Spring cleaning

I've been too busy to write a blog post this week. Work is making inroads on my free time again. There are exams to mark and deadlines to keep, so I'm having trouble keeping up with my blogging and tweeting. I'm also teaching some PhDers and that requires my brain, which I need to take to work with me (much of the time I leave it on board, and I'm not joking. I'd much rather be there anyway).

Anyhow, today I took some time out and went off to clean our 'other' barge, the little Hennie H (pronounced Hennie Ha here). We are planning a longish trip this year. Originally Poland was the intended destination, but we've decided that maybe it's too ambitious given my work commitments and the time it would take to get there. So...we've decided to become experts on northern France instead...every nook and cranny that can be explored will be!

But back to the Hennie H, I confess I haven't been very good to her this winter and she has been sorely neglected. We keep her at the marina in Sas van Gent, which is close to our weekend getaway and each time I go to the supermarket, I pass her and wave. In the past few weeks, though, I've been ducking and hoping she hasn't seen me as I know I've let her get dreadfully grubby and green.

Then yesterday, when I went to have our fire extinguishers checked and certified at the marina office (another story involving a bunch of delightful old boys who kept me waiting for two hours in the cold, but told me some good stories as entertainment), I felt too ashamed to let it go another day.

Today, then, I walked the three kilometres from our place to the barge and set about a thorough clean up. The green was mean but I rubbed and scrubbed till I could rinse it all away. Two and something hours later, this was the result.

A scrupulously clean little barge - well there are a few nooks and crannies still to be done, but I was very cold by the time I'd finished, and more than a bit wet too, so the three kilometre trek home was needed to get my coagulated blood moving again.

That apart, I believe it's the first day of spring today or tomorrow, so I thought I'd show you the daffs that are out in force in the harbour, despite the bitter wind.

And then below is a nice old tug boat moored near us. The owners were sitting in their wheelhouse enjoying their afternoon tea. Sometimes I wish I had a wheelhouse too. It's such a lovely place to sit especially in this weather!

And just because it was there, I took a photo of one of the biggies going through the bridge - which was open I hasten to add - on the Gent-Terneuzen Canal. Our marina is a harbour just off this marvellous waterway.

Well that's it for this week. More stories from the wet and wondrous next weekend, but for now, I hope it warms up for everyone in the coming days. I will confess it's just a bit too cold for me right now!