A proper white Christmas

Regardless of what the bookies say, Christmas in Dublin was as white as white can be. We took our plastic bags up the hill and flew down at top speed, getting caked with ice and snow as we braked. Brilliant!

On stage at Bright Club

Something I never, ever, thought would happen: me doing stand up. This was last Monday at Bright Club.

What Kathy Didn't

This one's for you Lee!!

Out of the sandstorm into the rain - love it!

Can't wait to get down to the boat this weekend. The weather promises to be sunny, after 3 days of winds and rain.

Mind you, I can't really complain about the weather. On Monday I was enjoying 27 degrees-worth of bright sunshine in Leptis Magna, Libya. I was working at the weekend doing teacher training for doctors but had the Monday free.

On Tuesday we had to fly home in a sandstorm! The BA cabin crew were very reassuring. One of them told us about a time his plane was trying to land in Cairo. The visibility was so bad they nearly had to divert to Alexandria. He was getting more and more anxious, sitting by the door, looking at the emergency exit handle and remembering his drill, when all of a sudden the door disappeared. So much sand had got into the cabin via the air conditioning that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

I felt quite calm when I could clearly see the palm trees waving in the wind from the cabin window.

last taste of summer

It felt like summer this weekend - hard to believe it's nearly the middle of October. Went for a walk in Buckingham yesterday. Most of the leaves were still green, just a few turning gold and russet. Everywhere the trees and bushes were laden with fruit: apples, damsons, quince.

Today we went to Hughenden Manor, which luckily for us was having its yearly apple day where they sell the produce from their Victorian orchards. We tried all sorts of different varieties in all manner of ways. My favourite eating apple was the D'arcy Spice. In the cafe I had apple and parsnip soup while F had Fidget Pie made with potato, bacon, apple and rosemary encased in butter pastry. We topped it off with an apple and cinnamon muffin and a cup of tea. Yum!

We also visited Lacey's Farm where we bought half a dozen eggs, a beautiful red squash for 75p and two pints of their delicious milk. The same family have been farming cows there for 7 generations.

Canal holiday 1983 and 2010

Just got a negative scanner and the first thing I've done is scan some pictures of a canal boat holiday my parents took my sister and me on in 1983. Although I was only 3 years old, I really remember the holiday well. Indeed, it was memories of that holiday that prompted my to buy a boat in 2009.

Last week we took our first proper holiday on the boat. We made it to Goring (about 9 hours away) before the drive plate gave up and we had to emergency moor at the end of the sweeping lawn of a large house. We managed to avoid the electric fence, although I did fall in the river whilst trying to moor and simultaneously avoid the rotten fence poles sticking menacingly out of the water.

Despite all the problems, we had a brilliant time. It is so magical to make your breakfast in your own kitchen and then come outside to eat it in the morning sun and realise that you are somewhere completely new.

Here is a picture of the 1983 holiday (and here are the rest)

Gnashing and wailing

Can't believe I've got toothache. Again. In the tooth next to the root canal one.

Learned my lesson and got a dentist appointment next week.

Boooo.

In other better news, I'm going to the boat this weekend where my dad and F are going to finally help me fit the new doors! Can't wait!

Got straight back on that horse....after 6 months

After our January crash, we were a bit scared to take the boat out. Every time we thought we might, the river seemed a bit high, or it seemed a bit windy, and I'm sorry to admit we got a bit scaredy.

Yesterday we took ourselves in hand, gave ourselves a stern talking to, and took the boat down the river. It was brilliant of course, particuarly thanks to F's handling skills. Getting it back in its mooring (between two fibreglass boats, moored at an angle with their bows touching the banks) was a bit tricky, but we did it the second time.

We're having a family outing on the boat for my dad's birthday in a month, so by then I have to figure out how to work a lock. My 8 and 5 year old nephews will be on board. Luckily we have life jackets.

Thank you Marjorie

Marjorie of Moonsilk Stitches made me the most beautiful boat bag for my 30th birthday. It's going to come in so handy, and will look just amazing on the boat. She is so talented! And I am so touched. Thank you Marjorie!

My new career as a photographer

Well, in a haven't-actually-given-up-my-real-job kind of way.

Did a photoshoot for Nigel of Bermondsey the other week. He's pleased with the photos, which I'm delighted about. Below are a couple of my favourites. And here's the link to the rest www.flickr.com/whatkathydid

Still ate with socket-ache

12 antibiotics, 32 ibuprofen, 12 paracetamol and several tears later my tooth socket is finally on the mend. I hope.

Still, had a lovely weekend in Norfolk for my friend's wedding. There was fancy dress and everything. And I managed to eat several weeks' worth of food (despite socket-ache), so all is not lost.

If you like disgusting things read this

I had my wisdom tooth out on Friday. The woman who extracted it kindly popped it in the little dish for me to inspect. I felt really quite upset for a few hours afterwards.

Anyhow, no stitches, just a gaping hole in my mouth, which she told me should heal nicely.

Then yesterday I noticed an unpleasant taste emanating from the socket and it really started hurting. A bit of light brown gunge came out today as I rinsed with salt water. It absolutely stank (I did warn you!).

Via the wonders of the internet I have self-disganosed as having dry socket. They didn't warn me about it before I had the operation, about which I was in two minds in the first place. GRRRR.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to see a dentist asap to get it all sorted.

Two times toad

There's a toad in my back garden. He's been there for ages. But this evening I found a larger female toad in my front garden as well. She was a bit too near to the road for my liking, but it's up to her to lead her own life I suppose. (do toads have autonomy?)

As a result of my amphibious friends - I like to think of them as friends - I should have no slugs, but sadly this isn't the case. I found a medium-sized slimy specimen slowly making its way across my pot of mint this evening. Wearing a rubber glove I scooped it up and put it where I'd seen the back garden toad half an hour previously. Hope he appreciates it.

Here are some lovely BBC pages about the Common Toad (bufo bufo).

n.b. just read back on my first ever blog post, almost exactly a year ago. It was about snails. Plus ca change...

Before and after

I've recently become obsessed with Flickr. Not just putting my own pictures up, but also looking at other people's.

Tetramesh has 203 photos of how Hampstead and Kilburn (my constituency) used to look compared to how it looks now. The gyratory system and above-ground bit of the tube station at Swiss Cottage were monstrosised (is that a word?) in the 1970s. Check out this picture to see the before and after.

Amazing what you see in 5 hours on the Regents Canal

The Regents Canal is fascinating. Walked from Bethnal Green to Camden on Saturday, snapping all the way. Here are some things we saw:

People waiting for delicious cheese toasties, coffee and blood orange juice at the Towpath Cafe, Hackney.


Evidence of the argument between Banksy and King Robbo.

As part of an art project, photo portraits of real tenants adorn the windows of their old Haggerston flats. I got a picture of a tenant in front of her portrait.

Promised picture

Here's a picture of the lovely man I met last week at the jumble sale.

Boat painting

Got a good farmer's tan working on the boat on Sunday. The weather was absolutely fantastic - we've skipped spring and gone straight to summer!

Mine and F's hands are a little the worse for wear after a lot of sanding, but we're on the way to a more beautiful boat.

Now I'm thinking about how I'm going to repaint the boat's name. I want to rename it 68b (or Sixty Eight B) in honour of my mum's family home, the sale of which enabled me to buy the boat. But I'm growing fonder of the name Pinny and it seems churlish to change it.

Here is a picture of the current boat name, taken last summer before the ravages of winter.

A dashing gypsy

Met a lovely guy at the jumble sale yesterday. He was wearing a dashing outfit: white shirt, straw hat, cravat, braces and jeans and had an extremely impressive set of mutton chops. He really looked like Pa Larkin from The Darling Buds of May, except more stylish.

He lives in a van these days, but lived in a horse drawn caravan for 14 years prior to that. He bought a lovely cord wine-coloured jacket and told me he likes to surprise people by being better dressed than they are, even though he lives in a van.

I took my own pictures of him but on film, so I will post them once I get them developed. In the meantime, here is a reminder of good old Pa Larkin and family

A day off that was busier than work

What a day yesterday.

Firstly to Uxbridge Boat Centre. What a great place. Spent far too much money and was charmed by the lovely woman who works there. It's fascinating to see all the boats in the yard too.

Then to my boat for sanding, rust converting, lunch and red oxiding. Balancing precariously on a gunwhale I turned to see a swan a foot away looking at me earnestly.

Then back to London, and South London at that, to the first day of a new photography course. It's run by the brilliant Zoom In. I did their basic photography course last year, and this is the follow on. I've got to shoot two rolls on specific things and get the photos developed before next Thurs. I think I will do some on the theme of shopping as I am going to a jumble sale with my granny in Berkshire tomorrow.

Then in Paddington I apprehended three men who had stolen another man's bike (he was running down the road after them). I asked one of them how he would feel if someone stole his bike (he was riding one). He gave me the finger in response, and then they all cycled off the wrong way down a one way street. I reported them to the police. Seems doubtful they will get caught,but you never know.

I should take the day off work more often!

Thanks to the boating community

I was impressed at the speedy and helpful responses from Towpath Townie and the kindly folks at Just Canals to my questions about boat driving (sailing?) tuition and painting.

I only posted the questions this morning!

Secret getaway

I love this house with its direct access to the river. I imagine it would be useful if you needed to make a moonlight flit.

The will power gym

Happy Easter everyone!

I have celebrated this weekend in the time honoured fashion by eating vast amounts of chocolate. And the brown stuff was all the sweeter because I had given it up (and cakes and sweets and biscuits) for Lent.

Despite my athiesm I tend to give something up for Lent every year, and I've only just started wondering why.

It seems like a good excuse to stop eating something I eat too much of already, and it's time delimited exercise in self-control. But why do I need to exercise my self control? And does it improve with exercise?

Funny story

Just had to repeat this story my sister posted on her facebook status (n.b.Reception is the first year of school):

"Reception kid at lunch, proudly carried his dinner tray over and sat excitedly telling me he couldn't wait to "eat that" as he pointed to his choc eclair. He spent the whole main course talking about how much he loved "them things". Finally he finishes whips his tray round and takes a bite - sharply followed by a look of pure shock on his face as he stares at the eclair then looks at me and says "Wheres' me sauasge?!"

twitter - my goodness!

In a bid to get more people to enter our Reel Health Stories short film competition, I've started tweeting, and then googling to see the results. It's quite remarkable and more than a little worrying how messages spread through the internet like those science videos of rapidly-multiplying bacteria.

I know, I know, it's taken me a few years to catch on the obvious....

"In sickness and in health" submissions wanted for short film comp

We still need submissions for our short film competition. The theme is "in sickness and in health". Show us just what sickness, healthiness, madness and addiction mean to you and the people you love.

If you enter, you've got a pretty good chance of winning £100, or £50...and of having your film seen by none other than the fantastic Ken Loach as well as the brilliant David Morrissey.

Films will be used to help student doctors understand how their patients really feel about health, sickness and treatment.

Deadline is the end of May.

Enter here!

30th birthday party

Ahhh every time I have a birthday party I am so touched when people come. My 30th on Saturday was really special. My sister read one of her brilliantly scary stories and we had so much fantastic music from friends including Nigel of Bermondsey, Jimmy Cash and the Lewisham One, and Eagleslim and Curly Ballard.

It was a joint party with my best friend who has left London for Bristol for a job with the BBC.

There was laughter, tears and dancing a-plenty.

Advice on smoking needed please!

Can anyone advise on my solid fule stove problems?

I can manage to get the fire going fine, but whenever I open the door to give the fire a poke or somesuch, the whole cabin fills with choking smoke.

Smoke also seems to be coming out of the chimney, so I don't think it's that. What can I do? Help!

Best friend's wedding tomorrow

Feeling quite anxious because I'm going to be playing the piano as she walks up the aisle. If I trip up, I hope she won't too! Have also been putting the finishing touches to my speech. Gulp.

Needless to say, I can reassure myself that people will be generally focussing on her and her husband, not on me! Note to self: nacissism is a loser's game.

Oldie but goodie

That's me. Turned 30 yesterday!

A winter weekend

Got new doors for the boat!! Martin Kedian is as good as Mortimer Bones said in her post a while back . All I need to do now is paint, varnish and fit them. I chose to pay less and fit them myself, but Martin very kindly explained how to do it, provided sealant, screws etc and said he would help me if I got stuck.

The new curtains also look great in the bedroom (see picture below). I've still got to finish the curtains for the saloon and the blind for the galley, but at least I feel reasonably confident that they might actually look reasonable.

We had a lovely walk around Hambleden yesterday afternoon. Went to a jumble sale in the village hall and bought a shirt. Saw lots of pretty snowdrops, some inquisitive bullocks and farmers spraying steaming manure on fields. Much more interesting and picturesque than it sounds...

Then we had a few pints in the Flowerpot. Frank watched Ireland get thrashed by France in the rugby and I played with a huge ridgeback and some tiny excited puppies by the roaring coal fire. Lovely!
The bedroom:

The cows:


The manure on the fields:

Snowdrops:

The Thames at dusk:

Circus

Went to Circus last night for my best friend's hen party. It's a new posh-ish trendy-ish restaurant and bar with circus-y entertainment i.e. women in their pants dancing with fire, ostrich feather fans, and in hoops. We ended up pole dancing (though fully-clothed you understand) and prancing about until 2am on their huge catwalk-cum-dining table.

My friend had specifically asked to not have horrendous stripper-type hen activities, so how ironic that we met three genuine Californian firemen to entertain us for the evening!

These are two dancers doing a routine on hoops suspended from the ceiling, over the dining table/catwalk. They are in pink and white uv-reflective bodysuits.


This was our drink of choice. Cranberry, vodka and champagne.

And this was a woman in her underwear, dancing with fire, again on the dining table/catwalk.

Money for nothing (except my soul)

Got paid £45 yesterday for spending an hour telling a woman what I thought about lipstick.

It was one of those interviews where companies pay people to tell them how they can better advertise their wares. I had been chosen after answering many questions about how much makeup I wear, what sorts, how much money I earn, which magazines I read etc...

Felt slightly guilty about taking part (do I really want to let Chanel know how they can better snare people into paying £20 for a lipstick?), but still did it for the money. So much for my morals.

The woman from the company opened the interview by asking me to tell her a bit about myself. I looked blank as I always do when people ask me that, so she prompted me by asking a few more questions: "what do you get up to in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies?" she asked.

I think she was a bit taken aback when I told her that I have a narrowboat I'm doing up. Not the usual Vogue-reader's pastime perhaps?

Motown rocks

What is it about Motown? Which other label has had such a lot of brilliant artists?

Just bought a compilation of 50 Motown songs and nearly all of them are fabulous (dodgy Diana Ross and Boyz II Men ones aside).

Listened to them one after another whilst making my nephew a birthday card and didn't want to skip a single track.

Some of my favourite songs of all time are Motown:
Heard it through the grapevine - Marvin Gaye
Money - Barrett Strong
Shop around - The Miracles
Do you love me - The Contours.

Amazing.

Don't go to IKEA if you're under the weather

I spent over an hour in the fabric section, much of it staring into space, trying to picture various shades in the boat and feeling dizzy. I came away with meters of totally inappropriate stuff. It's quite nice, but the wrong size and the wrong colour.

Oh well, at least it was cheap.

But then on the way home I listened to a radio show about the evils of consuming loads of cheap goods (very bad for the environment and for the soul - see also post below about eco-house) so then I felt guilty too.

Gah!!

Geffrye Museum, arts and crafts

I seem to be constantly thinking about how I will decorate the boat, when I'm not panicking about how much it is costing and how little money I have that is. Managed to get some lovely material that I have made into curtains (see pic below) and a beautiful patchwork quilt, both from my favourite shop (called "The Shop") on Cheshire St, near Brick Lane (n.b. just found out it's also "East London Local"'s favourite shop).

Took some inspiration from the Geffrye Museum, which we visited yesterday, and which is thankfully free. F suggested we go there to check out their Eco Home exhibition, which, despite being small, was excellent. There were some very beautiful pieces of furniture made from recycled/reused materials including a chest of drawers and footstool by Zoe Murphy. Also the exhibit where you turned a handle to see how much energy it takes to make a normal incandescent lightbulb, an LED, and an energy-saving lightbulb work made me resolve to use only the latter two.

I absolutely loved their 20th century house exhibition - particularly the 1900-1914 house, which really reminded me of 68 Grand Drive, my mum's family home. Sadly it had to be sold, but I hope I have honoured its memory by using some of the money I got from the sale to buy the boat.

There was also a thought-provoking and beautiful series of photos by Zoe Barker about what makes a home a home. She had photographed the house of an old man (the fantastically-named Hrolf Trump) just after he died, then after it was emptied, and then after a new family had moved in and redecorated.

I've developed a virus this weekend (snotty and dizzy - yum), but I'm going to watch Eastenders on iPlayer, drink a hot chocolate with cardamom & cinnamon, and make my own patchwork something or other from the fabric cut offs.

Reel Health Stories launched

Our short film competition about health, Reel Health Stories , has been launched.

It's being judged by director Ken Loach and actor/director David Morrissey, of Dr Who fame.

It's primarily a local competition, and has had some coverage in the press: Camden New Journal, Irish World, and UCL.

They DO fly! Pigs that is.

I've got a new best friend: Camden Council. Or more specifically, one Customer Support Officer in the parking department at Camden Council.

Back in early October I parked in a disabled bay by accident. The white writing on the road that marked said bay out as a disabled had recently been removed and a new disabled bay marked out next to it. So I mistakenly thought the first bay was no longer restricted (see pic below, which includes F looking annoyed).

Needless to say, one of our friendly local wardens immediately slapped a penalty notice on my windscreen demanding I send Camden £60.

Being generally argumentative, I sent an appeal, complete with the photo below. I heard nothing until December when I received a formulaic letter telling me my fine had gone up to £180. The letter gave me a number of options as to why this might be ("this is because either: a) bla bla bla or b) bla bla bla etc..."). One of the options was that my appeal had been overturned. But it wasn't clear that it had been, nor, if it had, why it had.

It did however make it crystal that if I did not pay the fine within 7 days, I would be taken to court. So with a scowl on my face I paid up and put it down to experience.

Then yesterday I received a letter from a Camden telling me they were "not satisfied that due process has been followed in this case" and that they were going to refund me £180. Or as they put it 3180.00 (presume the 3 is a typo...).

I won't fully believe it's true until I see the money deposited in my account, and I'm still not sure exactly what "due process" is, nor how it has not be followed, but nonetheless, surely this must be a first!

Granny Woolf

My granny died last night. She was 103, nearly 104 - her birthday was on 13th February. Born in Buxton St, just off Brick Lane in the East End of London, she lived nearly the entire 20th century. She was lucid pretty much until the end. We had a drink to celebrate her life at about 11pm last night. I had Drambuie.

Dresses

Got the bridesmaid dresses for Claire's wedding yesterday. Amazing how hard it can be to find one dress that 4 people will look OK in and that doesn't cost a fortune.

Got a grey chiffon one with ruffles/petals at the neck and waist, and a grey/green shrug, both from one of my favourite shops, Fever. Their clothes are well-designed, reasonably well made and best of all, cheap! They have a lovely shop on Eastcastle Street, W1. It is never too busy and also has a rail of vintage dresses and accessories. It's just how shopping should be.

Got this coat there last year for about £30 in the sale. It has ducks printed on the lining, which is suitable for someone who likes the river...

Snowhere fast (ho ho)

The boat seemed OK on our visit today. My dad acheived what no man or woman had previously - fixed the stove so it no longer completely fills the cabin with smoke. Wohooo! Thanks dad. And this despite a load of snow sliding down the back of his neck as he clambered into the boat via the front doors. We also managed to get the tools in to some kind of shape, ready for when they are needed, which is frequently. Above is a pic he took on his phone (pre snow-down-neck incident).

Also, here is an horrifying story forwarded to me by a friend. I suppose this is one of the things newbies are not supposed to do. Do like the headline though. Those boys and gals at the Sun write a goodun.

Three days free

Was supposed to go to Disneyland Paris with my nephew yesterday until Wed, but bad weather meant we had to cancel. He's only 8 and was very disappointed of course. To try and make it up to him we took him to the IMAX at the Science Museum. We watched a palm-tingling film about astro- and cosmonauts in some space shuttle or other. My other nephew, aged 4, was sitting next to me. We watched the shuttle take off from Earth in a HUGE blast of fire. He turned to inform me that "it is going to Norbert, or the moon".

Anyway, the result of not going to Disney is that I have Monday-Wed off work! I'm keen to go to the boat today, tidy things up, measure some things etc. Alternatively I may go to a gallery or concert and make the most of living in London. Going to try and avoid spending money as I have n-o-n-e.

Virginal anxieties

Have just read a thread on Just Canals about the mistakes made by newcomers to boating . Scarily, I don't even understand what most of them mean...

Feeling slightly anxious about making lots of stupid mistakes and ending up with a sunk boat like this Springer (nb no rude remarks about Springers please!).

Weddings wedding everywhere...

Two close friends getting married - the first in Feb - so this morning I'm travelling to SOUTH LONDON (this happens rarely) to a wedding dress shop with them both.

I've never been wedding dress shopping before, but I wonder if it's a bit like "Suits You" from the Fast Show.

I can't believe how much weddings cost. Several thousand pounds - tens of thousands quite often. Am I naive in thinking the money could be better spent elsewhere? I'm certainly too tight for that type of thing. I'm going to have to try and block my ears when I hear how much the dresses cost. Somehow I doubt it will be £50-100.

Should I water?

I've got what must be a hardy plant. Despite the hard frosts and endless snow, it's been looking pretty perky. Until today. The leaves are drooping and it's looking rather sorry. It tends to do this when it is unwatered. The temeperature is hovering around zero. Should I water it? Advice welcome.
In this pic (taken in the summer) it's the one on the right with the purple flowers.

Different view of London

Been reading one of my Xmas presents, called "Southwards from Swiss Cottage". It's written by a woman called Beatrice Curtis Brown who was born at the turn of the last century, just down the road from where I was born and now live in North London.

She describes how the Finchely Road had, in the 19th century, been lined with fragrant lilac trees. Its fragrance these days is mainly of diesel from the buses that thunder up and down it all day (which I must admit are very convenient, transport-wise).

Although I love reading about my area, the book actually gets more interesting after Brown grows up and moves to Chelsea.

After leaving school, Brown gets a job assisting the families of American servicemen living in England. Apparently in the First World War, many US Servicemen came to the UK. They either found relatives who already lived here, or married English women but then had to return home alone, sometimes leaving children behind no doubt. After the war ended, it was Brown's job to look in to the affairs of these American's families.

Brown describes visiting one woman who had married an American serviceman in the war. He had returned to the US and was now sending for her to join him. The woman, who lived in a deprived area of London called Balham (now home to the yuppy and yummy mummy), was obviously desperate not to go, and had missed several ships to the US already.

"Mary Louise lay in a bed in a vey untidy, though heavily furnished bedroom. I told her she must get up and go to America. Mary Louise said, rather, vaguely, that she didn't think she could to-day"

Eventually, after wiping aside Mary Louise's and her mother's protestations, Brown practically forced this woman to pack, and then escorted her to the train to take her to the port. At the station Mary Louise missed her train and donated her five shillings safety money (given to her by Brown) to a charity collecting for railways orphans.

Brown persuaded her on to the next train, but she arrived at the port just as the ship was sailing. She did however make it to the US a month later, but returned within a year, accompanied by some other women who were in similar situations.

Why do I always think I know best?

A couple of friends came to the boat on 2nd Jan for a New Year outing. We decided not to bother heeding the sign posted to the lock that warned: "danger - fast currents" and made our way out of the mill stream and on to the Thames.

For the first 10 minutes it was fabulous. We sped along, the winter sunshine warming our windblown faces (see pics below). It was only when we got to a fork and had to turn left that we encountered problems. Before we knew it, the current had ploughed us straight into an island's dead-branched trees at what felt like 10mph (prob more like 4 or 5). Fast enough to rid the boat of its pole and gangplank, break another piece off the back doors and break the boat hook in half.

We turned around and made it shakily back to the marina, pausing to see a brown furry creature, the size of a very small cat (a weasel?) swimming past. Some more friends arrived and we spent the rest of the afternoon squeezed in to the saloon around the fire, reassuring ourselves with wine, cheese and some foie gras F's mum had given him for Xmas. The simple pleasures eh.

A man's coming to quote for new doors a week on Wed. He comes recommended by Mortimer Bones - the only female contributor to one of the narrowboat magazines I read on occasion.

Love the boat. Here we are having fun before the crash! F looks quite arresting in my sunglasses I think.