GeorgeParker just added bio infomation to his profile

[GeorgeParker]

I put some who-I-am stuff in my profile and uploaded a squirrel picture as my avatar.

[catherine]

Glad you've given us a trial run and decided to stay! :)

[Yppej]

Interesting to read. What part of Texas are you in?

[razz]

Interesting, GP. You have been a member since March 2014 so is this a new life for you as a poster or are you now simply choosing to post more? Just curious so feel free to decline to respond.

[GeorgeParker]

Interesting to read. What part of Texas are you in?

The BIG part!!! :laff:


Actually I'm in Fort Worth.

[iris lilies]

I just read your bio.


What a coincidence about narrow boats! I am at this very moment, literally this moment, trying to decide if I will buy a painting of a narrow boat I have been looking out for some weeks now. It is to memorialize our narrowboat vacation many years ago.

Is was always my goal toSpend a week on an English canal as well as stay in a couple of specific castles in Scotland.


Our narrow boat experience was on the Shopshire canal. It was lovely but honestly it was very quiet and peaceful, slow moving, a little more countryside than I would’ve chosen. We did go through a few villages though. And then in several instances we were a mile or so from the village, so we would tie up the boat and walk into the village to buy groceries.

[GeorgeParker]

Interesting, GP. You have been a member since March 2014 so is this a new life for you as a poster or are you now simply choosing to post more? Just curious so feel free to decline to respond.

I made a few posts in 2014 and did some lurking, but I was still working 50-60 hours/week back then and the rest of my life was rather busy so I stopped coming here in favor of more immediate needs.

Because I'm still listed as a member, I get an email from SLN every year on my birthday. And since I've now been retired a couple of years and I'm in the process of divesting myself of a lot of things I've acquired, and I'm getting ready to move 1400 miles to the place where all my relatives live, and I'm getting more into cooking for myself and stuff like that..... Well, it just seemed like a good time to start posting here again.

[GeorgeParker]

Our narrow boat experience was on the Shopshire canal. It was lovely but honestly it was very quiet and peaceful, slow moving, a little more countryside than I would’ve chosen. We did go through a few villages though. And then in several instances we were a mile or so from the village, so we would tie up the boat and walk into the village to buy groceries.

There are a ton of narrow boat videos on YouTube, including a few about the history and restoration of England's canal system.

This is a rather nice primer of life on a canal boat. I love his accent and I double love the cookie jar next to his stove. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMKJR5n4gLw
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMKJR5n4gLw)
This is one of my favorite series: https://www.youtube.com/c/floatingourboat They're a very natural down-to-earth couple and there's a lot of variety in their video's. To me, watching their videos is like getting a video-letter from an overseas aunt and uncle.

The closest thing to a narrow boat in America is living on a houseboat on a river, but that's a whole different animal for a variety of reasons. Still I do get some tiny-house notions and inspirations from small-houseboat floorplans and videos. And this shanty boat video is interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OttgPFvGQYI It gives a bit of history and talks about the riverbanks becoming gentrified and the shanty boat people being displaced by condos, marinas, and touristy riverwalk shopping areas.

3591 <<-- This is the shanty boat in the video.

[iris lilies]

River navigation would be a whole different thing, yes. Rivers are more dangerous for humans.

The old European canals are peaceful and incite slow moving traffic. We were 50 years old at the time of our narrow boat vacation and we were the youngsters on the canal.

[happystuff]

I can't dance worth a hoot, but I do it anyway

LOL. Same here.

[GeorgeParker]

I can't dance worth a hoot, but I do it anyway

LOL. Same here.

I love line dancing. All the dances are just different combinations of a few dozen basis steps. You don't need a partner to do it. You can do it anywhere you've got music. It's good exercise. And as long as you're not trying to impress the ladies at Billy Bob's, it doesn't really matter if you look like an amateur newbie.

When I do it, I look like the guy in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Uou0GHVNQ
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Uou0GHVNQ)but in my head I think I'm dancing like his daughter. Which raises the question: Why does she dance so much better than her father?

One of my favorite dances is Footloose. In this instructional video the full speed version starts at 4:24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZzmMlMUhOs

And proof that having two left feet doesn't keep you from dancing next to someone who can actually dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkAaw2TpRJA

Tying this back into simple living: Line dancing is fun, easy, doesn't require fancy dancing clothes, and there's plenty of free tutorials for it on YouTube. How simple is that? :cool:

[iris lilies]

I love line dancing. All the dances are just different combinations of a few dozen basis steps. You don't need a partner to do it. You can do it anywhere you've got music. It's good exercise. And as long as you're not trying to impress the ladies at Billy Bob's, it doesn't really matter if you look like an amateur newbie.

When I do it, I look like the guy in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Uou0GHVNQ
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Uou0GHVNQ)but in my head I think I'm dancing like his daughter. Which raises the question: Why does she dance so much better than her father?

One of my favorite dances is Footloose. In this instructional video the full speed version starts at 4:24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZzmMlMUhOs

And proof that having two left feet doesn't keep you from dancing next to someone who can actually dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkAaw2TpRJA

Tying this back into simple living: Line dancing is fun, easy, doesn't require fancy dancing clothes, and there's plenty of free tutorials for it on YouTube. How simple is that? :cool:

DH has no sense of rhythm, but he’s always able to do those 18 century dance patterns and could probably do line dancing. I was going to sign us up one of these winters for group lessons, but I didn’t get around to it and now of course Covid.

[madmardigan]

I'm also in Texas. Nice squirrel pic lol

[GeorgeParker]

Nice squirrel pic lol
That image came from a royalty-free website. https://www.pexels.com/photo/squirrel-in-wooden-tree-2312781/
The original is huge, like 5000x3000 pixels, and you can see every hair clearly.
Below is a thumbnail of the uncropped image. Clicking it will show you a 1/10-size version, and the URL above will take you to the original image.
3601
There are lots of good images of all kinds on that website.

I grew up in Georgia and now live in Fort Worth. Squirrels abound in both places. That avatar is also a bit of a joke since squirrels are boundlessly curious and natural hoarders -- appropriate attributes for a Simple Living Forums member.