Calcutt and friends 17/11/14

The days of autumn are getting shorter and we are slowly going into hibernation. The ever changing colours of the foliage have been beautiful as we cruise along the canal. The windy, overcast and wet days are somewhat ameliorated by the sheer beauty of the countryside during this season.

It was twelve short months ago that our eight years of meticulous planning culminated in us leaving our family and friends behind as we ventured off to fulfill our dreams. We think often of those we have left behind and strive to maintain as much contact as possible with those we love. It is never easy to find the right time to take such a step but we know that the love and best wishes of our family and friends support us in our journey every day. We are frequently thankful for the available communications technology!!!! So whilst we haven’t lived on Celtic Maid for a year yet we have paused to reflect on this milestone in our lives.

We are always appreciative of the wonderful people that we meet along the way offering friendship and support and sharing lots of laughs and learning. Over this last weekend we enjoyed the company of Julia and Malcolm, who we first met at Abingdon on the Thames and whose boat Figment enjoys its winter moorings here at Calcutt Marina. Its hard to believe that we haven’t known them forever! And we are now onto their clever ploy to divest themselves of their unwanted treasures on us. Not that we mind – the vacuum cleaner, jacket, waterproofs, egg candles, jam etc are all valued additions to our inventory!!! We are a little concerned however about what will arrive next!!!!!

Our stay next to the Calcutt Marina has been extended beyond the weekend and our social engagements as we became increasingly aware of the deterioration in the health of our batteries. Despite efforts to keep them well charged we were confronted with evidence that something just wasn’t quite right. So on arrival here we engaged the services of the marina’s electrician and sure enough 3 of the 4 leisure batteries were in their own autumn!!!! Not wanting to be left powerless over the winter months we decided to replace them immediately and also arranged to have a battery monitoring system fitted to assist us in knowing the state of our power supply at all times. Hopefully that will be completed later in the week and we can be on the move again.

However we are making the most of the available amenities – shoreline power, water, laundry, waste disposal facilities. A bit of a luxury but we promise not to get too used to it!!

To fill in the time Bob has started to make bread – particularly gluten free bread for Bron. The first attempt was Spelt bread and it was a smash hit (photo in gallery!). The second was a plain white loaf – uuummm barely recognisable as bread and almost inedible!!!! Not sure what we will try next but we are up for the challenge. Learning how to cook in a very confined space with a very small oven brings to the fore all the creativity, humour and acceptance that we can muster. However be assured we are not starving and are a little concerned that all our efforts to reduce the waist line over summer may be compromised in these cooler months!!

It is just possible that we may become bears – eating just enough to get to sleep and only waking to eat again!!! If you don’t hear from us just listen out for the snores over the winter!!!!