The only way to travel! Travel adventures

I just love boats, but not huge cruise liners.
I nearly bought a narrow boat, but was afraid it might sink. They need a lot of maintenance!

The canals in Britain are a different life style, a silent way to travel and be at peace with the world. A wonderful experience.

In my twenties, I was living on a farm called Manor Farm.
For a few, who know part of my life story, I was homeless as a teen. I had the good fortune to move into the house of a film director, who was Danish. I lived with her teenage kids, of similar age to me, in a beautiful townhouse.
She was away for six months, and I had never met her.
I went downstairs one day, and there she was…‘Hello, I’m Ann, and you can stay!’

Much later, an envelope plopped through my letter box. My partner had a lead role in a film. I was to be an extra and work in the catering team.
We hired two barges, one for catering and the other for the filming.
The story was of three guys who had to deliver a narrow boat from Knapton Juction, Warwickshire to London for as much as they could drink along the way. The canal is 137 miles in length, ending in the Regents canal that goes through the  London zoo.
The teens in the family chose to sleep on the filming narrow boat and I with my partner on the catering boat. Everyone else chose hotels with all expenses paid. The boat appealed to the Gypsy in my soul. More peaceful too.
The filming took place in a frosty, icy February for six weeks. The budget was shoestring. The canal was the Grand Union. It was cold and icebreakers cleared our journey every day for filming.
The landscapes were magical, with frost sparkling in watery sunshine. The town showed the backs of houses not as smart as driving through main streets. My other job was as a runner on flights of locks. One lock was against us uphill, and I had to run with a large key to open all the 30 locks with a corresponding partner on the other side of the canal.
Evenings, we either watched the days filming, in a hotel, or frequented the old fashioned pubs, socializing and playing skittles or shove  halfpenny. Very old traditional games.
As an extra, I walked along the river bank my long blond hair blowing in the wind flirting with the three stars in our film. It was a beautiful sort of travelogue, but although the director had won awards previously, not much happened with the movie. It was sold to Spanish television. I only saw one copy a few years later. So I can’t even show you a clip.

Narrow boats are traditional and were used for transporting heavy goods. They are painted in dark green and red, painted with flowers. They were horse drawn originally. They traveled in pairs, the first boat transported heavy goods. The family’s who owned the boats lived in the second boat called a butty.

Have you had any boating adventures? Do you love boats? Or another form of home or travel?
Our theme is travel, boats, and your travel adventures.
Music, memes, gifs, film clips, chat all welcome…respect all commenters.
Enjoy… Lian and Kieran

Backwards, Forwards, Round and Round to Nowhereland. Where Are We Going To?

We never learn from history, we repeat the same mistakes again and again.
We recently put the clocks forward, later in the Autumn we will put them back? Summertime is better, isnt it?

Is progress moving backwards or forwards? I really do wonder with some of the crazy ideas like micro chips on humans, using poor animals to experiment on.
Certainly no respect for the pain on amimals to achieve a goal? If misused will we all suffer?

Is good music moving forwards?
Few of us here like Rap or want to listen to really modern music.
We do like to return to Rock or the Boogie, or the sixties or seventies.

We think rap and many types of modern music is backwards, yet we are reverting to the past.
Can’t beat some classical, but rarely so we listen these days.

Then in the sixties there appeared to be hidden agendas in music. Easy to spot in Pink Floyd.

Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall

Norman Gunston interviews Paul McCartney 1975

Butthole Surfers - Pepper

Yet some crazies thought music was beckoning them to commit crimes, such as Charles Mansion, who believed he was resurrected as Christ and should kill.

The Beatles - Helter Skelter

I Don’t Like Mondays was inspired by a school shoot out.

There have always been hidden messages in advertising, playing on emotions!
Some political goals will never succeed and actually damage real progress.
The world appears to be less optimistic. Does money make the world go around or power?

Post gifs, memes, music that changed the world or music you like that contains messages or your favorite music genres. Or just chat with friends. Base all on respect for commenters here. Most of all have fun.

Lian and Kieran.

Summer Time

…And the living is easy.
It’s officially Summer Time in some places on Easter Day. I don’t remember Easter in Summer time previously.
Remember to change your clocks…Forward for Spring…or Summer whichever.

It’s nearly time for us to start complaining that it’s too hot.
It’s time for mosquitos to start buzzing and time for insects to be our friends.
Time for summer sports.

Last summer was way too hot, 48C, ugh.

I love the beach when it’s not too hot and swimming in clear blue sea.
Those were the days.
I no longer sunbathe.

Post your favorite summer memories or songs.
What do you like to do in the summer?
I love swimming and rowing ashore from a yacht. That’s what I used to do in Bodrum Turkey for the Turkish drink Raki. I was the only one who didn’t drink!

So chat with friends and post memes and gifs.
Respect all commenters.
Most of all, enjoy!

Lian and Kieran

Easter Time And Spring Is In The Air

That means romance is in the air.

It doesn’t really feel like Easter here yet, although streetlights are on display in high streets.

My dear Grandmother’s birthday was the last day of March.

Don’t forget to change your clocks, very soon, if you haven’t already.

How will you celebrate Easter?
Do you go to church?

Where I live, they have processions with saints being carried round. Not a good idea with the abundance of road works. One year, they fell carrying a statue of a saint.
We also have statues of angels in the streets too, some have blue faces, rather unusual….Mainly quite pretty.
We have Oompa bands too, and sometimes fights, so shop windows may be boarded up.
Its nor really my idea of a celebration, lots of booze, noise and fast food, and market stalls. Sometimes, I go to listen to the outdoor music.

The smaller villages do have good fiestas, much more fun, and usually an orchestra in the square with intermittent church clock chimes interrupting the performance.
A few Art exhibitions are up too.

Do you hide Easter eggs, or paint them? Thats fun!

Spring is here, birds are nesting.

It’s a time for a new beginning…Spring, Easter bunnies and lambs.

Feel free to chat, post music perhaps your favorite pieces, memes, pictures of Easter celebrations and gifs.
No politics, please, respect all commenters, and most of all, enjoy!

Lian and Kieran