Life with our feet under water

It's finished. Apart from dealing with all of the stuff that Grace, my copy editor and proofreader, throws up. And that could be a lot! She's very picky, and rightly so. But I have little or nothing to add to it. I'm fighting hard to avoid thinking about it now. I think there will always be the temptation to add "this little bit..." "...there", and that could go on indefinitely.

So, it's finished. I'll put it on Kindle as soon as I can. If I get it out by Christmas, there may be kind souls out there who'll buy it as a present. Hopefully, even more will buy it for themselves! It's 300 A5 print pages long, and lavishly illustrated with over 2,300 photos on a linked Flickr stream. Kindle doesn't deal in page numbers, though, since readers set their own page size. I haven't worked out yet how much to charge for it, but really, dear reader, it'll be the best read you've ever had for under a fiver. Possibly under a fourer.

Whaddya think? Promising? I'll be sure to let you know when it's available to buy.

Day 7 - wet!

Yesterday it rained, it poured, it pissed down. So we stayed where we were. There was no point in getting wet when we don't have to be anywhere in particular by any specific time. So I went for a couple of walks, and we cosyed in for the day.

On one of my walks, I saw a terrapin in the canal. I knew that they are to be found in canals, but have never seen one before. It is thought that they have been introduced into the system by owners who are fed up with having their fingers bitten, but they are something of a nuisance in the canals as well, since they kill newts and fish and other canal creatures.

Today, we had to move. Rain was threatening, but we started the journey dry. We moved just 600 yards up the canal to take on water, and to do some shopping in the Newbold village Co-Op. Then, with the rain just beginning, we moved off in search of an Elsan point, finally finding one while it was raining hard. Moving on from there, the rain persisting now, we looked for a suitable place to moor for the night.

We found it, but didn't reckon on the ground being so soft, and the mooring pins being very loose. I've had to employ two very large pins, driving them into the ground through the D-rings at the top of the normal pins. We seem to have run aground a bit, too, so our mooring ought to be secure!

Miles today... just seven. Blame the weather!

Back on Kantara

Thursday morning was dental checkups and hygienist treatments and gardening. Friday was service and MoT for the car, and gardening. Saturday was shopping and gardening. Sunday afternoon was the annual Redbourn Folk and Blues Festival.

The location was perfect, the weather was perfect (it often threatened to rain on this outdoor gathering, but didn't once), the attendance was excellent, the music was mostly good, spirits were high, food and drink available in abundance, and, best of all, Said the Maiden were phenomenal! Steve recorded them, and Naomi photographed and videod them. What a good way to spend Father's Day!

Said the Maiden is a folk trio of our daughter Jess and two friends, Hannah and Kathy, who hadn't even formed this time last year. They now have a good following, an excellent and ever-growing repertoire of folk songs, a good deal of club experience in and around London and the Three Counties (Beds, Herts & Bucks), and a demo CD in preparation. Visit their website, and follow them on Twitter - they have a great deal of potential, and should go far.

We're back on the boat now. The weather is calm and warm, and we're planning our first proper cruise, to start in the next few days. Fingers crossed for lots of good weather. Feeling lazy this evening, we're off to The George for a meal.

Has time ever passed so slowly?

Roger writes...
I spoke on the phone yesterday to the guy who is doing the survey on Kantara tomorrow.  He'll be starting the job around 9:30, and we will join him at midday for a test run on the canal, and to hear his verdict.   Until then, since we have so little to say at the moment, here are some more photos!

...and still not actually ours yet!