A Cp...a cold boat and public transport.

There's pretty much nothing we don't enjoy bout our liveabord lives...  I say PRETTY much because on occasions, the odd irritant raises it's head.

Laundry - or rather getting laundry dry on a rainy/snowy/freezing month gets quite burdensome.  I can fully understand why after a few years, some boaters get a bit less obsessional   laundry proud  - it's easy enough getting clothes cleaned, but getting them dry ... at least without the boat feeling like a Chinese laundry, is difficult.

YES we've got a tumble dryer, but to use it , we have to either start up the generator or leave the engine running for hours/go for a chug.  Going for a chug when it's dry is not a problem but to be honest, chugging in the rain/snow is a bit miserable.    The alternative is putting the drying rack in front of the fire, which whilst does get things dry in a few hours, is a pain.  WORSE so on a bed change a there just isn't the room... hey ho.  IT's not a BAD problem to have I suppose... ergo, I 'll stop moaning about it.

The OTHER irritant is being away from the boat for a long day when the temperature outside is below freezing.  Whilst we can keep the fire in overnight without issue, we're pushing our luck if we leave the boat at 8.30 am and get back about 10pm... as we did on Friday.

I'd banked it up as high as I dare and closed the bottom vent as much a I thought I could get away with (to keep it burning but not hot) and when we got back in... (a little worse for wear I admit), it was only 12 degrees in the saloon- and 8 in the bedroom - with the fire almost gone.

WHY had we been out all day? well some very close friends were getting CP'd in Leeds.  We'd planned to go on the boat the day before but the river had other ideas... Our plan b had been to move the boat in to the town centre and walk to the station... the river put paid to that option too.  SO it was taxi and train time.

I don't like the train... or rather, I don't like hanging around freezing old stations with people "plugged in" to alternate worlds.  There's very little interaction with other people on trains...  people crammed into a small space, pretending the person 3 inches away from them doesn't exist - exacerbated by the earphones/small screens every seems to carry... ANYWAY - of course on Friday (the day of the ceremony, the town was covered in black ice and even the taxi ride to the station was scary.

Every one who knows me, knows how time obsessed I am whenever I have to be somewhere for a set time... AS such, we ended up in Leeds 2 hours earlier than required.  WHICH gave us a little time for a pre-nuptial G & T.

A While back, I installed the Witherspoon's App on my phone -  and I can now confirm it works a treat...  you can sit at a table... ORDER and PAY on your phone and they're delivered to the table.

In less time than I'd have been able to walk to the bar - RESULT.

The only downside as far as I can see, is that AS OF YET, there's no Weatherpersons WEE app! 

After a couple of drinks we went in search of the registry office and met up with our party.  A very civilised affair, complete with Cellist, Saxophonist and a beautiful reading before exchange of vows and signing of the register.  

Once proceedings were complete, we adjourned to their home for an intimate luncheon and plenty of champagne.  I think 20 guests in all - just the right number ... all invited as recognition of their love and support of the happy couple.

It was a thoroughly lovely day - and the wedding cake was equally as good

I'm sorry my photos are a bit blurry - I appear to have scratched the lens on my phone.  I've managed to find one from Sony in Germany so when it arrives, that will be a delicate procedure I'm NOT looking forward to.

We were amongst the last few to leave the party (train to catch) and by the time we'd gotten back to Wakefield it was about 10pm...  Typically, Andy wanted to have "one more" so we popped into the Ferry before heading back to the boat.  They quickly asked us if we intended eating (as the kitchen was either closed or about to close) but we just had a quick one before the  slippery stagger  Walk back to the boat.

The cat's were NOT amused with the temperature inside so I put the heating on AND re-lit the fire.  IF our heating had better controls (as in ones that we could set to turn OFF as well as on) we'd have been able t0o have it come on for a couple of hours before we got back... but, it'really does eat battery power so we had to take pot luck.

Suffice to say, SATURDAY was a delicate day!

oh btw, we got another booking this week  - from New Zealand.  They've paid the deposit but I'm not sure if my emails are getting through as it's been a few days and I've not heard back.  Perhaps we're going into their spam folder..... PLAN b will be to post a booking form off!

Until next time..