Foxglove Narrowboat

Nigel (the boat mover) has fallen in love!…………Who with???    No!
What with???   is the correct question.    –    He has fallen in love with our boat.

He has moored up tonight outside Tesco’s at Rickmansworth
(very handy for the shopping).
As they say “every little helps!”

He has kept us up to date with his progress today (DAY 3) and even though he said it had poured down with rain for most of the day he ended the text with :

……but loving the boat!

I have a feeling Nigel will be taking the long route home to Staffordshire as he is just really enjoying himself. He is hoping to be back by 26th October……..That is 2012 not next year Nigel if you are reading because I have a feeling he won’t want to leave the boat. Every day he is loving it more!

It is really nice to hear his enthusiasm though as it has assured Roy and myself that we have made the right decision buying this boat.

Fingers crossed that the weather stays dry for Nigel for tomorrow as he continues with the jouney back to Staffordshire.

“18 miles 19 locks. Stoppage at 2nd lock due to top gates not shutting , land and water contractors where on site dredging so we had enough troops to sort the problem 1.5 hours to clear.Foxglove ran very well.”
Nigels Log 19/10/2012 

What a lovely thought and such a special gift we recevived today.

Roy and I were given a key cover for each of ourselves for the boat. We were given these by a special young lady called Lucy.
Lucy is only 9 year old so if you are reading Lucy, this was the most thoughtful present anyone could have given us.

You have  heart of gold. 🙂

What an exciting day today. Nigel ( the boat mover) has been fabulous and kept us up to date with his progress with pictures, texts and videos. I love the sound of the engine.

I received the texts while I was at work. My friends at work  think I have turned into a Sealion as I was so excited to hear the engine and see the photos  that I was clapping frantically. I think the feet were going at one point also, but I did not want to mention that. I am really, really excited.

First photos we received were of Foxglove moored at Teddington Lock. She looks beautiful. Then we received the first photo of her travelling on the Thames. Cool!! So exciting.

Then I was amazed to receive the first video of her in action. Just listen to that engine! Amazing!!
Nigel you are fantastic!I have also just spoken to Nigel and he has really enjoyed today and I am so appreciative of the time he has taken to also explain certain things about the boat to Roy and myself.
Even learnt the wheely thingy ma jig is called a “speed wheel”. Not sure what the pully lever thing is yet though. What i really like about Nigel is that he is enthusiastic about the boat as we are. Good luck again for tomorrow. Another day closer.

That is how it feels like tonight,
like the night before Christmas.
For those who know me they will tell you I cannot hide my feelings so as you can imagine tonight I am so, so, so excited. Why? you might ask. Well the boat is starting to make it’s way back tomorrow morning. This time tomorrow night it should have hopefully passed through the Thames.

It is booked in at Teddington Lock at 16.50 hrs. I hope everything goes well for Nigel (our boat mover) and that we shall see him in around 10 days time.

Roy and I really wish that we could be there to see it cruise out of the marina. Roy and myself haven’t even travelled on this boat yet so it is going to be really exciting.

Can’t wait. Really can’t wait!!!

Roy has just asked me if that is an appropriate subject to talk about, well I think it is as he has had man flu all weekend and so we were not able to go try out toilets. I am sure every woman would sympathise with me.

I was hoping to blog about our new bog but unfortunately not. Hopefully next weekend we will be able to. As we have spent most of the weekend at home we have still had a few things to organise and finally, fingers crossed, providing no flood warnings our boat will start to make its way back this Wednesday. Roy managed to find another boat mover, Nigel Carton. Boat license all in place, tunnel lights fixed, tank full of diesel, so hopefully everything will be ok. Can’t wait for it to arrive home, then the big clean up will began. Our best friends Rosa & Martyn have just bought theirselves a motor home and it is beautiful. Their house is the cleanest house I have ever seen and they have thoroughly cleaned their new motor home with toothbrushes where needs be and they have made an immaculate job. This has given me an idea….. Yes , I know….. I need to have a cleaning party……don’t forget your toothbrush. The toothbrush is not required for an overnight stay, only for cleaning in the hard to reach areas of the boat!

Oh Clare Dear…… I think this is what Roy was trying to say when he mummbled O C D!

This is a question Roy and I will be asking each other today as we are going to be buying a new toilet for “Foxglove”. Yes that is the name of our new boat that we have now owned for one whole week and not seen since. More about that later though. So going back to the toilet, today we are going to be trying out toilets. Just like buying a new bed ( still got that to do) You have to make sure it is comfortable as you do spend quite a bit of time on them. I think if I carry on writing I may go into too much information! Anyway, the photos should be quite funny later. I will be in charge of the camera though. No way am I having a photo of me sitting on a loo, whether I am on trying them out for their comfort ability or not!!!

No that isn’t the start of a Julie Andrews song from the “Sound of Music” it is just me saying goodbye to Nick & Emma who bought our boat “Marpessa 2”.They are off on their adventure in the morning cruising the canals. Hopefully we will catch up with them on the waterways at some point.

Unfortunately for us we have another 18 days to go until our boat arrives.

I am on countdown, not the channel 4 word game show, I mean countdown until the boat arrives. So many ideas in my head I would like to do. Can’t wait!!!!

Still no offers on the composting toilet. Is there anyone out there who wants one.
Perhaps I ought to set up a new blog:

Blog on the bog

“I thought you were married” most people will be thinking if they have just read the title to this post, well I am. Just celebrated 21 years! Anyway, for all those whose minds think differently I have got myself a date for the boat arriving back at the marina. The big day will be Saturday 27th October, if everything goes to plan. Our narrowboat mover is a nice gentleman called Roger Ferre. The journey will begin on the 16th October and he will be sending me regular photos on the way. So excited!! I wish Roy and I could do the trip ourselves but our work commitments won’t allow. I will be counting down the days until it gets here, yes just worked it out , 19 days to go! Oh my, that seems ages away. I need to be more patient!! Believe me if there was any other way to get it here quicker I would be doing it, but unfortunately there isn’t. In the meantime there is lots of planning to do. For example:

How do we get rid of a composting toilet??

If there is anyone who would like it please, please , please contact me. I believe they are very good especailly if you want to recycle your own ***t, oops I mean waste. Environmentally friendly is the correct word I was looking for, the word I was use for them is not in the English dictionary!

Each to their own!