That is it. We have worked the last locks for a month or so (at least for our boat – we’ve already offered to lockwheel for some friends, gluttons for punishment as we are!). We are just 8 mi…

Aesop the famed Ancient Greek fabulist was said to have told the tale of the hare and the tortoise. One so fast, so fleet of foot, and one so slow to be ridiculed.We learn such fables as children, …

It’s the start of another year, a time to take stock and look ahead. That applies to us all, and particularly to us aboard nb Preaux our floating home and office.Six years ago we set off saying we …

There’s a fragile, colourful theme running throughout our lives. It’s a theme that the narrowboat part of our life, just one of the many beautiful homes we’ve lived in, now takes …

Hmm…that’s low… Sometimes we all need a stark reminder to stop and take stock. This week has brought us some truly awful reminders. Routine can act as a blinkers for us, so that w…

Having waved a fond farewell to wonderful friends from France with whom we’ve had an awesome week, I was just debating what to have for lunch (and as is my wont when I’ve been talking French all th…

Apologies – spending time with old friends from Preaux on Preaux and in the National Forest. Normal service will be resumed next week. Have a great week in the meantime and thank you for all …

So many people are feeling vulnerable at the moment, there is a palpable sense of fear. Near us fields have been set alight alongside the river and although no animals were injured it could have be…

We have made it onto the rivers and water is again moving below our hull. To be honest, it couldn’t have been shallower where we had been moored after lock and water control issues left boats and b…

We have made it onto the rivers and water is again moving below our hull. To be honest, it couldn’t have been shallower where we had been moored after lock and water control issues left boats and b…

So two weeks ago, we left you at a point where we had a broken boat and immense frustration at the state of the canals. A family holiday with the invaluable perspective of an eight year-old has hel…

What a week. Broken boat. Clouds of black smoke. Repairs underway. Canals are being closed around us and a feeling of despair settling around.  Canal and River Trust say reservoir levels are h…

I am born in water. I live in water and I die when water touches me. What am I? The answer to this old riddle has been adding flavour to our days and dishes, fascinating, exfoliating and also relax…

Sometimes one’s closest neighbours, even if you don’t know them personally, are in need of your help. Unexpected moments of crisis, or encounters when a helping hand is what is needed, provid…

Narrowboats like ours are basically a metal box. Living and working in a metal box has its challenges, but probably one of the biggest is surviving during extreme heat. It is hot but at one point h…

This week the negative impacts of social media has been in sharp focus for young people, and if for the young, for all of us. As a result I want this week to use this social media shared blog for j…

June has been as mixed with weather, soundscapes, landscapes and emotion as ma month could be, and we are only a couple of weeks in.We started the month on a high, having travelled from a mooring o…

It has been a week of decision making, or rather accepting decisions made for us by circumstances without railing against them. Which way? If you know, you know! After a wonderful weekend of seeing…

We are no strangers to 24hr challenges – our boat is named after the village where we lived in France that lies some 70km from Le Mans, site of the prestigious 24hr endurance races. I used to…

The narrowboat marathon has arrived.Over 30 hours of the Bank Holiday weekend 27 boats have signed up to move for a whole 24 of those hours taking in as much of the Birmingham Canal Navigation Syst…

Normally this blog is positive, hopefully upbeat and in some way uplifting. This week it is also honest and reflects the HUGE HIGHS and frightening lows we’ve encountered in terms of humanity.We ha…

Birmingham is underlining to us the importance of canals that are navigable. These were once the highways of industry as boats plied back and forth with coal and wood, iron and chemicals, pottery a…

May – a month of promise, of blossom and new beginnings and for us, the distinct possibility of embarking on a voyage to unknown waters where we could very well get lost. New beginnings “Not …

Where are we??? As boaters, like all the emergency services as well as those who need their help, we have a lot to thank musicians who got lost when trying to find far flung venues or gigs. If you’…

Some people say you should never go back to old homes, jobs or locations. On the waterways if you live aboard, the likelihood of retracing steps is high and this week one of us has also been north …

Looking through the round window to what lies ahead How does your immediate world look? In these times of uncertainty it can be invaluable to focus on the minutiae of life, the things we can affect…

We are only here moored this week in Derbyshire because 260 years ago an Act of Parliament brought into reality the vision of a self-taught engineer united with the foresight of two wealthy busines…

FAB aka Fading Affect Bias has been enacted on board nb Preaux in just a few days. Within hours of the flood warnings for navigation being lifted and the repairs to a lock ahead being complete, the…

Guess what – we are still moored on the River Soar, and because we are back in flood again it seems we might be waiting a little longer!John Flower, a renowned landscape and architectural artist of…

The world is full of gloom and uncertainty but our own small world has changed completely in these past few days too. A week ago after a a day of dry towpaths and sunshine, the evening turned to ra…

March – the start of meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere. On the 20th of the month, the Spring Equinox or in the Pagan calendar, Ostara, night and day will balance. It is also a …