Moving on...

With Shilah having the all clear from the vet, and four puppies getting fatter, now we seem to be getting over the worst, but not out of danger!!

Even Shilah is now leaving her pups in front of the fire and wandering around the place as if she owns it, which of course, she does!!

And at last - the cute puppy pictures that we expected day one, but have taken this long to even think about...

So now we are getting the kennel names sorted, hehe - so far one is called PooBear!! - I'll let you work out why.

Today the eyes should've opened - but as they haven't we are still glad that they can't see where they are going, so don't stray too far from each other - soon they will be everywhere!!

So K2 - well it got pretty cold, so nearly had to get the heating on onboard, but fortunately it has got a little warmer for the time being, so my electric and diesel bill is saved for a bit longer yet!!

We never said it would be easy.....

So 1 puppy fades away - not able to poo properly, she is eventually put to sleep by the vet. Another is laid on by Shilah, and subsequently dies. Shilah gets mastitas, and she hasn't ejected everything from her Uteris, so runs a temperature, and we are feeding and checking dog and pups all the time.
So the blissful view of sleeping animals is rare!! and the human carers get more and more jaded, so that coughs and sneezes start!

Didn't know Puppy rearing was so much hard work and expense!!

Dogs and Blogs

Sleepless in Seatle - Having waited for a week after the vet said "you're good to go" finally on Sunday night we went from this:

to this:

Finally off to bed at 0400hrs, after 7 hours of labour, and 6 puppies, only to be up at 0600hrs for a meeting, so slightly jaded!

So K2 still floats alone, with a fleeting visit from me to collect dinner suits for our industry bash in London tonight. It's OK - we have a babysitter for the puppies!!

Meanwhile, Duncan in Canada has joined the blogging world. My ex neighbour, he now tours in his "RV" - check it out on Http://islandertravels.blogspot.com

Yep - I'm alive!!

Trouble is - have spent the last few weeks trying to turn a total jungle into a garden, and a bungalow that hadn't been lived in for years, into something resembling a home!! After skips and dump runs, can at least now see the end of the garden, and have found patios and paths that long since vanished under undergrowth and rubbish. Add to that our Beagle is about to drop puppies at any time, and K2 has languished without so much as a wave!
Anyway - determined that will change as I am pinning for the open wave, and the fresh air on my face, rather than the scratches and smell of wallpaper strippers!!
Watch out North Oxford, I may re-appear!!

Dredging the Ashby..

Yes they are! but only the bank side, not the middle bit where we all travel! We did our bit for the working boat gathering at Shackerton this week, and helped to shift the dirt in the middle to the newly dredged inside! With K2's 30" draft, we bumped and bounced our way up to the terminus and back again, with an overnight stop at Battlefields, and a superb mooring right in the middle of the canal! - nope the picture below is not K2 underway, but safely tied up for the night!!! Wouldn't like to be any heavier in a boat and butty arrangement! Still, it is such a beautiful canal, and Dad and I enjoyed the trip, and the views and history of this fantastic canal to no-where.

Wasn't the weather weird? Rain, and the faversham burning away, then hot and sunny, then cloudy and cold.... were never sure what to wear!

The top of the Ashby has been extended - by 50yards! A new stop lock has been put in, ready for the extension to be dug to connect a few more miles up, anyone got £14.2M to complete it? Of course it wasn't helped by the English Nature people, who insisted on a £125k ditch to be dug, and filled with water for "nature" to happen. (if you look hard you can see it to our st'bord) Hang on - the whole 20 odd miles of the Ashby is a "ditch" waiting for nature to happen - why dig a seperate one? Sometimes government quango's are a complete and utter waste of money, divorced totally from any reality of life, and as a result waste peoples money. (did I say "sometimes"? I haven't found a quango that hasn't been that yet - unellected, useless beurocrats, that waste our money on nothing.....)

Anyway, rant over - and so is the cruise. As K2 rests back on the timber of the pontoon she sits on, no doubt telling the tale of shallow canals, mud and odd moorings to Gleemaiden, Nerus and Helva. Arrival home via a refuelling stop alongside Ghosty Hill somewhere north of Sutton Stop, and superbly blocking the Coventry with three abreast, and Iain and Alisons real working boat sandwiched between two "customers" and a totally uneventful trip along the North Oxford. What next? K2 is back to being an office.

This is your captain - that's all...

Funny funny....

Strange going back to K2 these days.. Whenever I arrive there Gleemaiden is all locked up, curtains drawn and no flowers and plants bristling from her. No more the cheery greeting from her crew, and the yarning of trips out and marina happenings - instead the silence of a boat left for shore leave.
Oh well, it happens to us all, and the marina is now refilling with the boats that have been out throughout the summer, and are now venturing in, as the sun comes out....
Neil and Ruth have returned from their big ship excursion, raving about cruises, and promptly set off on one of their own. Have to say Neil, the expert return in that howling gale was a master of seamanship - you didn't see the 3 previous boats sailing sideways down the marina as they attempted to dock !!

Phew!!

July was a mad month! - I guess you know that as there have been no posts at all... for ages.

3 weeks on board K2 - using her as home base and office centre, whilst enjoying the boating life, showing the canal systems to Colleagues from New Zealand, and negotiating new contracts. Here's Jonathan enjoying the idea of steering K2 through the ditches, instead of a yacht out of Christchurch!

Finally, woosh - off to the sun. Well, I knew Andy was going out cruising, so decided to keep clear of the UK. Destination Cyprus for a couple of weeks for sun, sand and sea, and I worried about immigration control when arriving back home, as my skin colour didn't match the passport picture!

Great time though, and now after 5+ weeks, life can begin to settle back into reality again!! Who knows what August will bring! It started in the sun, homeless, and with an embryonic business, let's see how it ends.

No update!

Nope, not from me!! As the marina slowly empties of boats for the summer - I'm left tied up! It's a little hectic, but not profitable! However I've been here - anyone know where this canal is!!?
Still - hope to get out soon (when the rain starts!!)

So where has Ernie gone!!?

He used to be here and I followed the blog of Nb Ten Bob Note and Ernie, down the Oxford, along the Thames past the rowing club I used to row at, and then into Little Venice. - And finally into thin air....

So if you ae trying to find him from my site - you can't, but normal services will be resumed once I know if he has left the blogging fraternity, or just lost connection to his ISP.

Meanwhile - take care Ernie, and enjoy the Grand Union...

Lost Tally!!

So Sheila has nearly finished K2, only a couple of scrolls on the sta'bud side and She's done! K2 shone in the evening light, and reflected on her new artwork that is finished Port side. It's amazing how different she looks.

Sheila is writing Nb Anoula 4 pontoons down from K2. So to help her out, I moved K2 to the leeward side of Anoula's pontoon that is currently waiting for her new occupant to come in. Sheila can put up her blue tent, paint the scrolls on my Starboard, write Anoula's name and use the K2 facilities that she has got used to!!

Whilst I moved K2, Tally was happy hunting down animals in the field, and didn't notice the relocation.

Time to leave, and I whistled and called, but no Tally - very unusual, as she comes running on the first call. The hunt for a lost dog was on, and I wandered along the waters edge, to find Tally sat on my pontoon, looking a little worried - ears down, and that sad look on a dogs face. She must've thought K2 had sunk!!! - or gone without her...

She was very pleased to see me, and quite excited to see K2!