I'm not sure how this happened, why it happened. But what I do know is: 'I knew as soon as I arrived at the place I was visiting. That this was meant to be, my new Life!

And there were more signs why this was to be, later on into the story. Like I said earlier, why and how this came about was by accident. And this is my story.

February 2021

The start of covid! Life for everyone at this time was difficult in every aspect. A lot of people were unsure about the future, many people needed to escape the lock down that had been forced onto us all. Me being one of them. But I was fortunate to have a job that allowed me to still move about in a much freer way. So, life wasn't as difficult or in some circumstances, as lonely! Like everyone else, you had to just get on with it.

Due to unforeseen circumstances I encountered in the early months of the year, I moved back to my mum's around March/April 2021. Here is her 54yr old son moving back to his mum's, (having left when he was 17!) But that was the way it was going to be.

Fast forward January 2023

Living with my mum has to be 100% priceless. All I had to do was get up (after her telling me to get up for work by banging the kitchen door and turning the hoover on, and other subtle wakeup call hints) then go to work, come home, have my already made evening meal, take my dogs out and go to bed.

Same routine every week. What more could you ask for??????

Well, I'm not sure I had the answer to this! Not until I visited my mate Chrissy Robbo on his narrowboat on his mooring on the Shropshire Union Canal In Cheshire. Although he wasn't there, I was let in by one of the mooring residents after I had explained to them why I wanted to gain access to the mooring! This is because it had a security gate and cctv installed for security and safety reasons. I went onto the mooring and had a walk along looking at the narrowboats and the moorings. Got to Chrissy's mooring and he wasn’t there. So, I had a wander around, fascinated at what I was seeing. To tell you the truth, I was quite envious! I was imagining to myself, wouldn’t this be so relaxing; a perfect way to live; my dogs would be so happy here; it was everything I could imagine would make me happy; would make me feel so at home. In fact, this moment was the start to my new life on a Narrowboat!

The thought hit home after only 20mins of being on these moorings: this could be our new and final destiny! It was quite strange to realise that this could, in reality, become our new home - a home not only for myself, but also for my three dogs: Scruffy 16yrs, Maggie 14yrs and Shadow 5yrs.  As I have always told people in the past,  my 16yr old Patterdale Terrier, Scruffy, should have been raised on a farm, and here we have moorings on an old working farm called Top Farm! Scruffy is the most adventurous and most of all, loveable little fella you have ever met. He loves to be outdoors: whether it's sunny, windy, raining or snowing, he is in his element. We've had so many adventures in our 16yrs together and without doubt there will be many more; memories I'll cherish forever, far too many to list. But without any doubt he will be included in this venture, 100%.

Maybe one day I will write an autobiography, Myself and the Scruff(y)meister's life together!

So, I'd found mine and the dogs' new home. I contacted the mooring's owners and asked if there were any available moorings. Low and behold there was, the last one! Mooring 11!

This was now a venture into a world I knew nothing about!