Hi all, trust we are all well?,
We're not blogging much these days as to be frank there is not a great deal to tell you. The one piece of good news is we signed the contracts for our house move and now have a provisional moving date of 11th November. So, provided the other parties agree, we move on 11/11/11, should be easy to remember. All that puts a doubt on that is one outstanding local search due in this week all being well
That leaves just a little over 10 days to pack so the race is on. We are gearing up to notify all the service companies and have sorted out a removal firm as well.
If you are thinking of moving and still have the kids at home who are over 17, treat them well. As young adults in the UK they are entitled to tenancy rights, something that we had not heard of. This means, like us, you will need to get them to sign a form stating they will vacate the property when you move. We gave Joanne and Amy the choice, "sign or your out" Win, win situation for us really :-)
Its a sad fact of life that these days 23 and 26 year olds like our Amy and Jo have no chance of getting on the property ladder. On the wages the girls earn they would struggle even to rent a flat. The only hope our girls have is an inheretence left by grandparents or us. As we have no plans to pop our clogs we have no choice but to let them stay at home.
This gave us a bit of an idea last night. When AmyJo is built, Chris and I will live aboard during the summer months and charge the girls a small rent each. So that way the bungalow remains occupied and we can rest assured the place is looked after. It also means the bank of dad can remain sovent too!
With AmyJo's build now long complete and one of us into retirement. Chris I now look forward to cruising the network further afield now time allows Our blog is a diary for our friends and family to follow our adventures and, of course, you are welcome to join us as well.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Still moving on slowly
Hi all, it's been a bit quiet on the moving front this last week, the solicitors are doing their bit and the mortgage is sorted and survey on the bungalow all done. The solicitors are doing a great job (surprisingly) and are ready with the contracts but the mortgage company are being a real pain in the arse. Not only did they loose our application and documents only to find them two weeks on but they have approved the mortgage but only sent us 11 pages of the 40 page offer and not the bit we needed to sign to say we agreed with it. All this is slowing things down much to our annoyance.
So for now we are slowly packing up bits and pieces, selling furniture we cannot fit into the bungalow. No completion date yet but that should be sorted soon. I dare say others will follow this path so I may add pages covering these sort of stages before a boat build for now. Might be of use to someone else following the same path as us.
At work I attended a Fire Marshall's course this week and was given some food for thought. I wonder how many of you out there ashore and afloat have checked their fire extinguishers lately? What sort do you have, are they easily accessable, and does everyone know where they are? I bet some will have dry power extinguishers? Did you know that most D.P. (Dry Power) extinguishers compact the powder when vibrated and then go solid so are useless after a prolonged period? Or that the power is actually corrosive? Check to see if they are rated for Class A fires, if so get rid of them. Only DP extinguishers rated for class B and C fires should be used on a boat otherwise you could find corrosion a problem after you use one, besides in an emergency the powder cloud in an enclosed space actually blocks your vision and the route to safe exit so consider a water of CO2 unit instead. If your extinguishers are more than two years old think about replacing them with new ones. Regularly check the pressure is in the Green and if not replace them. Do remember use CO2 or DP on electrical fires NOT water types.
A fire in a canal boat can become lethal in just 20 seconds so have you discussed what you would do in the event a fire does break out? Do you have a fully charged mobile phone at all times in case you need the emergency services? I do not mean your every day use one that you may have on you while you are ashore and your partner onboard with no means of contacting them but one always to hand no matter who is onboard. Interesting points that maybe, like me, you had not concidered perhaps?
Well that's all for now. Take care in the winds and stay safe.
So for now we are slowly packing up bits and pieces, selling furniture we cannot fit into the bungalow. No completion date yet but that should be sorted soon. I dare say others will follow this path so I may add pages covering these sort of stages before a boat build for now. Might be of use to someone else following the same path as us.
At work I attended a Fire Marshall's course this week and was given some food for thought. I wonder how many of you out there ashore and afloat have checked their fire extinguishers lately? What sort do you have, are they easily accessable, and does everyone know where they are? I bet some will have dry power extinguishers? Did you know that most D.P. (Dry Power) extinguishers compact the powder when vibrated and then go solid so are useless after a prolonged period? Or that the power is actually corrosive? Check to see if they are rated for Class A fires, if so get rid of them. Only DP extinguishers rated for class B and C fires should be used on a boat otherwise you could find corrosion a problem after you use one, besides in an emergency the powder cloud in an enclosed space actually blocks your vision and the route to safe exit so consider a water of CO2 unit instead. If your extinguishers are more than two years old think about replacing them with new ones. Regularly check the pressure is in the Green and if not replace them. Do remember use CO2 or DP on electrical fires NOT water types.
A fire in a canal boat can become lethal in just 20 seconds so have you discussed what you would do in the event a fire does break out? Do you have a fully charged mobile phone at all times in case you need the emergency services? I do not mean your every day use one that you may have on you while you are ashore and your partner onboard with no means of contacting them but one always to hand no matter who is onboard. Interesting points that maybe, like me, you had not concidered perhaps?
Well that's all for now. Take care in the winds and stay safe.
Monday, 10 October 2011
In the box or the Skip?
Now we know we are definitely moving we have continued our packing and de-cluttering. I am beginning to think Maffi (Click) may well have a good point when he posted about storage recently. Seems the more you have the more you definitely squirrel away. That's certainly true in our case!
We currently live in a reasonable sized 4 bed detached house and it is amazing just how much we have accumulated in the 11 years we have lived here. Our clear out has not gone unnoticed neither, as our next door neighbour knocked on the door yesterday to say she had hired a skip and could not fill it up and would we like to throw our stuff in it. Obviously we thanked her and in minutes the skip was full, however, I'm not sure whether her " you can throw your stuff in it" comment meant our unwanted rubbish or........
The double garage is taking on the appearance of one of those lockups those Americans bid on hoping to turn a profit. There is not much room left and Chris got lost in there the other day as the way we stacked everything has created a little maze. For a while she got disorientated and could not find her way out amongst the boxes. The girls and I were not too concerned really, we would have found her eventually as we loaded up the removal lorry :-) Don't think she was too impressed when we told her that though when she eventually emerged.
We currently live in a reasonable sized 4 bed detached house and it is amazing just how much we have accumulated in the 11 years we have lived here. Our clear out has not gone unnoticed neither, as our next door neighbour knocked on the door yesterday to say she had hired a skip and could not fill it up and would we like to throw our stuff in it. Obviously we thanked her and in minutes the skip was full, however, I'm not sure whether her " you can throw your stuff in it" comment meant our unwanted rubbish or........
The double garage is taking on the appearance of one of those lockups those Americans bid on hoping to turn a profit. There is not much room left and Chris got lost in there the other day as the way we stacked everything has created a little maze. For a while she got disorientated and could not find her way out amongst the boxes. The girls and I were not too concerned really, we would have found her eventually as we loaded up the removal lorry :-) Don't think she was too impressed when we told her that though when she eventually emerged.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
We had a mystery visitor
Came home from work today and found this
Our mystery visitor must have done this while we were at work today. Our Estate agent is obviously on the case. I have to say this is the first physical evidence (apart from all the form filling) we have that the move is progressing and something will actually happen. I feel happier now for some reason, even though a lot can go wrong before we sign the contracts and complete.
Some Light humour (not intended to offend)
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist
threats. Now they have raised their security level from "Miffed" to
"Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.
Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody
Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only ! two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only
threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person
threats. Now they have raised their security level from "Miffed" to
"Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.
Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody
Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only ! two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only
threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person
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