This is a public service announcement.

Please visit the link on my profile page to The Green Man blog for a continuation of this tale of life on the water. I would have posted a direct link here but i'm writing this from my mobile and can't figure out how to!

Flood Aid!

After the stress of the flooding and Rob trying to incapacitate himself (of which he did a grand job) it was wonderful to receive a special Red Cross parcel from a fellow blogger. The lovely and wonderful Knowleypowley sent us an amazing box of goodies to keep our strength and morale up:

Alcohol, tobacco products, chocolate... Heaven! Only Rob, with his one good arm, snatched and ran off the booze and Lolly, who discovered there was something for her too, coveted everything else for herself:

Thank you KP for such wonderful gifts.

The Work Party And A Night In A & E

It is not often that everyone I work with has the chance to socialize together. Most of us work alone and so when the opportunity to get together for the Christmas party comes along, well, the drinking starts early.

So, a nice meal in a restaurant where more food probably ended up on the floor, a rowdy evening in the pub and then too drunk to make any sensible decion about going home meant we ended up doing a spot of dancing in a terrible night club.

2am seemed about the right time to go home because the club was closing and we wanted to be able to get a taxi home.

All went well. We're all still in one piece.

At this point though, it is really not a good idea to partake in some play fighting - as Rob found out.

I thought he was ok because when he is drunk he loses the ability to speak and so couldn't tell me otherwise. Drunk and wobbly on his feet is about right for a night out. So when I got him back to the boat I was disturbed to discover that his shoulder looked a little out of shape.

After calling NHS Direct and telling them I was incapable of moving my husband from the sofa and that there was something very wrong with his shoulder they suggested calling him an ambulance. Considering he was still breathing it wasn't really an emergency that merrited an ambulance I wandered down the pontoon to Smiles where I kicked his boat (sorry Steven, but knocking politely didn't work!) until he woke up and gave us a lift to hospital.

4 hours spent waiting (mainly for Rob to sober up) Rob was told that he has broken his clavical.




The moral of this story is: never go out drinking with an old man who thinks he's young and spritely. His bones are fragile and crumbly.
Rob thinks the moral of the story is never fight with a scouser, especially when you're her boss.

Still Rising.

I should have been having a nice lazy day off work, but instead, I've been trying to salvage what is left of the garden. I've removed the greenhouse tent and anything else which is mobile to higher ground. I fear that most of the hard work of this year has been in vain. At least the flood water will fertilise the soil. All my winter vegetables are now submerged and my Mediterannean herb garden has sunk like Atlantis.

Those logs used to be the boarders of the raised beds

.

Bye, bye all nice things that I planted.

If only broccoli could swim.
.

Sunshine, but there is more rain to come

Lolly is being evacuated tonight and will stay with my parents in Oxford. Luckily for us, Steve from Polgara (see Smiles link on the right), works for the EA and has us on flood alert. We've been advised to pack a bag ready in case we have to leave as more water is expected this way. That could leave us stranded on the boat. On the bright side, at least our homes float and we don't have to toil with the sand bags like many others.

Lolly isn't so keen on all this water.

The Boater's Garden. Part Four.

Drowned!

Anniversary.

This time last year I was, it would be fair to say, a little bundle of nerves. Why? Well, my wedding day was fast approaching and I had reluctantly agreed to wear a dress (on the basis that Rob and my father donned skirts).

This year, after realising the complexities of what marriage actually means (me: "I OWN YOU, SLAVE!", Rob: "GET ME A BEER, BINT!") we are going to Wales to celebrate our 1st anniversary. It's actually on sunday but we thought we'd make a long weekend of it and explore the countryside around Tintern. Ah, the joys of love...

The Signs Of A Changing Season.

• Clear, cold nights and misty mornings.
• Lighting the stove at night and dampening it down for the day.
• Visitors from far away:

• Fingers numb with cold after bringing in coal and filling up the fresh water supply early in the morning.
• A fat Lolly, wrapped in winter fur.
• Tea made on the stove and hotpots eaten beside it:

• Darkness coming early.
• The soft patter of leaves as they fall onto the roof of the boat.
• Smoke from boat chimneys:

• Putting summer clothes away and unpacking winter woollies.
• An extra blanket on the bed at night.
• The lane becoming a pond after autumn rain:

Who Let The Boaters Out... To See Otway?

Ah, yes, picture the scene...

This motley crew, minus their boats, out on town and subjecting Oxford to drunkeness and fangirl behaviour (and that was just the men):

A trip to the Port Mahon to see John Otway perform in the smallest room ever imaginable, which apparantly can squeeze in 100 paying guests (yes, right).

And here is the man we came to see:

There was a very amusing episode involving a coat hanger and a microphone, but the details of this are probably best left unsaid!

I would have taken more photos but my trusty camera ran out of juice. Typical.

Marmite. Absolutely Nothing To Do With Boating.

After Herhimnbryn spotted my big jar of Marmite in my Kitchen (see garden post) I thought I'd post a picture of what I think the gates of Heaven look like: