Back home!

Christmas is well and truely over and the new year is just about finished as well! I am now back home on the boat nd ready for the evenings to draw out, the weather to warm up and the signs of spring to start appearing. Before then, however, there will probably be more snow, more cold and freezing weather and more coal needing to be burnt. Upon arriving home, one hour of central heating ensured enough hot water for a shower and the fire ensured the boat soon warmed up. I have now finished unpacking, (3 bags for me and 6 for the dog!) and am about to go to bed. The dog is already sound asleep on his chair in front of the fire as if is his pattern had never been disturbed. Some neighbours have lit fires to keep the boat warm and thawed and another neighbour has dropped my TV aerial down as it came out the clip and bent over ready to snap - it's nice to know people are around and will keep an eye on the boat for you when away - you don't get that in London! I have uploaded twi pictures from the Christmas. One of Hampton Court Palace looking fabulous all lit up at night with floodlights that changed colours and an ice rink in front of the foreboding structure and the second of my fathers garden with his new garden lights. He has always had lights int eh garden but his Christmas present from me was to upgrade one system to a moremodern and powerful halogen system.

I have had several major problems with my handheld PDA when trying to back it up tonight.This included having to perform a hard reset and completely restore the entire system. Thanks to Sprite Backup software this was not too hard although it still seems to be behaving in a tempramental way- a big problem when your entire life and agenda is run from this little gadget!! I now have it working but am not too hopeful how long this will last. I have purchased the upgrade tonight for my sat. Nav system, (CoPilot 5 upgrading to CoPilot 6) and so now need to wait for this to come through to school some time. Talking of school, I have a few days remaining as I don't start back until Thursday this week. This means 3 more days of shopping, cleaning, washing and unpacking but I may try to squeeze a day or two out in the boat if I feel I have time - watch this space.

I would like to close this blog by wishing all my readers, (young and old!) a very happy 2006.