Keeping the home fires burning.......part 2

Back in April I made some attempts to keep the stove in overnight with dissapointing results & had not mastered it by the time the milder weather set in so until the last few days I had not really given it any more than a passing thought, but now that autumn has set in it is top of my list of new skills I need to learn.

I have been asking anyone who has a stove if & how they manage it & everyone I ask has a different solution ( or they have given up trying!)
I thought it may be the fuel I have been using, smokeless nuts - yellow bag, cheap at £2 (tho prob gone up for winter) for 10kg & Colin, fellow resident who seems to know the score being a seasoned boater uses 'ovoids' in a blue bag " just bank it up & turn down the damper" does it for him. So I order half a dozen bags @ £3.20 for 10kg then another resident says he uses the smokeless nuts & it works fine for him. Mmmm......

I might add that I have also checked the Canal World Forum which can be really confusing as everyone seems to have a different favourite fuel - but basically the recommended method is much the same -' bank it up & damp it down', which I did last night but out this morning, only just mind as embers still warm.
I shall just keep trying, bothering all & sundry for their suggestions till I have got it sussed.

Still on fire matters, the electric saw we bought has been a godsend - we scavenged a few logs on our recent trip so have been supplementing the coal with logs - I love the smell of wood smoke & even more so when it's free!

We have some new neighbours, Scott & Sharon & they also have 2 cats, not livaboards yet but planning to be eventually.
They have bought nb Cameo that was up for sale after its previous owners decided to become landlubbers again. I was a bit taken aback when first meeting Scott as he knew a bit about us as he reads my blog!
First time I have met anyone who actually reads my ramblings apart from family & friends.

No recent pics to upload ( sorry Albert!) so here is one from our last trip, spotted under motorway bridge.