Going Missing...

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. 
Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. 
Just walk beside me and be my friend." 

The old barometer sunk to a new low this week and it wasn't long before the sky darkened and the canal was being peppered with hailstones. The temperature has definitely dropped and a few mornings have started with a white frost and even one morning the cut was frozen over.....Brrrr!

There are a few signs of Spring such as the new lambs noisily blarting in the opposite field and a spattering of confused crocuses have sprung up in the flowerbeds.

 

 A small light coloured owl was spotted patrolling the hedgerows as the day drew to an end while the lone female swan continues to paddle about looking out for her mate to return. All last years signets have had their marching orders and now no longer rattle on the window for their doughie treats.

Some unidentified creature is still splashing about somewhere under the mooring in the early hours before it gets light....could be a hungry diving grebe or maybe a mink or even an otter...?

Meanwhile the ecofan works overtime and the woodpile gets smaller...

This will be the last Andromeda boater's blog for a while as I concentrate on a different path for a while over in 🇮🇹 but I will return.

...followers may wish to keep an eye on the alternative travel blog?

This can be found at
www.narrowboatboys.blogspot.com
 if your interested.

The sunshine calls...

This last blog tune before the break is "Going Missing" which was the fourth single released from Maxïmo Park, taken from their debut album A Certain Trigger.

https://youtu.be/L-ft2dZ7-FE

Valentine...

If I'm not mistaken all this was started by the caring purveyors of the finest foods and wines known to mankind, Sid Marks & Dick Spencer, to enhance and promote fine dining in the comfort of your own home to celebrate such wonderfully heavily marketed occasions such as Valentine's Day.

You know you want to....don't you?

For twenty quid, they offer you to indulge yourselves with a sexy starter of a dozen succulent hand caught scallops, simmered in an aromatic lemongrass jus, followed on by a 21 day old, rare breed, grass fed, outdoor aired sirloin of prime Angus beef served on a kingsize pillow of wilted wild Rosemary infused spinach, with sautéed Brie and hand picked coriander parcels.

To elevate the evening, two petite artisan crafted ramekins of branded cheesecake fondants exquisitely matched to a bottle of the finest premier 'cru' ethically sourced from the very heart of the Languidoc valley by a lonely Parisian sommelier...

But now they are all at it...

So if the budget doesn't run to that....try opposite at the Lidl....

£3.99 will get you a box of Bavarian breaded scampi balls/(tails?) to start the night off.

Plug in the deep fat fryer and cook from frozen on full whack then serve immediately with the handy accompanying plastic tubs of tomato and mayo dipping sauces. In the meantime, sink a few cans of 9% 'Strongbraulederhosen' brewed solely by a Polish pig farmer in an outbuilding near Potsdam to set the mood.

With Barry White crooning through the speakers, the ambience is set for the memorable main feast. 

An impressive, pan fried 'his 'n' hers,' healthy portion of imported, halal slaughtered, belly pork chump chop neck end loin with an accompaniment side order of either a family sized tin of Italian branded 'marrowfatti' mushy peas or should the partner prefer, the lighter, Gallic jolly 'verde' giant sweetcorn in a Baltic salty brine. Both perfectly compliment the sizeable portion of Lithuanian oven chips made from unwashed turnips and a large white Hungarian loaf known locally as a 'Pfumphernickelstrodulklonnf'...

With great everyday value for money like this , that's not all!

For afters, indulge further in either the seasonal Icelandic Arctic roll made with frozen herring trim or the naughty but nice German recipe 'boil in the bag' sticky 'sausage' flavoured toffee pudding served with optional pink ambrosia custard 'ping'ed for just the right time in the microwave for maximum enjoyment!

With the oral sensation now at DEFCON 1, take this special occasion to the next level by cracking open the value litre bottle of age oaked vintage 'El Cremo de Menthe' liquor and the night, quite frankly Mr.Shankly, is yours for the taking!

You have to admit, it's incredible value at a fraction of the cost....

NOTHING says I LOVE YOU like a twangy, cheaper cut of mechanically recovered meat and a semi chilled schooner of a poorly selected Sarson's bubbly!

Ding Dong...

Blog inspired track comes once again from the delightful Richard Hawley and the opening track off his 2007 album 'Lady's Bridge.

https://youtu.be/hoX8mAj36UY

Down here...

This week came the underlying trepidation awaiting the visit by the Boat Safety Officer, to test, probe and question all the on-board gas appliances and electrical equipment to allow a new certificate to be issued for the boat to remain legally safe for another 4 years. As it happened, it didn't take long to complete the mandatory inspection and soon he was away up the field with another £120 quid!

The rural mooring is still pleasantly quiet, the recent winds have died down now and the temperatures seem to continue to be mild by the Lancashire canal. The daily rainfall seems to be depressingly endless with no signs of Spring apart from a few early shoots poking through. 

Dark and dreary days indeed.

...with some interesting wintery skies at day's end.

Not much solar energy to be harvested with these conditions so the battery management system is proving invaluable to be able to monitor power levels and indicating when to run the engine and for how long to bring the system back up to the required 100%.

Still, no enormous energy bills to worry about!

Boater's winter's are long, long winter's down here on the cut...

...if only there was something to look forward to?

...ok, time to get back on the hedonic treadmill!

Weekend Synoptics...

A deep high pressure system of white will move over northern Scotland during Saturday afternoon, dominating at the breakdowns and bringing a flurry of tries under the new management!

Blog inspired track and latest released single off the new John Grant album 'Grey Tickles, Black Pressure', 

You do this, and you get that

I want what I was promised

I'm a bit impatient...!

                                                        ...And a great little tune to play air clarinet to...!

http://youtu.be/eViyPYJ2okc

Monster...

There is a wintery scene through Andromeda's starboard windows today in Lancashire.

This time of year, along the canal's towpath, you get only the dog walkers and the pikey's passing by. 

Not the sneaky, thieving ones suspected of lifting the lead off the church roof or nicking the lawnmower from next door's shed, it's the other ones.....the Pike fishermen.

Yes men, always men!

Woolly hatted and wrapped up with more skins than an onion they tramp up and down casting their little short rods with their little rubber fish bait....plop, plop, plopping repetitively and then winding at various speeds while staring hopefully at the canal surface in a vain attempt to lure in an elusive monster from the depths.

With massive nets and freezing fingers and weighed down with scales and scissors they puff on fags to keep their lungs warm as they cast and cast and cast, trolling along until all of a sudden the line goes tight and the rod bends....

An expectant face at the window across watches the scene as it excitedly unravels ...has he struck into the record breaker?...with bending rod raised in the wind and hail he frantically winds in his prey but he can't seem to land it? He fights and pulls and tugs, the rod bent like a willow the specimen hunter's catch must be huge?

If only he can land it......oh, hang on....

....it appears that from the towpath, he has casted so far he has missed the canal completely and managed to snag it on the coal bunker cover which although it was putting up a hell of a fight I don't think it was quite the catch of the day he was after? 

I can't really picture him on the cover of the Anglers Mail holding a prized 25kg bag of Milligan's Excel somehow, can you?

REM's single Monster will have to do for this blog...!                    

Something better change...

Sick to death now of pulverised pulses and life changing cacao, chia, maca and goji - it's time to get reality back on track as I'm not sure that the Ying is lining up with the Yang with all this healthy dieting. Having all this fruit and veg ingestion only seems to be making the Andrex bills soft strong and very long and has even started to cause other problems...

It's now no longer possible to open any cupboard on the boat without a plethora of plastic juicers, mixers, and smoothie blenders, all with flip-top-lids-to-go and stay fresh resealable oversized cups tumbling out and clattering all over the floor at every opportunity.

No more compact ninja urine extractors or stylishly contoured meat and herb choppers on this craft....it's gone too far, to the point that only this morning the dog had to be taken down the vets as it got shot in the leg by a stray NutriBullet and this was the final straw.

 It's time to take all his stuff down to the tip where it belongs.

Instead, it's time to embrace the advances in technology and invest in the future.

With a click and a credit card it didn't take long to google up the Internet to Ebay a purchase for the latest hot must have sporty gadget direct from up the Amazon and with free shipping all the way from the sweat shops of Taiwan. 

When it arrived it was strapped on snugly, synced to an app and fired up with dramatic results.

The cheaper option, 'Fatbit' uses latest satellite Gps along with bionic synth stealth    technology to record all the food that you can shove in your cake-hole, monitor your sleepless nights and record how many times you get up for a wee. In the morning, it will wake you with an electric shock and supply you with an electronic till receipt showing how porky you have become overnight while taking into account and deducting any weight loss from your morning ablutions.

The app automatically cancels any direct debits and appointments you have for the local gym and is programmed to bleep and uses google mapping to inform you when you are approaching any fast food outlet that has a promotion on pies. 

The personal trainer programme allows you to stay focused on your blubbery goals,   that is if you goal is to balloon to the size of massive fat walrus and then Twitter your  score to anyone who weighs more than 3 stone in your Facebook contact list to compare the market with other fat biffa's you know.

Finally, with an inbuilt tracker comparison surge it will locate and find you new fat friends, invite them for lunch and book a table at the nearest Nando's and order you the highest calorific meal on the menu.

If in 3 weeks you haven't put on loads of lard, and if you can get it off your leg, you can return it free of charge and get your money back to spend on some more cakes.

So now, I can lie on the settee and watch all the bandy legged Lycra clad joggers puffing down the towpath....it's the future!

An obvious blog title track again by the Stranglers off the 1977 album No More Heroes.

http://youtu.be/ZTl6YBCjaA4

The Times They are a Changin'...

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters
Around you have grown!

Being a boater it's important to be able to stand at the tiller for long hours and stay alert to the requirement to have to step on and off at a moments notice when a canal side pub is sighted.

So, a healthy mind and body is crucial for an accomplished helms-person in 2016.

Following the Xmas binge that started mid October, it makes sense to make amends going into the New Year.

If only there was a new hardback publication available online to give guidance on what to do if you feel you want to shift the lumps from the blocked aorta and achieve an eternal BMI that would give the reader a base line balanced bottom to die for!

Amazingly there IS one or two to choose from!

From these scientifically proven resources it would appear that fry ups and egg banjo's are old hat and have been banned as they contain saturated polyunsaturates that can indeed block your tubes, cause palpitations and give you excessive embarrassing wind.

This year, in order to be able to moor up perfectly, you really need to improve your metabolic heart rate by reverting to a 5 a day, vitamin rich, diet of moolie, kumquat and parsnip smoothies containing life saving antioxidants to encourage weight loss through osmosis and give you an overall and more publicly acceptable fake tanned enhanced appearance.

Then, by altering mealtimes to having breakfast at teatime, then setting the alarm to have your lunch and dinner together at 3am, will encourage enzymes in the good bacteria to multiply, giving a boost to your free radicals to burn off the excess plaque from your fat balls thus avoiding acute obesity in the twilight years.

From now on, daily protein shakes of the new improved Yakult muscle strengthener with added vitamin P instead of builders tea will replace your chlorophyll overnight and will go a long way to enhance and improve poor eyesight to enable all to spot awkwardly placed water points a bit easier along the towpath, even in the rain!

Combine this with two high tempo Zumba sessions and a strenuous spin class and it could be possible to sail all the way to Lancaster with only one short stop at Bridge 90 for a lite camomile and juniper herbal infusion.

Apparently, going forward, the body can no longer cope with reheated lamb bhoona's,  BBQ'd pulled pork or Hollands steak puddings. 

By the end of the week there is rumour that alarming news could break following NHS insider warnings that drinking pints of real ale could lead to excessive amounts of unwanted urine and may go on to cause bouts of kebab worship followed by insomnia.....so go out and panic buy celery to cut down those calories and combat this evil as the times are definitely a changing!

Time to empty the bog, eh?

Another obvious blog title track, The Times They are a Changin', from 1964 by Robert Allen Zimmerman no less.

http://youtu.be/e7qQ6_RV4VQ

What a Waste...

Only Allah knows what Buddha has got to do with Christmas!

Back from the sales it took ages to cram all the lovely celebrity endorsed merchandise through the narrow Narrowboat doors. Brainwashed by impressive marketing campaigns on Dave and Spike with once in a lifetime tempting half price triple discount  deals down the shops with an easy 'i' swipe payment platform and nothing to 'i' pay EVER!
 It was far too unbelievably irresistible to resist the final bargains.

Unpacking all the 'can't live without' items including a 'must have' battery operated squid, an Adult playboy colouring book with pop out features, several jars of original Old Spice foot balm and a large tube of bohemian beard oil to stabilise growth, enhance and nourish all types of facial hair, the excitement was almost too much.

Basically, a new me was about to emerge with the dawn of the New Year but this mind and body revolution could not have been realised without the purchase of Psychic Skinny Pete's new best seller, an idiots guide to cooking and eating a gluten free hunger strike diet of cous cous, coconut and coriander smoothies 3 times a week to enable the reader to continue to lie on the settee and still shift all the blubber off your flabby bingo wings without having to lift a painted fingernail, saving the time and effort required before preparing a balanced diet and messing about doing regular exercise!

How on earth did life continue without before this enlightenment?

Maybe you shouldn't leave out the exercise?

Maybe half an hour pumping and writhing about in front of Kanye Kardashian's 3 minute belly blitz video will kickstart the New Year's wellness and clean living regime before utilising the benefits of the new organically bespoke Dyson celery spiraliser with an integrated Star Wars BB8 droid attachment for trimming unwanted nasal hair should be the order of the day now?

As we reach saturation point, the last dregs of Aldi's finest Prossecco gets poured down the plug hole and the stinking Stilton that no one ate gets lobbed in the canal, there is just time to get online to check how much money has emptied out the bank and put the last bid on eBay for a combined hover-stroke-ironing board with free shipping from China.

If only there was enough left for a boarding card?

I think a holiday is required!

Where exactly is Copa Cabana?

This latest post blog title was inspired today by the late Ian Dury from the album 'New boots and panties'......probably picked them up in the 
January sales!

https://youtu.be/ZmopROxBnBU

Bomber...

As the festive baubles get blown out of Tinseltown and the year starts to terminate, it would appear to any digital bystanders that it has been the best part of a fair while since the previous blog post was posted. 

Hashtag: lazyandpreoccupiedforafewmonthssocouldntbearsedbutnowbackonit#WTF

So with a semi guilty conscience befitting of a box 3 performance of the last 2 quarters, it's time to tidy up the tales of the mooring, tighten the ropes and empty out the squalid bilge of 2015.

Now with all the TGI Black Friday's thankfully behind us and as the dark satanic mills and factories pump out the final unwanted pressies for the fat bearded consumers to distribute to their turgid little angels in order to enjoy their very own 'Mullerlicious' Christmas; the hours of blissful, uninterrupted consumerism has once again handsomely lined the pockets of the four dandy marketeers of the apocalypse with hardly a sole noticing...

Most seem to have been preoccupied with the festivities to notice that the world's head count has been somewhat reduced this year too, as innocent folk have either been gunned down on holiday, blown up in hotels, cafes and schools, murdered at gigs or sadly drowned at sea when mistakenly thinking they would be helped by caring humans if they left all their possessions and families for a tempting trip away from murdering maniacs.....unfortunately, only changing your avatar to any of the countries flags affected, didn't seem to help these causes.....

...oh, you only did the tricolour??

Still.....at this hospitable time I'm sure some more of these less fortunate inhabitants are left alive somewhere nearby and in our thoughts...

With all these seemingly fine, upstanding, wealthy business moguls trusted with all your hard earned cash in offshore accounts from the festive binges, with their gorgeous, massive,empty mansions up and down the country seemingly all 'unavailable', the 'unwanted' soles wouldn't have had much choice but to spend the festive period celebrating life in their own way, albeit a little colder but fortunately, somewhere out of sight to avoid any guilty consciousnesses.

No doubt when all the festivities are over we will get to hear how they got on....

Back on the mooring, and closer to home, the endless waves of economic migrating waterfowl have been turning up moaning and expecting their rights of a free lunch of nuts and seeds in order to 'survive the bleak winter months'  to be upheld; sharing it begrudgingly with other native mammals claiming similar lame excuses of cold and hunger.  With no bonus again this year they will have to make do with the 'Booths' finest handmade farmhouse cob and a packet of dry crushed up 'Carr's', this year supplemented with a bespoke, homemade gingerbread house, I'm afraid.

The swan's 'chuckling' offspring won't leave home either to both their parents dismay and now the hungry, diving cormorants have moved in over the towpath so the fish stocks will be depleted soon and the kingfisher will go ballistic in the spring!

Endlessly, the winter storms bluster along with 'hurricane Elaine' at the helm, and seem to have blown all the sheep out of the field along with the steadfast 10year guarantee heavy duty roof felt off the top of the shed!

Luckily, so far, the idle solar panel has remained fastened to the boat!

Andromeda sits bemused, old and grey and unaffected by the bewildering chaos, inviting a cosy candlelit sanctuary and peace to all within.....Amen!

So as the floods rise higher than the ability of mankind to build on places a little bit higher, and as the world works out who is to blame for these atrocities to mankind, we continue to fund and spot Tim Peak flying past at seventeen thousand rpm in a drone and wistfully look to the stars and the iCloud's for answers.....

And wonder.....

....why we can't just flog the ISS to ISIS to go and have their global caliphate a few miles away from the earth and maybe we can all get on a bit better next year ....Tim, make that call!

So with a new New Years revolution decided, 

(a)solve world poverty 

(b)to eat a diet of copious quantities of recycled fennel to avoid probable cancerous growths 

(c) and to be a bit more regular...

In the meantime, I just hope there is an invigoratingly big, fat winter sale with half price, last minute unlimited, unmissable bargains with up to 50% off with nothing to pay for the rest of eternity to go to....

So...

It's goodnight from me

And it's goodnight from Lemmy, RIP.

See you next year followers!

Obviously a Motörhead track

Some Better Day...

By their very nature, boaters are supposed to minimise the impact on the environment but given the current state of 'global warming' around here today on the Lancaster Canal I'm not sure we need to bother anymore....

With a pinch and a punch its the first day of June but you wouldn't think it as the ropes are checked and tightened up to secure the boat to the mooring as the gusting wind buffets the bow and the rain splashes across the windows and bounces like walnuts on the roof!
Looking out, the poor wet lambs are almost getting blown over as they try to learn to graze the longer grass with their mums. A redundant BBQ has become sadly waterlogged and waves rip along the surface of the cut. An empty gas bottle remains empty on the mooring as the cowslips bend and Andromeda gently rolls in the wind and in turn causes the wind chime to gently 'clang' inside the galley. The fire inside remains lit, along with a scented candle and this mingled with the aromas of a roasting chicken in the oven, creates all the cosy ness required to sit out the stormy weather.

Last weekend at Crick boat show the weather had been rather better and a few new  inspired purchases were made during the weekend and a few more ideas in luxury design and craftsmanship were stolen. Always a great source of inspiration, from huge 60ft long and 12ft wide, ridiculously priced, wide beams with utility rooms and satellite navigation to tiny day boats with barely room for a collapsible kettle. Stalls and shops displayed completely laughable and horrendously awkward composting toilets and every single piece of chandlery imaginable, all at yesterday's prices with an additional 10% off...no doubt.....great browsing fun for all the family!

No 'chucklings' or fishing folk are about when it's like this, nor any holiday hire boaters as they would find these 'challenging conditions' too much with often more boat than ability.....oh, hang on, at 20:36 some complete 'twonk' has just sailed passed dressed admirably in an inappropriate papier mâché anorak, soaking skinny jeans and new white soggy trainers....you have to feel sorry for them, don't you......!!

....Suddenly, a leafy branch gets ripped by the wind and snaps from the old oak tree above and clatters on to the steel roof with a loud thud, thankfully missing the solar panel!...it's getting wilder and wilder!

Returning inside from the wet stormy carnage some 'nob' at the end of the news is saying it's going to be a sunny 25C tomorrow.......yeah right......just need to last the night out then, eh ?....Michael Fish!

Who would be a boater?(sarcasm!)

This latest post blog title was inspired today by the storm and "the gales of life and laughter"'...  a lyric from a great little tune by John Bramwell, AKA ...I Am Kloot, from the album 'Let It All In'.

https://youtu.be/uJET0Rf_fQo

Still got the fever...

There had been a slight doubt over the last few weeks as to whether the old lad had done his job properly as the new lass sat patiently everyday on the nest of eggs, waiting and waiting and waiting......but then......it turned out he had, as seven little fluffy cygnets burst out to prove that he still had it!

Now they are frantically paddling about following the parents every move....

                              

This latest post blog title was inspired today by 'Ian McNabb', and the title track off the album he did with some of Neil Youngs' band Crazy Horse, the whole album is well worth a listen!


http://youtu.be/5BrFU7TdMYQ
Listen here for a live version of the song performed at Lancaster.

Fake Empire...

Into April and the air is now tinged with election fever....Jeez, if I hear one more suited cock in shiny shoes promise me tax cuts and two veg in order to be the leader of a fake empire I will retire to a quiet spot in the country and leave it all behind......
....in a quiet spot in the country, the female swan sits up on her nest waiting for the eggs underneath her to release this years cygnets . Digger did not return from the winter so the old lad found himself a younger model and built her a nest in the same spot....shouldn't be long now. The spindly legged water hens on the other hand have been busier and had their little black balls of fluff and the first clutch of tiny yellow stripey ducklings have been spotted nearby.

Sheep and tiny misplaced lambs seem to constantly 'blart' at each other in the field across while the birds seem to have found their voices and sing their little heads off from early morning, bless 'em!!

The decking is slowly being replaced and repaired at the present time so Andromeda sits on her mooring at the moment but it won't be long before she is off and about as the days get longer as we approach the summer months.

The trees are starting to green up and a few plants are showing signs of life and the fish have started to splash about while topping for the surface flies.

As the sun sets after a warm spring day the fire embers glow into the night...

This latest post blog title was inspired today by 'The National', and the title track off the album....the whole album is brilliant!

http://youtu.be/prW-qgEQxBI

Big City Life...

So we are now into early March with spring supposed to be on the way but as the temperature fluctuates daily between minus 3 and 11 degrees Celsius the wintery winds are still regularly blasting icy hail at Andromeda's steel. Using a double glazed weekend weather window of opportunity, the first sail of 2015 saw Andromeda slip out of her mooring to head up towards the big city lights and sights down in the fleshpots and disco's of Lancaster for the weekend.

Heading north, the hedgerows and sedges had all been trimmed and the towpath looked bleak and bare but was brightened up by the colourful flash of the kingfisher that was spotted after the stop at the water point at Galgate.

Andromeda had the whole canal to herself as there was no other boats moving about, it will be a little different after Easter no doubt.

Bridge 90 was as peaceful as ever breaking up the return journey and the Sunday morning sail had been the right option as a wintery snow shower in the afternoon turned the fields white for the new arrivals, a dozen texel sheep.

Closer to the mooring the water hens and robins are still regular visitors to the bird table.

The days are getting a little longer and the light is lasting while about 6pm....it's always a promising time when the weather starts to improve....


This late arrival and hopefully final wintery post blog title was inspired today by 'Mattafix' with a song that did nowt in 2005 when it was released but so what, I like it....
Give it a listen and decide for yourself here...
http://youtu.be/cGqfJdeSBdM

Listen...

Don't you just love frosty freezing pitch black wintery mornings?....(discussion point)This has become the norm around here. The field has turned white with the hard frosts and all the trees are now bare. The canal has been frozen over for a few days now and the biodegradable vegetable peelings from the Sunday dinner are still sitting on the top of the ice.
As the boat moves slightly, the ice makes a weird ping as it cracks and splinters across the cut...




Apart from this, everywhere is dead still and quiet.
Apart from a few noisy ducks
And a lone woodpecker rattling away in the distance
And a pheasant clucks close by
 And a piece of coal that clunks in the fire grate
 And then the kettle starts to whistle...


Actually, however quiet there is always something to listen to....

Time to feed the birds!

This wintery post blog title was inspired today by 'Bic Runga', A songstress from New Zealand and a track off her 3rd 2005 album, not a single but a lovely song anyway and a double whammy for me as the album it came off just happened to be titled...'Birds'.

http://youtu.be/NeaHPjttVzM


I impress myself sometimes!😇

Protection...

In the protection and sanctuary of Andromeda the storm could be heard as it raged again last night and this time it was the howling wind whistling around and blowing the fenders so that that they rattled on the steel that became the early morning alarm call. The previous day had been a hailstone storm of ice bouncing on the roof so the wintery weather continues to batter the mooring. Still, as long as it's going on outside it's ok as the inner sanctum is calm and cosy. The ecofan continually spins on top of the wood burner day and night keeping the inside warm as the digital weather station tells of the temperature on the outside dropping to  only slightly above zero. ❄️
This is probably going to be the coldest time of the year so the next month or so will continue to be dark and dreary with very little going on until we get towards the spring. 🌚Boaters are closer to the elements and feel the seasons and the changes and adapt accordingly. The winter months are always a time to shut down. The cold icy gale force winds and dark dismal mornings do not inspire boaters to venture out too far so we are content to batten down the hatches and wait for the first signs of spring but for now, a little patience or an impromptu flight to the sunshine might be the best idea.....✈️


This wintery post blog title was inspired today by 'Massive Attack', and a track featuring lead vocal of 'Tracey Thorn', with a lovely soulful voice and a classic chilled out groove...reminds me of watching the sun go down with a glass of vino 🍷in a chilled out beach bar on a Greek island....!🌞

http://youtu.be/Epgo8ixX6Wo

Flowers in December...

After a visit to the water point at Bilsborrow, it was time for Andromeda to return to her mooring after being away for a couple of weeks. Soon she was crossing the tiny Brock aqueduct and sailing in the early December sunshine down the long straight past Barton Grange marina with a great view of the Bowland fells, before slipping under the A6 at bridge 47.

                  

The Ribble link is closed now to watercraft and the hire boaters have given up so we have the tranquility of the Lancaster canal to ourself.

A few dairy heifers were still out but most of the milking ladies were tucked away inside now that the nights have turned a little chillier so most of the fields are empty now except for a few 'fat lambs' left.
The convenient moorings at Bridge 54 was the next stop for Dewhursts coal yard to take back a couple of bags of excel to keep the old stove happy and the cold out.

Passing through Garstang and out into the rural areas, the passing ducks started to fall from the sky......nothing to do with H5N8 though....more to do with about 8 blokes hiding behind hedges with shotguns!

Arriving back on the mooring, It was a surprise to still see a few flowers left.

The late afternoon temperature had receded to only 3 degrees but with the Eco fan working overtime on the top of the stove it was a cosy twenty inside and it felt good to be back where it's quiet and peaceful again....

 
This post blog title was inspired today by...'Flowers in December' by Mazzy Star, a gorgeously sad, soulful song with haunting harmonica and a track off the 1996 album 'Among my Swan' , which is ironic as I haven't seen Digger or Zed since returning to the mooring! ....I hope they are both ok!

Tonight, Tonight,,,

Nb Andromeda's pumpkin 

On the eve of All Hallows' with only two months to go before the year end the weather continues to be mild and pleasant here on the Lancaster canal with the last of the sunshine still managing to maintain the battery bank near to 100% through the solar panel.
The annual pumpkin was carved but didn't last til Halloween as it fell in off the top of the boat when it started to rot. Nb Benjamin had a much better one!
Odd hire boaters pass as they enjoy a late break but soon the cut will be quiet.
The mooring has been deluged as the trees above shed their old leaves and the place now feels very Autumnal as I sweep up the debris. Wisps of smoke have started to emerge from the odd few little chimneys in the evenings on the moorings as the log stores are opened and start to get burnt.
It's going to get even quieter around here...

People constantly ask if it's cold on a Narrowboat but once the fire is lit in the stove the inside temperature is maintained above 20'C so even when the outside temperature drops below minus it stays cosy and warm throughout the boat as the ecofan efficiently distributes the warm air around.
There is no better place to be...

But we are not there yet, so it's time to enjoy the final days of Autumn and prepare for the winter months ahead by filling the diesel tanks and making sure the engine is serviced and de-icer topped up in readiness for the arrival of the cold snap!

Nb Benjamin's pumpkin!

Happy Halloween to all the witches!

This post blog title was inspired today by Halloween so I had to choose the US rock band ....Smashing Pumpkins....fronted by Billy Corgan and still sounding good today!

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger...

The settled mild weather continued into the weekend as the 9th annual Lancaster Music Festival got underway with loads of bands playing all over the town day and night.

       

 

On the way The dairy cows are still out grazing the fields while the first tups are in with the ewes and now well into October it was a surprise to see contractors 'rowin' up' as another bonus cut of silage was being harvested for the winter feed.

The canal banks are still very green and on a sunny mild day it was an absolute pleasure to make the return sail back to the moorings. Once again the kingfishers were out leading the way back. On return it was time to drop the old oil while it was still warm and do a filter change and top up the coolant in readiness for the inevitable onset of winter.

Musical Ruth...!

Great views across to the Bowland hills.

                                                                   

This post blog title was inspired over the weekend by the rugby so I chose the band ....Daft Punk having enjoyed a memorable but brutal RL final that saw the Saints clash with the mighty Wigan Warriors in a tough Super League final and manage a hard fought win.

Hang Loose...

On a return jaunt up country on the wrong side of the Pennines, overnight lodgings were discovered at King Lynn, a small sea port and market town on the Wash estuary in Norfolk.

After a brief historical stroll around Purfleet Quay it was time to treat Andromeda to some new fenders and lanyards on the way home that had been kindly made the day before.

Captain Vancouver

                               
         This fella discovered a spot in Canada, apparently?          

                                              

This post blog title was inspired today by the fenders hanging loose and comes from the band..Alabama Shakes...from Athens, US and off the album 'Boys & Girls'.....in about 2013?.....nice guitar sound!