Lily Rose

Mine still works but I don't bother with it anymore. I got fed up with the black muck coming out of it, whether I put pink stuff in or not, so I started using an old washing up bottle to squirt water when and where it was needed. Seemed to me to be far more effective than the flush and it filled the cassette less quickly.

As using blacking (Black Jack) in my integral water tank about 6 years ago was such a faff I decided to give it the "just Vactan" treatment a go two years ago when I decided that enough rust was coming back through to require some work. So much easier to do! I checked it a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't see any obvious sign of rust appearing so I'm reasonably confident I can leave it for at least another year.

Latest (AFAIK) CRT update... https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/27385-easenhall-cutting-brinklow-oxford-canal 08/03/2024 15:34 The team have made good progress and cleared all the trees and vegetation adjacent to the slip area. We have also commenced work to remove some of the slipped material. The slip is very extensive, and there is still movement, both on the exposed main slip face and on the isolated sections opposite. The initial estimate of the volume of material that we need to move is in the order of 4000 tonnes. We face challenges over the stability of the exposed clipped face, and the material that has stockpiled. In addition, due to the weather, there has also been another minor slip adjacent to the nearby Bridge 84. We’re keeping the end date the same for now, but given the challenges we face, this date may change. We’ll provide another update as soon as we receive one, and certainly by Friday 22nd March.

If it was good It's now probably either unavailable or 're-formulated" to be much less effective. But you never know.

As the saying goes, Google is your friend. I often include the word canalworld in my Google search, that sometimes seems to work better than the forum's own search function.

Since October 2021 (earliest available data) my boat has been sighted 7 times in the marina and just 3 times elsewhere.

My cooker doesn't have electronic ignition so I use the long gas lighters you can buy in Poundland and other places for about a quid. They sell the butane gas cheap as well. I have more than one in case it fails. Works well for us and no risk of a burn as the handle is several inches away from the flame. I also use it to light a gas bbq, far more reliable than the built in spark button.

I often get mice in my attic at home. I use the Rentokil or Screwfix plastic traps as they are far easier to set than the old wooden ones. I have used peanut butter as bait in the past, it works brilliantly but as the traps might be up there for months waiting for the next batch of mice to move in the bait will eventually go mouldy. I now use the cheapest supermarket "value" chocolate. The mice love it and it doesn't go mouldy like peanut butter. I cut a very small piece, slightly larger than the little bait cup, and then wedge it in so the mice can't remove it easily enough to get away without setting the trap off. I've had that happen when the piece was loose but not once it's wedged in.

Bit of a drastic solution though, unless still at the "looking for a boat" stage.

Perhaps they hoped the programme might help them sell the skip boat for a better price. If so it doesn't seem to have worked too well.