I have been writing this public blog ever since I retired, nearly six years ago. I used to write a blog for my team when I was working and it sort of carried on from there. Typically I write it on a Thursday, fettle it a little and then publish it early on Friday afternoon. So why am I sitting here on Saturday morning?

I could give you many excuses.

If you remember in last week’s blog I was pondering whether to take Narrowboat Thuis north or south for our last adventure of the year. We decided south, but unfortunately after a couple of day’s boating, Lulu the dog had a rather nasty stomach upset and we decided she needed to get to a vet.

We do know a number of vets along the canals, but as Mandy and I reflected, we both came to the conclusion that we were just not feeling it on this last trip of the year. The weather was not great, I was not getting enough power on my solar panels, and it just felt that we were pushing to do another trip just because we have had less time travelling this year, what with weddings, anniversaries and stuff.

So we drove back to our house in Lancashire and took Lulu to her “home” vet here. The good news is that she is recovering well. So now we have three weeks before our next big adventure – a month in the wilds of Scotland.

If you read my blogs regularly you will know that I hate being bored. So I came up with a monster list of jobs I could now get on with. And that is what I have been doing this week. I have booked a “once in a lifetime” visit to Canada for this time next year, including trains, planes, automobiles and a cruise ship. I have sorted a new bank account to cover our travel insurance and motor breakdown. It appears that buying my own travel insurance would have been twice as expensive because I am old. I have bought a new heat pump tumble drier that I am ridiculously excited about. And I spent a day back at the marina, winterising the boat. That means taking off clothes, towels, bedding, cushions, crockery, glasses, cutlery, food; emptying the water tank, fixing and painting the side door, varnishing the window sills and many other little jobs.

I woke up this morning feeling good and preparing to take Lulu on a lovely circular walk by the sea, when suddenly I realised that after about 300 editions of this blog, for the first time I had forgotten to write.

So what do you think? Do I have good excuses? Or after six years am I finally learning to be retired and relaxed?

Nah. It’s just not good enough. Sorry!