Another weekend!

Woke up this morning to find the boat had stopped rocking! As I climbed out of bed, there was a loud crunching sound and I realised that the boat was frozen in and the ice around me was forced to break from its position of embracing the hull. A quick glance at the indoor/outdoor thermometer told me that it had got as low as -7 degrees overnight and was -6.8 when I woke. A light snow flurry had dusted the frozen marina water like icing sugar and the frost was weighing down the branches and grasses along the towpath. Even the resident swans have given up their attempt to nest and disappeared. The canal has been frozen over for almost a week now but the gently creeping sheet has now reached my boat and the available water left for the ducks to swim in has diminished daily.

The possibility of more snow overnight has been forecast with the promise of warmer weather and a return to the beginnings of spring by the middle of nest week.

In the mean time, I will be forced in again this weekend due to the weather and will need to cart coal and diesel in the car as the central heating has been on so much over the past week that the fuel tank must be pretty low! As usual, I have a long list of work to do which includes, replacing a blown, (and jammed in!) bulb in the back cabin, inventing a more reliable method of keeping the toilet seat in the 'up' position than the current velcro system, tidying up the knitting of wires that link this laptop to the assorted paraphernalia around it, cleaning out the filter on the shower pump as well as the usual housework and stocking up duties.