Sarah on her excellent blog Warrior has come up with a brilliant idea that I want to blatantly plagiarize. Sarah, full credit to you for a cracking post and apologies for being so unimaginative as to copy it. If you haven’t seen it, Sarah has done her own version of Canal Boat’s Twenty Questions, prompted by this month’s featuring of blogger supreme Andrew Denny of Granny Buttons. I think that this is a great little exercise for giving you an instant picture of someone – short answers they may be but I think they are very revealing of the personality behind them.
So here are mine and I’ve added the questions for clarity, hoping for the forbearance of a magazine which I’ve subscribed to for years when it comes to any copyright sensitivities. It’s an excellent mag and one that I’m sure will welcome all these blog plugs – it’s got a smart new website too so check that out when you get a sec.
What’s your favourite waterway?
This is a toughie. I have my favourite stretches like everyone – the T&M above Middlewich, the Caldon down to Leek, the Leicester Arm of the GU – but an actual whole canal....well, I think I’m with Andrew on this. The Staffs & Worcs has a little bit of everything and around Kinver there is some devastatingly pretty countryside to enjoy. If I was stuck going up and down it for the rest of my cruising life, I wouldn’t complain.
And your least favourite?
I love them all.
Who would be your ideal cruising companion?
I’m lucky enough to have him already. If my husband couldn’t be with me, I’d take Tom Rolt for a) his knowledge of canals and railways and b) his superlative ghost stories
What was the last book you read?
Girl at the Tiller
What’s the best time of day to be on the canals?
Very early in late summer, early autumn when everything is still and overpoweringly beautiful
What most irritates you on the waterway?
The growing intolerance shown by boaters to boaters
When would you have most liked to live?
Even since I read about their lives in the Working Waterways series, I’ve wanted to be an Idle Woman running the boats through the Second World War.
When was the last time you fell in?
It’s only happened the once thankfully, when I was just sweet sixteen at Diglis Basin. I was sitting reading on the back of our hire boat, swivelled my legs round to get off and my feet slipped off the coping stones sending me into the water up to my waist. No damage done except to my dignity.
What did you want to be when you were 12?
Haven’t the foggiest. My mother was always urging me to be a brain surgeon but I spared the world of medicine that particular trauma.
If I didn’t have narrowboating I’d...
...be doing more motorhoming and getting broker in the process. Have you seen the price of diesel these days?
Narrowboaters are...
..a decent friendly lot with the occasional plank that can spoil your day
After a day cruising I most look forward to...
...plonking down in the recliner chair. The days – and endless evenings – of uncomfortable dinette seating on hire boats have left their mark.
The waterways need...
...vision, sympathy and long-term thinking
If you met Jonathan Shaw (Waterways Minister) on the towpath what would you say to him?
Enjoy it while it lasts because you’re going to be bounced at the next election.
Windows or portholes?
Portholes for sheer aesthetics
Pump out or cassette?
Pump out. Ever since I experienced a severe blow back in a hire boat loo, I’ve never wanted to have close contact with my bodily output
Rivers or canals?
Canals, with the exception of the Weaver
Where will you be when you are 70?
Standing on the bank still trying to work out which brass cleaning product is best
What do you think is your greatest achievement in life?
Being a good mum to the mutts
What would your superpower be?
Having the ability to rescue every single greyhound that is dumped on the scrapheap. And being invisible would be quite a lark too.
22 May 2008
Copycat but I like it
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2 comments:
Another Twenty Questions answerer! Mine are here: www.fadetoscarlet.blogspot.com
I also wanted to ask you a question about greyhounds - you seem to be the person to ask! My boyfriend and I are thinking of getting a rescue one when we move aboard but we have two concerns:
We may both have full time jobs, and not be able to come back during the day to take it for a walk.
We also want to get a cat.
Is it really feasible to give a home to a greyhound, given these circumstances? how do they generally cope with being left alone/sharing their home with a feline?
Many thanks!
Amy
Hi Amy
Great minds you see! I read yours this morning...
Delighted you're interested in rescuing a greyhound but I'd be asking this question regardless of breed. What is the longest they'd be left for? Any more than five hours and it's not really fair or practical (they need to go!). A and I both freelance so we're home all day - I had to wait 11 years before I could get a dog because my working day was so long! However, if you can get someone to let them out at lunch, then you are half way to solving the problem. Greys are very lazy and people who work tend to give them a big walk in the morning so they sleep all day, and then a big walk in the evening to stretch their legs. (And by big, I only mean 30 minutes or so). But I'm not sure about the cat side of things....some greys (particulalry non-chasers) are quite cat-safe and small furry-safe and I know of multi-animal households that get on fabulously. But lots are not cat-safe and will never be, so you have to take advice from your resuce centre. Two dogs is an option, as they will be company for one another and as they curl up so small, the space they take up is not really an issue. As a first step, I'd suggest you go to your nearest Retired Greyhound Trust centre and have a look at the dogs close to. Just be prepared to fall in love. Good luck!
GG
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