Stormy weather?

After just one night away last weekend, I returned home to batten down the hatches for the impending storm that was predicted by the weatherbods. Well, It didn't amount to much where we live but I know it hit some places fairly hard.

As conditions could vary from place to place, I thought I should take a look at Skylark to make sure everything was still OK. This morning, all was fine. The wind was still quite high but nowhere near storm force, the water level was normal and my ropes still holding fast. I spent a couple of hours pottering about and then left for home.

I hope to get away again later in the week. First though, I'm taking daughter Rosie back to Uni and I have a couple more rehearsals for the Panto. By the way, the poster for the production is now out and tickets are selling fast.

If you want to see what an ex-local government officer looks like in drag, then book early to avoid disappointment!

(Here's a clue - I'm not the one in the middle)

Ely Apple Day

My weekend visit to Ely was not planned. I had planned to go up the Old West to St Ives and maybe Huntingdon but, as I passed 'Blue Iris' going the other way, Mr Iris called out that Brownshill Staunch was closed until early November. So, not wanting to spend the weekend at Earith, I turned around and headed for Ely.

I moored alongside the Maltings in one of my favourite spots and walked into town (sorry, City). Friday afternoon in Ely is a pleasant place to be; not too busy but still some Fenland life going on.

On Saturday, it got a lot busier. Not only was it market day but the annual Ely Apple Day event attracted many people to the Cathedral Green. Ely does put on a good event; heaps of tradition and culture mixed with a moderate portion of marketing and commercialisation. The other thing that stands out is the great sense of 'community' and lots of people enjoying themselves. I particularly enjoyed the tales from Ye Olde Worlde Yarnsmith from Norwich and the huge Apple Strudel I bought for lunch.

Mick and Gena also turned up  in the morning with their latest boat for sale and I spent a very pleasant evening in the Cutter with them downing  a few of pints of Ghost Ship (or something like that from Adnams).

Over Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning the heavens opened and the rain hammered on the roof, waking me up far too early for my liking. Anyway, the morning was quite pleasant but the forecast for Monday and Tuesday was poor so I headed home into a brisk headwind.

Another GiffGaff update

I was texted by GiffGaff last week to tell me they were sorry there had been an 'outage' and they wanted to put things right. I was not aware of the outage but I guess it impacted on people using the internet and stuff. Anyway, not only had they solved the problem but they wanted to say more than sorry by allocating some funds to A) those people most affected and/or B) invest in more improvements to the service. Well, as I have been very happy with the service and don't need to see any improvements, I opted for A).

Yesterday, I got another text to say 350 other people had also opted for A) so GiffGaff would credit my account £2.09. I know it's not a lot but it's the principle that counts here. I don't think jolly old Vodaphone would have done this!

I continue to be impressed by the service they provide especially when calls only cost 10p for the first minute and per second after that (PAYG).

If you haven't looked at their website yet, set aside a couple of minutes and do it! You will be amazed.

Ukulele update

I know the title of my Blog suggests this all about the continuing voyages of the narrowboat Skylark, but I couldn't go on without mentioning the continuing voyages of me and my ukulele.

I have been practicing most days since I bought it 3 weeks ago and I had my first 'outing' in public last Sunday in the Limes. Now, I'm not going to say it was a polished performance but it was passable and the audience was appreciative, helped by copious amounts of Greene King and Adnams strong ales.

As I said in my last post, if you've ever thought of having a go, I would highly recommend it. The instrument is often thought of as a child's toy but a toy it is not. Of course you can pick them up for a few pounds and they are not much better than a toy, and can put off would-be players by their poor quality but if you spend £100 or so you will get an instrument worth having and sounding good. Spend over £300 for a genuine Hawaiian and you'll get something that would grace any orchestra or band.

My Uke is concert-sized and of French extraction - but it was probably was brought up in China. It goes by the name of LAG U77C (catchy or what?) and is a lovely dark brown mahogany.

 

[Insert image on Blogger is playing up again. It's taken 24 hours to upload one picture. Why does it have to be so temperamental? Or am I doing something wrong?]

Getting the right size does matter. The smaller Soprano Uke is the traditional size but is much smaller and can sound thinner and tinnier. It can also be difficult for people with bigger fingers to hit the strings without buzzing up against adjacent ones. The concert comes next followed by the Tenor and then the largest, Baritone.

Now, if you need any more encouragement or inspiration, click on YouTube and watch the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Their 'Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is fantastic (amongst others). I also came across Jake Shimabukuro presenting his version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. 'How can that be possible?', I hear you ask. Watch it and you'll find out. It really is a remarkable - on a par with a the best international classical guitar.

Now, back to narrow boats. The wintery weather looks like it may calm down this weekend so I'm off to experience the delights of the Great Ouse. Walking around the local CBS this morning, I invested in an extendable aluminium broom thingy with a hose adaptor for washing the boat. This should help to clean those 'hard to get at areas'.

I also bought one of those bike extension tubes for adding a child's bike to yours. If I can get it to fit, this may provide a good means to attach the large umbrella to the tiller arm. I'm not sure if it will work but will soon find out. If it doesn't, it will find it's way on to Ebay. Such fun!

End of summer?

The last three days on Skylark felt a little odd. I know it's early October but the weather was more like summer with temperatures in the low 20's and clear blue skies above. There were still lots of birds around, even quite young ones, and the grasses and trees still had a bright green colour to them. However, the weather forecast for the end of the week is a sharp decrease in the temperatures and strong northerly winds. So perhaps the summer has ended and we have to brace ourselves for autumn and winter. It could be a nasty shock!

For now though, the river is looking good. For one thing, I don't think there has been the same amount of waterweed in the river as last year. The upper reaches of the Old West River was a bit tangled at times but then we have to accept that there has been little flow and this stretch is quite narrow. The rest of the section north and south of Ely has been quite free flowing and now there is little sign of the encroaching weeds. The quality of the water also looks fine with clear sight of the bottom in many places and many small and large fishes to be seen (and last week quite a few crayfish too).

I took the short hop up to Prickwillow to see the annual ploughing competition. I remember last year we all had to wear wellies as it was so wet underfoot. This year the ground was so dry and hard the heavy horses couldn't be used; they tried but couldn't turn the soil to any degree.

I met up with Mick and Gina with their latest narrowboat, Slow and Easy. It's for sale if you're interested and based on the same 60' hull used for Skylark. Mick has also adopted the same interior design of tongue and groove panelling. I like the paint job they have created and may introduce some of the finer details on Skylark when I get around to tackling the exterior next year.

 



Now, to much more interesting things - spiders! Having been away from Skylark for a couple of weeks, a number of quite large spiders had taken up residence on the outside of Skylark. They were tucked up in all sorts of nooks and crannies like under the roof overhangs, inside the fenders, in the cracks around the hatches and portholes, and so on. As they popped their heads out to see why their new home was moving down the river, I either sent them packing onto dry land or gave them a quick swimming lesson. Inside, there were fewer of them as I had closed all the portholes for the duration.

While in Ely, I gathered a few handfuls of Horse Chestnuts to place around the boat. I know this technique has not been scientifically proved effective but there are many people who swear by it. So, anyway, I thought I would give it a try. First of all, I sliced each one open (in true Blue Peter fashion - making sure I didn't lose any of my fingertips in the process). This lets out whatever smell the spiders dislike.

Then I placed them strategically around the boat where spiders tend to gather, in the portholes, around the doors, in the corners of the engine room, etc. I was careful not to over-do it because I didn't want Skylark to look like something out of 'Winnie the Pooh goes for a Tramp in the Woods'. But, in small numbers, I thought they looked OK...

Now, I don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't see any of the little blighters jumping overboard in response to my onslaught but then I don't suppose I would, would I? In reality, I suppose this is just another technique in my arsenal of WMDs against spiders. As I saId before, I'm not getting paranoid...am I?

On Tuesday I left Ely to bask in the last few rays of sunshine before the winter chill descends. It was nice to have the waterfront almost to myself for a few days.

I will probably be out again next weekend to experience the odd pleasure of freezing my chestnuts off in a northerly gale followed by a hot meal and a pint of Abbot in the Cutter. Bon Voyage!