Well it's not quite raining cats and dogs tonight or raining stair-rods as we used to say, ( "whats a stair-rod Dad "I can hear Tom ask ) , as I sit and type this tonight, but it's blowing a gale ! The boats rocking ,occasionally violently , and I can hear things been blown around outside but i'm warm and cosy and definately not going to investigate !

              I say warm and cosy but to be honest it's to hot, in fact we've all had to change into thinner clothes tonight and it's not unusual it's often to hot . If you live on a narrowboat , one of the frequent questions that you're asked is " I bet it's cold in winter how to manage to keep warm ". We smile at each other knowingly and give our stock answer , " it's warmer than any house  that we've known , we get a sweat rash in winter! Of course with the recent ice we were asked the question alot !.

             Talking  of ice and getting back to cats and dogs , we had a bit of a scare when the ice was on the cut . It;s always a bit of a worry with cats , once they realise the waters gone stiff there's the danger they might wander on and  fall through a thin patch ! Our old cat Bosun went for a walk on the canal once and our hearts were in our mouths 'till he wanderd of again . Well the other night  there was a right commotion outside and it was obvious it was cats fighting . Cats are territorial and although we've told Tiny he lives in a very public area and he must learn to share , the concept seems to have gone over his head , well I suppose it would , he's only short ! Anyway Penny , whose on a boat down under the bridge has a cat thats in the habit of following her up to the carpark if she's going out and waiting for her return . Tiny and pennys' cat are enemies and often have a set to. This particular night it seemed worse than normal so Sue grabbed a torch and went to invesrtigate . She soon realised that pennys' cat was chasing Tiny over the ice onto the towpath opposite ! Both cats then ran down the path under the bridge, Pennys  cat was seeing our Tiny of ! Sue to the rescure , crosses the canal ,( over the bridge not the ice , ) and manages to get between the two cats because pennys cat would not allow Tiny back along the path . Managing to grap pennys cat she then took him back along the path back over the bridge and down along the path our side of the canal to Pennys boat where she left him with Pennys husband. then all the way back to almost opposite to where she was to find a rather scared Tiny. Happily I am able to report alls well that ends well and no harm done ! Tiny will have to learn to stick up for himself as well as learning to share ,he's got alot to learn!

              And poor old Poppys not been well. She suffers from kidney disease which she's had for about fifteen months . It's not caused her to much trouble  but last Sunday I got out of bed to discover she'd vomited up all her dinner sometime in the night and then walked into the carpet all up the boat ! Over the next two days she just got worse frequently vomiting , not eating or drinking . she seemed completely dis-oriented , and frankly not at all well , she's sixteen , which is of course ,old for a dog and we were all worried .A blood test at the vets soon comfirmed that it was indeed her kidneys that were causing her problems probably  exasabated by a bladder infection . The vet suggested that a couple of days stay , hooked up to a drip may well restore her to her former health ! It was worth a go and sure enough when we picked her up she looked a lot better. she's an old lady not in  the best of health but we all hope she'll be wandering around the wharf for a bit longer yet

             This time of year moneys allways tight , hoping we can last until Easter  when we get busier again .The cafe ticks over and we are gratelul for the business but sum weeks at this time of year we barely cover the costs so a big vets bill is all we need ! `you can take a sick animal to the vets but where do you take a sick wallet? Oh well, it never rains but it poors!

           

 

 

 

 

         Today brought the first and who knows possibly the only fall of snow in 2009 . Not very much but enough to give thing a dusting and make the place look pretty . As you might expect the canals been frozen for a few days now and a light dusting of snow made the ice very photogenic . I think the local ducks must have been working three shifts a day to prevent a hole in the ice from closing up . Those that aren't busy paddling about stand around on the ice offering encouragemount to the paddlers and dabblers or practise iceskating . I notice they are receiving plenty of bread from passing walkers , more than the seem to be able to eat as it's still lying on the ice , so they'll be ok if the freeze continues. One benefit of the cold spell , is the grounds hard ! Obvious I know but at this time of year if the weathers mild we get mud . It's been a long and on going battle to get British Waterways to honour the commitment they made and put the site in good order but all we seem to achieve is a string of broken promises , but I don't want to get started on that today . Suffice to say hard mud is a lot better than soft mud ! It's not just lovely weather for ducks!

         Well, all the Christmas decorations are down , and put away back in the loft although Santa's red chair won't go through the loft hatch , so at the moment it's in the van pending a good idea ! So to all intense and purposes Christmas is done , dusted and put away for another year !

 

Well everything has to have a begining , and this is the start of my blog . Maybe not the most notable start ,but never the less a start . It seemed to me that someone may be interested in life at Sutton Cheney Wharf and the goings on at The Ashby Trip , so whoever you are this is for you , and me , because I Have to declare a self interest, firstly improving my typing skill and speed . At the moment typing this is painfully slow , so we will be able to judge progress by the amount and length of the entries I make . Other reasons for creating this blog, I will, on reflection ,  keep to myself for the time being .

   Well today saw the end of the Christmas trading at Cafe Wharfside and I have to say business has been quite good in the cafe . the weather was kind to us bringing

lots of people out walking . So it was time to change the menu but we decided  to keep the menu as it was , except to change the picture on the front . It had proved  popular especialy the broth come stews and it is,n,t to extensive ,important for this quieter time of year .

   so tomorrow it,s down with the Christmas decorations and on with  the New Year !