Fork handles

..or that's what they could be!

Here are four of the fifteen candles I made from all the saved drippings and stubs of my candles and a right mess I made of them too! It all seemed so simple in my 'How to live without electricity - and like it' book (Anita Evangelista), which explains how to melt the bits together, pour onto a greased surface, lay down lengths of string and roll up. Voila! Some dodgy sausages.

But they do burn fine and as I mostly use candles rather than the yukky little flourescent strips in my boat, I suppose it's a saving of sorts. If you melt the wax using the gas stove instead of the wood stove, you're probably wasting more energy than you save!

After a stay out by Alvecote Pools - a pleasant wooded and wetland area that used to have collieries nearby, I've had to move on to collect water and find some food. Olive oil and marmite on stale bread is becoming monotonous - need to find me some nettles! I got into a boating convoy, which I hate and now I'm lying low, waiting for the flood of hire-boaters to subside. But they're a hardy lot those hirers - rain, snow, wind doesn't put em off enjoying their holiday. I know they're on a schedule but you have to admit they're up for it!