My sister Oli called from Australia in the early hours – by accident, but it woke us from weird dreams – mine about piling shoes into a bath with spider-snails attacking my feet and Jam's about snakes turning inside out, shedding their skins and he was loving it. After that we couldn't really get back to sleep, for some reason the bed seemed to small.
So I slid out and down to the other end of the boat and got forty winks of peace there, woken by my lover making the fire, he tried to romantically carry me back to the sleeping quarters but we got squashed in the galley. I ended up in a pile of blanket and giggles on the floor.
Eventually making it to bed, Jam said he was going to make some waffles and would I like some tea? 'Yes', I said 'and I'd love my notebook and a pen please'.
'I'd love a sense of humour and a large bank account' said Jam and at that point one of the mallards gave it's deadpan laughing call. What synchronicity these birds have in our lives – surely they were listening in?
Birdsong is such a wonderful sound. Lying here guessing the different birds – mallards, coots, a seagull! And the electronic hoot of Ma'am. Clockwork as ever she's here now for her breakfast. Wouldn't it be lovely if she could sit down in the Whispering Garden with us and have a proper breakfast. Sporting a little red neckerchief, polite conversation – ooh did you see Tarporley last night, giving spooky Halloween tours through the tunnel, those kids couldn't get enough of it could they, howling and hooting, echoes through to the Angel.
- Yes and we pretended to be ghostly witchy figures on the mooring, demanding little children for our supper. What fun!
- Delicious eggs Benedict Flora, enthuses Ma'am, could you pass the salt please? So peaceful up here in the Whispering Garden, none of the riff-raff down there can see you, it feels positively sacred here, especially on this church pew, juxtaposed with the bar table and Jam's home-made Kissing Chair, anything could happen.
- Yes it is wonderful just being one step outside into nature, in the middle of London. We're enjoying making our part of the world special.
- And that it is my dear, well I'd best get back to the waterways, thank you so much for your delightful company and a delicious breakfast, you certainly know how to treat a bird well!
Friday, 30 October 2009
Friday, 9 October 2009
Morning Ma'am!
My darling husband leaves at the crack of dawn for work these days, so I tend to wake as well – hard not to on a narrow boat! This morning I was particularly exhausted having been to an immense Clothes Swapping Party we've been partaking in amongst friends for some years now, so I hit the snooze button hoping to re-enter fantasy world but was rudely interrupted by knocking on the side of the boat from our most elegant bird in residence, the swan 'Ma'am'.
She feeds from our hand and comes by every day without fail to have a chat and a nibble, usually in the morning on her start of the bread crawl along our patch of the canal up towards Camden. There's often a gaggle of geese in tow a few minutes behind but quite frankly they're not as polite and so don't get as much attention from me.
Ma'am just seems to know how to behave around humans. She gracefully sits and listens to your woes and patiently waits for the bread to be offered up. She's so gentle you want to stroke her and wash off the muddy brown stains around her neck – funnily enough I haven't tried that yet! When she ruffles up her wings and feathers it's always such a magnificent breath-taking sight.
It's so sad that she's alone. She started visiting us about two years ago and last year had a partner with her. I believe they made a nest further down the canal and laid some eggs, one of the eccentric locals who pushes her trolley along feeding the pigeons out of her numerous bags of bread crumbs told me some kids had been throwing stones and rubbish at them whilst they were nesting and a blue plastic bag had got stuck around one of the swans neck. I wasn't able to find said swan, or the nest, when I went for a walk to investigate but not long after when the swans came to visit, one of them looked like their neck was considerably more oily and dirty than usual and he couldn't lift his head to take the bread properly, we reported to the wildlife helpline, but the next time they visited it was just Ma'am on her own again, looking very sad – if a swan can look sad or maybe I just felt her vibe.
Poor Ma'am. All alone again, just the geese, coots and pigeons to play with and only me to chat to in the mornings...
She feeds from our hand and comes by every day without fail to have a chat and a nibble, usually in the morning on her start of the bread crawl along our patch of the canal up towards Camden. There's often a gaggle of geese in tow a few minutes behind but quite frankly they're not as polite and so don't get as much attention from me.
Ma'am just seems to know how to behave around humans. She gracefully sits and listens to your woes and patiently waits for the bread to be offered up. She's so gentle you want to stroke her and wash off the muddy brown stains around her neck – funnily enough I haven't tried that yet! When she ruffles up her wings and feathers it's always such a magnificent breath-taking sight.
It's so sad that she's alone. She started visiting us about two years ago and last year had a partner with her. I believe they made a nest further down the canal and laid some eggs, one of the eccentric locals who pushes her trolley along feeding the pigeons out of her numerous bags of bread crumbs told me some kids had been throwing stones and rubbish at them whilst they were nesting and a blue plastic bag had got stuck around one of the swans neck. I wasn't able to find said swan, or the nest, when I went for a walk to investigate but not long after when the swans came to visit, one of them looked like their neck was considerably more oily and dirty than usual and he couldn't lift his head to take the bread properly, we reported to the wildlife helpline, but the next time they visited it was just Ma'am on her own again, looking very sad – if a swan can look sad or maybe I just felt her vibe.
Poor Ma'am. All alone again, just the geese, coots and pigeons to play with and only me to chat to in the mornings...
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Someone please smile at her
It's windy. I'm sitting on my neighbour's boat because the internet is down on my boat. The windows are open as my husband cuts tiles and fixes the shower unit; that tile cutting machine smells.
There's a woman walking along the other side of the mooring talking to herself, although I suspect there is someone giving it what for on the end of the wire stuck in her ear for there are loud comments followed by quiet patches. It's a very bizarre conversation and strangely enough not a particularly interesting one, they never usually are. Sometimes though there's shouting and swearing and the odd punch which can be really exciting. This woman has been rabbiting on for hours. It's boring, and loud. Can't she just turn the phone off and walk along the canal and take in the nature and beauty that's all around her and let it slowly breathe away the anger inside her? That would be so much better for all of us. Too easy though to shout and stamp along, oblivious to other people's thoughts and moments.
Can't someone just smile at her? I know they're contagious! :)
There's a woman walking along the other side of the mooring talking to herself, although I suspect there is someone giving it what for on the end of the wire stuck in her ear for there are loud comments followed by quiet patches. It's a very bizarre conversation and strangely enough not a particularly interesting one, they never usually are. Sometimes though there's shouting and swearing and the odd punch which can be really exciting. This woman has been rabbiting on for hours. It's boring, and loud. Can't she just turn the phone off and walk along the canal and take in the nature and beauty that's all around her and let it slowly breathe away the anger inside her? That would be so much better for all of us. Too easy though to shout and stamp along, oblivious to other people's thoughts and moments.
Can't someone just smile at her? I know they're contagious! :)
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Boat life
Living on a boat is quite an unusual way to live really. Most people are really excited when you tell them and have lots of questions, like, is it cold?
It started snowing last night and the ground was covered in a white crispy frost by the morning. It was breath-takingly beautiful and you could see your breath being taken away. Once you are up though and dressed in lots of colourful layers and running around gathering twigs and coal for the fire you soon warm up! Now it's deliciously toasty and is starting to feel like the cold nights are drawing in. Nearly all the leaves have fallen, a techni-coloured dreamcoat for the mooring birds to peck away at.
There's one particular duck that makes me laugh every morning. She has a really funny quack, just like she's laughing at something ridiculous. Everytime I try to record it though, she of course doesn't laugh, but maybe one day I'll capture it, it guarantees a giggle and always a response in unison from us boat-dwellers!
It's half-term at the moment so all the kids that usually just hang out on Friday and Saturday nights throwing stones, rocks, beer bottles, cans and not least huge amounts of raucous abuse are out in force. They really are the only downside to living here. It's not just us that are annoyed by them though, all local residents nearby seem to be lodging complaints, so soon enough they'll be moved on - hopefully before they break another window for that is a job and a half to fix on a boat!
I've made some swede, carrot and sweet potato mash, fried red onions, beetroot, garlic, ginger and leek and lightly grilled some tuna fish for supper, which is going to be enjoyed very soon...
It started snowing last night and the ground was covered in a white crispy frost by the morning. It was breath-takingly beautiful and you could see your breath being taken away. Once you are up though and dressed in lots of colourful layers and running around gathering twigs and coal for the fire you soon warm up! Now it's deliciously toasty and is starting to feel like the cold nights are drawing in. Nearly all the leaves have fallen, a techni-coloured dreamcoat for the mooring birds to peck away at.
There's one particular duck that makes me laugh every morning. She has a really funny quack, just like she's laughing at something ridiculous. Everytime I try to record it though, she of course doesn't laugh, but maybe one day I'll capture it, it guarantees a giggle and always a response in unison from us boat-dwellers!
It's half-term at the moment so all the kids that usually just hang out on Friday and Saturday nights throwing stones, rocks, beer bottles, cans and not least huge amounts of raucous abuse are out in force. They really are the only downside to living here. It's not just us that are annoyed by them though, all local residents nearby seem to be lodging complaints, so soon enough they'll be moved on - hopefully before they break another window for that is a job and a half to fix on a boat!
I've made some swede, carrot and sweet potato mash, fried red onions, beetroot, garlic, ginger and leek and lightly grilled some tuna fish for supper, which is going to be enjoyed very soon...
Monday, 27 October 2008
A recipe for Love!
I've spent the day cleaning the boat ~ as my sister said this morning, as we Skyped away, 'cleanliness is next to godliness', something our mother used to say when we were little. Not that I'm feeling godly at all now, I'm just full and happy, having made a hearty stew with the vegetables I bought back from a show I was working at over the weekend. I was opposite trestle tables full of prize winning leeks, pumpkins, carrots, flower arrangements ~ technicolour bliss to the eyes it was and I would have been silly not to bring some home to sample. I even managed to carry a beautiful big yellow chrysanthemum which is on the top of the boat now and I'm hoping the squirrels don't decide to eat it in the morning.
My love had been out all day and so I prepared this stew: ~
One hugely ginormous leek
few cloves of garlic
three carrots
half a swede
seasoning
pearl barley ~ had to boil it up, wash it, simmer for 1hr 15mins
some slices of german salami, various varieties and nan bread.
Yum yum!
My love had been out all day and so I prepared this stew: ~
One hugely ginormous leek
few cloves of garlic
three carrots
half a swede
seasoning
pearl barley ~ had to boil it up, wash it, simmer for 1hr 15mins
some slices of german salami, various varieties and nan bread.
Yum yum!
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