Boats, Gin and Oatcakes

We are just back from our week on Jemima D. The boat feels so much nicer to use with her snug dry new top, and she performed flawlessly throughout the week, despite her elderly little engine being scheduled for a thorough overhaul and rebuild. Life on a narrowboat, watching the world go by at three miles per hour, with pauses to work through locks, is a great stress-buster.. We found a handy canal-side damson tree. We put Jemima's bow into the bank and filled a bucket with ripe fruits to take home for damson gin making.

As nearly all of our boating was on the glorious Caldon Canal, we were in North Staffordshire for the week - homeland of the scandously over-looked Staffordshire Oatcake. These divinely-inspired creations, rolled up with fillings such as bacon, cheese, eggs or balck pudding are the ideal boater's breakfast. Recipe here.

Staffordshire is a lovely county, and I would urge UK "staycationers" to go and check out its waterways and scenery. There's lot more to the place than Alton Towers and The Potteries.

Reasons to be cheerful - Part One

One of the better decisions we ever made was to buy a share in Jemima D. Our trusty, rusty boat has provided us with some happy times, although my illness has kept us away from her for quite some time. Jemima is undergoing a bit of an epiphany at present, having a smart new roof and topsides, and a full internal refit in hand. I'm hoping I can stage a comparable resurrection at some point, and enjoy some pottering about at 3 miles an hour on the canals again.