About Us

My photo
In 1977 we hired our first narrowboat from Anglo Welsh at Market Harborough.From that moment our destiny was set. In 2006 we finally purchased our own brand new 57' narrowboat which we named 'Free Spirit'. Our aim is to travel the length and breadth of all the navigable rivers and canals of the UK. This will be our story as it unfolds.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Had an awful shock this morning!

As normal I was awake fairly early and lay in bed enjoying the birdsong. The day was sunny and promised to be a good cruising day. By about 7ish I got up to put the kettle on and let Jade out. Normally Jade is up and ready before I have even got dressed but not this morning. So for once I was the one waiting for Jade. I called her and then realised something was terribly wrong. Jade tried to get up and collapsed. She tried again and made a dash for the back of the boat staggering all the way. I shouted for Ian to help me get her off the boat but he sleeps in the buff and had no time to don any clothes!!! Poor man was opening back doors, trying to calm Jade who was by now panting frantically and shaking, while I grabbed the doggie plank and between us helped her off the boat. If anyone had been coming down the towpath they would have had one hell of an eye full. Anyway no sooner had Jade staggered off the boat then she squatted, wobbling all the time and had a huge wee. Then she tried to walk towards the hedge and that was when she collapsed again. She lost control of her bowels and was extremely distressed. Ian had by now made himself more respectable and with his help got her back on board. First thing we did was try to make her comfortable. I had this horrible feeling that she may have had a stroke so phoned our daughter Christine, who is a veterinary nurse, for advice. She also thought it could be a stroke but there could be a number of reasons for Jade to collapse. She mentioned middle ear infection also back problems ( of which we know Jade has ) and suggested trying to find a vet near by to take her to. Easier said then done. Looking on the web the nearest vets to us was at Greenford, 5 mile along the canal. So by 7.45am we were on our way. By 8am Jade was up and walking almost normally. So we stopped by Perivale wood to try and walk Jade and access the situation. I couldn't believe the difference in her. Not only did she jump off the boat but trotted along by my side quite happily. The vet was put on hold for the time being and I must say throughout the day she appeared to be improving. I still don't know why she collapsed but both of us are going to keep a good eye on her from now on.

Jade early evening.


So today we made it all the way back to Bulls Bridge. The moorings by Tesco were completly free and after coming through the junction we reversed back and claimed our spot. Within an hour all the moorings had gone. Glad we arrived when we did!

Kensal Green where we moored last night. Row upon row of continues moorers.

No way will C&RT ever be able to check this boats license.


Wembley

Stoat made an appearance when I was walking Jade at Perivale Wood


Dock by Tesco Moorings


Bulls bridge Junction
And finally:-






4 comments:

James said...

Frightening about Jade, it's bad enough when you live on bricks and mortar and your vet is just down the road. Oh bloody funny about Ian though, although I doubt most of the moorers on the Paddo would have batted an eyelid!

KevinTOO said...

Poor Jade, we do hope that it's nothing too serious. But did you really have to give us all that mental picture of Ian's sleeping arrangements... LOL
Kevin xx & Harry xx

nb Chance said...

Sorry to hear about poor Jade, how frightening for you all! Hope she is doing OK today and gets back to normal very soon, its so scary when something like that happens when on a boat and miles away from a vet! x

Ian and Irene Jameison said...

Hello one and all,

Thanks for the well wishes for Jade.

James and Debbie... Not so much the boaters we worried about but the cyclist and joggers out at that time in the morning :)

Kevin TOO...Had to paint the picture didn't I :)and I'm sure it gave some readers a laugh, not a bad thing with all that worry. Xxx

Doug and James... It's when something goes wrong that you realise how isolated you are from getting help. So glad we didn't need to use the vets though. Xxxx

Blog Archive