Oooiiiiiii.. Where's my Bike M8??....

Getting close to the end of another year and it's been a good one. Excellent summer, two in a row now, amazing and memorable sights from London to Bath to Leeds and places and detours on the way. Chuck in the awesome time we had with our "Summer Crew" of Nat and Bruce and catching up with old friends along the way make for a memorable year.
Lately it's been back to the work schedule until April ends but when the weathers crap you may as well be inside earning a quid.

The weathers been pretty mild of late, 12 - 13.5 C, but there has been colder days..

It's getting late...

About 4.30pm and it's dark with the ice starting to form on the parked cars...

Next day.....

Ice still on the ground at 2.30pm....

But the sun was shining....

On the other side of the road... Where's them bloody punters?....

 

A couple of three weeks ago Leonie baked up some treats as usual but in a larger quantity than the norm....

Then it was off to London to meet some cool dudes partying and working on their OE thing.

First stop....

 

A meeting in a "Makkas" with Nick to drop off the booty.....

We know Makkas tastes pretty ordinary so...

 We sample some good Tucker...

Left Nick to transport the baking back to the flat. Apparently the other "Mates" never found out about the "Rocky Road".... Made plans to catch up later...

Leonie and me made our way to Camden Markets to grab a bite to eat...

Pleasing to emerge from the Underground to see that the cold brisk weather had.....

Deterred the others... Not.. Walking on the road dodging cars was the easiest option...

Spoilt for choice we decided on....

A Falafel for Leonie and a Lamb and barbeque veg, dish for me... Then headed and stood by an unfamiliar surrounding to graze... Camden Lock...
It's in the Blood.. can't keep away....

Decided to go across town to Harrods to check out the Xmas theme...
The tube was pretty packed and getting on through the ready to close doors was the norm...

With three stops to go....

How come this station is so deserted??..
I'll tell you why.. Because everyone else is on the last bloody tube.. Leonie decided in her wisdom to race two carriages along to board and by the time I graciously gave way to 63 AASSSHHOOOONNNS and then got my foot in the door it slammed shut with the best part of me still on the Bloody platform...  Bye Bye.....

Anyway we were reunited, with the help of 3 St, Bernards and a man with a White stick, outside Harrods and then after getting to know each other we spent some time in store just looking.

In the food halls there are dining areas to indulge in your purchase after it has been cooked just the way you want it.
Whether it be Caviar, fish, pies or meats and salads I think a lot of them just like to "Be Seen" eating there.

So it was with fascination that we stood nearby......

The meat section where you select what type and size of cut you want and the butcher cuts to size then you take it to the chefs to have it cooked in front of you.
A couple from Asia, very well attired, made their selection. She chose a T Bone cut to size and when weighed the butcher said, " seventy six pounds" she said "thankyou thankyou".
His choice was Fillet, " AH little bigger please" and the butcher said "fifty seven pounds" and he said "thankyou, thankyou".
One hundred and thirty three quid and they still have to buy freak"n grub to garnish the plate.
And when the butcher asks how they would like them cooked they say " Medium to Well Done"...
Ruination.....
So back on the tube, together, and down town to check out some more Xmas scenery.

Up on the roof of...

John Lewis you could see across the London skyline and along Oxford St, below....

 And being up so high...

The Snow was falling.....

Back down to Earth.....

The lights along Regent St, were starting to shine....

And at the intersection of Regent and Oxford....

It 's not all about the colour...

But there's more...

Light and colour with buses and Balls everywhere....

Later we caught up with.....

Nick and Ashton..... Bought some beers......

In a cosy corner pub then decided....

To drink them... and some more...

Back at the job a car parked next door at the garage....

A Reliant Scimitar......

Jurys out on the looks....

Back on the job in the office things can get pretty stressful
I mean what do I.....

Watch... Live racing or live darts... And to go and get another coffee.. Chance of missing a Checkout.....

Been a bit windy and stormy last couple of days...

Trees bending...

 

And clouds rolling in...

 

We got a nice surprise the other day....

A done by "Club Of Odd Volumes" tea towel with pictures taken from when Nat and Bruce were here on the NB in the summer.... Bloody Awesome....

 

So we'll get over Xmas and New Year then start counting down to the next adventure.....

Simple or Senile......

Been cruising along getting into the work regime to fill the winter months. Had a couple of beauty frosts but generally not very cold yet although there's been plenty of showery days.
Leonie's working for a construction company, already hit her thumb 4 times with the hammer, Na she's in the office, in central Oxford so drives herself to and from work, 40 miles return each day, and has learnt how to use the bus lane and not get caught on camera.. yet. They have builders, stone masons and a joinery shop with a staff of about 160. One job for a private family has lasted 7 years, just built a chapel on site amongst other things and Leonies handling the masonry "bill" which has reached 4.25 million quid so far. Someone in the office said the pool doesn't look very big. That ones only for the staff. Getting near the end of that job but the word on the street is that the property owners will probably add another residence on site, about 3.35 million quid..
We save up to replace a light bulb...
Another job has lasted 10 years.... And it's not because of a slow work rate...

I've been filling in the day setting up a new car sales site near Bicester which means I only have to travel about 15 minutes each way in a work vehicle with no real traffic hassles. Been to the auctions with Spencer buying "Mota's" and should have 18 - 20 on site by the end of this week then we can run some adds in the local "Rags"... Would you buy a car from this man???..

Anyway back recent exciting necessary things we've done...

The task of......

Making Raspberry and White chocolate ice cream is a necessity......

Also keeping the fire stoked, Oh Yeah, forgot to mention been whack,n up some more pallets for fire wood. Got access to a chain saw now so No pallet, Not One, within Ten miles is safe. Nice and warm onboard...

 

Can slowly cook "Tucker" on the log fire...

And turns the  Narrow Boat into a "Junk"..

 

Complete with "Chinese" laundry...

When the new flavor ice cream is hardened... We used the freezer...

Time to add Custard and "Nanas".....

Another exciting chore, now it's icy, is to put a cover over the "Racing Ford Focus" windscreen which saves the pouring of warm water in the mornings over the windows to regain visibility.
A few nights ago by 5.50pm the ice had already started to form on the wet rear deck of the NB so drawing the short straw I headed out in the dark to do the chore.
Our boat is moored in a line of a few with the jetty on the Port side and the car was parked in line, directly behind, facing the stern of the NB about 7 metres away. So familiar with the task I alighted the boat got the cover, opened the car front doors, put the cover over the front screen and shut the doors to hold the cover in place. Easy as, that'll keep Ol Jack Frost off.
Same O'l Shit, different day..... So Familiar with it all could do it with my eyes closed...

So Why The F - C - did I walk onto the jetty on the Starboard side..... there isn't one there...
Didn't even see it coming.. next thing it's pitch black with a coldish feeling and I'm briefly sitting on my Arse on the mud of the canal bottom... fully clothed with the car keys & remote and my phone in a pocket. I later checked I never missed a call.....Also wearing my glasses which give me awesome visibility...

I surfaced and rapidly grabbed hold of a pipe upstand that holds the rear seat, managed to get one leg over the rudder and some how extracated the body from the murk..
Standing on the icy rear deck I'm thinking.. I've been here before....I checked to see if I could poke an eye out but couldn't... good news there..

Upon me calling out Leonie opened the rear doors...

Love the "Training".. just done another ten lengths... phone port side.. car keys starboard...

"Your not coming in Sweating like That" says Leonie...

Got to get my...

"Training Kit" off.... Then....

Just a......

Gentle squeeze... Freak,n getting a bit Chilly by now....

May as well check to see no one.....

"Snuck" a fish in one of my pockets....

Nearly there.....

I mean what's the hurry.... One more squeeze.. If I stand here long enough I'll be able to take the cover off the car for Leonie in the morning.....

Hot shower and trampled my kit at the same time in the shower, like clothes washing in the "Freak,n Ganges".. ... Then into the washing machine, there wasn't room for me, everything dried by the fire, there was room for me. The phone was dead but took it apart and it shared the fire too and by the next morning was back to new....
So there you are.. Simple, Senile or just too Familiar.....

 

Changeable.....

It really has been changeable, the weather, since we moored up. The temperature has dropped a shade with the odd cold day and a lot of rain has fallen. The awesome summer weather has moved on and I think we timed our parking up pretty good...

Last week leonie and me headed off up to the Caravan & motorhome show at the NEC Birmingham.
We had visited the earlier show, same type, in Febuary this year and like then we spent the whole day checking out motorhomes and to a lesser extent camping accessories....
In fact we liked some things that much we went first on the Wednesday then went back on the Sunday for some more...


The early model VWs are still a favorite...

 But this is brand new in the old style.... 40,000 odd quid... Sold......


And the view looking......

Through the side door.....

This model didn't look as flash to me.....

But was more expensive.....

A reminder of those....

 

Flower power days.....

The brand new T20 VW vans were plentiful in different fit outs....

This one starred.....

Black and yellow with LED lighting........

And this one starred.....

Black and yellow with LED lighting..... but different fit outs of course.....

Getting back to basics....

 

 This little beauty was a towing job.....

And for a bit of old school....

Here's a couple..........

Looking inside....

Old valve radio mounted in the overhead... classy as..........

Looking to the near future....

Was this model.....

And a view inside...

From the rear.. A bit like a super yacht  moored off Monte Carlo...... sort of...

A very nice, 120,000 nicka, motorhome was this....

Burstner with dual rear axle...the windscreen went on forever into the roof... Insurance Co, nightmare...
But to keep the sun off or for nighttime privacy it had shades that came up from the bottom and down from the top.......

But in this format......

 

 Ideal for Aaasshhooonn drivers........

Anyway Leonie got thirsty so we decided to get a quencher...
Turned out to be a bottle of genuine French Champagne, good stuff, like nothing we'd ever had before....
I said "Christ man, bloody hell, you could buy a house for that".....
So the fella chucked in a....

Motorhome as well.....

So this is what you get if your thirsty......

 

2015 Pilote... built in  France to order.... pick up in April.....

The interior upholstery above will be as...

 

This interior  upholstery...

Same for the......

Joinery......

 

 

 

Above the dining room is.....

An electric drop down double bed.... joinery to be as above two photos.....

Kitchen with the....

Electric fume remover.... Range hood....etc.....

And plenty of room to store the.....

Fishing gear.... Does it look like a place to sleep?, like the  Dog Box.......

 

So come May another chapter should begin in the quest to Dodge Work..........