Breakaway

The boxes Ian has made fit in place like so.

 Here..........

and here.

Karen's crocheted blanket recently finished looks like this on the bed.

Ta daaaaaaahhhhhh!

We enjoyed a walk round the village of Grafton Regis on Thursday in the lovely sunshine.

The church is set on higher ground and looks as though the banks have been cleared recently, leaving a fantastic display of snowdrops.

We went along the Buckingham Arm to Old Stratford later (walking of course), after we had moored up below the lock at Cosgrove.

Just needs a bit of water......

Friday was Ian's birthday so we stopped at the Navigation at Thrupp for lunch, then walked into Castlethorpe village. Found some lovely stone houses and cottages, a very pretty village.



Thatch







Stone terrace with slate roofs







Asbestos roof (originally thatch I guess)



















It has been a lovely having a few days off from packing and clearing up the house. Only 4 more weeks to go!
Karen

Finishing Touches

Finishing lots of things, seems to be the theme of our days.

Ian has finished making some boxes to fit in the engine hole on Tacet along with a board to hold windlasses, mooring pins etc..

Karen has finished a quilt, started last year to use up material stashed away over the years.

We shall be finishing work in the next few weeks. Finishing with other commitments at church too. But there's still lots to do too!  We have found someone to rent our house during our travels, they seem very nice and will look after our home.

Tomorrow we are escaping  from the house to spend a few days on the boat. Hoping the weather is kind to us.

Paperbacks and Puddings

I'm afraid there are no pictures for this entry, (camera trouble!), but thought it was time to update the blog this week.
On Monday I held a Charity Bookswap as a way of parting with some of the many books off our shelves. We had a great evening with puddings and drinks served as friends browsed the books and brought some to swap themselves. We collected 50p for every book taken away and raised £60 for The Quicken Trust a brilliant local charity which is involved with helping improve the lives of children in Uganda. (See www.quicken trust.com) Tonight we have both gone through our wardrobes and filled two sacks for the charity shop. So we feel as though a lot of stuff has gone this week. Hooray!
Ian and Karen

A Day Out

Yesterday we enjoyed a visit to Tacet and a cruise through Blisworth Tunnel to Stoke Bruerne where we turned around and headed back through the tunnel and up to Gayton where we could use the services and turn around again before heading back to the mooring at Blisworth Tunnel Boats. How lovely to be out on the boat again. Everything was fine on board and the engine started up well. Although cold, there was some sunshine, only saw a couple of other boats on the move, but it was just great to be there! Can't wait for April!
Today it's back to clearing papers and cupboards, more trips to the dump and the charity shops next week.
We have a family coming to see the house with a view to rent on Tuesday.

Memories

This week I have been sorting out boxes with letters, cards, diaries, photos, school reports and certificates.  All those keepsakes that bring back memories of times past. There have been many smiles, along with some tears as we have been reminded of friends, family and the funny things our children have done and said, enjoying the pictures and messages they have given us over the years. Now they have been organised and quite a bit recycled (gulp) and are ready to be stored.

Have a good weekend

Karen



1st post!

Welcome to our blog.
Ian and I have dreamed about owning and living on a narrow boat for a number of years. Last year we decided that it was time to step out and make those dreams a reality. So in January 2010 we started to look for a boat, we had already drawn up a wish-list and we quickly found Tacet. We bought her in February, so we have had time to try her out and we haven't changed our minds.
Ian has been wnding down his business and last week I resigned from my job. It is starting to feel more real now! The plan is to set off in April.
Thank you for reading this first entry as we share our plans and get ready to leave the bank. We have mixed feelings at the moment, excitement, anxiety, liberation, frustration, release. In lots of ways it's great to be letting go of all the things that have been taking up so much time and energy. But there is a lot to do to get there.