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!