Why didn't I do this yesterday?

Yes that is my question. Why didn't I do this yesterday? The passage of time is a funny thing isn't it. Like the small jobs that creep up on you and get worse or harder the longer you put them off. Keeping this blog is a bit like that. By yesterday I had already had two interesting days and by today well it's a bit to much to write down. Will I manage to capture everything, what will I miss out or maybe I just won't get all my moods and quandaries down on paper.

Umm where was I stay focused.............

Last night I sat down to write this or mainly just check out the internet, thinking that Sunday was going to be a pretty easy going day. So I thought if I slept on it, what I would produce would be a lot better. I now think that is a mistake.

So the Pyjama Party how did that go? Well I managed to fish out those legging pyjamas I was telling you about, which are kinda petrol blue( if that's a colour) and they kinda became the perfect night club pyjama. However they were maybe just a little to figure hugging to be relaxed in. Never mind that I was exceptionally thin when I first received them. I also managed to discover some pyjama bottoms I'd completely forgotten about. Living on a boat all of the above were rather damp, so spent a good 15 mins drying them out with the fan heater, while I was simultaneously drying out my forward berth. Oh the excitement of it all. Once solving my pyjama provision problem, I struck problem number two; that being that Wayne had left the ladder up on the quay on the way out that evening, leaving me the option to either stay on the boat or scale the fifteen foot quay wall. For those of you that know me, you already know which one I chose. Not only that, feeling the need to display a certain level of prowess I decided to undertake this task in booted slippers (the ones Therese had bought me for Christmas). I would like to be able to say that I scaled the wall with out any help and arrived firmly footed on the top of the quay with no help at all. This was not the case. This does not mean to say that I may not have achieved my goal single handed, just that I knew that there were people standing outside 'Miss Peapods'. Once managing to arrive at the point that my head was visible above the quay side I decided to shout for help. I was in luck Scott Woyka (who I know) was there having a fag with a friend who both speedily came to my aide. Sometimes when you are stuck people don't notice you for ages, it can be a real pain. What was even stranger was being introduced at that point with some level of respectability. It was all very gun hoe old chap. Even though Scott and I were born in the same hospital in Paisley, Scotland. Who would have thought it!

So that was about as exciting as it gets. At the pyjama party some were dressed in pyjamas some weren't. There was also an option for table tennis, which I did not indulge in (no judgement, I just wasn't that interested). So I danced a lot with the other girls, had a glass of red wine and hung out with mole on the couch. At one point in the evening I decided that I really needed a cowboy. Then I met a 'Suicide Girl' who got into it via a friend who used to be a photograher for the site. At the end of the party Scott and his mate Kinsly asked if they could come down on to the boat I said they could. We drank some polinka (again donated by Chris) and mainly talked. There was some guitar playing to, Johnny Cash - Hurt. Cheery huh! Scott left, Kinsly stayed. I'm never quite sure of how to get unwanted gentlemen of the boat or generally off your premises without seeming rude. So he asked to stay, I offered the floor, at which point he left. Where do guys get off on this shit. I mean is the thought of asking a girl out totally redundant these days or just preposterous? I mean wouldn't it be nice that before a girl got down the track of contracting cervical cancer she might one be bought dinner first. Think about it? Whats even worse is that he forgot his scarf, came back once I'd fallen asleep let himself into the boat - Scarring the shit out of me in the process. I know I live on a boat but still, the art of knocking I don't feel has become lost in this day and age. It reminded me of a time when I lived in the YMCA and a guy got into my private room and woke me up by throwing a water in my face! The guy having seen me go to my room drunk decided that I must have needed the hydration.

So still encrusted with my eye make-up on Thursday, I was awoken by Wayne asking if I wanted to come for a walk with him and Henry (the dog). I complied by getting dress but somewhere along the line the walk never quite materialised. Firstly cups of tea happened in response to and oncoming rain shower, then Cheryl turned up with the kids and then I bumped into Phil. That was well strangely very natural and resulted in another cup of tea on 'Samara', which involved a lot of boaty talk, and the idea that Phil might help me fix my sea toilet. In fact he was quite keen to get his hands dirty but the thought of an old flame throwing himself head long into somebody else's year old shit on my boat, that I hadn't got round to fixing yet was to much for me to be able to authorise. I stopped him in his path, not that I'm not grateful for his offer. This might make more sense if I explained that Phil is primarily a Sailor and therefore has vast experience of fixing things like sea toilets or as he said 'the head' (that's their proper name). Boats, what can I say? Sometimes you can just tell a gentlemen by there very nature, can't you? I t was funny as we cam off the boat and I went to grab the ladder. You can watch people squirm in all sorts of ways. I like the way that some men squirm when they watch me doing something wholly inappropriate for a girl. Like grab a fifteen foot ladder and pull it up onto the quayside they never quite no where to look, or how there expected to behave. Their instinct is to help yet they don't want to offend your independent sensibilities. Another part of them quickly realises that maybe you are the best person place to deal with the situation, funny huh! Do I ask to much of my audience. Is there one?

Wayne had gone to the park with the kids and was still there. I promptly went to meet him and there he was in the park being more of a kid, than the kids. That's his charm. I hung around for a while and bumped into Sonja. I've only just started to get to know Sonja, she's nice, she's Scottish (which reminds me to phone Brendan and ask what the hell was going on with Steph, Thursday). She lives on a boat to with her partner and kids, so I ended up hanging out with her most of the day and being fed. Which was really nice. It was good to get to know her kids a bit better and difficult to remember how hard it is, the ages between 11 and 18. Especially when you are a girl.

Powder monkeys came and went in a flash but not before I had a shower. I hadn't been near one for three days. It was really doing my head in. I went out rowing with Wayne, Henry and the kids and it was great to see the kids soaking up the experience learning how to row and identifying birds. Wayne asked me if i wanted to help out full time and if I was ok about being police checked. I think it might be good thing to do. Cheryl invited me for Sunday roast, which was delicious and then Jeremy collected me to go to the film night at 'Potager'. I had never been to 'Potager' before despite having heard about it and been invited numerous times before. Sometimes things have t be worked up to and there is no point in spoiling your appetite by over gorging yourself. 'Potager' seems like a really nice place and I was surprised by it, I'm not sure how. It was film night and watched film two films about Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. It was really sad and challenging. I think everyone left a little stifled as to how to respond, I asked if people would donate money to the Red Cross, we raised £16.50. Matt and Cathy were there, it was nice to see them again. Jeremy started talking about some ludicrous proposal for a short film that involved a mad scientist living in a boat under a tent hung in a tree. It's quite imaginative, I think that some of the imagery would really work, I'm not quite sure about the reasoning, It depends how you slant it I suppose. Next time I go up there I think I'll join the gang and cycle.

I'm going to spell check this and post it tomorrow. I'll be getting up early