adhd – Pete's Blog

This was the final week of our two month trip to Oxford and back. Most of this adventure has been pretty busy. There are usually lot of jobs to do – moving the boat, filling with water, checking the engine, visiting a new town, shopping for groceries. You know the sorts of things. I like to be busy. Mandy laughs at me because when we have a day off, I normally make a list of things to do, and enjoy ticking them off. So for me this has been an odd week. We found ourselves well ahead of schedule and so had lazy days, with maybe an hour cruising, and including three days when we just stayed in one place doing nothing.

It was a good place to be. The sun was shining and at this time of year the nesting birds are all calling to their mates. Using the Merlin app I listened out for them and in one five minute period I could hear about twenty different species, from willow warblers to robins.

I went on some walks, cooked some food, watched some TV, read a couple of books. A thoroughly lazy time.

It was nice to be lazy. We are, after all, retired. We are allowed to be lazy. But I don’t think I am very good at it. I found myself twitching and needing to find urgent tasks. I touched up the paint on the outside of the boat. I cleaned and painted an old windlass, and the “napppy pins” we use to moor up against Armco on the towpath. I found a stately home to visit.

One morning when I woke up, I found an angler set up just in front of the boat, staring at the canal, lost in his own thoughts. He left about 4pm. I don’t think he spoke to anyone. I don’t think he caught any fish. I expect my son would tell me he was being “mindful”. My idea of hell.

So yes it has been a lovely lazy week, at the end of a lovely couple of months travelling on Narrowboat Thuis. But enough now. We have to return to the house for a busy month of May, filled with weddings, reunions and trips. I am looking forward to it.

Mandy and I have been married for nearly forty years and we get on with each other very well. This is a bit surprising because in many ways we are very different. For instance she really doesn’t like change. When we have been living on Narrowboat Thuis for a while, she does not want to leave and return to the house. When we have been living in bricks and mortar over the winter, she does not want to come down to the boat. On the other hand I am always planning the next thing to do instead of enjoying the moment.

Narrowboat Thuis, settled in Aston Marina this week.

We are back on the boat for the first time this year and Mandy is now in her happy place. She has done her jobs and is spending her time cross-stitching a picture of a narrowboat and watching an American series called “Castle”. I have done most of my jobs needed at the start of the season. The water tank has been disinfected. The engine bay has been cleaned. Our new central heating controller has been set up. The store cupboard staples have been bought and put away. The floor has been steam cleaned.

So now I just want to get back out on the cut. There are advantages staying in the marina. It means we have access to the car. there is water literally on tap. And mains electricity because at this time of year there is not enough solar to keep the batteries topped up. However, since we retired we have travelled all over the country and nothing beats waking up each morning with a new view and pootling along the canals and rivers.

The problem is that it is really too early in the year to get out and about. There are still a lot of winter works going on, and after all the rain there are flood warnings on many of the navigations. And frankly it is not much fun steering a narrowboat in the wet.

So we have compromised. Saturday weather looks cold and dry, so we hope to get the boat out. But we will spend most of next week staying in the marina. Then we will go back to the house for a couple of weeks before starting a big trip down to Oxford starting in March.

I like a plan.

Tag: adhd

Which is better – a lazy week or a busy week?

Back at the boat. What’s next?