Some you win, some you lose

My bike got nicked :-( It was a folding bike and had done me proud for my 5 years afloat. That'll teach me to use only D-locks in future, as even thick bendy wire locks get cut through like licorice by boltcroppers.
But as I was trudging home again, I spotted some pine legs protruding from the canal. My first thought was of firewood, but when I pulled, up came a kicthen sheving unit! It was half-covered with a bin-bag so I guess it had been put out for rubbish and someone had chucked it in the canal. It had castors and a tiled worktop which unfortunately didn't fit the space I had mentally allocated it, but I hacked it about a bit and am very happy with my find!


The tiled top has become a useful part of my workdesk so I can splash paint and water about as much as I usually do, but with less guilt :-)


I'm moored in a busy industrial area at the moment with a lot of towpath walkers. There was a knock on the boat at 4 this morning and I was very slow to get up and look. I could see a man sitting a few yards away but not looking anxious to contact me in particular and he'd only tried knocking once. I went through that thought process of wondering if he needed anything, was homeless, or was checking out if my boat was empty before breaking in.. I dressed and stuck my head out to ask what he wanted and he said there'd been a car broken into in the nearby car-park and was it mine cos he knew who'd done it. "I've knocked at all the other boats too" he said. Bet they were equally pleased! But I was shamed because he'd been motivated by a kind impulse and not the needy or negative ones I'd assumed.