Recipe - Big Red sheperds pie

I saw this recipe advertised on tv - for Heinz Tomato Soup.  I paused the tv program and wrote it down.  I haven't tried it yet but it sounded quick and easy so I'll give it a go one day.  The instructions are rather abbreviated because I just scrawled it on a piece of paper.

Here it is :

Onion, Carrot, Celery : dice and cook them until soft

Add minced beef or lamb, stir until cooked

Sprinkle a good tablespoon of flour over

Add a can of rich tomato soup (Heinz of course)

Add a good cup beef stock

Simmer 15-20 minutes

Cook some potatoes, mash with cream and salt

Spread mince into base of dish, top with potato, sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees

New look blog header

I thought it was time we acknowledge nb Parisien Star on the blog as our future home.  I'm limited to the photos provided by the broker at this stage but we'll take some of our own when we arrive.  I won't be changing the "address" of the blog, just the heading and name.

Oh my goodness... we're really going to do this!!!

To do list - 29 Aug

Less than three more weeks.  I simply have to finish our tax for his year and get next year's paperwork in order!!  I've made good progress today on the multitude of phone calls to be made.  I've also freed up a couple of days by making a group get-together in Melbourne.  I now have this weekend free to finish my box labelling of our stored stuff.  First weekend in ages that I can stay home and get stuff done.  I'm looking forward to it.


Buy a cheaper house - done

Sorting and packing up belongings for garage sale - done

Apply for Elly's Finnish passport- done

Sell our house - done

Arrange insurance for stored belongings - done

Open a UK bank account - done

Send remaining chickens to their new home- done

Suspend private health insurance - done

Arrange for our mail to be dealt with at home - done (thanks to J&J)
Order new key for mailbox - done

Arrange for mail in the UK - that would be Lynne

Book airfares - done

Ship belongings to UK - done

Rent out our new house - done

Arrange for someone to have the pot plants- done

Pack up our belongings and store - done

Sell Elly’s car - done (my mum is buying it)

Get chips in car windscreen repaired - done

Get roadworthy for car - done

Complete car transfer paperwork - done

Book accomodation in UK - done

Transfer money to UK account - done

Work out what to do with our mobile phone numbers - done
Change mobiles to prepaid - 
Buy a caravan for temporary home - done
Set up bathroom for temporary home - done
Correspondence to arrive by email rather than post where possible - done
Return all borrowed items to their rightful owners - done
Type up list of stored belongings by box number - 80% complete
Cancel Mick's GST registration - done
Do our 2012 tax returns - in progress
Do tax returns for my mum and her partner - done
Do tax returns for my brother and sister in law - done
Set up my laptop with software to work from UK - 80% complete
Change bills and bank statements to come by email where possible - done
Partition off area in shed to be rented out for storage - done
Find tenant for shed storage area - the ad is in the paper
Make sure all our favourite recipes are on my blog - in progress
Catch up with friends and family before we go - in progress
Go to New Zealand to see Mick's mum before we go - done
Pack away the last of the belongings we're still using - last job
Make a list of what we need to buy on arrival in UK - done
Pack our suitcases - not yet
Buy a narrowboat - done, yes it is!
Boat survey - done
Boat insurance - done
Pay for narrowboat - done
Arrange for boat blacking - done
Book into a marina for Winter - done
Book hotel at airport for arrival - done
Book UK hire car -
Book NZ hotels - done
Book NZ hire car - done
Make optometrist appointment for Mick - done
Ring HSBC to update address and sort out internet banking - done
Ring real estate agent to complete paperwork in case tenants move out while we're away (thanks Clive and Marie) -  done
Book table for 9th Sept catchup with Melbourne friends - done
Arrange dinner with our favourite neighbours - 
Arrange dinner with our Bendigo friends - 
Take Mick's truck to be cared for while we're away -
Backup all documents and photos onto a portable hard drive -

20 days and 20 nights

Another 10 days have disappeared in the blink of an eye and money has been pouring out the door.  We've paid for Parisien Star, boat insurance, the survey and now hull blacking.  Here at home it's been no different.... airfares, hire car, hotels in NZ and the car windscreen and roadworthy.  With our property rates due too our bank balance will be on a real decline!

Reality is starting to set in.  We actually own a narrowboat and in less than three weeks we'll be in the UK without a return ticket.  After next week I'll be "borrowing" my mum's little car as officially I will no longer own one for the first time since I turned 18. It's all rather daunting but at the same time very exciting.

I'm so impressed with the service we've had from Aqueduct Marina - beyond the call of duty.  Nick has patiently tolerated our multitude of questions and requests, even now after his job is officially done.  He's gone out and taken us more photos and he's even made us an inventory of every item on board the boat.  It's been reassuring as there is always a tiny niggling worry that something may go wrong.  We feel he's looking after her for us and although he's probably rolling his eyes every time he sees an email arrive from Australia, he has cheerfully (in writing anyway) dealt with every one so far.

Overall everything appears to be falling nicely into place.  The timing just couldn't have worked out better with renting a house, selling a house, selling my car and the many, many other things we've had to deal with to make our dream a reality.  I even got a letter from World Vision today saying that the program in the area where our sponsored child lives in Chile has been completed and this will be the last month we sponsor her.  They sent us a farewell letter to write and send to her and details of a new child to sponsor - this time in Bangladesh.  I'll ask my 9 year old niece, Minka, to keep up the correspondence while we are away with the new sponsor child.

A few photos : our current home and common sight in rural Australia (preferably grazing and not leaping in front of your car!).

 

 

New Zealand

I know... I know... a bit of a lull in the blogging the last few days.  We've been to New Zealand to see Mick's mum before we head off to the UK.  It was a whirlwind few days and we've come home to our caravan exhausted.

Our evening flight on Friday night turned into an extremely late night.  The flight was late leaving and by the time we got to bed at the hotel it was well after 2am.  We had the alarm set for a relatively early getaway.  We went and picked up the hire car and headed off on the 2 or so hour trip to Katikati to catch up with some old friends of Mick's family - Jack and Anne.  It was an enjoyable visit and I even got to check out the local quilt shop!  I picked up one small roll of fabric for my hexagon star quilt to remember the visit to Katipatch.

In the afternoon we drove to Taupo where Mick's mum lives.  We checked in to our hotel with a lovely view of the lake and went and had a chat with her before going out for dinner to the Mole and Chicken.  We love the name of this place, it sounds so English.  It's not in the central part of the town but the locals obviously love it.  It was busy with the rugby on - Australia was thrashed by the Kiwis in the Bledisloe.

Sunday we had breakfast at Dixies.  We browsed the shops and bought ourselves a waterproof jacket each (yes, we're listening Paul and Elaine).  Mick's mum took us to a lovely wool shop and bought us each a possum and sheep wool hat and scarf.  Then it was lunch at a brand new cafe in Taupo called The French Cafe.  Excellent food there was too! 

Following a visit to the honey shop we took Robin home for a nap and took ourselves off for a good long walk around "Craters of the Moon" to look at the bubbling mud pools and thermal activity.  It's a strange place with only very low vegetation due to the heat in the ground.  We also made a stop at Huka Falls as I never tire of watching the water exploding out from the rocks.  There were no jet boats to see when we were there but lots of tourists.  We had dinner of cold chicken and vegies and an early night again.  We didn't sleep so well in the hotel bed.

Monday was a huge day, firstly calling in to say goodbye to Mick's mum. Then we drove to Matamata, Mick's home town, for more visiting.  We had coffee with our UK friend Lynne's parents, then lunch with more old family friends - Brian and Binkie.

Our last stop for the day was enroute back to the airport to visit Clive and Marie.  Clive is Mick's childhood "partner in crime".  Mick said his mum used to ban him from playing with Clive and I have a feeling if we lived closer I'd be banning him too! We're hoping Clive and Marie will make their plans for next year a reality as those plans involve visiting us in the UK.  They want to spend 6-9 months touring the UK and Europe.  Hope to see you guys!!  We had dinner at an Indian restaurant before heading back to an airport hotel and collapsing into bed.

A very early start this morning.  We were checking in for our flight just after 6am.  On the flight home I was looking forward to getting back to our temporary home and we arrived in Melbourne to glorious sunshine.

Despite being extremely tired, there was no rest to be had.  I had my car booked in to have a couple of stone chips repaired in the windscreen before it's roadworthy test tomorrow.  I drove to Bendigo and my mum came with me to drop my car off and I spent the hour and a half having coffee with her.  By the time I bought some groceries so we'd have something to eat for dinner and drove back home again I'd really had enough.  What a few days!!

 

How we came to buy Parisien Star

I've told this story and emailed it several times now.  It seems there's a bit of curiosity out there about how we came to do the very thing we said we wouldn't - buy a boat we haven't seen!

Firstly, we were contacted earlier in the year by a lovely Tasmanian couple who had just bought a narrowboat - sight unseen.  We've kept in touch with Peter and Jennifer since then and waited with eager anticipation for their opinion of their purchase once they arrived in the UK.  It all appeared to go as well as can be expected.

Peter and Jennifer "introduced" us to John and Jen, also fellow Aussies who were in the UK on their boat Aussie Mossie, built by Crown Narrowboats.  They were planning on selling at about the time we were arriving but after much studying of photos and many discussions we decided it wasn't the right boat for us.  It was a stretch on the budget, and there were a couple of things we couldn't change that we would rather be different.  It was a lovely boat and we're glad to hear that the first person who came to view the boat bought it.  Good news!

nb Parisien Star was my "pick of the week" at the end of June.  It stuck with me because the dinette was in a cabin of it's own and as I'm going to be working about 3 days a week on the boat it would be far preferable to have a separate space. 

We had a comment left by Adam from nb Briar Rose (one of my all time favourite "pick of the week" boats) telling us about the builders of Parisien Star.  I made contact with Yvonne and Roger and they were very helpful with a couple of queries we had about narrowboat matters.

At the end of July we had a comment left on the blog from David, the owner of nb Parisien Star.  He wasn't well and had lowered the price.  We took another look at the details of the boat and asked Yvonne and Roger what they thought.  Lynne, our friend in England, went to check it out for us and after a couple of sleepless nights agonizing over it we paid a deposit and booked a survey.

We were basically happy with the survey, we were impressed with the excellent communication and help from the broker, and here we are.... owners of a boat we haven't seen.

We'd like to thank Peter and Jennifer for unwittingly starting the ball rolling and for putting us onto Towergate Mardon for our insurance.  

And to David... if you're reading... we'll take the best of care of her.

We'd like to introduce - nb Parisien Star

Here it is at last... our new floating home.  I'm having problems rotating the sideways photos so there is only these few for now.  I've set up a separate page for the boat and will update it with new photos when we get over there and see it for ourselves!

Here's a link to the boat page but it's also at the top of the blog page. Click

And here she is......

BUILD

Hull : G J Reeves

Fit out : Crown Narrowboats

Stern : Traditional

Build year : 2006

Steel thickness : 10/6/4

Overall Length : 57’

Width : 6’ 10”

Interior Headroom : 6’ 4”

Draught : 2”

EXTERIOR

Paintwork : dark blue cabin with cream coachlines and light blue roof.
Side doors : large side doors on port side opposite dinette.  Internal fly screen on runners.

Lockers :  bow lockers port and starboard including bow thruster locker.

Windows/Portholes : windows throughout cabin area with large portholes in bathroom and bedroom.

INTERIOR

Insulation : Spray foam behind cabin linings.

Cabin lining : Oak veneered ply with solid oak trim. 

Flooring : Carpeted throughout with cushioned flooring in bathroom.

Seating : Loose recliners in saloon. Pullman dinette provides seating for 4.

Sleeping : Fixed double bed pulling out to 5ft. Dinette converts to small double.
Cooking : Stoves 500dit cooker and microwave.
Fridge : 12v Shoreline fridge.

Freezer : Shoreline chest freezer located under the dinette on pullout rails.
Washing machine : Indesit.
Galley worktops : Marble effect laminate worktop

Galley cupboards : generous cupboard space beneath worktops. Overhead cupboards.
Toilet : Vacuflush pump out toilet with 400ltr waste tank.
Shower : Tiled shower cubicle with chrome thermostatic.

ELECTRICAL AND GAS

Batteries : 4 x 135amphr leisure batteries, 1 x start, 1 x bow thruster.
Galvanic Isolator : Zinc saver II30A.
Inverter/Charger : Mastervolt mass combi 2kW with Mastervolt battery monitoring system.
230v : 13amp sockets positioned throughout cabin area.
Lighting : 12v halogen down lights throughout with switch down lights in bedroom area.
Gas : Bow gas locker holds 2 x 13kg gas bottles supplying cooker in galley. 
Marine care gas alarm fitted.
Entertainment : JVC cd/radio with speakers throughout.

HEATING & WATER
Fresh Water System : Stainless steel located under bow well deck with water gauge. 
Filtered water tap in galley next to sink.
Central Heating : Eberspacher diesel central heating with fin radiators positioned throughout.
Hot Water : From engine and central heating system.

ENGINE & TRANSMISSION

Engine : Beta Marine 43hp
Generator : 3.5kva Travel power
Gearbox : PRM 150 hydraulic gearbox
Bow Thruster : Vetus 55kg

30 days and 30 nights

A busy 10 days for us besides our usual working week ....

On the Friday before I forgot to bring my groceries home from the office fridge where I'd left them.  With visitors coming on Sunday I needed the food I'd bought!  Saturday morning my mum came to have coffee and got roped into a trip to the office to collect the groceries.  We had a nice drive with her griping all the way because I wouldn't stop and let her pinch daffodils from the side of the road!

Sunday we had our dear friends Kevin and Bernice over for an early dinner.  We cooked a lamb roast in the Weber.  The morning was spent on the arduous task of labeling the 75 boxes I've itemised so far.  I got maybe half way through.

I had my last 4-10 sewing group on Thursday night.  I'll miss those evenings when we're away!  It was an enjoyable time as usual but this time with pink champagne, lots of narrowboat talk and parting gifts of fabric for my hexagon star quilt.  Thanks girls!

It was my last week of my normal work hours as I'm cutting back one day a week for the last month to give me some extra time to get things done.  I now have only 8 working days at one job and 3 at the other.  We've been working on the setup for me to work from the boat.  It may be a little trial and error to get the system right but I'm sure it will all work out fine.

This Saturday was a trip to Melbourne to visit my stepmum who has been overseas (5 hours of driving to get there and back).  Mick also got to meet Edie, my new niece, for the first time.  The drive down to Melbourne was a bit of a milestone.  On the road, using my wireless internet, we made the final payment on the narrowboat we've bought.  We had to wait until after 9am so a new day had started in the UK and we could make the payment.  The boat was officially ours!

Today, after a Sunday sleep in, I had a lovely visit from three of the girls from the office where I used to work.  We had lunch at a nearby cafe and a great catch up.  I've missed working with them.  Mick joined us for lunch and then went off to do some catching up of his own. 

Mick is coming to Melbourne for 3 days this week to work a few days on his old work partners' new house.  That will be a shock to his system - he isn't used to city traffic any more.  He will stay with me at my brother and sister in law's house.  I had to laugh... I'm used to sleeping at their place now.  The bedside lamp is on the side of their spare bed where Mick would usually sleep.  The first few weeks I stayed there for my one night a week I didn't sleep so well on the "wrong" side of the bed.  I'm used to it now and that bedroom is almost as familiar as my own.  As we drove home from Melbourne on Saturday we were talking about the few days in Melbourne and I told Mick he'd have to sleep on the opposite side of the bed to usual.  I'm not swapping sides in that bed now!  He looked at me in absolute horror.  "I can't do that!  It would be like asking me to go to the toilet and use the wrong hand to wipe my backside!"  He's full of class!

1. Edie - 7 weeks and the image of her brother at the same age.
2. The posh table at sewing
3. The rest of us at sewing

To do list - 18 August

The list keeps growing and the time keeps disappearing.  When I looked at my diary the other day we had five weeks left til we go and in that time I had just 2 days with nobody to catch up with or no work.  It doesn't leave a lot of time to work on getting my list jobs done!

This is my update for this week :

Buy a cheaper house - done

Sorting and packing up belongings for garage sale - done

Apply for Elly's Finnish passport- done

Sell our house - done

Arrange insurance for stored belongings - done

Open a UK bank account - done

Send remaining chickens to their new home- done

Suspend private health insurance - to be done the last couple of weeks

Arrange for our mail to be dealt with at home - done (thanks to J&J)

Arrange for mail in the UK - that would be Lynne

Book airfares - done

Ship belongings to UK - done

Rent out our new house - done

Arrange for someone to have the pot plants- done

Pack up our belongings and store- done

Sell Elly’s car (Mick's truck to be left at workshop) - done (my mum is buying it)

Get chip in car windscreen repaired - 

Get roadworthy for car - 

Complete car transfer paperwork - 

Book accomodation in UK - done

Book hire car in UK - job for next week

Transfer money to UK account - done

Work out what to do with our mobile phone numbers - done
Buy a caravan for temporary home - done
Set up bathroom for temporary home - done
Correspondence to arrive by email rather than post where possible - done
Return all borrowed items to their rightful owners - done
Type up list of stored belongings by box number - 80% complete
Cancel Mick's GST registration - done
Do our 2012 tax returns - in progress
Do tax returns for my mum and her partner - done
Do tax returns for my brother and sister in law - in progress
Set up my laptop with software to work from UK - 80% complete
Change bills and bank statements to come by email where possible - done
Partition off area in shed to be rented out for storage - done
Find tenant for shed storage area - the ad is in the paper
Make sure all our favourite recipes are on my blog - in progress
Catch up with friends and family before we go - in progress
Go to New Zealand to see Mick's mum before we go - booked
Pack away the last of the belongings we're still using - last job
Make a list of what we need to buy on arrival in UK - done
Pack our suitcases - not yet
Buy a narrowboat - done, yes it is!
Boat survey - done
Boat insurance - done 
Pay for narrowboat - done 
Arrange for boat blacking - done
Book into a marina for Winter - done 
Book hotel at airport for arrival - done
Book hire car -
Visit Mick's Mum in New Zealand - booked for next Friday
Book NZ hotels -
Book NZ hire car -
Make optometrist appointment for Mick -

We bought a narrowboat!

This was a little unexpected because we really had no intention of buying a boat before we arrived in England.  But, the right one came along.  After lots of agonising and seeking of opinions we decided to go for it.

It's been a bit of a process with arranging a survey, the surveyor having computer issues, and then when we finally came to pay the balance of the purchase price we discovered we could only transfer
£10,000 at a time on internet banking.

A few days of daily transfers and we're finally at the end.  We are about to become proud owners of a floating home!  Details to come ........

Stoppage questions

Thanks very much for the comments directing me to the right place to find out about proposed stoppages.

It has answered my initial question - although a disappointing result - because we had hoped that if we spent the Winter at one of the marinas in Rufford, we could turn from the Rufford Branch towards Burscough so we could catch up with Mick's brother and another friend we have near there.  There is a 4 month stoppage right at Burscough so we won't be able to reach Mick's brother nor get nearer to where Lynne lives.  It's a shame because now they would have to come to us any time we caught up with them.

Now I have another question. Further along in the opposite direction at Burnley is a bridge repair from 12/11/2012 to 06/06/2012 (marked in purple).  Will a bridge repair prevent boats passing?  For 7 months?!

http://www.waterscape.com/media/documents/24284.pdf

A new view

For those of you who know Mick, you won't be surprised that he's all but completed the tasks he set himself to be done before we leave.  Now he's just adding to his list.

The final "must do" was to fill in the pit in the concrete behind where we had the caravan.  We couldn't move the van further back because of the pit.  This week he's made a top for it out of railway sleepers.

Today we turned the caravan around and tucked it in the back corner of the covered area - it is actually side on to the direction it was facing before.  It means one side looks at a corrugated iron wall but the other looks out to the neighbouring property.  It was strange going inside the first time after it was moved.  The view out each window was totally different and it felt a bit disorientating.  We better get used to that because our view will change regularly as we cruise along on our narrowboat!

We used to have the caravan with the drawbar pointing out towards where I'm taking this photo from.  The pit (about 5ft deep) is between where the van is now and the wheelbarrow.  You can just make out the change in colour on the ground between the concrete and the timber railway sleepers.

Now we just have to cross over to the door at the left to go inside the shed.

Rufford marinas and possible stoppage

Not so long ago I saw a mention on someones blog about a stoppage for this Winter on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to repair a bridge (I think).

We are considering one of the Rufford marinas for this Winter and I wanted to see where exactly the stoppage area was.  Now I can't find where I read it!

Can anybody help? 

Waterproofs

Well, following my looking into "pram covers" there were some great comments on the blog.  I had a discussion with my brother the other night about waterproofs (he's a hiker) and I'm now thinking maybe we were under-estimating the English weather. 

We had thought that if it was raining we'd just stay put, but I see Paul and Elaine below had the same thought - before arriving in the UK!  It seems we need to have a re-think on the matter. 

I couldn't imagine how well you'd be able to see through the plastic window of a pram hood, and the nuisance of having to take it down for low bridges makes us wonder if it would be worth it.  There seems to be so many votes for waterproofs and a good umbrella that we'll just stick with that plan and see how we go!

Comments from pram cover blog entry.....

Derek Bird said...

I would not bother and I almost got hit by someone with in the rain.
All going well with your purchase, look forward to meeting up one day
Derek

August 7, 2012 11:13 PM 

Carol said...

We have a pram hood but unless we’re on the Thames we always travel with it down (to ensure we don’t hit low bridges or branches). We also have a ‘flat’ cover which has a small zipped opening where the helmsman stands which we use if we have to move when it’s wet. Best company for covers in our opinion is AJ Canopies Braunston. They are great, very friendly and efficient.
http://www.ajcanopies.co.uk/contact-us.php
best of luck

August 8, 2012 8:48 PM 

Adam said...

Which is worse -- ruining the look of a boat, or getting a bit wet?
If it's raining, put your waterproofs on (so I can still see I have my Tilley hat on with a hood over the top), and pull the slide towards you.
August 8, 2012 11:47 PM

Paul and Elaine said...

Hi Guys
Our plan was not to move when it rained, if we had gone down that path we would still be moored at Yardley Gobion....it rains a lot.
Personally I don't like the pram hoods, restricted visibility plus a good chance on hitting bridges and trees etc.
We have the flat rear cover that unzips so your bottom half keeps dry, the downside being Elaine cannot get out of the stern easily and quickly if she has to.
To me the best bet is good wet weather gear, and a good wide brim hat, I prefer the hat as the wet weather hood interferes with my hearing, and restricted visibility with a hood!
I really don't mind steering in the rain with all the gear on.

August 9, 2012 2:42 AM 

Yvonne said...

Buy yourself a good quality, storm proof golf umbrella until you get used to the boat and decide if you REALLY need a pram cover. Personally I wouldn't waste the money.
Yvonne

August 9, 2012 3:24 AM 

40 days and 40 nights

I'm a bit over waiting I think.  Today I just didn't feel like going to work.  I messed about and tidied up and shuffled papers until the very last minute that I can leave and still get there on time.  Usually I'm there 15 or 20 minutes before I need to be... but not today.   My concentration wasn't as it usually is and I was glad when the day was over and I could come home.  It's rare for me to have a day like this.  Hopefully tomorrow will be back to normal.

I never thought I'd actually think of a caravan as "home" but that's what it has become.  I rather like our little lounge room and we're quite used to sleeping in the caravan now.  I thought I'd miss our house when we moved but with nothing else in our minds right now except getting to England, I don't think we've really had time to think about it.  Every time I see Tracey (who bought our house) she's concerned that I might feel uncomfortable there.  But.... I don't.  I think Tracey and I will be friends, we've both said the same thing.  We have quite a few things in common.  I'm glad she's the one that bought the house!

Meanwhile Mick's made great progress with the things he wants to get finished at the shed before we go.  We have an ad in the paper to try and find someone to rent some storage space.  This week he's covering over a large pit in the under cover area where we have the caravan.  The caravan has been facing the opposite way to what we'd prefer and we've been unable to push it back further because the pit is behind it.  On the weekend the van will be turned around and we'll no longer have to walk all the way around it and along the edge of the covered area to come around to the shed door.  When it's windy and raining the rain gets blown in and it's not so pleasant with this cold weather we're having.  After the weekend we'll be able to just walk out the caravan door and straight across to the shed door.  Our last month or so here will be a little easier.

So now we have just 40 days and 40 nights left to wait before we start out on our big adventure.  Bring it on! 

Recipe - Asian Lamb Potato Curry

We tried a new recipe tonight - one we hadn't tried before.  It worked out pretty well and we'll make it again. We added vegetables to the recipe - peas and broccoli.  (Symply Too Good To Be True, Book 5)

Ingredients

500g peeled potatoes, cut into large dice
600g raw lamb leg steaks, cut into large dice

cooking spray

1 tsp crushed garlic
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp massaman curry paste
1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp cumin
½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp chicken stock powder
1 3/4 cups water
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cornflour
1/4 cup water

Method

Coat a large saucepan (with lid) or a wok with cooking spray. 
Saute lamb and garlic until meat has browned.  
Add onion, curry paste, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and stock powder.
Combine well and cook 1 minute.
Add potatoes and stir well.
Add water, fish sauce, soy sauce.
Bring to boil, put lid on, and reduce to a medium boil for 15 minutes.
Depending on what type of vegetables you wish to use - add them to the pot during the 15 minute cooking time so that they'll be cooked to your liking.
Remove lid and cook a further 5 minutes or until potato cooked through.
Combine cornflour with 1/4 cup water and add to pot. 
Stir well until sauce has thickened.

Maps again

A while ago I put the call out to try and find a map we could put on the wall of our boat to keep track of our travels.  The one we have is way too large for this purpose.  I finally got around to looking at those suggested and we thought this one from Ali's comment (copy below) would suit fine.  We still have the large one if we need more detail but for marking where we've been the Principal Inland Navigations map will do the trick.

Ali and John (NB Triskaideka) said...

Hiya
We have a Lockmaster Map, Principal Inland Navigations on our wall, it gives a good overview of the system, but might be a bit small for what you want. Have a look at http://www.canalshop.co.uk/acatalog/lockother.html
Ali

I ordered the map, asking for it to be sent to our friend in the UK so we wouldn't have to pack it in our suitcases in a few weeks time.  Today I received an email saying my transaction had been flagged as potentially fraudulent - because the delivery address was in a different country to the billing address, our billing address is a PO box, and they couldn't find anything about us by searching the internet.  So.... I've referred Neil back to this blog and this entry is for him!

Stern cover for traditional narrowboat

I've been trying to find what is available as a stern cover on a traditional style narrowboat.  I had a blog entry about 18 months ago about cratch and pram covers but most of those links are already obsolete.

Today I found this one which is about the best option I've seen so far.  I wonder how well you can see through the plastic "window" in the pouring rain. 

http://www.wilsoncovers.co.uk/narrow_boats/helm_shelter.html

To do list - 4 August

I'm going to try and keep a closer eye on my "to do" list as we get closer to leaving.  There seems to always be as many things to add to the list as there is to tick off.  New additions in bold

Buy a cheaper house - done

Sorting and packing up belongings for garage sale - done

Apply for Elly's Finnish passport- done

Sell our house - done

Arrange insurance for stored belongings - done

Open a UK bank account - done

Send remaining chickens to their new home- done

Suspend private health insurance - to be done the last couple of weeks

Arrange for our mail to be dealt with at home - done (thanks to J&J)

Arrange for mail in the UK - that would be Lynne

Book airfares - done

Ship belongings to UK - done

Rent out our new house - done

Arrange for someone to have the pot plants- done

Pack up our belongings and store- done

Sell Elly’s car (Mick's truck to be left at workshop) - done (my mum is buying it)

Book accomodation in UK - done

Book hire car in UK - job for next week

Transfer money to UK account - done

Work out what to do with our mobile phone numbers - done
Buy a caravan for temporary home - done
Set up bathroom for temporary home - done
Correspondence to arrive by email rather than post where possible - done
Return all borrowed items to their rightful owners - done
Type up list of stored belongings by box number - 50% complete
Cancel Mick's GST registration - done
Do our 2012 tax returns - in progress
Do tax returns for my mum and her partner - done
Do tax returns for my brother and sister in law - in progress
Set up my laptop with software to work from UK - in progress
Change bills and bank statements to come by email where possible - almost finished
Partition off area in shed to be rented out for storage - done
Find tenant for shed storage area - the ad is in the paper
Make sure all our favourite recipes are on my blog - in progress
Catch up with friends and family before we go - in progress
Go to New Zealand to see Mick's mum before we go - booked
Pack away the last of the belongings we're still using - last job
Make a list of what we need to buy on arrival in UK - done
Pack our suitcases - not yet
Buy a narrowboat - done, yes it is!
Boat survey - in progress
Boat insurance - in progress

Narrowboat insurance

We are looking at what insurance companies there are for insuring your narrowboat.  We're hoping to choose one that you can get the policy online.  I've looked at quite a few and he premiums are all very similar. 

Who do you have your boat insured with?  Who would you recommend?