All ship shape for the New year

I'll let my mammoth last post  - or first post of 2017 sit a bit longer in everyones blog roll before I update with the normality of life  - or my life.

Yesterday, New Years day we took the sea air in a late afternoon walk around Bosham and got well and truly wet on the return leg, should have been more attentive to that large black cloud!

Rachel was due at work today  (2nd January)  and as I did not fancy a 5am start to a cold boat then a full day at work I travelled back to Percy from the south coast this morning.

Not before sorting the carnage of leaving a cat home alone....when we got back after Christmas Rachel found two dead mice and we started to get a smelly fridge..... now from experience of an escapee mouse making home and then dying in the motor of the fridge this meant a strip down and sure enough there was another dead mouse slowly cooking on the motor - nice !

Then it was a gas cylinder change at the cottage. The dumb cheapskate landlord has a Calor gas system for heating of the cottage but it is fed by the 47kg cylinder of gas in a pit. I have just checked the full cylinders weigh over 90kg. I had to replace an empty one before I left as this is not a job Rachel can do - I struggle lifting and dropping the full cylinders onto the pit!

Then it was a drive that should have been about 2 hours 45 that took 3 hours 15 as there was a delay on the A34 so I took the A3 instead but then hit an hours delay on the M25 so detoured off the M4 to get back on the M40. Still all in not a bad drive, I listen to audio books and they pass the time quite well.

Fradley was very busy, lots of people lots of boats moving before the 2 month stoppage.

I set to and cleaned and lit the stove and emptied 2x cassettes and unloaded the car. Once done and the coal scuttle (good word) filled I prepared a large pot of chicken stew. This will now last me for three nights so little by the way of cooking and washing up.

I did a bit of work emailing then cracked open the bottle of single malt Callum my youngest brought me for Christmas, the first real drink all over Christmas as when I get ill I drop off alcohol and coffee first thing !  For the record the drink is 'The Macallan' Gold  - a really nice drink, one of the best gifted to me so far.

When I got to the boat the temp was 4.5c indoors and 3c outdoors. Now a couple of hours later it is 21c in the boat and 0c outdoors. I recon it is going to be a real cold night in the sticks where we are tonight....!!