We had our first snow of the winter on Thursday (15th) and then again (snow – not the 1st snow) today – 18th.
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| Ice on the water in the marina - a sure sign that winter is here |
The snow last Thursday barely touched the ground before it melted and of course we were out there to take photos and enjoy it – after all we don’t see it very often – and now doubt by the end of January we might be fed up with it – but not anywhere near that stage yet.
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| About as much covering of snow as we were to get |
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| 1st snow of the winter - we may not be smiling in January but for now it is still new to us |
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| no hot dogs here - Banjo has taken the changes in his stride |
We have had very interesting 10 days.
Diane has finished the double glazing and it works a treat – still a little moisture on the cabin side of the windows and she does take them out occasionally to dry between them but nowhere near as much water as we had been experiencing – and all for the bargain price of less than ₤150 compared to an estimated ₤3000 to replace all of the windows.
The pram-hood cover is nearing completion – a final fitting on Wednesday last and all looks very good – hoping that this will be finished and up something early this week. The new cratch cover was marked up ready for the completion and final fitting – again, it should be done this week.
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| The pram-hood cover nearly there - Diane and Banjo making themselves at home inside |
We were down at The Swan Inn last Monday night for the Karaoke final, but sadly Mike didn’t win it – I think he was handicapped in being the 12th out of 16 to get up on stage and whilst the other 11 were doing their stuff we were a bit too busy sampling the ales; we managed to get home OK (thanks to the pre-booked taxi), but we were a bit the worse for wear after that.
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| A great night out |
I am blaming the massive swaying of the boat as I was getting off onto the pontoon for suddenly finding one foot and the lower leg in the water and being spreadeagled across the wooden pontoon – it had nothing to do with the 12 pints that seemed to vanish down at The Swan. I was quite happy to just sleep there – others decided not.
Tuesday morning was a hoot (not really) and it took until 11 until I was anywhere near ready to be anywhere near capable of being able to start doing any work (or being able to bring the computer screen into focus) – yet I can say that no matter how bad I was from the night before, I still made it into work the next day – about 10 feet to the dinette.
We took the train yesterday into Birmingham to meet up with Debbie and James and the girls and take a look around the German markets in New Street – now into their 21st year it has become a Brum tradition and their were so many people about – despite the weather not being that great – a bit of rain throughout the afternoon.
We can now cross off on the bucket list, going to the Birmingham Womens Institute Christmas Carol Service – and so glad I am that we can.
It does still count as attending if you pop in to see the last 10 minutes – which we did – D&J had to pick up daughters Kat and Rachel who were in the choir – but we attended.
An interesting thing with the train fares – we were going from Stone to New Street with a change at Stafford – apparently with some, the fare is cheaper if you buy it in stages – so we asked for Stone to Stafford and then Stafford to New Street (return naturally) and saved ₤3.80 - very glad that the conductor told us about it – they really are very good on London Midland – even able to give full details of the next train to catch from Stafford.
Being Sunday we are trying a new locality for our traditional Sunday roast – Diane has decided that we need to do one for ourselves.
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| Tastes as good as it looks - these two didn't get a look in! |
I have to say that as usual it was well cooked and very very tasty (wouldn’t say anything else – would I?)
We are now awaiting the next fall of snow and seeing all of the surrounding fields covered in a blanket of white.
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