Saturday 27th November
Bijou update-et. We have been here nearly 3 weeks already, time flies. We have really settled in now and have finished our initial flurry of sorting out inside the boat. This has created quite a bit of extra storage under the dinette which we will fill with supplies (beer and wine probably) before we leave next year.
There are lots of other jobs to do but most of them require having the doors and windows open so they will have to wait until we eventually get some better weather. At the moment we are shrouded in snow and ice, brrr.
Last week we had to take our aged pet to the vets for a look down his ear and claw trimming. Fortunately the bus stops right outside the vets so we only had to drag him up to the bus stop near the marina. He was a bit perturbed as it was only just after nine when we left so he knew it wasn’t a trip to the pub! As he had a bad experience having his dew claw trimmed once before he doesn’t let you touch his feet much but some of his claws were curling round into his pads (probably contributing to his reluctance to walk) so we knew he had to have them done. I tried to do them myself but he wasn’t having any of it so we decided to take him to the vet. His ear needed looking at anyway so – two birds with one stone.
We had forewarned the vet that he may need to be sedated and as it turned out he did. This was a bit of a problem when we wanted to take him home on the bus because he was still half asleep! The bus was full of OAPs when we got on and they were really concerned about him, bless. The bus driver was really good and dropped us off right at the marina saving us a few yards of dragging! Anyway, we managed to get him back to the boat and he immediately fell asleep again for the rest of the day!
When he eventually woke up, disaster, he couldn’t use one of his back legs. We decided it had gone stiff because of the two injections he had had in it to sedate him and to bring him round again. He hobbled around on three legs for two days causing mayhem and back ache (to me) every time he needed to get out of the boat! But he’s ok now and his ear is also better.
Mum and Dave, John and Kath came for a couple of days last week and we had a trip up to the Stenson Bubble, in the boat, on Monday. It didn’t take very long (and would have been quicker to walk actually) but it was a pleasant trip nonetheless. We had to turn round in the entrance to Stenson Marina because the winding hole is so silted up we couldn’t use it.
The folks were staying at a local hotel and we went up to the nearby pub for dinner Sunday and Monday evenings which was very nice. We all had breakfast at the marina tea rooms on Monday which was also very nice.
Ken has had a bout of bronchitis. He has spent the last week coughing and spluttering (and moaning and groaning) but is finally on the mend now, thank goodness!
I have had my hair cut. What is so interesting about that I hear you cry? Well nothing really, except the price. You may recall my experiences in Francesco’s in Stone and Rugeley – £44 and £38 for a cut and blow dry. Well, Hairs and Graces (I know) in Willington, cut and blow dry £15! I haven’t paid £15 for a hair cut for about 20 years!
We are going home to Suffolk for a week on Dec 10th which we are really looking forward to. We are going to stay in the cottage in Dunwich woods again.
