Tuesday, January 28, 2014

A TV Licence ?

There was a knock on the door the other night. (we don't have a door bell). The man said that this property did not have a TV licence. In fact not since soon after we left to live on our boat!

I was however able to show him my licence having only just had the address changed. I have had it ever since we left. We originally changed the address to our boat name but that was rejected. Then we used our postal address.

It would seem that only one of our tenants had bothered to have a licence while staying at our property.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A normal life?

The majority of people live in buildings and get about in cars so I guess that makes it normal. For fourteen or so years we lived in a narrowboat on the waterways of England. It may not have been normal but it was certainly natural.

Now that we are back on land and living in a building we also have a car to get about. The post lady, who we knew before we left on our adventures, brings our letters and bills to our door. Fuel for light, cooking and heat come to us through pipes and wires. Our phone and internet connect by wire and even the TV is connected and becomes a monitor to see movies and programs off air or on the wire.

Sorting out paying for the bills, change of address and medical centre has been a challenge. Before we left it was normal to pay British Gas for gas and Southern Electric for power. Now it is a free market with a multitude of choices. The internet provided much confusing information about different power suppliers and price comparisons. One supplier can even be paid for both gas and electric. We also pay for water and rates for our local services. Most of our rubbish is collected, all sorted into different bags and a box for glass.

Several dry sunny days enabled us to get out into our garden. Our shed now contains a selection of tools, old and new. Over the years our tenants were obliged to keep it all tidy but nature seems to have taken over. We now have a pile of wood and bags of cuttings to get rid of at the local recycling centre. None of the wood was big enough to call it 'boaters gold'.

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Life on land

Off the boat and onto dry land! Dry? We all know it has rained most days since we abandoned ship. M2L is safe in a marina and god willing we will see her when it gets warmer.

Our little bungalow with all that space has now got more room with most furniture now delivered. Boxes of stuff off the boat put away in different rooms. Problem now is remembering where things are!

Our neighbours were helpful by lending things like a radio, chairs and a ladder to get into the attic. Some stuff has come down from there but we had to condemn the kettle and toaster!

Been exploring more of our old haunts around Dibden and rediscovered a few ponds in the woodland.

Just like on a boat there seems much to do in the property and the garden.  One dry day we got out in the garden to do some tidying up.