My seven days are up.
Himself announced last Friday that I had a week in which to find enough money to get him a boat. Sadly, the lottery hasn't been forthcoming and I haven't been offered any incredible commissions (or unincredible ones for that matter) as a result of my blog being featured on the Western Morning News blogsite. So Himself still has no boat.
For those of you unaware of my husband's maritime yearnings, he has had a boat for most of his life. When he didn't have one he was delivering other people's around the world. When we met he was living aboard a working boat, which is a wooden boat used for gathering oysters. At one point we had four boats, although the others were mostly punts (wooden rowing boats) and some were up at the workshop “needing work”.
So you see wooden boats have always been a part of his life, and not having had one for several years now is a big wrench. Before Christmas his need for a boat became too much and he decided to look around the boatyards in the early part of this year to see if he could “find an old hull - something I can do up, Pop”.
In the meantime, he sits hunched over the laptop next door scouring the internet for bargains. That and trying to trace the cornet that he sold on ebay before Christmas which should have turned up in Pennsylvania and hasn't. He's also trying to source an authentic Cornish recipe for hogs pudding (don't ask). N.B. Thanks to the lovely Pat, he now has a recipe for hogs pudding. PAT YOU ARE ONE STAR!! I now have one very happy husband. Oh, the power of blogs....
As I was saying - yesterday he announced that he's considering whether to write a book that he started several years ago. As this starts with graphic accounts of a baby's circumcision, I'm not sure that it would be a bestseller, but who knows? It could be a dead cert. There's also the children's book that we started writing 12 years ago which I think is a better bet, but what do I know?
Then there's the model aeroplane which is half finished. And when he's not doing that, he's gathering winter fuel for the woodburner and helping Joe upstairs as their porch needs relining. As you can see, he's a busy fellow and that takes his mind off boats – a little bit.
So if any of you know of an old hull sitting abandoned somewhere (I'm not talking about me), let me know, would you? It'd make him very happy...
13 comments:
I hope himself manages to find his heart's desire. I'll keep my eyes peeled. :)
Himself is certainly keeping himself busy but that yearning is just not going to go away is it. Maybe he could write a book about it?:-)
Hope that cornet turns up btw.
If anything ever happened to my Mum, I'm sure my stepd-dad would love to throw her in a cardboard box and spend the life insurance on a long boat!
It's sad, isn't it...when dreams dont' come true. I hope he finds one.
I hope he finds something. I don't understand it in relation to boats, but I do really understand the 'need' for something (in my case - it might rural scenery) that has been a big part of his life.
Good luck to him.
Ak - thanks that;s very kind.
Lane - the yearning is in his blood. But that's an excellent idea about writing a book - I shall mention it.....
Elaine - well he's lived his dream most of his life so he can't be too sorry, but it would be nice...
JJ - no to be honest boats don't do it for me, but other things do!
My 'himself' used to build model yachts with wooden hulls - sometimes 'planked' (I think) he got many a steam burn as he steamed the strips of wood. Anyway, I don't suppose a hull from a model one would satisfy your Himself.
Maybe he'll like this Hog's Pudding recipe, though:
2 litres blood
Casings, beef runners of large hog casings (optional)
3 onions, finely chopped
1 kg of suet or diced pork fat (back fat or bacon fat)
500ml double cream
500g oatmeal, (soaked overnight in water)
500g barley, boiled in water for 30 minutes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon mixed herbs or ground coriander
1 teaspoon black pepper or cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground mace
Method Soften the onions in a quarter of the fat, make sure that they do not colour. Add the rest of the fat and leave to slowly sweat for 10 minutes add the oatmeal and cream and cook for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir over a gentle heat for 5 minutes. If you are using skins, these can now be filled and sealed with two knots. The puddings can then be poached in barely simmering water for 5 – 10 minutes. Splitting is common, to avoid this prick the puddings with a needle and cook on the lowest possible simmer. Any pudding which floats to the top should also be pricked; they are cooked when brown liquid comes out. They can then be drained and kept in a fridge for 1 – 2 weeks.
An easier method is to bake the pudding in an ovenproof tin, and cook in a bain marie in a low oven (160oC) for 1 – 2 hours. Make sure that the mixture has started to thicken and coat your stirring spoon before pouring into the tin and stir well first (this should ensure that the ingredients are evenly mixed). You can then cut slices and fry or bake.
xPat
Pat - YOU ARE A STAR!!! Ths will make his weekend. Many thanks indeed!
Not far from us is the Cutty Sark - any good to him?
Rosiero - well , it's a BIT big for what he had in mind - nonetheless very beautiful!
My father when he got divorced from my mother in his 60s owned and lived on an old boat called The Fusil which had something to do with the war we were told.... it was on the Chichester Canal on the opposite side of the canal, so to get to it one had to stand on a little raft thing and pull the rope to get across lol.... it was such a beautiful old boat with all mod cons inside.....
I hope your hubby gets to eventually get his boat.....
x
marmie - what a wonderful story. I can see it now...!
Why don't you come and search some boatyards in Norfolk or Suffolk and then we can meet up?
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