A Pain in the Blogside

Back at the start of December we decided that it was about time to update our Blog at http://narrowboatmuriel.spaces.live.com/. We were on board at the time, so I sat and merrily typed away on my laptop. Then when we got home, I tried to post it. That was about a month ago. Whether it’s because we hadn’t used it for so long, or for some other reason I don’t know, but we couldn’t actually access the site to post the update. I tried e-mailing the Spaces help desk on numerous occasions, but they haven’t even replied. So, finally we gave up, and decided to start again on a different Blog site.

Having chosen this site, we now have to try and figure out how to use it! We’ve moved one of old posts over as an experiment.

As for Muriel, we’ve just had a rear cover fitted by Wilson’s. It looks pretty good, and after a seriously wet and windy night, it’s still upright which is a good start. She’s much better equipped inside too. Before Christmas, apart from The Pan, most of our kit was odds and ends that we didn’t need at home. Now we have a second and slightly smaller Pan, again from Mary, which means we can save even more gas. Then there’s the new matching kettle, T-pot, jug, and crockery, all courtesy of my sister. Muriel’s galley no longer looks like a stall at the jumble!

We haven’t actually been out for a while due to the cold, wet or windy weather every time we visit. We’re still suffering from a few minor glitches which we must get back onto the New Boat Company to sort out e.g. a couple of the windows still leak a bit, some of the roof panelling has dropped slightly, and the front doors are snagging. However, we still think she’s great, and spending a weekend on board all snug with the fire glowing is great, even if we don’t get out. We have popped into the Boat House café in the marina a few times and had some very nice meals, which makes up for not getting out on the canal.

The End of an Era

It’s been a while since we’ve updated the blog, and a lot has happened. The main change has been the serious reduction in our numbers. Back in mid-August we lost Liam and Jack on consecutive days. Liam was 17 ½ and succumbed to old age. Jack was just short of his 13th Birthday and his brain tumour finally beat him. It was not a pleasant time and we’re still trying to get used to life with only Vera. She seems to have adjusted pretty well, although it was very sad at first when she sat by the gate waiting for them to come home. We had them both cremated, and have sprinkled their ashes on the Coast Path in Devon, at a spot on their favourite walk where we always sit on a bench to admire the view. It’s now an even more special place to stop and ponder. One day we will join them.

This change, unpleasant as it is, has at least allowed us to start using Muriel. Mainly it’s just been weekend visits, when depending on the weather we have either spent time exploring the area on foot whilst leaving Muriel in the marina, or bimbling up and down the canal to Loughborough. It’s not far, but we actually quite like the trip, and have regularly stayed out on a nice mooring just up from the marina at Miller’s Bridge. That is actually where we sit at the moment whilst I type this update. There’s a lovely view across the water to the canal side vegetation, and then across to the trees beyond. There are houses across the field, but sitting here I can’t actually see them, and we could be in the middle of nowhere rather than about 10 minutes cruise from Pillings Lock .

This morning was the first time that we’ve been out and pulled back the curtains to see a white world. There had been a very heavy frost overnight. Even the condensation on the inside of the windows had frozen. We were glad that we’ve recently had a timer fitted to the Webasto, so the heating had come on to warm the boat up before we crawled out from under our nice thick duvet. The frost has nearly all melted now, but the sun is shining and we really wish we didn’t have to leave Muriel and go back to work tomorrow.

We went on one proper trip out at the end of August. Here’s a summary of the events:

Day 1: We headed North from Pillings Lock late on 30th. At Bishop Meadow Lock and old chap sat reading his paper at a bench. He showed us the headline on the front page “10 Days Rain Due in 1 Day” at which point we started to worry a bit that this may not be the best time to be heading onto the river. We spent our first night just above the lock at Zouch. A pleasant enough spot, and only a few hours from Pillings.

Day 2 was filled with the sound of racing cars and aeroplanes. We didn’t have an OS map, but I finally spotted Donnington Park on the Nicholson guide, which explained the cars, the planes were going into the nearby East Midlands Airport. The scenery along the Soar was lovely and we had a very pleasant first day. It rained over lunch, so we just had a more leisurely break, and then again as we moored up near Weston on the Trent & Mersey. As usual we were helped by ‘insider’ knowledge. When Gloria and Derek got a new set of Nicholsons, they very kindly gave us their old set, which are very handily annotated with useful info such as good places to moor.

Day 3 was Simon’s 52nd Birthday. What a lovely way to spend it. We did have one incident that marred it, when we had a close encounter with a bridge. The wind blew Muriel onto the brick arch as Simon slowed down to let me & Vera on after a walk. A nasty 3 ft gouge out of the paintwork on the roofline, and another notch up the learning curve. Passing through Willington, we spotted Seyella. We recognised the name as Gloria & Derek had spent some time cruising with her and since then I had been regularly reading her blog. It rained towards the end of the day so we stopped earlier than planned at the Branston Water Park.

Day 4 started with a bit of shopping to get some glass paper for the roof repair, walking back to Morrisons on the edge of Burton Upon Trent. After the bit of DIY, we headed off towards Barton Turns for lunch, although our plans were scuppered by a dodgy gate at Tatenhill lock. It had been reported, but with no idea how long it would take for someone to come out, there was a collective effort by the crews of all the boats waiting to move the gate with our combined muscle power. We all got through, but it did take a while. We had a bit of a disagreement on board. Simon wanted to wind at Barton Turns and head back due to the forecast rain and the possibility of getting stuck out if the rivers flooded. I wanted to go a bit further as we still had quite a few days left. Simon won and we winded and headed back to stay at Branston Water, a few yards from our mooring the day before.

Day 5 started with a bit more painting. We then began to retrace our route. We stopped at Willington for some shopping, and passed Seyella who was still moored there. We decided to move on and stay near to Weston again, to be a bit further away from the railway. We had a phonecall from Gloria letting us know that they were forecasting lots of rain in our area, and advising us to head back to Pillings Lock ASAP or risk getting stuck out. Simon’s decision to turn round at Barton Turns was obviously the right one!

Day 6. We made a dash for Pillings Lock. It was a very pleasant trip, reminding us that the riverside scenery compensates us for the inconvenience of flooding! We were pleased to see that the Trent and Soar were both still open, and carried on to the mooring at Millers Bridge, and few miles from Pillings Lock. Safe!

Day 7. Into Pillings Lock in the rain. The Soar was now in the red, and stayed that way for the several days we spent in the marina before heading home. That was quite close, if I’d had my way and we’d gone a bit further, we would have been stuck out on the cut and had the problem of leaving Muriel on the bank, getting back to the marina to collect the van and get to work – even if it will be without J&L.

We now can’t wait for another big trip, although I guess that won’t be until the Spring now. We’re having a cup of tea before heading back to Pillings Lock, and then heading home until our next weekend visit. We really really can’t wait to be living on board and criuising.

The Pan

I was reading Granny Buttons’ blog the other day and was interested by the entry on the boat-friendly food processor. Well, we have another very boat friendly bit of kitchen kit that was given to us as a wedding present last year. We admired The Pan, used it once or twice like any other pan, but mainly kept it in its box so as not to damage it. It is after all a very nice looking pan, and our kitchen cupboards are a bit of a mess, well a lot of a mess really. You open them, lob something in, and shut them quickly before something else falls out.

Then, whilst kitting out Muriel, we decided to give The Pan a nice home in a well ordered kitchen (or should I say galley) where we could put it to good use. And good use it was put to. In fact we used it for every single meal of our trip.

So, what is so special about The Pan? Well, it is constructed so that it will keep food hot for up to 2 hours. We had been told this, and read it in the accompanying bumf, but hadn’t really used the pan enough to test it out. And, as we usually just cook and eat, this particular facility didn’t seem overly useful. Then, as the major chef of the house/boat-hold, Simon used The Pan’s thermal properties in a slightly different way. He would for example, briefly fry up some veggies in The Pan for about 5 mins, then take it off the heat, sit it on the base plate for 20 mins, and hey presto, perfectly cooked, hot veg. Worked just as well for pasta, spuds and rice. This would obviously be an equally valuable technique in a house to reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint, but is even more important when all the gas you have is in a bottle, which could run out (which is particularly true for us as we have yet to buy a second bottle).

When we stopped off at Napton Junction, Gloria & Derek our live-aboard friends came for dinner. Well they actually brought dinner with them in the form of a rather nice spaghetti bolognaise. The sauce was ready, and we used The Pan for the spaghetti. They were suitably impressed, and are now in the market for one.

There is however one problem. You can’t actually buy The Pan in the UK. It was a present from our friend Mary who lives in Switzerland, and she brought it over with her. It’s made by Kuhn Rikon, and the only pans I’ve been able to find here that are made by them are pressure cookers. If I was an entrepreneur, I’d think about starting an import business. As it is, I’ll be talking very nicely to Mary before her next visit to see if she can squeeze another one into her rucksack.

Although Simon independently invented the ‘blast it & wait’ cooking method, since arriving home I’ve discovered the Kuhn Rikon website, which I’m sure wasn’t there before! They have a section on the ‘hot pan’, which looks different to ours but obviously has the same basic construction. It includes a demo video, where they use Simon’s technique!

http://www.kuhnrikon.co.uk/products-hotpan.asp