Time to go!

It's that time of the year. Winter's well and truly here. Cold, biting wind, heavy rain on and off. The Bubble stove is on for most of the day, the dehumidifier is switched on at night. We've had a couple of nights when we had the Alde on on its lowest setting overnight, too. And it's almost December. Time to go.

"You're not biting the bullet, and staying for the winter, then?" asked Phil from Achernar. No, we've still not made that decision to stay on the boat for the entire year. A Christmas with the kids is still very special, so it's not something we'd give up easily. But Christmas here, in our home and with the people here, is an attractive proposition, and something we'd like to try some time.

We've packed a lot of the things we want to take back to the house, and tomorrow we'll drive back. We've chosen tomorrow in order to help Jess. Said the Maiden have a gig in Oxford tomorrow evening. Hannah and Kathy will be arriving there from Scotland, so Jess won't get the lift she usually has. She can drive. She drives well, but the injury to her knee last year, and the subsequent surgery, set her back a lot, and we'd all rather she didn't do the journey alone yet. And we haven't heard them live for ages, so we're going to drive her there, stay overnight in St Albans, and come back to the boat the next day to finish hibernating her. I still have the stern hatches to wax, and there's a number of bits and stuff we need to have with us back in the house.

David on NB Wreyland had asked me to appear in one of his vlogs. The topic is to be that evergreen debating point amongst boaters - toilets. I was to represent the pro-cassette lobby, and someone from the pump-out fraternity would be putting his argument. Unfortunately now, I won't be there to take part. It would have been fun.

Have you seen David's vlogs, by the way? They're really very good. Watch them here.

We've watched two good films this past week, both of them Australian. First of all, a DVD of a 1988 film, Emerald City. With a very young Nicole Kidman.

"A comedy of life's temptations - lust, greed and power. The city in question is Sydney, and the colour green signifies greed and envy in David Williamson's amusing satire on its film and publishing industries."

It's an odd film, but funny and entertaining. John Hargreaves looked and acted like David Tennant. That was odd.

Then, at the cinema, we watched The Dressmaker.

"A glamorous woman returns to her small town in rural Australia. With her sewing machine and haute couture style, she transforms the women and exacts sweet revenge on those who did her wrong."

This was really good. Funny, poignant, tragic. Kate Winslet's also in Steve Jobs, showing at the moment. We're going to have to wait for that on DVD, I think.

Unusually, we had lunch out twice this week. And at The Moorings both times. The first time was on one of the dry, sunny days, and Grace and I walked out to Crick along the footpath/towingpath route to enjoy a tasty meal and a couple of pints. Since we were going to be walking back, we didn't fancy having the three-course Christmas lunch. We thought we'd be feeling too heavy! So we drove out yesterday for that. A three-course meal for just £9.95, and extremely good value for money. Very tasty. And it's a lovely place to eat at.