and the clock keeps ticking.  Overnight we weathered a huge blow named Storm Bert which hammered some parts of the British Isles mercilessly but here in the East Midlands its main effect seems to have been to blow the emaining leaves off the trees and pile them into the nooks and crannies. Tomorrow the winds are forecast to lighten the sun is forecast to shine the temperature is forecast to be teens and I intend to take the bus southwest to see how my boats fared over the past 'week'.

Here at Home Nene we are due to get a new screw tomorrow after months of none but depending on how i feel in the morning I may be gone before she signs on. My initial intention though is to come back Wed.

MID NOV. LEAF MUGGING 
GALES and a WARM CABIN

Where to start?  Last evening, 16th) I left WaveyRider at B13 after meeting my Boat Safety Examiner who advised me of how to get the boat through.  Initially moved to Lock 13 to get bits from the chandler and then dropped down to an overnight mooring opposite the marina.  Quite a salubrious mooring out of the wind few towpath walkers trains are on Saturday schedule so they stop running earlier and start later next day which is Sunday.

Ar an lá arna mhárach   I took off trepidatiously towards Weedon Bec.  Its only a short distance away less than three miles but it has to be the most hateful reach of canal it is my misfortune to ever travel and let us just leave it so shall we?

 New paragraph
The overall plan into the next few months is to systematically de-clutter the boat and tidy it up to take visitors or crew.  It is due for the four year Safety Certificate and I need to work on that.  In the past year I have made major changes to battery capacity and cabling to future proof a boat which has become dependent on voltage and voltage drop is an issue on board. The circuits are all secure but the alternator seems not powerful enough to handle the needs of four large batteries and this needs to be addressed by putting a silicon diode in series with the sensor circuit. 

Thursday. Very cold at the nene OAT -2 and the flat was at 12c last night going to bed but the storage has been introduced and in the morning 15C. Lots of layers going to WillowTree to complain about pain in foot query broken bone. Also laundry done and all is well

SUNDAY 10 This is a test page where I begin to experiment with photo import.  I choose to illustrate an oven-cooked full Irish which was a regular though infrequent occurrence at the land-house before we sold out for off grid.  Jean and I developed it at Avalon in 1994 when we did B+B in a room with a view. 

An identical breakfast can be made on board with the gas oven but is difficult to replicate at the land-flat.

But then, food is done differently on-grid and off-grid. I am into the morning porridge in both venues and both methods use bain-maries and maceration.  Cod liver oil capsules used to be a winter treat.  I now take them all the year round usually washed down with  Pentargon's famous coffee.   
Did I mention cardamom seed?
Did I mention shooting logs?

MONDAY11:- Stamford to order a jacket. I am shittin myself as this is being made by the bet tailor for 50 miles around and will probably cost more on ts own than my complete wardrobe on board and off board include footwear, but I made the decision. It will be ready for 'xmas' but not for Ireland.  I discovered that the wedding suit got in 2019 for asgeirs does not suit my needs to coin a phrase.I have not widened in five years but the suit was never wide enough for me and has never been worn. However the trousers is perfect and the new jacket is planned to be worn with it.  Later in this day I had a phone in with that stupid doctor and have nothing more to add to her quest for cholesterol 

TUESDAY12:-  Resting at flat and decluttering paper and sorting out finances ... I tried to contact Simon Proctor but his system requires a txt so I added to the previous two.  Not much point in actually going to the boat unless I can intercept him or predict him. 

WEDNESDAY:- Head scan scheduled for 16.45

THURSDAY:- this is a prediction if i were to catch the 8oc X4 on spec I would be in N.Hampton early enough to visit the boat with an option to return to the flat so if proctor did contact me I'd be there. I have options also I gotta put in train a way of getting another couple of bags of charcoal

SUNDAY  I am a-less-than-happy bunny right now having done two hours of editing on 12.8 comms with nothing to show for it because I did no saving enroute and then pressed a wrong button which ejected me out of the site.  I took a bus into town to get co-codamol because these cold sores are getting on my tits.  The weather continues to be much overcast with light winds and balmy temperatures.  I continue to rest and build up eating well sleeping well enough in that although  may wake after two or three hours I can get to sleep again. 

MONDAY: x4 at 0827 puts me in Northampton at 11oc for the D2 to Daventry and the 12oc D4 puts me on the boat before 12.30 to set and light the fire bilge out Wavy and start a major spring clean which will be ongoing for days? weeks? About t=2Oc the question Do I need to be here caused me to descend lock7 and on arriving at lock8 found a yawning gate so I brought the cavalcade down and nailed to a convenient piece of armco clear of the landing clear of trees and easily visible.  Alan Buckle is off my Santa list and I will now chase Proctor

TUESDAY:  Everything electric on board works well. Wifi is at 3 due to position but that is ok. I am now only 2minutes walk to a bus stop.  I need to remember times of buses as I missed 1025 AND 1125 by thinking they were at 35. ONLY the 0935 is 35. Then I took the 1225 to Waitrose for porridge and came back on the 1300.  I went out for 1408 and got sausages but no fish in Long Buckby and the bus broke down on the way back (I had intended to carry on to Daventry) so I got off and hoping for a 1508 which failed to materialize so I cancelled fish and prepared sweet potato and onions to go with the sausages surfed my phones and generally chilled.

WEDNESDAY: I slept well and woke about 7 with a plan to leave for the 1310 D4 leading to the 1345 96 leading to the 1533 X4 which I caught only because it was running late but I got to the flat at 17.40 to find I had left my fob on the boat.. Luckily Cathy41 let me in and I spent the evening relaxing, going to bed at 10oc with two ibupfofin.
The cold sores are waning but not gone.

THURSDAY: To Willowtree after organising a spare fob for blood test. The stupid doctor insists on following her little agenda and will not be happy until she knows what my cholesterol is doing.  I told her emphatically I am not going to take statins not now not ever and that I cannot improve my diet as it is already perfect as is my weight and general condition. I have a CT scan coming up next Wed. 13th  Nov. for pain in the area of my skull near the left ear which is associated with the shoulder pain for which I have been 'booked' for an x-ray later.  No news of the most important test of all the one to test my specific  lung function first called for in February.

FRIDAY:- Spent at home sorting photos and relaxing to rest the shoulder area to see whether there is an RSI which I doubt. 

SATURDAY:- To Cambridge via Hitchin and returned the same way to avoid delays on the Ely line caused by a football match in Peterboro. I got back to PB at 3oc and caught a No,1 at 3.20 while the rabble was contained and was home for 3.45