see 50 Shades of Grey. The depths of depravity, I know, but we just had to. The reviews are almost universally damning, and we simply couldn't believe it was that bad. IMDB gives it just two stars. People were saying they'd walked out after just twenty minutes! No-one who does that can be relied upon to give intelligent reviews. Having seen it, we can only surmise that all of these people found that it didn't have enough naughty bits, or that the bits weren't naughty enough or something. Grace and I both enjoyed it. It was very well acted, well adapted from the book, and tastefully, thoughtfully directed. We're looking forward to the second in the series.

"When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too - but on his own terms."

That's all for now. If you want to know any truly boaty stuff, we have a leaky pipe from our water pump. Just a drip, but wet.