Marielle here.. I'm getting to write this blog... Dean is a lot funnier than me but he's busy so I am taking on the job for now :)
After endless hours of packing / carrying and cleaning at our house, we finally shut the door to Nightingale Drive at about 3pm on Wednesday afternoon. To view the car, with all of us in it, was just plain crazy. We were absolutely jam-packed! Only to arrive and see the mountain of stuff in our little lounge that Dean had dropped off the day before. I had been prepared for a lot of work and attacked it with gusto but by about 10pm Wednesday night, there was no sense of humour left or any sense of adventure at all. Every place in this boat is packed with something. There is no room for anything, even fleas will battle to find some space if they decide to hop onboard!
Talking about fleas... which our cat does NOT have... Rocky, the cat, has been a bit unsettled but yesterday afternoon discovered that sitting on the one end of the boat watching the ducks is a great pastime. He has now settled in. Jesse took him for a walk on his leash yesterday but that didn't go to well. In about a day or two, we'll put him on his leash and he can roam up and down the boat to his hearts content. Just hoping that he doesn't decide to catch a duck for his lunch.
We have had a lot of wind whilst on board, but all taking it in our stride. Most of our belongings have been packed / squeezed away into every nook and cranny so we are able to walk around the boat without stepping over things. The boys have really been great helping out wherever they can. They have now mastered the art of making up and taking down their bed which is a huge help.
Dean and Jesse drove the car to Sheffield yesterday, and caught a train back. So the car has a new home for the next 2 months. I will have to walk to Asda today as it could be my last shopping trip for a few days which is probably a really good thing cause there is no space in my grocery cupboard for absolutely anything anyway. I cooked for the first time last night in the boat... it was a bit hectic... we all ate in relays as things were still a bit crazy. Thank goodness for my microwave as I could heat up each plate as we went along. Our link to electricity will be cut off a bit later today so that should be interesting. Another challenge :)
I am looking forward to finally leaving the Marina which will really mean "living onboard". Our boat is the only boat that has so much junk on it which clearly shows we are here and here to stay - well for a while at least :) I have no idea what happens when we go under a very low bridge, it would mean having to take a lot of stuff off the top of the boat and carrying it along.
We filled up with diesel yesterday, which was a bit of experience in the wind. Ummmm we did connect with a few boats along the way - eeek! I just stayed inside... No way was I gonna show my face during this pre-adventure adventure! We made our way back to our parking spot but this time the correct way round, so leaving here will be a lot easier.
We have our little cubicle at the back of the boat. I am still sitting in bed at the moment which is not good as the bed needs to be taken down so that I can move about. I NEVER stay in bed till 10am!!! but I can't move out right now cause Dean is clearing out his toolbox, just outside the door.. so I am taking the opportunity to enjoy watching "Saturday Morning Kitchen" on our little tv which actually looks huge in this small space.
Anyway.. that's all for now. Guess I had better do something constructive and get a move on somehow. I am sure Dean will give you the next update and hopefully there will be some photos to add. There would have been yesterday, but I had no idea where my camera was!!!
