On route to Swanley Bridge Marina

 Good Morning, its a beautiful day. Its dry outside, Colin was up first as normal to let the dogs out for a wee.  Trouble with me and my back problems and Belle pulls so much, I can't go out with her when she needs a wee!! Any sign of a Squirrel or a rabbit and she's gone!! I wouldn't be able to hold her back. So poor Colin has to get up every morning to let the dogs out (and on a lead, couldn't let them just go)  Had breakfast and a nice cup of tea, checked everything was put away and in a safe place, Dogs safe in there beds and off we go. We decided to go via the motorway/Dual carriageway, it can be boring for Colin and makes him sleepy but he wanted to get back to Swanley Marina way so we were close for when Squires was put back in the water Friday next week.  

We drove on so far then pulled over on a drivers lay-by and stopped for a bit. Colin took the dogs out for a wee and I started on making our lunch. Cheese and Ham sandwiches with caramelised onion chutney. Crisps and cake. We stopped for about an hour.  And then got back out on the road again.  It felt like we were forever filling up the motorhome with Diesel but then again we were travelling about rather a lot.  Colin noticed a canal on his right, there looked like there was a tow path so we went up the road a bit found somewhere to pull in and park up. We walked back a bit, down the side of the bridge was a muddy path that took us down along the canal. Lovely and peaceful but not really much going on. At least the dogs had a walk. We went back to the motorhome. Colin looked on Google map and could see there was a place a few miles up the road that he thought we could park up overnight, so off we went. A lovely village called Wrenbury. Had a look around, the caravan park was behind the pub. Colin went in and asked if they had anything available, they did, £20 a night so he paid for 2 nights. Lovely little village, We found a fish and chip shop. Outside under canvas!! It was in a lovely corner of a garden? Tables and benches so you could order your food then sit and eat. It really was a pretty place to sit and eat. The owners were friendly.  We then walked back to our motorhome after us full from our fish & chips and our 2 gorgeous dogs had a lovely walk which tired them out for the evening lol.  Sat and relaxed in our motorhome reading and searching our map for our next adventure. Then time for sleep. Until tomorrow goodnight xx 

Friday 15th October

We are now on our way to visit my niece Sam.We had been promising her for ages that we would visit her. What an idea time to visit, on the road travelling around whilst we had time on our hands before we went back to move on to Squires. We were told it would take 6 to 8 weeks, ours seem to be going very fast!!, We decided to go tge "Scenic route" We didn't want to go by motorway all the way as Colin finds it boring which then makes him sleepy. We went all across the Pennines, what lovely countryside and very hilly!! I didn't think our motorhome was going to manage the hills at some points, then the burning of the rubber as Colin had to use the brakes a lot going down the hills and bendy roads. Must admit I didn't like it much, but I knew I was safe with Colin, he knew what he was doing(well I hoped he did lol) it was a 5 hour plus journey. We stopped about 6ish?  It was starting to get dusk and we didn't want to drive in the dark, not when the roads were so bendy, steep corners and hills, We pulled over in a very big lay-by where lorries Park up. It was a bit noisy but we thought by later in the evening the traffic would calm down! We cooked ourselves something to eat, sat and read and played our games for a bit. Had a look on Facebook as we had a bit of Data on our phones. By 9.30 we were ready for bed,  Colin took the dogs out for a wee then we settled down for the night. I struggled with sleeping on the side of the road. 1 it was noisy. 2 waiting for a knock on the door telling us to move on 🤣😂. 

Woke up the next morning around 7am. Or was it the dogs woke us up wanting to go out for a wee? You wake up with that feeling that someone/thing is staring at you! Yes, it's Belle 🤣 Than Harry starts whining and jumping around, his way of saying "Come on Dad wake up, I need to go for a wee"  So he gets up, gets dressed and takes them out whilst I'm getting dressed. We have breakfast and a cup of tea, feed the dogs then get back on the road to get to Sam's. I texted her to let her know we were on our way, giving her plenty of warning. so she is up, dressed ready for when we arrive!!  We got there about 10.30. It was lovely to see Sam, we hadn't seen her and Tony for about 2 years. 

Cups of tea and lots of chatting. Harry and Belle were very good with Sam's dog Coco, that made the visit even more enjoyable. Belle is a nightmare with other dogs and people, jumping all over people and other dogs!! Well, is it that she just wants to play or that she for some unknown reason doesn't like them?. That's the trouble with rescue dogs you don't know there background, how have they been treated etc. Both dogs were well behaved. Sam and I went off to Next and Primark I was in desperate need for jeans, the pair I picked up from Asda before we moved were awful on me, I've not got the best of figures anymore ( I don't help by eating food I shouldn't eat plus no exercise) Anyway I got myself a pair of jeans in Next then in Primark I got 2 jumpers, slippers and some lounge/pj bottoms. And a grey pair of jeans. 

We then got back to Sam's, Georgie came home with her boyfriend Josh and Harrison was  home. Tony arrived after work. We ordered a Chinese takeaway for all of us.  It was lovely to all sit around the table, eat, chat and laugh together.  By 10.30 Colin and I were ready for bed.  It was strange both sleeping in a single bed, I can't really remember the last time we slept apart,probably when I was in hospital in my 2018 when I had my last back operation. It didn't take long to get in to bed. I think I fell asleep pretty quickly lol.

We woke the next morning by the dogs waking us up as normal🤣😂 Colin let them out, made us a cup of tea and I think it was about 10 am before we both got up and had a shower.  Sam and  I popped to Asda and got a Chicken and veg, back to hers and done us all a roast dinner. It was lovely, we hadn't had once since we had left home.  Sam and Tony are going to hire a van, come down to Weston-super-Mare and have our Oak Dining Table. We are hoping to meet up with them there and have lunch together, as we said to Sam we don't know exactly when we will get there, it depends on what worknus being done on the canals/Locks. 

We eventually left Sam's at 5pm, later than we wanted to leave but these things can't be helped. We had to find a station to get some Diesel first as we were pretty low, we found a garage just up the road. Colin wanted to drive as far as we could before we found somewhere to stay tonight before it got dark.  We turn down a country lane as it looked like we could park down it, as we got further down we realised we couldn't. As we turned round I seen a caravan park, I said to Colin " let me ask if they got a hook up for tonight?" He agreed so I popped in and asked, yes they did £31 for the night. So I paid the man. A couple of lads came in the shop so he asked me to wait a minute whilst he seen to them and then he would come out and show us where to go.  He came over and pointed out where we could hook up for the night. It was just like a field in the middle of a forest. It was beautiful. The only thing as normal, WiFi not very good or tge reception on our mobiles. I must admit I was beginning to get used to it.  Colin took tge dogs out for a wee, we made a cup of tea, had a chat and then got ready for bed, I am just beginning to stay up later than 9pm 🤣😂 I think it's just a habit I got in to, tired and my back, legs, knees and feet hurting I just wanted to get in bed. I could lie comfortably and either read,watch something on Netflix or play my game. 

Every day so far since we've moved out of our house we both seem to be more relaxed and chatting more. Everything became a habit. Yes, everything!! Just Colin, our dogs and myself is just perfect!! Apart from calming/controlling our dog Belle.  But hey, Rome wasn't built in a day right??? 🤣😂🤣😂 

That's it for another day. Time to close my eyes,, and Sleep. Goodnight. 

All happened so quick

 It seems so long ago when we had several Narrowboat holidays and decided, this is what we want to do. We want to buy our own Narrowboat and live on the canals. That was about 8 to 10 years ago, although there was a time when we thought about buying an old coach/bus doing it in to a motorhome and go travelling. We agreed in the end that a narrowboat would be best, a motorhome would be a lot of driving for Colin as I don't drive. Fast forward to May this year when Colin relieved a letter saying he could get his state pension on July 16th 2021 when he was 66.  The job we were doing working for Shared Lives was changing. A new manager, changing all the policies, then changing the name which also meant new contracts. They were wanting us to do so much more, what was the Coordinators  job with all these changes? No answer to that question.  The new contract was changing, we the Carers were going to do the risk assessments and Care p,and from now on.  So we thought "Sod it, let's do it, let's give notice retire and live on a narrowboat. Our dream was coming true😊. We checked our house, we new a few things needed doing to sale our house. We had already had new windows put in beginning of February. Just a bit of touching up the paint on walls and the skirting boards. Tidy up the garden. It didn't take long, our house went on the market on the Wednesday and was sold by the Friday. We were a bit unsure as they were Bulgarian and Cash buyers. What a lovely couple they were. 

We then gave our 28 days notice on August 10th, which meant they had 28 days to find somewhere for our 2 Adults with Learning difficulties somewhere to live. I was worried about my lady, she doesn't like change. She didn't like going on respite and would say "I'm not going Wendy"and shake her head bless her. We explained that we were retiring, not going to be working anymore.  She still insisted on living with us, I kept explaining every day to her that she couldn't come with me. Those 28 days went by really quickly, they had found somewhere for the both to go. The Social worker that worked with us a d our 2 people kept saying "Don't worry Wendy, I will make sure they go to someone nice, let me do the worrying. You go and enjoy your retirement on your narrowboat. Its easy for them, to them they are just a number, they are human beings with feelings. Our man was fine, all he was worried about was our dogs and not be able to see them. He went to one carer, stayed there about 10 days, then went to stay with another couple, where he still is now and very happy. 

I've seen our lady a couple of times, she was tearful, I've phoned a couple of times and had a chat with her, she sounds much happier but still asks "Can I come with you" I always say to her "You are happy now and you know you can't come with me" I always say I miss you and I do think of you, we've told her we will be coming back in December to collect our things that is in storage and we will come and say "Hello" she likes the postcards that we send her.

 Our man loves the photos of our dogs and the videos of the dogs,  so I try to send him 1 or 2 a week.  It keeps him happy.

That's it for today. Going to sit and read for a bit. Colin is playing one of his games. 

Willow Touring Park. Nantwich

 Up we got Wednesday morning. Breakfast of cereals and a hot cup of tea, lush. Dogs fed. Quick tidy up and washed up and on our way towards Chester,  We drove on for a bit, taking in all the lovely countryside. Colin drove all day till 4pm apart from stopping for lunch in a lay-by. Which was when we googled touring sites and found Willow Touring Park. Gave them a ring and booked ourselves in for two nights. £20 a night with electric hook up, showers, toilets and Laundry which you had to pay for. They had drinking water tap to fill up our motorhome as we were getting low.  It was in someway just a basic camp site. The owner made me laugh, he came over to where we had parked and mumbled something about "toilets here showers over there" and that's all I could hear lol. And off he walked. Had a walk around, our dogs seen a squirrel and tried to run after it, we managed to stop them pulling us over 🤣😂.  It was very peaceful here. Lots of caravans and motorhomes, didn't see many people, all seem to keep themselves to themselves. 

Thursday we went in to Nantwich to find TSB bank as we were to make the payment to Richard for Squires. Found it, went in. Sorry madam we do extra security checks have you got your drivers license or passport for ID? No I haven't I said, my husband has, I will go and get him to come in as I know he has his driving licence with him. So off I go to find Colin so that he could go and make the final payment for Squires and off he went. He was back within 10 minutes, he couldn't do it as we hadn't changed his address on his license since we had moved. The lady did tell him that we can make a payment of ex amount per day!! So I made one payment on online banking there and then. Then the rest I paid on Friday morning before we met up with Richard. Phew!! We had done it, we had paid for Squires.

It was okay, not sure if I would come here again. The showers were very hot!!. It was quiet at bedtime so I could get to sleep OK. I just don't seem to sleep much some nights, I either settle down about 11 ish and then wide awake by 1am. Or settle down about 12,30 and wake up about 4.30-5am and then doze on and off, then I don't want to get up at 7.30am. Can't win can i🤣😂🤣😂     

Up at 7.30am Friday morning. All excited, we were going off to meet Richard, Squire's owner. We got to Swanley Marina for 10.40, we went to see Malcolm at the Broker's, checked in that they had received the payments for Squire's. They had,  Malcolm took us down to meet Richard, introduced us and left us to get the handover with Richard. What a lovely man, he couldn't be more helpful. There was an email from the original owner of Squires called Frank, saying he had noticed that Squire's was up for sale and how he had been keeping an eye on Squire's. Anyway, like I was saying Richard showed us absolutely everything in Squire's, every tiny little drawer and cupboard, all had something inside them. Plus he told us that his partner had brought all new bedding for the bed, There was all new cutlery in the drawer. He gave us literally anything that he had to do with Squires. I could see he was a tad tearful at times. Wouldn't you be after selling something that was your pride and joy for years?. We exchanged phone numbers, I had told Richard he could phone anytime or text and that we would send him pics of Squires. We didn't tell him that we were planning to have her painted a different colour or changing the name. 

Heading Back to Swanley Marina again

 Good morning. Its Tuesday, up had breakfast and headed to MIL to pick up the washing she done for us and got it dried. Bless her so kind, I did joke about the ironing🤣😂 She said I was a cheeky bitch ha ha, I knew she was joking. Anyway we stopped for a cuppa or two with cake (and I wonder why i can't loose weight!!) Left mum's and drove towards Warminster and pulled in to a lay-by near Longleat overnight, blooming noisy lay-by it was too!!. We had spoken to Andy today from Swanley Marina Broker's. The survey that we had had done on Squires was very good apart from a few minor problems. We said we would like to go ahead with buying Squires. It was arranged (with Andy's help) to meet up with Richard the previous owner on Friday at 11am.  Colin cooked us something to eat, he likes cooking, fed the dogs and settled down to read and played a few games on my tablet. Sometimes I might watch my soaps on my tablet, I was in bed reading and catching up with Facebook by 9.30. Time I've taken all my medication and they kick in it's about 10.30 -11pm. Colin often snoring away by 10.30 lol. He's the one doing the driving as I don't drive( He does quite a bit to be fair and he never complains) infact it  was nearer 11.30 tonight. Anyway enough of my blubbering on haha.  Xxx

Somewhere to stay

 So after we okayed it for the survey we phoned Andy at Swanley Marina Broker's to let him know that Paul was coming out Saturday to do the survey on Squires.  We found a touring site and booked us in for two nights, it was clean and sparkling. There were showers and toilets in one block and a laundry room. We had washing to do so this was ideal. They had a small field enclosed for our dogs to have a run. Harry and Belle loved it. We took them there 3 times a day and Belle decided she loved playing "Catch the ball" not always good at bringing it back at first 🤣. The touring park was called Blakemere Touring & Holiday Park. Blakemere Village. Northwich. We ended up staying here for four nights. It has its own boutiques, craft shop where there was a lovely friendly lady that we stopped and chatted to her about all types of craft, they have craft lessons there too. Pet shops, antique shops and  lovely woods to walk through.  It was a lovely relaxing few days.  £31 a night. On Friday we started to make our way back to Weymouth to Colin mum as some post had arrived and a couple of cheques.  We stopped in a big sort of entrance to a field, it was a large lay-by. Plenty of room for us in our motor home. Cup of tea and some nibbles, didn't feel that hungry. Saturday morning we were up by 7am, took dogs out, cup of tea and cereal for us and our dogs had their food. Washed up and wiped up, dogs out for a wee then back on the road again. Weymouth here we come.  We stopped after a while in a pull in. Had a spot of lunch, dogs had lunch and a walk,  relaxed for half an hour then back on the road again. Must admit we were very lucky getting diesel. One place we stopped was £35 transaction, some you could just fill your tank up. Diesel was between 139 and 145. All the Shell garages were open, we passed a few this week that were empty.  We found a touring park just as we were coming in to Weymouth. Looked a bit rough and ready lo, it had a beautiful view looking over Chesil Beach. £31 a night!! Not a lot for your money!  It was in a field, you went along near the horses down a side bit for the toilets, showers and washing up space, yes we hitched up for electric but considering where we stayed near Chester it wasn't worth the £31 a night.  We wouldn't stay there again. 

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast then spent the rest of the day with Colin mum,  She very kindly done our washing and got it dried for us which we picked up on the Tuesday. So Sunday and Monday night we stayed at another touring park. Monday we drove to Charmouth, where we picked up some fuses for the lights on our motorhome, new light for the corner on my side plus we got a small rectifier so we could have WiFi  on the go, or when we are stationary, plus it will work on the Narrowboat. 

On Monday we paid Paul for the survey on Squires, Paul said we had got ourselves a very good boat for the amount we were paying for Squires.  There are only 3 minor problems, not anything to be done immediately. We phoned Swanley Marina Broker's and spoke to Andy who has arranged for us to meet up with the owner on Friday at 11pm and for him to give us a handover.  Super excited to think that soon we would be the owner of Squires.  We had a lovely walk along Charmouth beach, the Dogs loved it. We had lunch in our motorhome and then made our way back to the touring site in Weymouth. Worse thing about this touring park was that you were down in a dip. No WiFi or reception for our mobiles.  We enjoyed the peace, sat and played games and I sat and read for a bit. Now we are retired I am hoping I will get back into a better sleeping pattern, instead of still being awake at midnight!!.  Time for bed. Night all. Xx 

Monday Yeahh. Off to meet Squires today

 Up and on our way to Swanley Marina to view Squires the Narrowboat we enquired after. Well, we both said to each other "Don't go buying the first one we see"  Hmm OK we said,  we got there and found the office,  asked to speak to Andy. He was out showing someone else around another Narrowboat.  The lovely lady at the office said we could have a wander round whilst waiting. Typical me, first thing I needed was to go for a wee! ( Must be getting old, im not old  I'm 59!!)  🤣😂🤣😂 although according to my son, he has always said I look older than I am! Cheers Son. Children hey!!?? 

So, we met up with Andy and he took us to view Squires. He left us to have a good look around on our own.  I fell in love with her straight away, she felt like I had come home. Squires felt warm, homely, spacious, clean and well looked after. Everything that I wanted in a Narrowboat was here, straight in front of me almost like saying "Buy me, Buy me, you know you want to, forget what you said about don't Buy the first one you see!!" I looked at Colin and I knew just by looking at him that he felt the same way that Squires was the one for us. Just like when we first met each other it was love at first sight.  (Soppy moment lol)

Andy came back just as we were coming out of Squires (via a step ladder as she is out of water no before you think it, I didn't do my normal trick of stumbling or falling 😉).  I think he knew from the look on our faces that we wanted Squires. We asked what happens next, he said we put an offer In. We were happy with the asking price. Just to be sure we did point out another Narrowboat and said we would like to take a look, biggest mistake out. As soon as we walked on board and stepped down in, I knew this wasn't the one for us. She felt cold, no passion there whatsoever. We turned round and came straight back out. Looked at Andy and said "No, there is no warm, homely feeling there at all, Squires is the one for us" Andy straight away said "I didn't think you would, you asked so I had to show you"  So back to the office we went. Andy explained about what happens next, we were guided by him as of course, we had not done this before. He told us we needed to put a 10% deposit down, he would put Squires as 'Under offer'  let the owner know and then explained the next stage was to get a survey done on Squires. This could apparently take anything up to 6 weeks. So we paid the deposit, we got a receipt for this, a list of surveyors, insurance, sign writers, painters etc. Basically a list of anything they thought we might need. So that was it, we had put a deposit down on Squires, she (pending on the survey being ok) was ours.

We got back in our motorhome and drove off, found somewhere to park up for lunch and phoned the first Surveyor on the list, a man called Paul, he was busy but possibly he was could do the survey Friday or 2 weeks time. Took our details and said he would let us know later in the day. To cut this short he emailed to say he could do it this Saturday. If we were happy with that, then to email him back with the go ahead. So that's what we done. 

I will be back soon to continue with what happened next.  Xx