Milder weather at last

23rd & 24th February

It’s been a quiet couple of days, but there is at last the first sense that Spring is nearly here, and about time too. Yesterday morning there was no ice in view on the cut when I got up to make the morning tea. This proved to be partly down to the strong wind which blew for the entire day.

When I walked down the hill to get the paper, I could see that where the water was sheltered from the wind it had frozen, and was DSI in places.

On my way back, I called in at the yard and collected a replacement top hinge for the bathroom door, the old one having worn substantially in six years of use. After coffee, I made the exchange which went reasonably smoothly with some help from Sheila.

Otherwise it was a very quiet day. After lunch, we took the recycling to the tip and called in again at the yard to collect the post. Despite the fact that we are expecting a number of things, only one package had arrived, namely some replacement batteries for the little single LED torch I keep on my keyring.

Back at the boat, Sheila continued to work on the insurance quotes for Sanity Again, and I researched suppliers of a new Ecofan. We are very pleased with our current fan, but it is the two bladed model and the longer boat will benefit from the higher throughput of the three bladed version.

The cheapest proved to be that sold by Midland Chandlers, if one ignored the delivery charge. By ordering it through Braidbar (since it’s for the new boat) we avoid paying the delivery and indeed have the advantage of their trade discount.

The weather has taken a distinct turn for the better today. It was wild and windy overnight, with some splashes of rain, but it was positively mild this morning, and has further improved as the day went on. It has been another day for pottering about, albeit with the doors open for some of the time and with a genial sense that the year has turned.

Sheila’s been to get her hair done, but otherwise we have carried on with our various tasks on the boat. It is a great relief not to be worrying about whether we need to get more water before the canal freezes again; we are not expecting sub zero temperatures for the next few days at least.

Tomorrow we may well take the boat down to the Trading Post for diesel and a pump out; otherwise we have no fixed plans.