Poetry: chalk works

I have been wanting to try out some outdoor poetry ideas that have been percolating of late. So with a few pieces of chalk in my pocket and camera on my back I found some places in Beeston to sketch my ideas.

In between
the two of us
you may find
the secret of
the universe.

I watch you and
try to reason.

Often

By the fast flowing river Trent I discovered some tree scarring that has taken place...

I saw this little fella and couldn't resist...

Plump stump


Along the trail by the river, a pathway has been made edged with small wooden fencing, I thought it would be ideal for a short piece...

Rivers wide, carries breath to the tide.


I made these pieces influenced by the surroundings and thoughts which bubbled up at the time. Using chalk was a quick solution, it won't be permanent and would probably wash away in all the rain today. I wonder if anyone might have discovered the pieces, especially those first poems in the hedge.

Tuition and The Drought

I am a member of the River Canal Rescue, akin to the AA, but for boats. The engine is due a service next month and I am considering arranging for the one-to-one tuition provided by RCR for a cost of £150 plus parts. An engineer comes to the boat, helps/instructs whilst undertaking a service on the engine. This will cover oil changes, filter changes, checks of the alternator belt and stern gland, battery testing, top-up and checks. The tuition will last for 4 hours and can cover further engine specific queries during this time.

This might initially be quite an expense but it could be of help later on, as I could then complete an oil change and keep a knowledgeable eye on the engine so as to flag up any issues.

The weather in the East Midlands is quite frankly appalling. It was hailing again today. However, with the drought on everyone's lips as there is a lack of ground water from the south right up to Leicester, the rain is well needed. There have already been restrictions on the canal network, and the holiday season has not yet begun! This doesn't bode well for a summer of cruising. Oddly, we were warned off from cruising out on the River Trent on Saturday due to it being in flood.

So, here we are still on the Nottingham Canal, awaiting our engine service to then consider any further cruising in either direction on the Trent.

Garden on board

The raised garden bed which will sit on the roof is still under construction and I am cogitating on resolving it some time soon. In the meantime, we have been occupied with sowing the abundance of seeds donated to us from wonderful mother bird. Leigh has been excellent at watering and keeping the young alive and through the propagator we can see life!

There is movement in the trays of soil dotted around in the sunny spots of the boat...

The courgettes certainly are coming on strong...

And the lettuces are stretching their little green leaves up high to the streaming sunlight...

We also have bush tomatoes, chilli peppers, dwarf beans and squash which we are waiting to see a peek of green from soon. In the indoor window box, I have planted all the herbs of choice; parsley, coriander, basil and chives.

And this year we are filling up on micro salads in the form of sprouting seeds, easy to grow, no soil, only wet kitchen roll in a jar, covered with cling-film and they are so good for you...

So even with limited space, resources and money it is working out well to grow our own food aboard our narrowboat.

DIY garden

I started on the project of a raised garden bed for the boat today. With the help of Leigh's engineering skills, we worked out a plan...

I have no budget for this and so have been hunting about for things to use. In the utility room, I found a strong plank of wood from Dad which after half an hour of sawing into two, has become the foundation of the piece. We had some old wooden shelves left over from our land-living days which came in useful.

With a little trimming down, these shelves made a perfect base and will be used for the sides too.

Tomorrow, I plan to drill and screw the pieces into place and will have a completed frame by the end of the day. My next considerations are: the liner (tarpaulin or trying to find something like pond liner), the polytunnel (poundland one or trying to find some corrugated plastic) and the soil (I might just have to take a spoon full of soil from each area as we cruise along, failing that payday is at the end of the month!).

Projects for spring

The blossom is out on the damsel trees around us on the Nottingham Canal, a sweet smell permeates the air. The hatch is wide open today and amongst the din of passing cars on Castle Boulevard I can hear a the choral singing of birds.

I spoke to Mum on the phone the other day and already she has purchased her veg seeds, planning her summer grow. I have yet to sort anything out in terms of pots or containers and have been considering making a raised bed on the roof. I am on the prowl for an old pallet and piece of drainpipe to construct my vision.

On a practical note, having pots around the stern isn't ideal. With a working boat, moving around the cut we both feel best with a clear roof and space on the stern to move around. The raised bed I am planning is going to be closer to the bow and so shouldn't cause too much of an issue with the center rope. I would like to grow potatoes again, so somewhere we will have to make space for a pot.

In addition to all this, we have been talking about solar power. Keen to have a panel, we are contemplating making one ourselves; not only a good DIY project, it should keep the cost down and hone our skills.

I will keep you posted on the developments of my garden afloat and our DIY solar panel.

Addition to the kitchen

For all those forgotten things, things to buy, things to do, we now have a home made black board! Horray!


And with all the recent rain, in summer (grumble, grumble) I have had to cheer the grey skies with offerings of blueberry muffins. Yum! ... and fortunately the tiny oven aboard works like a dream, mind you we don't think attempting a sunday roast is at all an option.

Whittling away the hours...

I have been finding lost twigs and giving them a new lease of life, whittling them, sculpting them, drilling and threading wool through to make key rings for all our many keys aboard. They look delightful and should the worst happen and the waterway goddess chose to call them inward, they should float!


In amongst this the baby swans have been floating along, tapping at the side of the boat to see if we are in and have been waggling their baby tails in anticipation of free foods!


They have since grown to near the size of mum, but still have all their grey fluff and a quater the size of wings!

Thinking about moving....

I've just finished reading Haruki Murakami's book "what I talk about when I talk about running". Sat upon the stern of the boat my belly full of delicious burgers, I was getting itchy fingers. In the sense that I needed to communicate my reactions, thoughts and current blast of feelings. So here we are. Fingers, internal voice and you.

This book I mentioned is a wonderful memoir of the writer and his experience of writing novels since he gave up his Jazz bar in Japan as well as his lifestyle of long distance running. It is a solitary act, running, at least in my mind and one mind-set that I share as a cyclist. Prior to my fold-up-able bike, I had several mountain bikes that I would often set off on in the morning in a particular direction and find myself still cycling hours later through woods, along the river, over bridges... I wouldn't have a set route in mind, just a fair idea of the possible venture. I would return home dripping, take a shower and then collapse feeling invigorated and slightly crazed.


In his book, Murakami talks about how he moved on from singularly running to Triathlons. These epic ventures take on three forms, swimming, cycling and running in one long episode. What a wonderful and yet mad thing to want to put yourself through. I really did start to like the idea of all this. Adding to the fact that my bike comes most places with me, I am also a sort of water-baby. Not born in water unfortunately but born by the sea, had salty air in my lungs for 18 years until I distanced my self as far from the sea shore as possible in Nottingham in 2002. Noticably, I've always needed a fix of salt air and discovered the closest coast over an hour away at Gibralta Point. (Actually Skegness is closer but unless you like the crap fish and chips, primary coloured strip lighting and novelty shops it's not really worth stopping.) Where I couldn't easily get to the coast, i've opted for bike rides along the river or canal or swimming.


Swimming is a pleasure. I adore the feeling of immersion in water, holding my breath, seeing through the fog under the surface. It is in the state of different strokes that I find my mind wanders down some rather unusual avenues. I have been known to not be able to stop laughing when doing back stroke, to the point that I couldn't sustain breathing and had to doggy paddle myself to the side. Note here that I am always a lone swimmer.

Today you see, I cycled half hour, from the canal to the fandangled new leisure centre's swimming pool (not a patch on the victorian one I used to go to before the clever council chose to close it's doors and open this one, but what do I know?!), did half an hour of full-on swimming and cycled home again. I realised on leaving the pool that if I could leave my bike there, I would've like to run home and thus have created my own mini triathalon.


So this leaves running and me. I haven't really run (not just for the bus, I mean intended durational running) since I was a Playworker in Wollaton and donned my shorts one morning and ran to work, only to find that I didn't leave enough time to get all the way there (my judgements in timing getting from A to B have and always will be via cycling), so I had to jump on the bus for the last couple of miles stretch so as not to be late. I don't own any proper running shoes nor any shorts or leggings so the practicality of running now isn't really viable. However, since reading this book and having these thoughts, I am feeling inspired to get running. A good friend of mine who lives and works in London has moved forwards in terms of the speed of her moving. She is someone who even after a night out gets up for work at the crack of dawn to enable her to walk the 2 hour jaunt across London to work and she walks home at the end of the day too! She has recently taken up running and told me about her methods of getting up the speed. So, all things are pointing towards my body steaming along the towpath, all I need are a pair of suitable shoes and shorts and I'll see how I go. And I wholly recommend the book, it is an insight to the creative hermit within us as well as the fascinating struggle facing those who exercise to great length.

On another trail but still somehow connected...
One thing I've noticed within me which is bothering me somewhat is that I feel like a 'dabbler'. I feel that this feeling has set in since I got myself entangled in a ridiculous full-time, unsociable hours, team-working job. It seems that my 'free-time' (emphasized as this term is also ridiculous as all time should be free whether employed or not) is taken up resting and recuperating ready for my next shift and that activities dear to me are nothing more than a scent of perfume on the air.

Leigh mentioned this to me, 'it's like scratching an itch' that I devote five minutes to an interest of mine and that is just about sufficient to keep it going on in my life. I do this with, phew, probably everything, from baking to ham radio to music. This I am beginning to feel is against the grain. A solution hasn't fully surfaced and maybe wont, maybe this is how things are for me, maybe. Great at starting something, rubbish at staying it out for very long. But then of course things have phases, things come and go so, maybe this is how it is. I don't know yet, it just feels like a significant thought that's all. Significant to make me wonder why and if I really should go running when I should stay where I am and face things through. Significant enough for me to want to write it down and share it.

We'll see.


On the boat front, it has been another laundrette day, collecting fallen wood on the way home. Leigh has been brilliant, chopping wood, carrying water, cooking dinner, charging electrical things, cleaning, making the fire and caring for Delia and me. Yes, yes, yes, it is still marvelous and I am loving the settling into the lifestyle.

The salads are sprouting showing their bright green shoots...


We have completed the final varnishing of the hatch and it is now firmly in place, securing our exit and entry onto the boat.


Here is a taster of the beauty passing our windows captured by Leigh.