tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46291588228628516112025-02-28T20:39:06.287+00:00The adventures of the Crew living on Narrowboat Matilda RoseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.comBlogger954125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-24662550258274782842014-08-08T15:15:00.001+01:002014-08-08T15:15:05.367+01:00

We loved it outside the sleepy village of Mouzay and ended up staying for a week. Unfortunately, we haven’t had an internet signal since we left there so I’m now giving the blog a bash on the ‘Live Writer’ for the first time. Trouble is, without getting on-line, I don’t know where/when the last post I published was. Hopefully I said that we went and spent some time with Debbie and Kevin whereby

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-3975907585905687812014-06-30T20:12:00.001+01:002014-06-30T20:12:51.958+01:00

France is absolutely fabulous - now on the River Meuse in the Ardennes. The new blog of Matilda Rose in France can be found at www.contentedsouls.com

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-74504814708702632182014-04-20T17:38:00.000+01:002014-04-20T17:38:13.483+01:00

Should you wish to follow our antics in Europe then you can find us at www.contentedsouls.com.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-75699354881153538532014-04-10T21:35:00.001+01:002014-04-10T22:20:18.715+01:00

Others aren't much bothered. Whilst G was still at his Mum's this morning and I was flapping about the boat like a headless chicken unable to decide which job to do that would cause the least disruption to our lives; certain members of the MR crew couldn't give a damn after yesterdays energetic walks and hunting  I must add that I took these photos around 12.00 today - lazy tykes

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-22867334260977408562014-04-08T21:45:00.000+01:002014-04-08T21:45:19.598+01:00

I tried to throw that in casually; but it's pretty close now and, I have to admit, neither of us are sleeping that well. I was up at 7.00 this morning after pontificating about life in general for at least 2 hours. G was reading/on the 'net until gone 3. We seem to be sleeping in shifts. We moved a mile or so down the canal yesterday to Kings Langley - the overnight rain continued pretty much

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-51512355671431097232014-04-07T20:37:00.000+01:002014-04-07T20:37:06.736+01:00

How much money do you reckon you could make in a shop/garage on a 12 hour shift if you rounded every customer's cash change down to the nearest 10p? Before we left Hemel on Saturday I wandered across the field to get some bits from the Spar at the Jet garage. When I'd been in earlier in the week I realised that I didn't get my penny change. When I went in on Saturday I didn't get my eight

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-14076990886461496242014-04-05T22:25:00.001+01:002014-04-05T22:25:30.123+01:00

With G away on Wednesday and Thursday the days were pretty much my own. No-one else to worry about or cook for and the weather was lovely so I took off with the boys down the valley of the R. Bulbourne My dogs are turning into right old water boys  Trouble is, they still expect to sit on our laps whilst soaking wet and can't understand why we won't let them  Wednesday we

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-75933439887131580732014-04-04T22:05:00.000+01:002014-04-05T20:54:48.317+01:00

4 1/2 miles and 11 locks took us from Berkhamsted on Monday to Hemel Hempstead - well Boxmoor to be more accurate Our moorings from the bridge at Berkhamsted  I love this Gothic house with it's 3 door boathouse attached  Those 11 locks were seriously hard work; big heavy doubles all against us due to a requirement to leave a bottom paddle up on the majority - made worse by

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-31235741950557739742014-03-30T22:02:00.002+01:002014-03-30T22:02:29.932+01:00

With the carrot of not just a pub but a whole brewery, G accompanied the dogs and I up over the hill into Tring. This, however, is where it used to be (the Herbies had advised us to get the 500 bus from Cow Roast) and it's now another 1/2 mile or so out t'other side of Tring town centre  Honey I shrunk the dogs  You don't see many Tibetans and even fewer in these, almost

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-88548631489322267482014-03-28T19:55:00.001+00:002014-03-28T20:01:31.658+00:00

Having exchanged numerous texts with Kath on NB Herbie I was tasked with walking across the fields to check out the Carpenters Arms at Slapton for a potential dinner out together on Tuesday evening. It was a tough job but someone had to do it and  G couldn't as he was on a fast day it being Monday. I reported back that all looked fine and the walk back in the dark should all be OK with

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-62214307053037188112014-03-27T17:28:00.002+00:002014-03-27T17:28:40.391+00:00

After the investment of a substantial number of hours and a patience level that I can only dream of, my IT Dept. has restored the file links on the computer with only a couple of months loss of pics (a lot of which will be on the blog anyway).  Daisy begging to be let in so that she could eat her dinner in peace (Milton Keynes mouse I think)  and three out of four (there was

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-2411162695563271662014-03-23T19:54:00.002+00:002014-03-24T09:11:11.379+00:00

Not only has G's RAF buddy died this week at the tender age of 62, but his father's brother John also died this morning. We were hoping to meet up with Neil and Kath on NB Herbie at Marsworth tomorrow but we won't get beyond Slapton realistically, although we should still pass each other en route somewhere and I'm sure G can make a cake to compliment some coffee. We also have plans to meet

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-2694859250606878842014-03-22T15:37:00.001+00:002014-03-22T15:52:15.399+00:00

First and foremost Brian was a person who always would put others first, whether it was his Family; Rosie, Emma and Andrew  or any of his friends, and I count myself as one of those friends, we had not seen each other for 23 years and yet when we met it was as if we had never been apart. Below is the citation for which Brian won the Queens Gallantry Medal whilst en route to the Falklands;

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-25988552943523868992014-03-20T20:55:00.001+00:002014-03-20T20:59:07.288+00:00

We started our celebration with a shout on the Ken Bruce 'love songs' spot - unbeknownst to each other we had both sent in a request, but it was G's that was read out. Then we had croissants and bubbly for elevenses. A walk with the dogs and a pint in the Barge before a snooze and then set off for the Cross Keys. The chef had duly rung me to say that he had obtained some venison for G's main

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-12934391080659938272014-03-17T21:24:00.001+00:002014-03-17T21:24:49.221+00:00

Today I, for the first time, joined the serried ranks of men sitting (I'm not sure serried ranks can 'sit' with hindsight) outside the ladies fitting rooms at Marks & Spencer. Now you might well think this was a strange thing for me to be doing; well so did the men and I think the M & S lady on monitoring duty in the doorway was getting close to calling security - especially after I'd

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-1477643731637147922014-03-14T22:25:00.001+00:002014-03-14T22:25:22.103+00:00

Whilst G has been away I've been trying to find somewhere to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. It's not just about the food, it's also about service and ambiance. So I've done some finger work on the net in general and trip adviser in particular. Bear in mind my leg work has been exactly that - on foot - this is where my travels took me. We've (

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-84156066135389168692014-03-13T22:18:00.001+00:002014-03-13T22:18:21.397+00:00

I don't think Muttley was very pleased with us after the boswain's chair try out and he wreaked his revenge at 4.30 am this morning. I was woken by his plaintiff little oohweh! Gippy tummy problem - I hope this never happens when we're moored up against a high wall 'cause it'll be a case of hang on whilst we rig the boswains chair; get you in it; climb up; hoist you up ....oops; too late! I've

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-28761494855432645352014-03-12T20:20:00.001+00:002014-03-12T20:20:20.978+00:00

Muttley is about to give you a small demo of how they work and remind us as to the origination of the expression ' hang dog' (sorry, I took the pics into sun) They lay the sling flat on the ground and I line up my feet in the holes - the holes for my back feet are quite long because they say they might want to put an Airedale or something bigger in...huh!  Then they pull it up and put

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-80550150942940681832014-03-11T22:46:00.001+00:002014-03-11T23:07:12.363+00:00

Well, we wouldn't want to over do it would we? Adam (NB Briar Rose) put a comment on last night's blog which recommended that we moor a little further up which would get us away from the residential moorings and associated noise from gennys and engines. A good call so we moved up a bit, it's amazing how much nicer it is round by Br 82  I love the fact that everything is so beautifully

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-20933693244642524512014-03-10T20:20:00.001+00:002014-03-10T20:20:44.046+00:00

Sadly our time at Great Linford was up so, after one last walk and a quick trip to the co-op, we reluctantly pulled pins at mid-day  Such a shame, as our leaving meant both visitor moorings were empty  and we all enjoyed staying there  Baxter had a last paddle  We stopped after half an hour for water and had to join the queue. There is very little pressure at

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-39051963273203031142014-03-09T22:21:00.001+00:002014-03-09T22:21:15.870+00:00

If ever Milton Keynes needs an ambassador; then I volunteer. I always wax lyrical when we come to this area but it is amazing. Set off on foot and you can follow a myriad of paved footpaths and parks - just when you think you are approaching a road, and go to put the dogs on a lead, then another pathway appears. I could happily stay here for weeks and it's not often I say that - I'm usually

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-1884419111242551502014-03-07T22:27:00.001+00:002014-03-07T22:27:17.499+00:00

As I walked from Cosgrove to, one of my most favourite moorings, Great Linford in the sunshine today I was pontificating about various aspects of our forthcoming adventure. For the last 6 months we seem to have done nothing but say goodbye to people we have become extremely fond of and, although I will see them again at some stage; in Europe there is going to be no chance of any kind of

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-64747084154258079322014-03-06T23:17:00.002+00:002014-03-06T23:22:38.922+00:00

Today we were able to book B & B for the 5 of us on the Monday night, just 5 km North of Nieuwpoort at Midelkerke. Prior to this we hadn't a clue where we would be spending the night as the boat won't be put back in the water until Tuesday. Our transporter said we could sleep in MR on the back of the lorry but with our top boxes and their contents and my kayak inside plus 2 dogs and a cat,

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-81291870967661742592014-03-05T23:43:00.003+00:002014-03-05T23:43:50.073+00:00

What a glorious day and, at last, we were free to move on. We reversed back to the waterpoint and, after walking up with the rubbish, I left G to it and set off towards Cosgrove with the dogs. Leaving this wood in situ brought tears to my eyes, but there was no way we could get in to that side.  It wasn't long before G caught me up although the going on the towing path was surprisingly

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04197180612133846844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629158822862851611.post-2750940727455344062014-03-04T23:32:00.002+00:002014-03-04T23:32:43.728+00:00

Yet another item on the 'list for Europe' is another mast for lights (in addition to the one G has already built for the VHF aerial) The top light is the anchor light and must be lit when moored from dusk 'til dawn; it works on a light sensor The lower light is the mast head light and is a forward facing white navigation light for night cruising - compulsory even if you don't move in the

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