Yacht Pipit

      

LRB, 6th November 2010

Hard to believe we've been here over a month already. We have settled in to living aboard in one place, with the routine chores and some work being interspersed with enjoying the immediate environs of LRB. The weather has remained largely unseasonably good, and so we have been up & down the river in Nessie the Nestaway dinghy, enjoying the changing autumn colours and seeing numerous kingfishers - wonderful. We have also done some more foraging - Hugh Farmer-Toadstool would be proud of us!


Recipe for Sloe Gin:

Step 1: Buy yourself a carbon-kevlar dinghy that won't be punctured by a blackthorn bush.

Comme ca...


Step 2: Gather your berries from otherwise inaccessible places along the river bank.

Oh, was that another kingfisher?...


Step 3: Prick with a cocktail stick. That's a verb not a noun...


Add sugar, honey, almond essence and of course gin. Should be ready by Christmas...


And if you can't find Sharwood's plum sauce to go with your duck, make your own!

Nice plums...


Thursday was a lovely day, so we pottered up river for a few hours.


Boat-made Jerusalem artichoke soup - lovely, but there must be something wrong with them, they had no effect, if you get my drift...



Our freshwater pump has developed a leak and become very noisy, so we ordered a new one from Norfolk on Thursday and it arrived here on Friday - pretty impressive. So fitting that is a task to look forward to next week. It will also be an opportunity to test our bilge pumps - when was the last time you tried yours?...