I made the fateful error this evening of sitting down on the sofa after returning from the boat this evening, which meant I didn’t get up for an hour! It’s been hard to drag myself up, switch the computer on and start the blog!
Was great to be back at the boat this evening, with a car load of boxes and unpacking. The boat is feeling more and more like home, as I fill it with my belongings 🙂
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a massive cupboard space underneath the kitchen units. I hadn’t looked into that space to see how big it was and its huge! Much bigger than I need for my kitchen things, so I can store some of my stuff right at the back of the cupboard. I also unpacked some of my books and put them on the tiny (width) bookshelf I have.
At the start of this week, I ordered some wood, coal and kindling for my wood-burner stove. My neighbours have been super generous allowing me to use theirs for the last two Fridays. When I phoned up, I wasn’t sure on the amount to get, but got a bag of logs, a bag of kindling and then wasn’t sure how much coal to get. The lady on the phone wasn’t helpful in letting me know what other boaters buy, but said the coal comes in 6kg bags, suggesting 6kg would not last long, so I went for 2 bags. The coal and wood was delivered yesterday, my neighbours kindly put the wood in my boat, to stop it getting wet in the rain. The coal bags left outside next to my shed.
It turns out that each coal bag is 25kg, not 6kg – so I now have 50kg of coal! That should last for a while 🙂
Today, after picking up the hire car and dropping if off at my flat, I headed into town. The final day of The Melting Pot in it’s Rose Street address, see yesterdays blog (Day 220) to find out why! So I dropped by, to see it one more time (as an office) and handed in my keys – getting my £10 deposit back.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Hannah was there packing up her stuff. She had a fashionable face-mask, see tomorrow’s face-mask corner (Day 222). I haven’t seen her for a month, as she went to Spain for 2 weeks and then had to quarantine for 2 weeks. So was great to catch-up briefly.
I also dropped by into the EE Shop, to see if they had a good deal on Mobile WiFi, they didn’t and just tried to convincel me that their contract was better than Utility Warehouse, who I am currently with. The current deal I have is 40Gb of data a month, which I thought would be loads for the boat. But on Friday I used 5Gb of data! However, Helen my boat neighbour explained that you can change your Netflix settings to stream shows at a lower data rate – phew!
Then returned home to continue packing and cleaning my flat!
Although on the way home, I spotted the tiny Italian restaurant near my flat (Al Dente) had all its inside ripped out. I guess it is closed for good now due to Covid 🙁
Just checked it out online. Their Google Business says ‘Permanently Closed’ and their website is no longer available.
I’ve only eaten at it twice in the 22 years I have been living close by, but it’s always been there, always people in it. It’s tiny, two tables, with the feeling you are in someone’s dining room, rather than a restaurant. Say it has now closed.
Face-Mask Corner
Today we have Chris, who I met yesterday for a coffee.
Chris’ face-mask has Lion on it, although I thought it was a tiger!
He bought his face-mask on eBay, saying it has a reusable inner protective part. He has loads of the inner reusable parts, which he washes after each use. Meaning he can wear the same face-mask, but the inner part is always clean – ingenious!
Thanks Chris, I love the Lion on it and the fantastic colours! Its kind of psychedelic 🙂
As I come to the end of this blog, I am super tired. It’s been a busy week and now I won’t be in bed before 2am.
My friend Danny is helping me carry boxes tomorrow, he wants to meet me outside my flat at 10am! That doesn’t give me much time to sleep in, but its great that he is giving me some help.
I must admit, I have had this daunting feeling in the background for most of the month. The daunting feeling of the massive undertaking of living on a boat, it is such a big change! However, when I unlocked the boat today, I said to Honey spontaneously “we are home” – it is definitely starting to feel that way. I am starting to feel a wave of excitement – a new adventure that I am just beginning.
The weather has been a bit colder today, compared to yesterday. It’s got that autumn / winter feel in the air. Another great clear sky this evening and a fantastic winter sunset just before 5pm.
Hope you’ve had a Fantastic Friday 🙂
Jim x
Ian Buchan
Hi Jim
With regards to Chris’s mask. The inner part may be reusable but the actual outer part of the mask could potentially be covered in germs/virus. The whole mask should be washed.