Moving on

Well, Karen has finally started her 12 month career break and we moved on board yesterday afternoon.   It was raining on the M25 as we drove up to Denham but had stopped by the time we arrived.  Just as well as we had to make several trips between the car and boat to get all the last minute items on board, including the sewing machine and bread maker!  It really feels like home from home now especially as it has got colder in the evenings so we lit the stove yesterday evening.

We were moored in a clump of a dozen boats opposite Denham marina.  Most were empty but we met a woman on one boat and a couple on another who are going to be cruising all winter like us. 

This was the view from the back of the boat when we arrived:

We settled in by about five o'clock and were sitting at the table when Karen said, "What now?" as if she expected something magical to happen as we had made a life-changing step.  We've chuckled several times today as we remembered her comment.

It was strange to wake up at six this morning and find that Karen was not at her laptop working; however, it was a good feeling.  I usually get up first and get the kettle on and take the dog out for a quick walk.  It was lovely and misty this morning before the sun broke through.  Opposite us were some ducks and geese that had been noisy since about four in the morning.  You can just see a 'ghost' boat behind them:

My task for the day was to get the car back to Kent.  But first I had to fix up the rotary clothes line - it need shortening before I could install it on the special socket on our tiller.  Karen came out to watch (check) and somehow it fell upside down into the canal.  We rescued it but we were rather foolish as we still had slippers on and weren't really dressed for jobs.  By nine o'clock the clothes line was installed and the sun had really broken through:

I took the car home and Karen stayed behind with Buddy and went for a long walk.  They came to meet me at Denham station later in the afternoon and we walked down to Denham Village which has some amazing old properties and is rather prosperous but I suppose it is easy to commute into London.  Unfortunately it started raining so we sheltered in the Green Man (one of three pubs in the village).  In fact it rained so hard that we had to stay longer than just one drink.

When we were walking back to the boat Karen remembered that she had left some washing on the line - it was well and truly soaked when we got back.

As I write it is pouring again outside but it's nice and snug inside so we won't be going out again this evening.