A very expensive diversion on the way home

Having found out Chris's dad has bone cancer a few months back and with half term apon us we decided to go home to Essex for a few days to catch up with both Chris and my parents.  Chris's dad, Roy, is not in the best of health suffering extreme pain and is getting more frail as the days pass.   He is in good spirits and enjoyed listening too our plans for AmyJo.  It's even given him something to look forward too rather than thinking the worse.  It was good to see the family once more and catch up on old times andChris feels much happier having seen her mum and Dad.  I think she feels more re-assured Roy is as well as he can be for now.

Before leaving for Essex I had phoned Julia at Fernwood boats to go visit them.  So instead of coming straight home today we diverted our journey and spent the afternoon looking around the workshop and discussing our design ideas with Ken and Julia. One can see why their boats are such good quality as they are totally imersed in the business, even the guys working in the fabrication area you can see take great pride in what they do.   Three hours later, after touring the boats being worked on and chatting for a long time, Chris got out the cheque book and now we have booked our build slot!!!  So around May 2012 AmyJo looks likely to become a reality

Now, 6 hours later, sitting at home we still cannot get over the excitement and the fact we are actually going to own a narrow boat.  I don't want to wish my life away but I'll make an exception for the next 2 years!   All we have to do is sell our house, buy another and work out how AmyJo will look inside and out.  Looks like we're going to be busy for the next few years!

Dive, Dive, Dive

Nothing to do with AmyJo but I simply could not resist sharing this with everyone.  I was looking on the BBC News website today and found this in pictures report.  Now I've seen some sights on the cut but I simply love this one!

Go to this link for more pictures
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lancashire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9106000/9106011.stm

Hats off to her skipper for inventivness, looks she'll turn a few heads as she slips past.  We are crusing the Leed Liverpool next year so look forward to coming across this vessel!

From Sail boat to Narrow boat to Gravy boat

There are not many days these days we can settle down in the evening and say we really enjoyed today but yesterday was an exception.  You know the type of day, you get up after a lay in, the sun is shining and the whole day is spread out before you and what is planned is what YOU want to do not what other people have planned for you?  Yesterday (Sunday) was one such day for Chris and I.

From Sail boat. 
Our morning started like most of our Sundays with dinghy racing on the River Dee in Chester.  With the leaves on the trees turning gold and the sun beating down as if a summer's day the fleet was a larger one than usuall and looked resplendant in the Autum sun..  I was on duty running the rescue boat and Chris decided as conditions were perfect she would sail single handed in one of the club's RS Feva's.  4 Mini (20 minute) races were planed and a thoroughly great time was had.  Chris even did well finishing mid fleet.  Concidering she normally crews for me that was a great result.

To Narrow boat

Al and Del on Derwent6

Having met Del and Al in Derwent6 at Crick, Chris and I have been following their blog every day (see their link on the right of this text).  Del and Al have been a great inspiration for us in our quest to own a narrow boat and so when we found out they were heading towards our neck of the woods we simply could not resist paying them a visit, so, after giving them a call, we arranged to visit after the sailing was over.  We spent a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying their company in the afternoon in the cratch of Derwent6 with the sun shining down on us.    We loved listening to Del and Al's exploits and both offered us so much help and advise we are most indebted to them.  I have to say we could have stayed there much longer but we did not want to impose on them too much, and, we knew Al did not want to miss her strickly, LOL.  With a wonderful sunset we said our goodbyes with the promise to meet again and have a meal some where on their return trip.

To Gravy Boat.
Chris and I are privileged to have two great daughters and the youngest, Joanne, has met a young man (Tim) who just happens to be a fantastic cook (lucky Joanne!).  On our return home from Derwent6 we opened the door to the smells of a Roast Beef dinner about to be served.  We sat down to a gastronomic delight,  superbly favoured Beef laced with English Mustard with roasted vegetables and roast potatoes washed down with a lovely glass of red.  All this topped off with profiteroles and cream.  I think after that I'm gonna need a slightly wider narrow boat for me to fit in if we eat like that too often!!  Nice one Tim you can come round and cook again any time :-)

After all that we sat down in the recliners and contemplated what had been a wonderful day.  Thank you Del, Al and Derwent6 for making it a great one!  You guys are soooo lucky and we cannot wait to make AmyJo a reality now having spent time with you.

Tentative step

Well it's been a while since I last posted and we have had our holiday.  It turned out to be one of the best we have had for a long time.  We went to Oludinez in Turkey having great fun Paragliding and going on jeep safaris and so on.  If you don't mind bartering for goods and being constantly asked to buy things as you pass the shops  I can reccommend Oludinez though not much there for the kids to be honest but then for the two of us it worked out great.  All that and we came back refreshed with a great tan as well!

Well time to think about AmyJo again (we seem to have settled on that name as nothing else appeals so far) and with the holiday out of the way I phoned Fernwood and spoke with Julia there.  We arranged to go visit this month to talk about our idea's.  Julia was please we want to come see them and has cleared her diary for us so now we cannot wait to meet both Ken and Julia.  We talked briefly to them at Crick and I was amazed that Julia remembered us. (I hope it was a good impression we made for her to remember us LOL).  We plan to visit the parents in Essex for a few days and will make the trip to Fernwood on the way home.

Chris has been looking at properties for sale and we've been to view one or two.  There was one we both liked but it's been on the market for over a year so we have some reservations.  Still we have some time yet and we both feel something will come along.