One Thing After Another...

We took the boat out today! Only down the canal just so we were near to the chandlery so we could stock up on coal from Andy. We're staying on one of our old moorings too as we have a gas guy coming on Monday. Seeing as we were here and closer to the bus stop, I went into Poynton this afternoon to do a bit of food shopping but also picked up this little chap: It's not the clearest picture I know, and i should have took it closer up - its the heather on the gas locker Im talking about! In one of the local florists they were selling them - only £2.95 and quite big, with really nice bright purple flowers on them. I needed something for the gas locker as all the autumn bedding plants have had their day already. Looks fab I think and adds a bit of brightness over winter. So, on Monday we have a gas guy coming but our normal mooring - it's difficult, if not impossible, for people to access it by car if they don't already know the place. Even giving the postcode (we've got...

Well I finally got the worktop oiled and sorted now. It's iroko and still quite light in colour - I've seen some that turn almost mahogany coloured with age and light. Anyway, it took six coats of oil in total.... Sanding and tacking off between coats, it was a bit of a nightmare to be honest but its definitely worth it as it really does look fantastic. I just have to keep it that way now - I guess that means Pav is banned from the kitchen ;) Rob also made an extension that we can 'bolt on' to the 'bubble' (ha! Love that name - I mean the circle that curves out on the worktop). Basically, it turns the worktop into a larger area and makes it square shaped, meaning we can have people for dinner or even cake and coffee if we want to - there's easily enough space for 4 people. I haven't got any pictures to hand tonight but I will take some tomorrow and show you show it all works. Rob came up with the idea and did an amazing job on it as usual. We only or...

I got busted trying to take a picture of Pav re-tying the ropes today! Ha doesn't he look impressed. I think its one of is favourite past times - pottering about on the mooring and inventing jobs for himself ;) Anyway, not a lot has been happening really. I went searching for some wallpaper today ( it's a surprise, I won't tell you where it's going yet!) but I couldn't find any that I actually liked, it w really a wasted journey! The only one I did see that we both liked was an 'online exclusive' and not available in the shop! Annoying or what?! We found a place for the new weather station too - on top of the log store, and this means (hopefully) that it won't end up in the canal this time! We've used way too many logs already too! Think we will have to plan for another 2 cubic meters to be delivered soon - we won't go cold though, as we always have plenty of coal too.

I've had a really busy day in the kitchen today. I make bread most days ( I get up too early for my own good!) and am currently addicted to my crusty white rolls/baps/cobs/barms (however you call them, depending on which part of the country you're from ! ) The crusty rolls are a variation on my basic white boule ( which can be found on My other site - The Narrowboat Baker It's mostly the same but uses a little bit more water and uses a folding technique rather than just kneading , however, the wet dough can be 'beaten' in a food mixer using a flat beater to achieve a similar result and is a bit quicker and less messier on the 'ole hands! Proving done and ready for the egg glaze and oven: The good thing about these rather than a huge loaf, is with every bite, they're really crusty and they cook in half the time too, meaning you can make them really quickly. I'll be posting the full recipe soon. They are so good!! Lunch time was good - what's better...

What a great gift. They look fab.

I really am! And believe me....it takes a lot to impress me. Especially when it comes to getting yer money back! Remember how I got a weather station for Christmas off Pav? Here: Well, not long after I had it, the wind speed indicator had broken and being lazy/not bothered, we never took it back at the time. Then, another piece of the outdoor apparatus went and it all ended up in the canal ( don't ask!) Well, a few weeks back we bought another digital indoor/outdoor thermometer from Clas Ohlson. Anyway, the other day, it all went off and it wasn't reading the outdoor temperature - more crap we'd bought! Incensed, I decided I was gong to take that back AND the original weather station back to Clas Ohlson to get them replaced or refunded. Today, I needed to go into Manchester with Pav , so we headed in this morning with two weather stations! We went into the shop, explained what was wrong with both and they refunded the indoor/outdoor thermometer we bought the other week and ...

Wow, what a cold day it's been today. There was evidence of a frost when I woke up , but as I woke up a little later than usual, I didn't see the full impact! We went for a little walk around 11AM though as it was a gorgeous, clear and sunny day, but in the shade, you could still the see frost on the grass and the hills were all white! I've got a new weather app as the BBC one didn't seem that accurate and always seemed way out from our outdoor thermometer. Anyway, as I sit and write this (its 17:15!) my thermometer says its minus 1.7c! Here's what the app is saying: The temp forecast for 18:00 is minus 2 - left hand side on the screen shot: So I'm expecting it to be a bit worse, frost wise in the morning! Anyway, I'm making the most of the weather by doing a bit of slow cooking on the wood burner. I've never done it before, but we actually got some cast iron cookware in the summer so I will be doing it a lot this year. I made a beef bourginon , frying o...