Today, being Saturday, I have spent the day doing jobs on my boat. I have loved spending the day at the boat and not travelling back to Leith. In fact I have not ventured beyond the canal for the whole day and it feels great!
After a long lie, Honey and I went on a walk along the canal. As I walked, I reflected on how it was lovely to see so many people out and about walking along the canal – families, couples, friends, dogs, etc…I thought back to my morning walks on a Saturday morning with Honey when living in my flat – it would be a trip to Kate’s Park or Dalmeny Street Park, lots of traffic on Easter Road and not many people to talk to.
This morning, I bought a coffee at the Canal Boat Cafe and chatted to the staff there, then stopped and chatted to a family with the children all patting Honey, I then talked to a couple of guys doing magnet fishing (cross between metal detecting and fishing – generally throwing a strong magnet into the water to see what you can find). It was a lovely morning walk and very leisurely.
After breakfast, I started on my first job, filling Discovery up with water 🙂
Over the last couple of weeks I have been speaking to boaters about how often they fill their water tank up and how you know when to fill it up. It ranges from every week up to every 3 weeks, some can tell by the position in their boat, others just wait until the tap starts spluttering to illustrate there is no water left. The problem with leaving it until the tank is empty, so I’ve been told, is you end up with the tank sentiment in your water and air can get in the tank.
I only use the water for washing up and cups of tea, so not lots of use, compared to some boaters who have a shower on their boat.
The previous owner of Discovery, said it takes 45 minutes to fill up the water tank when empty. So I timed the whole process too.
First get the hose and attached to the water tap. Discovery is not close to a water tap, so it was virtually the complete length of the hose.
Then open the covering on the bow and open the water pipe and put the hose in.
Then go to the tap and switch it on.
When I got back to check all was going ok, the hose had jumped out and water was filling the bow. There is a small hole in the corner to let the water out, but I have lots of logs stored there on the floor, plus boxes, etc…
Despite pulling the hose closer to the canal, the hose kept jumping out.
I finally found a solution, attaching the hose to the latch in the bow door.
Before I knew it the water was flowing out of the top of the pipe and it was full. Only 25 minutes on my timer 🙂
Next job was to put Discovery post box on the outside metal fence.
This involves getting wood and some screws. Everyone else’s boxes are kept up with bits of pallet wood and although I have some pallets (with plants on), I didn’t want to destroy them. So I chopped some of my firewood, using my axe and found a flat one.
Helen (my boat neighbour) kindly lent me her handheld drill and some screws. It took some figuring out what to do, but I managed it 🙂
I now feel like I properly belong on Discovery and the canal 🙂
Honey pottered around between my jobs, Helen’s jobs and Fiona’s jobs. Although eventually got bored and lay down (blog cover photo).
Helen took Honey for a walk this afternoon on Arthur’s Seat, so was nice to get a break from her – that’s two days in a row she’s been there!
Then Brian came round to drop off some more furniture from his Fife home. It will be going to my flat, but he wanted to drop it off today.
The main unit. was too big for the front door, but I got through the bow door 🙂
We then went for a wee walk along the canal area and he had a wee peak on Discovery (see Readers Corner).
Was great to have a visitor to my new home 🙂
Lockdown Restrictions Corner
Today we are looking at France.
(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53640249)
At the end of October, France went into a second national lockdown until at least 1st December 2020.
- Stay at Home.
- Can leave home only to:
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- Go to work.
- Buy essential goods.
- Seek medical help.
- Exercise – 1 hour a day.
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- Anyone going outside must carry a written statement justifying their journey.
- All non-essential shops – closed.
- Restaurants – closed.
- Bars – closed.
- Schools and creches – remain open.
- Factories – remain open.
- Social gatherings are banned.
Paris bars have been closed since middle of October.
Readers Corner
Today we have two posts. Brian and Fi used to be regulars in Readers Corner, but today we have a rare Guest Appearance from both of them!
Brian
After Brian’s visit today he sent me a message saying:
“Hello there, great to see you at ‘Discovery,’ have a look around the canal basin, and have a peek inside your new home too. Exciting times!
I spent about five years living in nearby Viewforth and walked along the canal banks all the time. I never thought that someone I knew would end up living there! It was amazing to see that there is now a whole boating community in the area, which has changed a lot since I was there – although it was 16 years ago!
Sorry to miss Honey the Dog, who I am sure I am sure I’ve still not met, even though she is so familiar due to her daily appearances in the blog!”.
Thanks for the photos Brian!! I am already starting to look like a typical boater 😉
Fi
Fi messaged me after reading yesterdays (Day 235) ‘Lockdown Restrictions Corner’, which featured New Zealand saying:
“You won’t find much info of restrictions in NZ as there aren’t many! International borders remain closed to all but NZ nationals who still have to go into a quarantine facility for 14 days. Mask wearing is advised in public spaces. That’s about it 
Here’s a timeline for info https://inews.co.uk/news/world/new-zealand-covid-how-beat-coronavirus-free-lockdown-quarantine-coronavirus-cases-739493“.
Thanks for this Fi. Although, I did find some mention of different Levels, similar to countries in Europe, but not details.
Music Corner
Following on from yesterday’s ‘Music Corner’ (Day 235), in which Helen shared an article about the top 10 most happiest tunes as described my Neuroscientists (https://mymodernmet.com/10-happy-songs), she has created a Spotify Playlist of them all.
So today we have Neuro Happy, by Helen Strand 🙂
Thanks Helen! I was planning to create it myself, but you beat me too it!!
As I come to the end of today’s blog, I am feeling super relaxed. Today, was just what I needed, by the end of the week I was getting tired and stressed.
This afternoon, I lit the fire about 4pm and have been relaxing on the sofa ever since.
This evening it is blowing a hooley outside, despite being tied tightly, Discovery is rocking back and forth quite a lot. I haven’t felt any movement on the boat for over a week. Today, I am writing the blog for the first time at my new desk and chair, it is perfect 🙂
With a downloaded Spotify playlist (see Day 198 of Music Corner) being played on my bluetooth speaker I am feeling great.
Honey has been sleeping all evening after her long walk 🙂
I had hoped to tidy the boat and go through the many boxes I have, but hopefully do that tomorrow instead.
The weather today has been quite pleasant most of the day. Although cloudy for most of the day and the feeling of rain on its way, it didn’t rain. It started raining about 6pm and now the wind has got up. The forecast says, there are gusts up 45mph through the night, so I guess there will be more rocking!
The fire has gone out and I am out of coal (well more in the shed), but happy to just go with having a cooler night in bed. It’s still 26 degrees right now, it was up to 33 degrees earlier!
Hope you’ve a Super Saturday 🙂
Lots of Love
Jim x