Splish!!!

well it happened, finally. not to me though, to my better half Andy.
he fell in the river!!!

not off the boat i hasten to add, and he wasn't pushed either - he's made a camp in the next field along from us where we walk Loki. it's a brilliant camp actually, it has woven wood 'walls' and a roof topped with dried reeds like a thatch. he has used fallen wood to make seats and built a little fire pit, and its front 'wall' is open to the river. it's the kind of place i would have loved to have as a kid, and there is indeed evidence that it has been used by other people.
so andy was sitting on his precarious branch by the bank facing inwards chatting to me and gently bouncing........i saw the whole thing coming - the branch snapped and he unceremoniously backwards rolled down the short but steep bank into the river. he did get a proper wetting, and i laughed my arse off all the way home.
boaters baptism.

bless 'im - he was always falling out of trees as a kid - at least the only thing hurt this time was his ego. :-)

and we got a baby boat too, with a small outboard motor - mike and rachel came over this evening and andy and rach went for a little row ( didn't put on the outboard) while mike and i enjoyed the evening sunshine and the countryside - there was a barn owl hunting before dusk in the field by the boat. it's really lovely to live out of doors.

on a more serious note for anyone who's interested, andy put up the folding table given to us from his mum's caravan. it makes a huge difference in the living area. but we had to live in the space for a long time before we finally decided how we wanted it to be - we've rebuilt the sofa 3 times, made it higher and longer, got different cushions etc. the freesatanding table and swivel chair are long gone. this boat really is a work in progress and i don't know if it'll ever get finished.
it's license time, so we posted a cheque for £717 of our hard earned a couple of days ago. on the upside, since we moved to woodford we have been on mains hook up electricity, running a 240v fridge freezer, a washing machine, a tv and various hair straightening implements. since 21st feb we have used £12 worth of electrickery.
now i reckon that's a bargain!!

Eels

it's eel season aparently.
i didn't know that this morning though, as i lay in bed trying to drop off. something swam by the boat and it weren't no moorhen - images of some dodgy old black and white B movie had me thinking more along the lines of a giant squid. i did rush to look out the side hatch but i couldn't see anything. i still have no idea what it was because it would have to have been awfully big to make that kind of noise!
you get used to certain sounds after a while, a bit like when you move into a new house you have to get used to the central heating. things like fish no longer freak me out, and i can now recognise the different sounds that ducks, swans and moorhens make when they are coming in to land as well as the calls they make. i like the the creaking, cracking sounds as the boat warms up in the sun in the morning and the steel expands. the sound of feet on the roof as moorhens skip about and the sound of swans pecking the boat. and no road noise, just the sound of birds and cows and, if the weather is bad, water lapping right by your ear as you lay in bed.

loki did a runner again this evening - well ok that's not strictly true. it's not like the great escape or anything. andy took him out for a walk and on the way back he took a detour to the willow pond. when loki goes to the willow pond he switches his ears off in favour of his nose - he can be just feet away meticulously sniffing a scent trail but he will not listen to you and carries on sniffing. the trouble is the willow pond is surrounded by dense brambles and bushes, so you can't go in after him. he's done it a few times now, and andy has waited for him for up to 40 minutes and eventually left him there! but to our relief, each time he has brought himself home about twenty minutes after andy looking really pleased with himself, full of thorns and with a snapped tail!!! (that isn't as bad as it sounds, apparently all beagles do it, they get so excited and wag so hard that they hit the very tip of their tail against stuff and it bleeds).

one more night before a week off, and boy do i need it!!!