Global warming ? my A*#e I've said it before and I will say it again, someone somwhere is using this global warming message for thier own ends,I am writing this with a well earned glass of our home made Sloe Gin, it is mellow and warming the cockles of our ( Arms,hearts, Arses) "not quite sure how the saying really goes". but we have just got back from a very snowy cold ride up the canal on our bikes again and so it's well deserved.

 We have been iced in since before christmas.I believe and always have that mother nature will always do as she wants and if anyone thinks they can control any of it well think again, and then today I heard on the radio news that the country only had three days gas left ? whats all that about, doom and gloom. Enough of that doom and gloom nonsense we are absolutley loving the extreme of the weather I know we shouldn't because it's dangerous on the roads, especially since the councils have run out of salt, more doom and gloom, I last wrote after we got back from a lovley christmas in King's Lynn we spent New years Eve with our friends on NB First Fruits David and Vivienne and friends from NB Acen John and Jo, we had a lovely evening eating drinking and generally making merry, New Years Day 2010 was absolutley glorious, the sun was shining and the countryside was covered in snow, the canal was still frozen with the sprinkling of snow sitting on top of it, after a lovely lie in we decided to go for a bike ride, with the pork I had cooked the day before I made some sandwiches and a little picnic and we cycled 5.5 miles to foxton locks, I have never seen so many people ou walking,all the restraunts and pubs there were full and it was like a summers day apart from the snow, we stopped at the cafe at the top and had a mug of steaming Hot Chocolate it was absolutley delightful, we had a wander round and then cycled the 5.5 miles back, now that is pretty darned fit for us, and we intend keeping it up on a regliar basis,!! everyday  so far this year we have had glorious sunshine but the ice and frost has still been with us every morning but who cares if the sun is shining. On Saturday we had a lovely surprise visit from Hayley and Jamie with  two of our four grandchildren Harvey and Ellie it was lovely as they have never been to see the boat before and I think the children loved it even tho it was cold outside, Nanna and Gandy have their very own swans that knock on the boat to be fed, so they were able to feed them at very close quarters off the front of the boat up me cratch !! it was wonderful for them, we went to have some food in town as we had nothing prepared as it was a surprise visit, Come again soon.  We have been chatting regulary since we have been here with Jo and Kieth from the working coal boat,  NB Hader , Thank heavens they got iced in down here by us and not somewhere where we couldn't reach them, good for us, but not for their customers all over the canal, so although we feel bad for them, I know Jo and Kieth have been trying to get to them, the last time they came from Foxton on the 22nd Dec they had to break ice all the way and it took them  Almost seven hours to do the usual  1.5 hour journey, so you can't say they dont try, you can read about them on thier blog at www.hader.org.uk really interesting with some gorgeous snowy pictures of their struggle through the ice.

I was checking through my New year Messages on my phone on Sunday and there was a number with no name, well I have lost so many phones in the canal that I am always trying to replace friend and family numbers that I have lost, fortunatley vodaphone keep my number safe, well this message was from Carole and Graham, well I thought it was our friends Kyp and Carol that we had met along the cut, but it wasn't it was Carole and Graham from Sheffield, two of our avid followers that we don't even know, although we may have had emails, anyway we had a lovely chat and it's always lovely to speak to our readers, they have been following our ramblings since we started and hope to do it themselves oneday, so happy new year to them, and any of our other followers who read us, but don't make themselves known to us, "don't be shy send us a contact through this blog entry," come visit us  we are here until the end of Feb, like I said we are not doing much now,well not until we set off on the move again, when we are heading down to London and the Thames ring, so until I write again.

Lots of Love

Chrissie & Richard

ps: Our gorgeous little grandaughter Ellie is four years old tommorow 6th Jan, so happy birthday, hugs and kisses from Nanna and Gandy x x