Badger Sandwiches: Deferred Maintenance

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Deferred Maintenance

Sheena's down in Devon, for her month of looking after her mum. So it's time for me to tackle the small jobs that got put off because Summer was just so brilliant that every single day was for living. Bit too wet and windy to be out there with the angle grinder just yet though.

Part of the joy of living on an older boat, with a less than showroom finish, is that you don't have to be out there with the wax polish and brasso every five minutes. I'd much rather be sat down on my arse, with a nice cup of coffee, a cheery fire and a good book, thankyou very much.

People often tell me the canals are wonderful. And I'm sure, that in many places, they are. But, I somehow doubt there will be anything, anywhere, that will equal the splendid wide open isolation that can be found on the Thames in general, and the Cliveden estate, in particular.

I don't mind people, and I quite like to socialise sometimes. But I also love being out on my own, without anybody else in the immediate vicinity. Completely removed, and away from the reach of the intolerance and idiocy which defines and characterises our modern day world.

Late at night, in front of the glow from the stove, I often ponder on the overcrowded cities of the world. and on how many people there are on the planet. All of them crammed in on top of each other. And I figure that being completely on your own, having space and room to breathe, is one of the few remaining luxuries available to the ordinary person.

I mention this, because not a day goes by, when I don't consider myself extremely lucky. I'm not dissing the canals, because we have as yet, not experienced even one of them.

The reason for this introspection and soul bearing? Sadly, Noel Harrison has died. I went to school with his daughter Harriet. The first time I heard 'The Windmills of your Mind' (youtube) on the radio, I was just a little kid in short trousers, with my whole life in front of me. Now I am nearly an official old git, and all these years down the road, the world seems much worse off than it was 40 years ago. Pfft...

It's nice to have water flowing under the boat.

"In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes.." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Knitted hearts hung from a tree @ Spade Oak

Man Machine @ The Hedsor Working Man's Social Club

I've been told I'm eligible for membership (£11), even though I haven't been a "working man" in over twenty years. Their Guinness is cheaper than at the few remaining local pubs, and they have a full size snooker table. Wehey!