A fellow boater uploaded some pictures of the Marina taken from her narrowboat on which she and her husband are living for most of the year. One of the shots shows our boat still safely afloat amid the ice and snow. She's the little green blob fourth from the front of the line of boats. It's so good to see how high she's sitting. The reports from the Marina are that our boat is fine, but another, Deep South, had sunk. With 14 tons of water in side, she weighed 20 tons when she was craned-out. Her poor owners will have years of restoration before they can get back afloat.

I had a heart-stopping moment at first when I saw the picture showing our boat, as I couldn't work out what the white 'panels' were amid the green. The illusion is created by the sun bouncing off the reflective sun-screens we put up at the windows when we leave the boat for long periods. Can't wait to get back aboard. If all goes well, we'll spend some time in Paris as part of our Ruby Wedding celebrations. You'd never guess we were just 5 minutes walk from the centre of St Quentin from this shot, would you?