General Witterings -
Rosy's Back on Line

The last wittering was a bit short and rather a long time ago.  This one may make up for it.

Truth to tell, I was a bit hesitant about writing anything, following the events that happened after the previous posting.

I wrote it on a Friday, though I didn't send it off into the ether until the Monday.  In it, I mentioned that I had Jeff Dennison's permission to call a dog 'Josh'.  Jeff called his dog Josh (after a type of narrow boat called a Josher).

When I uploaded my e-mails, an incoming one carried the sad news that Jeff had died.  Jeff will live on in our memories as a big man, with a strong sense of right and wrong.  He had a knack of always being there when he was needed, and was always at the front of the queue when help and/or volunteers were needed.

He and Benny Graham wrote, produced and presented the multi-media show "They're Coming Back to the Water", about the regeneration of the UK canal system.  I have the CD, but, sadly, never managed to be in England when a production was being put on.  I hope to see the video one day, but, of course, that won't really make up for missing a live performance.

ENGINES:  Research continues into Rosy's engine.  To this end, if any canally readers know of the whereabouts of Roger Millin, please either let me have his e-address, or, preferably, pass mine to him and ask him to e-mail me.  I hear that he has an interesting engine in his boat.

ER ...

Difficult subject.  Sensitive readers should skip to the next section.

I nearly ran out of lavatory paper (a.k.a. toilet tissue) the other day.  Choosing the right sort is tricky.

Over here in Europe, size is an issue, as the Belgians in particular skimp on the square footage per sheet.

Puncture strength is also a delicate matter, as the nice soft stuff tends to suffer from the dreaded 'breakthrough' - especially when dampish.  Though I'd rather put up with that, than have to go back to the torn up "Daily Telegraphs" and the slicky-slidey/sand-papery Izal that us war-time babies had to deal with.

I'm not too concerned about colour co-ordination, though white is a bit clinical, and pink and powder blue are a bit pretentiously middle class.  Personally, I prefer a nice cheery yellow.

Anyway, I was so low on supplies that I couldn't be too picky, and ended up with a pack of six peachy ones.

Back on Rosy, I opened the sealed plastic bag, and was pretty much flattened by the strong pong that emanated from the bag.  An over-poweringly violent STENCH of artificial peach.  It was the sort of nasty niff that puckers up all your orifices.  So much so that one has to have a second sniff, just to check that it was as awful as you thought.  It was!  I had three sleepless days and nights until I could get to another shop and buy some less noxious samples.  The peachy stuff went into the skip, and I burned incense sticks and some frankincense in an effort to decontaminate Rosy.

DOGGY UPDATE:  The Laird of Strathnaver returned from his estates dogless, as the puppy was too young to travel.  He will nip back in a couple of weeks to fetch it over.  The name was posing a problem.  I'd thought of Josh, especially now that Jeff is no longer with us BUT Josh is really a boy's name.  Anyway, problem solved as the breeder had to register the births, and registered mine as ... Frances.  The diminutive being, of course, Fanny.  A perfect name, as everyone she meets will smile when they are introduced.  It is also opens up endless hundred-acre fields of innocent merriment and amusement along the lines of:

(When she is lost) Have you seem my Fanny?  (To the over-energetic) Please be gentle when you stroke my Fanny - she sometimes bites!!

Ho!  Ho!  Ho!

Do I need to go on?

(The unenlightened and curious should note that the word 'fanny' is a common, and somewhat coarse, term for a human bottom, much used as such in the USA, to the consternation and/or amusement of the Brits.  Hence what the Brits might call a 'bum-bag' our American cousins would (naively?) call a 'fanny-pack'.  In public!!!!!!!)

THE WEATHER:  France is missing out on the strong winds that are rattling around in the UK.  Instead we are having some pretty impressive rain storms.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS ...  Following the animated discussions of a personal kind between M. Chirac and the nice Mr Blair ... the canal port of Briare has decided to increase its mooring charges by some 20 to 30%.  I think it is still jolly good value, especially when compared with mooring charges in the UK.

Er ... that's it for this week.

Toodle pip!!

Bill