Gas Street

We had Dragon Boat Racing outside Brindleyplace on Saturday - lots of hanging about and not much happening, but colourful. I only managed to watch the first race before I gave in.

To "lads" started early and were jumping the lock by lunchtime. At least one fell in around 1am and there was shouting and clapping going on all night!

Early Sunday morning Tom and Pete rescued a Unicorn (at great personal danger to themselves). There seemed to be no-one aboard so they tied her up on our side of the lock to keep her safe. The owner came back at some time during the day but never bothered to thank anyone - just disappeared with his/her boat. There's gratitude. Reminds me of the time we rescued a boat in front of us several times and eventually used one of our own pins to keep it safe. We left a note with the pin, but next mooring the boat was gone, along with our pin!

Another "canal" card. This one is a view of The Packet House in Worsley on the Bridgewater Canal. Very photogenic. Ryan Giggs used to live here and we had to spend a weekend here once for Caroline to try and see him. She didn't, but had a Chinese in his favourite Chinese and shopped in his local grocery store (now since, sadly, closed).

I mounted the picture onto red and brown card and doodled lines and X's around the red card. I put a pretty red and green ribbon behind the picture and used a white rub-on doodle to frame the photo.

Gas Street

A very tranquil looking scene - you'd never believe it is in the heart of bandit country. Kings Norton Junction very early on a spring morning.



The moorings have been surprisingly quiet (except for the music at night!). The second tendered mooring has passed it's date. One for around £2700 and the 2nd for £3500. Will be able to afford our mooring will be in 3 years time at this rate? Still no signs of the new occupants though.


Took the train to London today to get curtain linings for all the curtains. The old ones fell apart when I washed them last month. I know I could get curtain lining in Birmingham but they don't do blue curtain lining. (Well, that's my excuse.) Kept snatching glimpses of the canal from the train and wishing I was there.

There was a Veterans' Day Parade down Broad Street today. Couldn't persuade David to join in - or get his Veterans' Badge presented by the Mayor.

These cards were decoupaged (you take a picture and make several copies. you use one for the base and then cut out some of the scene, stick it down with sticky fixers to make it stand out and then cut out the next picture etc, gradually making a 3D picture. It can be very time-consuming but becomes quite addictive.

Anyway this picture was stuck onto a light green card with a cross of green ribbon.








And this one was made for a friend's brother. I have found it difficult to make cards for Asian customers as there is so little out there. I thought this batsman might do and when he saw it he was thrilled. Apparently the buttons popping of the shirt were a scream, and so him.

I made the card originally on a green background and when I added the 3 black dots I messed it up so I had to cut the green away and then put it onto a white card. I made the banner and sentiment on the computer and matted them onto black card and silver card, using fancy scissors to make the decorated edges.

Gas Street

Give us a hand!!

As seen from a lock on the Grand Union.

There has not been very much activity in the basin since we got back - we have lost 3 boats this year and they have not yet been replaced. One mooring has gone for £2701 per year (a Leisure Mooring which I presume means not live-aboard!) - though no-one seems to have claimed it yet - and the other two should be finalised this week.

We have lots of noise coming from the Walkabout Bar and the Tap and Spile Pub, but that is in hand with the council and only one accident at the lock when a young man missed and smashed his face on the lock side. It meant David had to get up and open the gate for the police and the ambulance crew. Then the following night there were three young men snorting coke outside the new letting agency shop (right underneath the CCTV camera!)

I am missing not being out in the countryside, missing the elderflower and wild roses so far this year. A walk down the Farmers Locks this afternoon didn't really make up for not actually doing them.



These two cards were made for the twins Eleanor and Rebecca. They have not photographed too well, sorry. I 3/4 covered 2 yellow cards with flowered paper and stuck a yellow ribbon over the join with a bow. I then cut out 2 "twos" and their names in gold mirror card on my CraftRobo. I stuck them down with sticky pads and added a Pooh bear to each number with a pot of huny and a butterfly. The "Happy Birthday"s were peel-offs.

Gas Street

It is 9 years today since we sailed off into the sunset! Oh! what innocents. After only 2 days on a boat handling course we set off on the Lower Peak Forest Canal from the builder's yard heading for Marple. Our first excitement was the fisherman we met on coming out of a skew bridge. Not sure who was more surprised, but we missed him. Then we entered the Woodley Tunnel (above) in which we managed to come into contact with the roof and we scraped paint off the handrail.

Then as we approached the bottom lock it started raining, which turned into a thunder storm, the locks were stiff and there was a lot of rubbish in the water. It took us hours and it was dark and we were soaked by the time we reached the top lock and I was absolutely shattered. As we were closing the top lock Malcolm, who owns the Top Lock marina and had been our teacher on the boat handling course drove up and let us moor on his garden. I've been in love with him ever since!

A simple Sympathy card. A photo taken on the Kennet and Avon, all misty and tranquil. I mounted it onto green, mirror and black card. I then matted green card onto black and decorated the edges with shaped scissors and added a black spotty ribbon and bow. The sentiment is a peel-off matted onto black and mirror card and I added some rub-on doodles on the bottom

Gas Street

Back on the moorings and enjoying all the action. We were visited by a Roman soldier last Sunday. "Could we take him and his colleague out on the boat so that they could be filmed for a video?" Well what can you say? The shopping trolley was a major part of the video, but what it was I don't know. They have promised to let us see it on the Internet when it is finished. Can't wait!
There has been a lot of noise nearly every night. The Walkabout is using its full licensing potential - open until 4am!

Here are a couple of pictures of our new paintwork. Smart eh?

And so, back to the cards. This one I made for the

guy who is painting the boat next to us. A birthday card for his wife. She is in to cats and pink (fairly obvious I suppose). I started with a square pink card. I made two mats with white, pink and black card and added the pink cat topper to the smallest one. I wrapped a sheer pink ribbon around the large mat and added some rub-on doodles down the side. The sentiment was done on the computer and matted in the same way. I cut a black faux ribbon for the bottom with shaped scissors and a hole punch and added another pink bow with a pin through it (it wouldn't stay knotted - I had to do something!). Then I made a box with black card and a pink organza bow.

Gas Street

So much has happened since I last posted properly and I'll keep it brief. The trip from Lyons Boatyard to Dunhampstead was uneventful. We did all the locks in one go (42!). This lock cottages was advertised for sale by auction. In fact the sign had come down when we came back so I suppose that is another one gone. We always thought that this one was lived in by a spy with all the antenna in the gardens. We managed to get the satellite dish to work in the polytunnel at the Brookline wharf but we could get no signal at all for the Vodafone dongle thingie - so not internet - not even up the bank.
Sheila Smith started work on Tuesday. We took a trip by taxi into Worcester one day and another into Droitwich where there was a Waitrose (which will be right by the canal when it eventually opens).

The sides were painted and the signwriting was done by lunchtime on Wednesday and we were out of the boatyard almost before the paint dried. Sheila has done a lovely job and Mr David looks just like new.
It's funny how you don't notice the branches overhanging the canal when you haven't got a new paint job.

We spent the first night out at The Queen's Head and then on Thursday came up the rest of the locks and on into Birmingham.

Back on the moorings we discovered that David on Moulon Rouge had already left for Merryhill so the place is looking very empty. There are 3 moorings up for tender on the Waterscape site, and one has just gone for over £25000 which is bad news for the rest of us.

Gas Street

I have not been able to make any cards recently as the boat has been such a mess with the re-painting, but I did make this book for our daughter, Caroline, who is getting married next year. I found this post http://allistamps.blogspot.com/2008/...ountdown4.html for a "to-do" book and made my own version. I started with a plastic A5 ring binder and cut it down so that it would fit into a handbag. I covered the outside with some pretty wedding wrapping paper and covered that with sticky black plastic and then added the ribbon bow.
Inside I covered the inside cover with pink card, adding 2 triangle pockets made from cutting 2 envelopes on a diagonal (not shown in the photo). I cut down some lined paper and made some dividers using my CraftRobo. I intended to fix the pen holder onto the back cover before adding the paper but I forgot so I just covered a strip of the plastic cut off from the cover and covered it with more paper and, fixed a metal "hole" in it and threaded it through one of the rings. I then used a small strip of the paper and stuck that around the pen.
Caroline loved it and began filling it in immediately.

With the bits of paper left over I made these two cards using 2 lilac card blanks as the base and ribbon covering the joins. I added an metal cupid tide with a bow and tow pearl hearts and... ... just a bow and two hearts on this one.

The Queens Head

We have been out of range for the Vodafone dongle thingy for the last 10 days. Will blog tomorrow - promise!