The Bear-Faced Cheek!

In light of recent events Granny Buttons has renamed his on-board Rosie and Jim "Aisha and the Prophet Mohammed"!

My teddy bear is called "God" and I've never had any problem from the Christians so far...

A Night on the Tiles/Tables/Chairs

I don't know how we didn't all get barred from the Earl in Crewe but last night but the night included Lyndsey "I can pick anyone up and walk around the pub with them" dropping me on my head into a variety of pub furniture which then scattered around in a clatter.

I'm only little anyway but "a lot heavier than (I) look" apparently. I turned her legs to jelly, an effect I don't usually have on women.
Unfortunately.

Anyway thanks for the bruises er...memories.

More Signs (of the times)...

Mrs P

Murray at http://www.sillysigns.blogspot.com/ posted this picture of an appropriately named porta-loo carrying boat!
I hope he doesn't mind me nicking this picture as I've linked to his site and sent him as silly sign of my own!

Night Dredging...

...deserves a quiet night...

Anti-Christmassy Quote of the Week...

Jeanette Winterson in (I think) The Sunday Times (I was in a cafe and just wrote the quote down)...

"Capitalism may have delivered all the goods, but unfortunately for us, it just goes on delivering the goods. Half of us are suffocated with stuff, and the other half is living on a dollar a day".
Maybe the whole article will soon re-appear on her website.

Meanwhile Blackbird Singing has been enjoying 'buy nothing day'.
Learn more about Buy Nothing Day here - though it's too late now for another year!

Every Boater's Worst Nightmare...

Thanks to Granny Buttons and 'John' who commented on a post on Grannie's site for this.

The universe (Cosmos?) is expanding into a lonely nothingness, all beauty fades, we're accelerating towards social and ecological catastrophe, we're all gonna die and all boats end up sunk (or reconditioned).

Oh I'm such a pessimist! Every time I get home I half expect it to be sunk (but so far I've been rewarded with a lovely warm glow of knowing I'm not homeless - yet).

...I was the same when I lived 'on the bank' - ever since reading a ladybird book as a child about fire, I've half expected my home to be burned to a cinder when I got home. Narrowboats and fire - don't even go there. It's probably no more common than in a house but the difference is that the boating community is a small one and we all know about it when it happens. It cost me the best part of two grand to get my boat to comply to the boat safety certificate but that didn't include having to spend a couple of quid on a smoke detector (I do have one in spite of this)! Madness.

Bad Hair Sunday

In the olden days (whenever that was) people used to wear their ‘Sunday best’. I hope it’s not just me but I see Sunday as my only opportunity to be as scruffy as I like, no ‘work’ of the paid variety to do and socialising is off a less glamorous and intense variety.

That's secularisation for you.

My Facebook

I have a myspace site so that I can put some mp3 tunes on it when I get round to it (though the band I'm now in are quite keen on garage band as a site once we get going). But I also have a facebook profile (you have to log in and join to see anything).

I much prefer facebook to the other networking sites I've tried and more people I know seem to be getting on to it. They also have loads of groups and things you can join for people with similar interests including 'The Narrowboat - It Rocks' who use this inspiring image!

The Editor

I've edited out 'thinking of' on my profile between the words 'I'm' and '...re-starting my musical "career" '.
Much excitement indeed and although there are/will be other sites to deal with this. There will be news here eventually, as appropriate.

Blackbird Singing...

You might have noticed a lot of my headings are music related (and I sometimes do this without realising until later) but this one refers to another boat blogger.

Blackbird Singing was a really nice find because of the things we have in common, and this boater is a fellow 'deep greenie' troublemaker type such as myself by the look of things. Also on my blog-role are some fellow loonie liberal lefties and one or two in similar professions, as well as being boaters (you know who you are!).

All I need to find now is a boat-blogger who is a (would-be) rock god and a binge drinker and I've got the full set!

Ca(r)nal Knowledge

Mort is on the Top Boating Sites warpath as you can read on her blog. It's a ratings war out here!

Frosty Morning

...and toasty inside the boat because I banked the fire up last night

Already Festive in Cheshire

Drunken photo of

lights blowing in the wind.

Prop Probs...(non)

Am I the only boater never to have had anything tangled around my prop? I've had it feel funny sometimes, stuck it in reverse and whatever it's been has gone away but I've never had to physically untangle anything.

Luck me I guess!

Something on the Roof.....?

I get used to the occasional crow or two padding around on the roof of Cosmos, especially when I'm moored near a monumental rookery as I am at the moment.

But the last couple of nights something more timid has been up there....I've listened hard in case it's been a local youngster up to no-particular-use but there's been no rocking motion or anything else too devious-sounding. The evening before last after work I heard an awful sound that can only be something being attacked and killed by something else from a wooded section opposite the boat. It didn't sound too duck-like to me so I think it may have been a pheasant (killed by a fox? mink?) of which there are many around here. Last night I also saw several pheasants on the towpath side of the waterway so I'm wondering if they feel safer on 'my' side - even on the boat roof.

S'pose I'll have to get up one night with a torch and have a look!

p.s. I was once sitting on the front deck and watched as a crow came down in front of me with a 'stolen' egg in it's beak, looked around to see if any other egg-eaters were watching and carefully bury it under some grass clippings.

What!?!

I've been looking at that sitemeter thingy again and found that someone from Indianapolis came across this website by googling ' "Noel Edmunds" "Cosmos" '.

The mind boggles!

I did mention him once.

Boatie Bargains

I like going around charity shops where you can pic up some real bargains without adding much in the way of slave labour or greenhouse gasses. I bought these framed boat-themed prints for just 50p each!

Where are you? Who are you?

Yes YOU! You who are reading this...

I've just fitted this sitemeter thingy on the right somewhere and I'm already addicted to it. I can see exactly where visitors to this website come from, what network they are on, which site they were referred to from, which country nee city they are surfing the web from. It's mega.

I'm trying to work out if there's a way of seeing their search criteria (maybe this is a service you need to pay for as it would obviously be important information to someone running a commercial site).

Anyroadup if you want to know who's reading this junk apart from you see here

Anybody Want This?

KHS Tandemania Alite

High quality machine. Light, responsive but very rugged and versatile. Suitable for on & off-road.Ready to tour the Pyrenees (or take on a picnic) .
Specs
Frame - Oversized aluminium with integral drum-brake bracket (drum brake not fitted).
Wheels – 26” Rhyno Lite wheels with Sun rims
Transmission - Shimano Sugino
Brakes - Shimano Deore V
Brake Levers - Dia Compe
Captain (the one at the front)– Drop bars with end shifters. Double-sided clip-less pedals. KHS saddle.
Stoker (the one at the back)– Straight bars and standard pedals. KHS saddle on Post Modern suspension seat-post.
Accessories Included – Fitted Luggage rack and 4 bottle cages.
Bracket for drum brake is integral to the frame (for seriously speedy downhill stopping).
Cork bar-tape, blue (not fitted on this photo).

Cost £1250 about 3 years ago. Plus upgrades on bars/pedals/shifters. Good condition.

£750 ono Call/Txt 07906225002 or email jtarplee@hotmail.com Cheshire/Staffordshire