Some more observations on Canal Boat Diaries

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Derek R. said:

A pure white house with minimalistic furniture and no pictures. (Not a quote, just a thought).

 

Sounds like some form of Hell. Our house has no more wall space for many pictures we own, and memorabilia to suit (dust collects).

But a cabin where everything is within arms reach is a very different beast. You have to be tidy, and possessions few. Having said that - it is surprising just how much 'stuff' does accumulate in a boat.

 

If one is "passionate" about canals, why should that not include working practices with boat handling and ropework? Because excluding such things allows them to be lost to future (and current) generations.

 

A tidy hearth equates to a tidy mind. Maybe I'm just too 'Old School'. My desk is cluttered. There are notes and documents along with books within reach, and within the drawers are a myriad of 'stuff'. But the bed is always 'made', and the washing up is always done, dried and shelved before 'settling down' for an evening. Untidiness can lead to depression. I'll wager Mr. Court's van has everything in its place? And Mr Marshall's bookshelf behind him looks suitably well ordered! 😉

 

Because Robbie's primary audience is not a few boaters who might be interested in such things, but a much larger number of the general public who aren't? 😉 

[Ray T]

On 29/09/2024 at 08:08, Derek R. said:

I see 'judgement' has been declared - and I am the 'outcast'.  So be it.

 

@Derek R., You are well on your way to becoming a "bona fide" boater. 😄

In the days of yore, as I'm sure you are well aware, the working boaters were treated poorly by many of those on the bank.

Mike occasionally regaled me with tales of how the indigenous boat people were treated.

To quote one shop keeper "I don't want dirty boaters in my shop, get out." 

The irony being, whilst some of the work they did was dealing with "dirty" cargoes the majority of working boaters kept their living cabins spotless and the exterior of their boats as clean as possible.

 

Edited October 8, 2024 by Ray T

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, Ray T said:

 

@Derek R., You are well on your way to becoming a "bona fide" boater. 😄

In the days of yore, as I'm sure you are well aware, the working boaters were treated poorly by many of those on the bank.

Mike occasionally regaled me with tales of how the indigenous boat people were treated.

To quote one shop keeper "I don't want dirty boaters in my shop, get out." 

The irony being, whilst some of the work they did was dealing with "dirty" cargoes the majority of working boaters kept their living cabins spotless.

 

 

True -- though I doubt that "dirty boaters" were treated badly because they offered a nutjob conspiracy theorist website as an alternative to the BBC... 😉 

[Arthur Marshall]

4 hours ago, Derek R. said:

And Mr Marshall's bookshelf behind him looks suitably well ordered

Guilty, m'lord. First thing I do when moving house is build the bookshelves as otherwise I can't get in the kitchen. I'm down to about twelve thousand now as I had to have a major cull a few years ago. And they are all in logical order. Currently in use music scores are in alpha order in files.

Everything else, though, is fairly chaotic. I don't notice clothes or papers slung about, cobwebs or mud on the floor, either in the house or on the boat. I give the duvet a shake when I go to bed. Nobody here washes up, it gets piled up on the worktop till there's no room to make a meal and I stuff it in the dishwasher. My wife's study is so chaotic you have to tread carefully to find a passage through to put her cuppa down and she can't close the door to keep warm for dumped stuff. Her intray is now two foot high and I suspect generating new life forms in the lower levels.

On the boat I'm just as bad these days. When I lived on, though, it was tidy as in a small 23 foot cabin you daren't be anything else if you want to stay sane .

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

First thing I do when moving house is build the bookshelves as otherwise I can't get in the kitchen. I'm down to about twelve thousand now as I had to have a major cull a few years ago. And they are all in logical order.

My daughter in law organised their bookcase in a logical order. By spine colour! Probably good for Instagram, but not if you want a book on a particular subject or by a specific author.