C.L. Peache's Blog, page 21

It’s Christmas eve!

Sunday 24th December Day 155

We set off for a walk with the intention on the way back to get a few last minute bits and bobs but as we arrive the shutters go down on the farmshop so we have to divert to the Spar shop in Great Haywood, which is not what you want after a long walk already but it gets the steps in ready for the all important over indulging on Christmas Day! We managed to get what we needed as the shops will be closed tomorrow.

All that walking certainly makes for a chilled afternoon on the boat as I faff with my blog and book and share the Christmas vlog as well as setting the dinette with the Christmas table cloth and various other bits and bobs to make it cosy for tomorrow. I love making the boat cosy and cannot wait to get stuck back in with the DIY ((well, remember not to make a noise Peachy. Don’t want to be getting kicked off the marina!)) We have a plan for the last bit of angle grinding which will involve cruising out of the marina and onto the tow path somewhere. Do the noisy jobs and then cruise back to the marina. Hopefully we will have enough battery power to do what we need to do. These are just one of the challenges with boat life. It will probably take us three hours to do a 20min boat job because of having to cruise out.

It’s another wild and windy afternoon on the boat and I get up more than once to check everything is okay which is nothing compared to the wind and rain next week!.

Right, that’s it for another week. I hoped you’ve enjoyed the blog this week ((It’s been alright. Not much happening though is there?)) Hopefully next week will be more interesting as we visit London and then head to Jersey to finish my novel and explore the Island! I shared the Instagram link earlier which is where I will be sharing my photos and will probably share some short videos on YouTube. See you next week or tomorrow depending if you’re reading daily or weekly! xx

I actually do some writing!

Saturday 23rd December Day 154

I enjoy a really nice morning of writing and manage to get part one and part two edited. I know I’ve said it before ((Well when have you ever let repeating yourself stop you!)) but this book is coming together and for the first time today I actually enjoy the editing and structuring. I’ve mentioned I’ve faffed and faffed with it trying to get it right and I think the formula is set for it now and it works for the reader which is always my focus. I’ve made more notes on places I want to visit in jersey next week and cannot wait to add the final details. Whilst over there I will also be filming some promotional material and making contact with any bookshops so a lot to do before this draft it sent to my publisher mid-January.

After lunch we set off for a walk to dust off the cobwebs and keep the old joints oiled and moving. It really is a lovely area around Great Haywood and we take a wander down the canal and then veer off over a bridge and into a wooded area which snakes around the hillside and through an area which must have been quarried in the past and there are some very interesting caves. I love the way the tree roots have grown through the bedrock. I showed some pictures on Instagram if you want to take a look. ((@clpeache if you want to find Peachy on Instagram))

It’s Christmas eve tomorrow and as always it feels like it’s come around quickly and it’s our first Christmas on the boat which we are looking forward to.
Until tomorrow…xx
P.S. I’ve created an excerpt for this blog post using AI – i’m not sure if it will show on your feed before you read this! Let me know if you see it!

No more car…

Friday 22nd December Day 153

This morning we dropped the car off in Stafford and as much as we liked having the car, it’s also nice to get back to life without it. Having a car makes us a little bit lazy as it’s easier to just jump in the car rather than walk or cycle to the shops.

We have a wander about Stafford getting the last bits and bobs of shopping. We are feeling relatively smug that we have done everything and not joining the frantic people piling their trolleys full. Honestly, unless some of them are feeding a lot of people the amount some food they have is bonkers! I spot a frazzled, wide-eyed bloke rushing around Primark with a dressing gown clutched in his arms looking like a deer caught in headlights.

We are back to being bus goers and it’s back to the marina. What with one thing and another the old writing has suffered quite a lot so I really need to get some good writing stints soon. Being in Jersey will help massively as I can chat to people who have actually done the walk ((I don’t know how you have the audacity to write about the Island Walk when you haven’t even done it!)) Look, Brackets. With my hip there is absolutely no chance of me tackling a 48.1 mile walk. I would love to do it but I know my limitations and the achievement if I could finish it is not worth the pain and problems I would suffer for years after. Considering I fractured my hip in 2011 – I think it was 2011 or 2010? I had perhaps 6 months of agony trying to suffer through the pain as I didn’t know it was fractured, then I spent about 6 months with my feet up sat on an ice pack ((If only you’d discovered writing then you could have written about 10 novels!)) I know right. I often think that. Then it was probably 3-5 years of pain all the time and limited walking. Today, I’m fine as long as I don’t do any long walks, if I do then I literally cannot put weight on it and have to rest up for a day and then I’m good to go. ((Okay then, probably not a good idea to walk 48.1 miles across difficult terrain then! I will let you off!)) Thanks. I’m hoping that the extensive research i’m doing and chatting to people who have done it will make up for my lack of experience!

Right, that’s it. It’s back to the boat. Unpack everything and get ready for xmas day. Day done. xx

I have a bath…

Thursday 21st December Day 152

((Come on Peachy, you need to do better with your titles!)) It was up early and a bath – for those who haven’t been reading this blog for long. We don’t have a bath on our narrowboat and so it’s a real treat to have the luxury of a bath. I could have stayed in for hours but a friend is popping around for a brew before we head back to home.

It’s very windy again today. I don’t know if it’s just because we notice it more living on a boat but it seems to have been a very windy year! After saying bye to the family we decide to go back to the Glasson Dock area to do some filming for YouTube but when we get there the wind is so wild we are soon running back to the car as the rain joins the winds in thwarting our plans. It’s definitely an area we want to come back and explore.

On the route home we stop off at a few places including a garden centre which always a bit of a treat as it’s all set up for Christmas which will probably feel like a distant memory when you’re reading this!

The car goes back tomorrow so we get some last bits of shopping when we arrive back in Stafford as it’s easier to drop things off at the boat.

Until tomorrow. xx
((Someone wake me up when something interesting happens…))

Everyone has an opinion…

Wednesday 20th December Day 151

We decide to have a cruise around Cannock Chase whilst we have the car as we don’t need to set off until after lunch. It’s funny when you start something like a blog or vlog and put your life out there. After putting the vlog on which showed us visiting cannock chase last month, someone commented about please making sure we drive slowly due to the deer. It wasn’t said in a grumpy way or anything like that but it’s funny how people have an opinion on something and feel the need to tell you what their opinion is. That’s all a part of it but it just made me think how much you open yourself up to being in effect ‘public property’ ((Yet, you’re all ours now Peachy and be in no doubt that we judge you…)) and have to expect people to comment. We would never speed in an area like this.
Anyway, I’ve gotten distracted again.

After lunch we cruise to the Yorkshire Dales to visit my family and from here it’s basically straight up the M6! Well, what a rubbish journey that was. Man alive, I will say ‘most’ of the lorry drivers were so rude cutting people up and tailgating. I thought cars were bad but on this section today the lorries win this shocking driving award, they were terrible and the conditions weren’t great with wind and rain it was quite shocking how they behaved. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of car drivers doing the same thing but a lorry will cause a lot more damage! We decide to leave the motorway and head to a place called Glasson Dock which I didn’t realise was on the canal network so one day we will be here! ((so, now of course you’ve changed your mind and you want to come here as your first journey!)) How did you guess?

We arrive in good time and have a great evening with family and I even manage to chat up for a quick brew with one of my friends tomorrow before returning to the boat. I’m hoping to pop back in February for a proper visit money allowing before we head off cruising.

Until tomorrow… x

No longer feels like home…

Tuesday 19th December Day 150

Today we get picked up at the marina and it’s car hire day! This is how we get about nowadays. Quite a few boaters still have cars, especially if they are residential in a marina but even some continuous cruisers have cars/vans. I think what they generally do is cruise their boat to a location, moor up and then walk, cycle or use public transport, collect their vehicle and drive it closer to their boat. We really couldn’t be bothered with this and to be honest, after weighing up all the costs and hassle we much prefer just to hire a car every so often.

By 11.30am we are on the road and on route back to Newark on Trent where we used to live and to pop to the marina to collect post which still seems to be arriving there despite changing our address and obviously have a chat to our old boat neighbour then it’s onto to visit Chris’s folks for a Christmas meal. We wanted to make sure we visited everyone at just the right time so we didn’t get caught up in the Christmas madness of travel but still close to Christmas and this worked out really well as a good time is had by all.

I’ve been back to Newark a few times since we left in July and this is the first time it’s felt a bit weird and Newark is no longer our home, that, in fact, we don’t have a home ‘place’ anymore but that leads to excitement that we can live in many different places. Like York, Newark will always have a special place in my heart as it’s a great place to live.

We have been talking about where we are going to go next year and we keep going back and forth between going to London or up to Skipton/Lancaster way. ((Oh, so either North or South! – please insert a rolled eyes in your mind people)) it seems every time we visit somewhere like Manchester the other week, we decide we are definitely going there and then we thought how cool it would be to go to London. ((Please say no more. Just decide. Tell your Patreons first and be done with it! Maybe our readers have some idea where they want you to go!)) Are you being rude?? ((I’m saying nothing!)) 

We arrive home late and it’s day done and get everything together ready to visit my family tomorrow.                               

Until tomorrow.. x

A bad day which is a bit ‘meh’

Monday 18th December Day 149

Today is a ‘meh’ day. I have a massive knot of anxiety twisting and tearing inside me – sounds dramatic I know. ((Yeah, it’s not like you’re known for being dramatic is it??)) I don’t know why I’m feeling like this as everything is good. Just goes to show that even when you’re happy and living what we would call nowadays as ‘our best life’ it doesn’t mean you cannot fall foul of a bad day.

I don’t really achieve much today as a result but that’s okay. Maybe it’s just hormones making their feelings known. I do have a nice moment when I sell a few more copies of my New Zealand book and have some nice comments and views on my YouTube channel so that helps to start lifting my mood.

Until tomorrow.. xx

P.S. I don’t want anyone to worry. I’m perfectly happy, I was just having one of those days and as you know I share the good and the bad! ((That’s called over sharing Peachy I think you will find!))
P.P.S. When you’re reading this it will be NEW YEARS DAY! Happy New Year… a start of a new year and I hope you have lots of lovely plans and have a fabulous 2024! Let me know if you have any New Year Resolutions…

Narrowboat adventures… Day 149 – 155. Mon 18th – Sun 24th Dec

Monday 18th December Day 149

Today is a ‘meh’ day. I have a massive knot of anxiety twisting and tearing inside me – sounds dramatic I know. ((Yeah, it’s not like you’re known for being dramatic is it??)) I don’t know why I’m feeling like this as everything is good. Just goes to show that even when you’re happy and living what we would call nowadays as ‘our best life’ it doesn’t mean you cannot fall foul of a bad day.

I don’t really achieve much today as a result but that’s okay. Maybe it’s just hormones making their feelings known. I do have a nice moment when I sell a few more copies of my New Zealand book and have some nice comments and views on my YouTube channel so that helps to start lifting my mood.

Until tomorrow.. xx

p.s. I don’t want anyone to worry. I’m perfectly happy, I was just having one of those days and as you know I share the good and the bad! ((That’s called over sharing Peachy I think you will find!))

Tuesday 19th December Day 150

Today we get picked up at the marina and it’s car hire day! This is how we get about nowadays. Quite a few boaters still have cars, especially if they are residential in a marina but even some continuous cruisers have cars/vans. I think what they generally do is cruise their boat to a location, moor up and then walk, cycle or use public transport, collect their vehicle and drive it closer to their boat. We really couldn’t be bothered with this and to be honest, after weighing up all the costs and hassle we much prefer just to hire a car every so often.

By 11.30am we are on the road and on route back to Newark on Trent where we used to live and to pop to the marina to collect post which still seems to be arriving there despite changing our address and obviously have a chat to our old boat neighbour then it’s onto to visit Chris’s folks for a Christmas meal. We wanted to make sure we visited everyone at just the right time so we didn’t get caught up in the Christmas madness of travel but still close to Christmas and this worked out really well as a good time is had by all.

I’ve been back to Newark a few times since we left in July and this is the first time it’s felt a bit weird and that this is no longer our home, that, in fact, we don’t have a home ‘place’ anymore but that leads to excitement that we can live in many different places.

We have been talking about where we are going to go next year and we keep going back and forth between going to London or up to Skipton/Lancaster way. ((Oh, so either North or South! – please insert a rolled eyes in your mind people)) it seems every time we visit somewhere like Manchester the other week, we decide we are definitely going there and then we thought how cool it would be to go to London. ((Please say no more. Just decide. Tell your Patreons first and be done with it! Maybe our readers have some idea where they want you to go!)) Are you being rude?? ((I’m saying nothing!)) 

We arrive home late and it’s day done and get everything together ready to visit my family tomorrow.                               

Wednesday 20th December Day 151

We decide to have a cruise around Cannock Chase whilst we have the car as we don’t need to set off until after lunch. It’s funny when you start something like a blog or vlog and put your life out there. After putting the vlog on which showed us visiting cannock chase last month, someone commented about please making sure we drive slowly due to the deer. It wasn’t said in a grumpy way or anything like that but it’s funny how people have an opinion on something and feel the need to tell you what their opinion is. That’s all a part of it but it just made me think how much you open yourself up to being in effect ‘public property’ ((Yet, you’re all ours now Peachy and be in no doubt that we judge you…)) and have to expect people to comment. We would never speed in an area like this.
Anyway, I’ve gotten distracted again.

After lunch we cruise to the Yorkshire Dales to visit my family and from here it’s basically straight up the M6! Well, what a rubbish journey that was. Man alive, I will say ‘most’ of the lorry drivers were so rude cutting people up and tailgating. I thought cars were bad but on this section today the lorries win this shocking driving award, they were terrible and the conditions weren’t great with wind and rain it was quite shocking how they behaved. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of car drivers doing the same thing but a lorry will cause a lot more damage! We decide to leave the motorway and head to a place called Glasson Dock which I didn’t realise was on the canal network so one day we will be here! ((so, now of course you’ve changed your mind and you want to come here as your first journey!)) How did you guess?

We arrive in good time and have a great evening with family and I even manage to chat up for a quick brew with one of my friends tomorrow before returning to the boat. I’m hoping to pop back in February for a proper visit money allowing before we head off cruising.

Day done… x

Thursday 21st December Day 152

It was up early and a bath – for those who haven’t been reading this blog for long. We don’t have a bath on our narrowboat and so it’s a real treat to have the luxury of a bath. I could have stayed in for hours but a friend is popping around for a brew before we head back to home.

It’s very windy again today. I don’t know if it’s just because we notice it more living on a boat but it seems to have been a very windy year! After saying bye to the family we decide to go back to the Glasson Dock area to do some filming for YouTube but when we get there the wind is so wild we are soon running back to the car as the rain joins the winds in thwarting our plans. It’s definitely an area we want to come back and explore.

On the route home we stop off at a few places including a garden centre which always a bit of a treat as it’s all set up for Christmas which will probably feel like a distant memory when you’re reading this!

The car goes back tomorrow so we get some last bits of shopping when we arrive back in Stafford as it’s easier to drop things off at the boat. Day done . xx
((Someone wake me up when something interesting happens…))

Friday 22nd December Day 153

This morning we dropped the car off in Stafford and as much as we liked having the car, it’s also nice to get back to life without it. Having a car makes us a little bit lazy as it’s easier to just jump in the car rather than walk or cycle to the shops.

We have a wander about Stafford getting the last bits and bobs of shopping. We are feeling relatively smug that we have done everything and not joining the frantic people piling their trolleys full. Honestly, unless some of them are feeding a lot of people the amount some food they have is bonkers! I spot a frazzled, wide-eyed bloke rushing around Primark with a dressing gown clutched in his arms looking like a deer caught in headlights.

We are back to being bus goers and it’s back to the marina. What with one thing and another the old writing has suffered quite a lot so I really need to get some good writing stints soon. Being in Jersey will help massively as I can chat to people who have actually done the walk ((I don’t know how you have the audacity to write about the Island Walk when you haven’t even done it!)) Look, Brackets. With my hip there is absolutely no chance of me tackling a 48.1 mile walk. I would love to do it but I know my limitations and the achievement if I could finish it is not worth the pain and problems I would suffer for years after. Considering I fractured my hip in 2011 – I think it was 2011 or 2010? I had perhaps 6 months of agony trying to suffer through the pain as I didn’t know it was fractured, then I spent about 6 months with my feet up sat on an ice pack ((If only you’d discovered writing then you could have written about 10 novels!)) I know right. I often think that. Then it was probably 3-5 years of pain all the time and limited walking. Today, I’m fine as long as I don’t do any long walks, if I do then I literally cannot put weight on it and have to rest up for a day and then I’m good to go. ((Okay then, probably not a good idea to walk 48.1 miles across difficult terrain then! I will let you off!)) Thanks. I’m hoping that the extensive research i’m doing and chatting to people who have done it will make up for my lack of experience!

Right, that’s it. It’s back to the boat. Unpack everything and get ready for xmas day. Day done. xx

Saturday 23rd December Day 154

I enjoy a really nice morning of writing and manage to get part one and part two edited. I know I’ve said it before ((Well when have you ever let repeating yourself stop you!)) but this book is coming together and for the first time today I actually enjoy the editing and structuring. I’ve mentioned I’ve faffed and faffed with it trying to get it right and I think the formula is set for it now and it works for the reader which is always my focus. I’ve made more notes on places I want to visit in jersey next week and cannot wait to add the final details. Whilst over there I will also be filming some promotional material and making contact with any bookshops so a lot to do before this draft it sent to my publisher mid-January.

After lunch we set off for a walk to dust off the cobwebs and keep the old joints oiled and moving. It really is a lovely area around Great Haywood and we take a wander down the canal and then veer off over a bridge and into a wooded area which snakes around the hillside and through an area which must have been quarried in the past and there are some very interesting caves. I love the way the tree roots have grown through the bedrock. I showed some pictures on Instagram if you want to take a look.

It’s Christmas eve tomorrow and as always it feels like it’s come around quickly and it’s our first Christmas on the boat which we are looking forward to. Day done. xx

Sunday 24th December Day 155

We set off for a walk with the intention on the way back to get a few last minute bits and bobs but as we arrive the shutters go down on the farmshop so we have to divert to the Spar shop in Great Haywood, which is not what you want after a long walk already but it gets the steps in ready for the all important over indulging on Christmas Day! We managed to get what we needed as the shops will be closed tomorrow.

All that walking certainly makes for a chilled afternoon on the boat as I faff with my blog and book and share the Christmas vlog as well as setting the dinette with the Christmas table cloth and various other bits and bobs to make it cosy for tomorrow. I love making the boat cosy and cannot wait to get stuck back in with the DIY ((well, remember not to make a noise Peachy. Don’t want to be getting kicked off the marina!)) We have a plan for the last bit of angle grinding which will involve cruising out of the marina and onto the tow path somewhere. Do the noisy jobs and then cruise back to the marina. Hopefully we will have enough battery power to do what we need to do. These are just one of the challenges with boat life. It will probably take us three hours to do a 20min boat job because of having to cruise out.

It’s another wild and windy afternoon on the boat and I get up more than once to check everything is okay which is nothing compared to the wind and rain next week!.

Right, that’s it for another week. I hoped you’ve enjoyed the blog this week ((It’s been alright. Not much happening though is there?)) Hopefully next week will be more interesting as we visit London and then head to Jersey to finish my novel and explore the Island! I shared the Instagram link earlier which is where I will be sharing my photos and will probably share some short videos on YouTube. See you next week or tomorrow depending if you’re reading daily or weekly! xx
Here is the link to YouTube if you want to watch the Christmas Special! You can also watch the tour of the boat Watch Here

Happy new year (feeling a bit grumpy!)

Sunday 17th December Day 148

((It’s the time/space continumunum again… It’s Sunday 17th December in Peachy’s world but actually it’s 23rd December she is uploading this but in yours it’s a Happy New Year from us))

Back to today… I wake up feeling a bit grumpy today. I get like this sometimes. ((SOMETIMES!!!!!)) I find myself needing time to myself, 98.5%  we get on fine on the boat and being together 24/7 but I get these times where I just crave not having to talk to anyone at all. Before that though, I pop and see my friend at the café again as she drops off some cards and pressies for me to take to mum’s next week. This time we manage to keep the visit to 2.5 hours of chatting and then it’s back to the boat.

I mentioned that I have a new Patreon ((Thanks again Sandra… we are one step closer to my merchandise going live! Let me know what you want to see in the merc shop!)) As part of someone becoming a Patreon I add their name to my website which is easy enough but I realised that I also need to add it to all the vlogs I’d already scheduled! It’s easy to do but then I’d already uploaded about 6 of them to YouTube. So now I will have them prepped and ready to upload but won’t schedule them until the Wednesday before when I add to Patreon and YouTube to go live on the Sunday and then I can add any new Patreons. Just another way of working smarter ((I spat my tea out then. Work smarter? Compared to who?))

Right, that’s another week done. I hope everyone has had a fabulous Christmas and New Year. Cannot believe that next week we will be into a 2024! Although in the blogging world we still have a few weeks left until next week. xxx
Youtube link here for the latest episode…

Blogs, vlogs and books…

Saturday 16th December Day 147

I spent most of this morning at the dinette scheduling the blog, which took me about 3 hours. ((I don’t understand how you have so many mistakes in your blog when you supposedly spend so much time writing, editing and uploading!)) You are so rude! Blogs done it was onto the vlogs which I realise tomorrow is a bit of a waste of time but hey ho, you live and learn!

The battery runs out on my laptop so whilst that’s charging I get some boat jobs done. I don’t have anything exciting to report today unless you want to hear about the messy job of tidying the stern as there is coal everywhere. ((Not really!))

Next week we are hiring a car again so we can go and visit family before Christmas as we are spending or first xmas day on the boat which is very exciting. ((I think you’ve mentioned this before!!)) Think?? Your memory is getting as bad as mine Brackets!

Right, that’s it. Until tomorrow… x

p.s. I keep meaning to say if you want to read any of stories which are available on the Saga Fiction App then you can check it out here. Basically you buy coins which you then use to buy the stories and you get free coins for signing up and logging on each day. ((That’s actually pretty cool. It’s make no wonder you cannot keep up Peachy you are literally everywhere!))