Another year has gone by, so I decided to publish an update. The short of it is, I am more than ready to sell the boat and move back to an apartment or house. Ewan is definitely not at this point. So, it's very clear now which of us is a boater. I am definitely not. But I still don't regret having had this adventure.
After we had laid the cork floor in most of our space and the carpet in the bedroom and the lino in our two shower rooms, we put more rugs on top, because it will give us even more warmth in winter. The boat is longer warm now, which is a huge improvement, so I'm not fretting so badly now. Unfortunately, the new diesel heating is not as powerful as the old one, and we should have not saved at the wrong end. We only did, though, because the heating stopped working in Winter, and we didn't want to wait, and this one was available. It takes a good two hours to take the edge of when it's around zero degrees Celsius outside.
Last summer I already did not wild-swim much anymore because of the sewage news. It just really put me off. This year I didn't even dip a toe in, which is very sad. It would be so good for me to swim in the river, and I remember that it made me feel alive and happy; but I'm petrified of the contents of the river water now. Even though I wouldn't get my face wet, the skin also absorbs chemicals.
I've also not once sat on the bow to enjoy the views, which I feel strangely ashamed about. This year, I just haven't been able to find the peace and calm in me to just and witness the water flowing by and the wildlife showing up. It's really interesting how this life has become pretty normal for us and has lost the magic of the unknown. Basically, I thought this was going to be such a romantic life. But I don't find it romantic. Also, we've stayed at our winter mooring this year; and it's a friendly, lovely place, but it's not remote and beautiful like some spots we've stayed at. My dog Jack was very poorly - his legs didn't work well anymore, and my hip was locked as well, so we were not able to walk for months and needed to be near our car. We are so very grateful to our wonderful lock keeper.
Jack died three weeks ago from pancreatitis which he had for the third time. He was in a lot of pain, and we decided - together with the vet - that it was time to relieve him from his suffering. We miss him very much. On the other hand - and I can only speak for myself - I really enjoy my new freedom. Ewan and I had 20 years of bringing up children and keeping dogs. Now is our time.
So I got myself a bicycle - a foldable, e-assisted one, and I'm enjoying riding it very much. Ewan and I can finally go out together for a ride - yey!
I also started a training: I'm doing a level 4 counselling diploma and will be a certified counsellor in two years, at the ripe age of 60. Finally, I shall get clients through the counselling register, the BACP website, and the psychotherapist group I'm a member of can finally send me clients, too. I've done my level 3 seventeen years ago and thought I'd never go back to being a student, because I simply hate reading books and writing essays; my mind is not very academic. But I was finally able to see - with the support of my supervisor - that I need this training and the letters behind my name in order to earn a living with my profession. I found a great course with the CPTA and look forward to it all now. The plan is, once I earn a much better living than before, we will be able to move in to rented accommodation and sell Coddiwomple.
Would I do it again? No. I would sell the house and move into an even smaller one. But this is hindsight, and it's a bitch. Yes, we were warned. But we obviously needed to get this out of our system. And the summers have been really nice, mostly.
Next year we need to give her a proper good blacking, a touch-up of colour here and there, and a good clean. I hope we can then put it onto the market. But in the meantime, I would like to cruise a bit more with her next summer. Ewan will be retired from mid March, and I can do lots of work from home. We'll see how it pans out.
Right now we're in Germany, about to greet our latest family arrival - a girl. She's nearly one month old, and we can't wait to see her and her older sister. 2 weeks of a family/friend marathon, but we do make sure we have 2 full spa days in between, which we love Germany for (as well as the food).
In April Ewan's son and wife had a beautiful girl, and we feel grateful and blessed to have a grandchild so close to us. It is the best thing to become grandparents, we find.
Sending gratitude to those who read our blog.
Till ... whenever,
Silvia
As ever, some pictures:
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