New Years Eve.

               

                       

Well, here we are, another enjoyable year afloat has just flown by. We wish you all the very best that 2015 can bring. Meanwhile stay safe, especially if you are heading out to celebrate tonight.

Brownsover.

       

On Christmas eve we had a text asking if there was any space where we were, It was Maffi and It was dark when he arrived so we helped him to moor behind us. After we had our evening meals he came round to help us out with the Guinness, wine and chocolates! Molly snuggled down on the mat while we had a good old chin–wag together, luvly jubbly. Christmas day was spent chatting to friends and family by phone and text. Unfortunately no Skype link was available. We opened our presents, then had a nice roast chicken dinner in the evening. There was a sharp frost overnight and we were needing water, so we set off for the tap beyond the bridge. It was out of order, amazing! So we went on to turn and cruise south to fill up. On passing Clifton cruisers Elaine waved from the window of her boat to us. Then past Barby moorings Dave popped his head out of his side hatch for a quick chat. Several boats were on the move including Zulu towing butty Alsagar. Luckily we met them on a wide straight bit! We managed to fill with water and tie up before the rain set in, perfick. Now for the best bit, evening meal of Bacon, Bubble and Squeak, made with yesterday’s lickuts!

Christmas walkabout.

       

I like circular walks best, then I don’t see the same scenery twice. Mr Kipling’s roundabout was looking good with it’s giant winter cup-cake. I wonder if  ‘Guliver’ will plod by and eat it one day, ha, ha.There were some lovely cooking smells coming from this boat which made me feel rather hungry. Maybe all will be revealed tomorrow on nb Waiouru’s blog! Of course the old cement factory was still in full swing, looking good against the orangey sky after a beautiful sunny day. I suppose it has to keep going non-stop to meet the ‘demand’ for the thousands of new houses that are being built all across our tiny island. Oh well, time to start cooking our roast dinner now, yum, yum! No Christmas pudding for us though as they all seemed to contain several different kinds of alcohol. So, take care out there folks, and don’t get drunk on  yer Christmas pud.

Christmas greetings!

               

We wish all our family, friends, fellow bloggers and blog readers a very Happy Christmas. Enjoy yourselves, but don’t forget in all the hustle and bustle to allow yourself some quiet time to recuperate. We will be spending our time aboard Oakfield as usual, maybe cruising as we did last year. However if we get snow and ice as we did in the 2009 photos above, we will stay put as we will be firmly fixed into the icy canal.  In the meantime we shall be raising a few glasses of somethingorother, so cheers everyone!

Happytimes.

      

Family visit today and the boys brought their Christmas smiles with them too. After reading and studying their books in the ‘story chair’ we went off for lunch in the pub together. Then back on board for fun and games, followed by the exchange of presents. A couple were unwrapped and the rest stowed away for the 25th. The excitement is building up now!

Lolling around!

                         

Enjoying some beautiful sunny days at the moment which end in some spectacular sunsets. It’s also time to don the thermals because it is a tad chilly after the overnight frosts. On returning from my walkabout, nb Waiouru was just gliding down the locks, allowing just enough time for a short chat. We are missing the company of some of our ex-boating friends at this time of year when we linger longer at our mooring spots. However it is great advantage to be able to keep in touch via various internet links, isn’t it?

Monopoly!

         

Mark came by on Calisto so we got our coal and fuel from him. I had a dental appointment while we were moored in Braunston, then we had to move on. On our last evening Maffi came aboard for an evening meal and a couple of Guinness's to help the Cabin Boy celebrate his Birthday. We had already been to the pump out point in the marina the day before to empty one tank. On leaving the next day we then passed GO and collected water. It was a really beautiful morning with a chilly wind blowing as we cruised along. When I did my’ Mrs Overall’ act en-route and took our coffee astern to put on the roof, we even had waves across the top of our drinks! We passed by goose-field and the birds were busy stripping the rest of the berries from the bushes. The cows and sheep were all getting rather plump too. We had the canal to ourselves and only met two other boats on the move, perfick!

Winterval.

  

We hear that our Australian blog readers are wondering what is going on with fewer blog posts. We are in winter mode here and retreat into partial hibernation as it is a tad chillier here than in your part of the world. We tend not to cruise around the system as much as we do during our summer months too, so less stuff to write about. The upside is we meet up with boaty friends for tea and cake aboard and also in the pubs for drinks and meals together. We meet many people in passing for brief ‘hellos’, so it was nice to spend time with fellow bloggers Sue and Dave nb Beefur and Tom and Jan nb Waiouru to get to know each other better. Maffi also joined us as official photographer, unfortunately I forgot my camera so the Cabin Boy took this one of Maffi on his mobile phone.

Old photo.

Where is this?

Tripod sheep, lol!

           

I am camouflaged as a bush, oh no, I see that you saw me. Now, put that leg of Lamb back, I need it more than you.

Wintery sunset.

                   

Perfick! Then the Cabin Boy accidentally let the fire go out overnight and we woke up a tad chilly at dawn!