Lily Rose

Mine still works but I don't bother with it anymore. I got fed up with the black muck coming out of it, whether I put pink stuff in or not, so I started using an old washing up bottle to squirt water when and where it was needed. Seemed to me to be far more effective than the flush and it filled the cassette less quickly.

As using blacking (Black Jack) in my integral water tank about 6 years ago was such a faff I decided to give it the "just Vactan" treatment a go two years ago when I decided that enough rust was coming back through to require some work. So much easier to do! I checked it a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't see any obvious sign of rust appearing so I'm reasonably confident I can leave it for at least another year.

Latest (AFAIK) CRT update... https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/27385-easenhall-cutting-brinklow-oxford-canal 08/03/2024 15:34 The team have made good progress and cleared all the trees and vegetation adjacent to the slip area. We have also commenced work to remove some of the slipped material. The slip is very extensive, and there is still movement, both on the exposed main slip face and on the isolated sections opposite. The initial estimate of the volume of material that we need to move is in the order of 4000 tonnes. We face challenges over the stability of the exposed clipped face, and the material that has stockpiled. In addition, due to the weather, there has also been another minor slip adjacent to the nearby Bridge 84. We’re keeping the end date the same for now, but given the challenges we face, this date may change. We’ll provide another update as soon as we receive one, and certainly by Friday 22nd March.

If it was good It's now probably either unavailable or 're-formulated" to be much less effective. But you never know.

As the saying goes, Google is your friend. I often include the word canalworld in my Google search, that sometimes seems to work better than the forum's own search function.

Since October 2021 (earliest available data) my boat has been sighted 7 times in the marina and just 3 times elsewhere.

My cooker doesn't have electronic ignition so I use the long gas lighters you can buy in Poundland and other places for about a quid. They sell the butane gas cheap as well. I have more than one in case it fails. Works well for us and no risk of a burn as the handle is several inches away from the flame. I also use it to light a gas bbq, far more reliable than the built in spark button.

I often get mice in my attic at home. I use the Rentokil or Screwfix plastic traps as they are far easier to set than the old wooden ones. I have used peanut butter as bait in the past, it works brilliantly but as the traps might be up there for months waiting for the next batch of mice to move in the bait will eventually go mouldy. I now use the cheapest supermarket "value" chocolate. The mice love it and it doesn't go mouldy like peanut butter. I cut a very small piece, slightly larger than the little bait cup, and then wedge it in so the mice can't remove it easily enough to get away without setting the trap off. I've had that happen when the piece was loose but not once it's wedged in.

Bit of a drastic solution though, unless still at the "looking for a boat" stage.

Perhaps they hoped the programme might help them sell the skip boat for a better price. If so it doesn't seem to have worked too well.

Seconded. We never moor in the shade due to solar panels. Despite dark cabin sides the boat never gets unbearably hot (unlike the house) and I put this down to a combination of white roof and doors open front and rear to allow a pleasing draught.

I've only watched about 15 minutes of it. The bit where they entered the tunnel with the two boats strapped together and one of the girls on a gunnel looked as though it could easily have ended rather tragically with a somewhat squashed human being.

So I tried the Directors in The Boathouse. Difficult to say with any certainty if it was as good as 40 years ago! I enjoyed it anyway, enough to want to have some more when we go back in this evening for the Thursday 30% off mixed grill. We're overstaying the "Summer" limit of 4 hours to do so but there's still space behind us so I don't feel too guilty. Given there's no mention of Spring or Autumn on the notice I'm assuming the "Winter" limit of 24 hours applies to everything that isn't "Summer". Anyway, the other beers were Hobgoblin IPA (not Ruby), Pedigree and Wainwright. I like the Wainwright but then again I do seem to have developed a taste for golden ales (or grapefruit?) in my old age. My current supermarket favourite is Hobgoblin Gold. I think my all time favourite real ale is Adnams but perhaps that's bias due to coming from East Anglia. Never seems as good further south though, and seems at its best when actually in a Southwold pub, possibly psychological. Not that I've been there for some years sadly. Here's the proof that Directors is still available. Back on topic... it's several years since we were in the Greyhound. Ray was there that day as well. Must be time we headed up that way again soon, maybe next Spring. Just have to hope it's still as good under new management. Perhaps Ray will let us know.

For some reason I never really took to Youngs. London Pride was definitely a favourite of mine. Quite liked Bass as well. Lots of other favourites that I can no longer remember.

So did I, there were quite a few Courage pubs in the City of London in those days. Courage, Fullers and Shepherd Neame were lunchtime staples for us back then. Shepherd Neame had an odour that could be kindly described as an acquired taste. Or perhaps less kindly as smelling of farts. Anyway, I'm currently moored outside the Boathouse in Braunston (yes, I know... but when 50% of the boat's crew has a foot problem the options are limited!) and I noticed earlier that they currently have Courage Directors on draught (plus Hobgoblin Ruby, Wainwright and one other that I can't remember) so we'll be going in shortly to try it.

I always understood that the ones from the ceiling were spelt with a c and the ones from the ground with a g. Yours has neither so I don't know where they grow from!

Methinks commas are as well its perfectly clear without them

possibly a reference to a complete lack of punctuation sometimes making it hard to make sense of what has been written maybe not in your case or maybe it does who knows not me maybe tracy will reply in due course see no full stops

Yep, I'm getting that as well. They must have been inundated today with CWDF members complaining about their sightings (or lack of).

I've had very little success refilling my greaser using anything other than a teaspoon so that's what I always do now. I try to eliminate air pockets as I do it by poking the grease with a thin stick but accept there may still be some. As a result, when I stop for the day I give the greaser a turn or two until I feel resistance. I check how much dripping there is both before and after doing this. I then come back about half an hour later to check that there is no further sign of dripping. On the day I leave the boat to go home I'll give it an extra turn and check it 2 or 3 times over a longer time period just to be sure.