Hmmmm

Yes we are still around but as we are going back over old ground what do you write about? We are moored up at the popular spot with the rats you know where I mean, not that we have seen any rats I did see a squashed badger on the road but is the only wild life to date.

Now I am not one to moan about stuff I leave that to you know who but over the past couple of days I have been a little livid to say the least, do you want to know about the endless times we have been hit by people speeding by and who couldn't even bother to apologise probably not, or the hire boat with about 10 pirates all with the requisite bottle of lager in hand that smashed head on with a little 30 footer, probably not but there you go where has the go slow past moored boats and the courtesy gone obviously out of the window. Oh yes for the last two nights boats have been going by in the pitch dark  one with the steerer wearing a head torch which really lit his way, thought your insurance was invalid it you travelled after dark.  As I say its not like me to moan but suffice to say we will be moving tomorrow to a nice WIDE bit of canal if we can find one, if we do I am sure some one will managed to scrape some more paint off, better get a couple of gallons in to retouch the scratches.

On a lighter note the sun has been shining which makes a change its October tomorrow just where has this year gone….

We’re in winter mode!

And its only September……

The double glazing is back up the winter clothes are in the wardrobe and the fire has been alight every evening for the past week.

Yesterday we braved the awful weather to go into Bedworth and get the rest of the shopping. Only problem was the bus didn't turn up, luckily there was another bus 5 minutes later going to the big Tesco at the Ricoh so we caught that. Boy did it rain at least it bought the canal up a few inches. There wasn't many people braving the wind and the rain, think they were all like us tucked up in the warm.

Today it was back to Bedworth to go to the market hopefully to get Paul some work trousers. At least the bus turned up this morning and result we got the trousers. On the stall there was a nice Asian guy and a youngster of about 20. Paul asked the question “how much” £18 was the reply, “can you do two pairs for £35”  “no” now this is only 50p off a pair. The youngster was at this point getting a bit gobby so I said to Paul just buy one pair which he did handing over a £20 note, the stall holder got out a £2 coin for his change which the young bloke took and had the cheek to say “I’ll toss you for it”  “leave it out says Paul I offered you a deal on two pairs which you refused” by this time the stall holder had had a light bulb moment and realised that he had lost the sale of another pair of trousers. “Give us my change” says Paul and to his amazement the young bloke gave him the coin and said “just f*** off” how charming is that. We left the market and had a wander and found Bedworth to be a very depressed place I think the only thing going for it is the large Tesco and a decent sized Aldi.

The wind has been horrendous today but so far it has stayed dry although it is a tad nippy. If the wind drops tomorrow we will move.

Hawkesbury.

Today here at Hawkesbury it is WET and tomorrows forecast looks pretty bad so we may have to stay here longer than anticipated. Friday saw us being topped up with fuel both diesel and coal from Callister at least their diesel was a decent price. So we are set up for a while.

Yesterday I needed to go shopping I had checked my bus timetable and the bus to Bedworth was due around 10 so off we set, yes Paul came too, got to the bus stop and they had changed not only the times of the buses but the number as well so here we were in plenty of time for the number 60 bus due at 10.04 and the timetable on the bus stop tells us that the 778 was due at 10.23 Pauls face was a picture so I sent him back to the boat and went off on my own.

We have met up with a few old faces while here and there has been plenty of boats passing by and you can tell we are close to the Oxford canal as the hire boats with their “pirates” have been whizzing through at a rate of knots although on their return journey today they all look decidedly damp.

Paul is busy watching the Grand Prix so that gives me some time to catch up with a few jobs, summer clothes need to be put away and winter ones retrieved from under the bed, Paul doesn't have this problem he wears the same stuff what ever the weather and that blooming “comfort cardi” is still going strong.  It must be the one thing that never shrunk when I washed it, one day I will come across another one and will be able to replace it after all it only has a hole in one elbow and the nice fluffy lining is very patchy but I cant bring myself to separate a man and his “comfort cardi” 

Brrrrrrr

We left the mooring in Atherstone this morning, it took a bit of a while to get going as we were sat on the bottom  the water level was really low about 9inches down on the norm. It was absolutely freezing I even put a scarf on. Only saw about three boats coming in the opposite direction. We had to stop at Springhaven and on the wharf was nb Libertybelle we haven't seen Angela and Trevor to talk to for a couple of years so it was nice to catch up. Paul popped into the shop to ask the price of their diesel and was told £1.01 per litre “that's expensive” says Paul “I wont be buying any”. We did get 2 bags of coal though and Kevin did what he had to and then we were on our way again.

Only managed to travel for about 10 minutes when the heavens opened and the wind got up so we pulled over, moored up and lit the fire. Its nice and cosy now.

Caxton went by and Paul (not mine) remarked that he was freezing or words to that effect, Elaine was on the tow path walking the dog to keep warm I think.

As the evening has progressed the wind has dropped so Paul is going to attempt to catch some fish.

That was unexpected.

As you know we renewed our licence recently, well a few days after Paul got a text which in itself is unusual as he hardly ever gives his number to any one as he cant remember it. The text was from CaRT to tell us that everything was ok with our license  application and the disk would be despatched in the next 5 days. We never got these texts when BW were running the show so why start now?

We did the Atherstone flight in one hit with me walking the whole lot. We noticed on the way up that a couple of the pounds had been cleared out, as we were approaching the top lock we were warned that the contractors were dredging the side pound and there was a 30 minute wait. When we finally got into the lock this was what we saw.

Now the contractors are putting the silt into a work barge then taking it to the old coal wharf where it is transferred to big skips. Now these skips have been filled so much that the sides are bowing outwards apparently said skips are going to stand for two weeks to allow the water to drain out. There isn't any way that these skips are going to be lifted up off of the ground drained of water or not. But as you can see this side pound is in dire need of dredging I expect every side pound on the cut is in a similar state.

While we were at the mooring near Streathay I took some pictures of the light aircraft coming in to land on the airstrip opposite.

Looks like it is on the bridge.

Safely down.

These ladies didn't bat an eyelid as we went past.

Shall we shan’t we?

Today it was a case of shall we, shan’t we move as the forecast was for high winds, in fact Paul got up in the night to lay the solar panels down. We decided to go for it and although the wind was gusty it wasn't to bad a trip.

After saying popular spots were quiet Fazley was heaving, we had to wait for the services to be free. Once moored up I popped into the office to renew the license. I had checked on the internet for the price so was prepared when the nice lady told me how much to write the cheque for.

Once on the move again it was decision time on where to moor, we plumped for one of our favourite spots by bridge 50. The gardeners had been through on their sit on mowers and actually cut right up to the armco which makes a change.

We had thought number one son would be visiting this weekend but he cant make it so we can have a nice peaceful time doing what weekends are for , absolutely nothing.

Sutton Road Bridge.

On Sunday a  boat pulled in front of us and then there was a knock on the side of the boat. A very nice couple were standing there and they said “we read your blog our names are Jackie and Stein from nb Ducks to Water”. We had a lovely long chat  was lovely to meet you both and no doubt we will catch up again sometime.

Sods law that the day we decided to move the weather was damp and overcast with that horrible fine drizzle that seems to get you wetter than proper rain drops. But the sun came out then it rained then sun still I suppose we should be grateful that the weather stayed so good for the Olympics and Paralympics how lucky was that.

We have been so surprised at every popular mooring we have passed through there have been SPACES, Hopwas was empty and here at Sutton Road Bridge we are one of only 3 boats. Today we saw a very rare sight, a CaRT banks man checking licenses Paul tried to engage him in conversation but he wasn't very forth coming, I suppose he has such a large area to cover he doesn't have time to stop and chat to all and sundry.

The cupboards are full now next stop is Fazley for the services and get our license paid.

Don't you just hate it when…….

Water is in the kettle, tbags in the teapot, cups at the ready and you find that the milk has gone off. Of course I hadn't replaced the UHT milk that I keep as a stand by so there was nothing for it but to walk to Whittington to get more milk. I checked with the Nicholson's and it is only just over a mile along the tow path. After asking our neighbours if they wanted anything I set off with my rucksack, a bottle of water and my earphones in so I could listen to my MP3 player while I walked along. As I was leaving Paul said “ get us a bottle of rum while you are there” I don't think so somehow.

It really didn't take too long to get to bridge 80 where I found nb Relaine moored up quick chat to Reg and it was up to the CO-OP milk, bread and newspapers purchased (no rum) it was back to the boat. I enjoyed my walk wouldn't want to do it in the wet mind, but at least we can have a cup of tea now.

Some of the brasses have been polished today which isn't before time but I knew if I nagged enough they would get done. That would explain why when I got back from my 3 mile round trip Paul was dozing in the chair.

What can I say?

I took the dogs for a walk yesterday afternoon and our route took us behind “an outstanding marina opening here soon” by Streethay. Now when we came past last year it was a hive of activity and on our way up it was still busy with the opening and what looked like a toilet block well under way. Now, nothing there is no plant, no people and it looks like it has been abandoned so is this yet another white elephant that has gone bust I wonder.  I did manage to find plenty of blackberries to go with my one cooking apple so its pie for pud tonight.

Although it has turned out warm in the afternoons the evenings have been decidedly nippy, and in the mornings the windows are streaming with condensation, so it looks like the double glazing will be back in before long.

Our logs have been cut up and Paul has a bit of a clear out so plenty of rubbish to get rid of at Fazley. It has quietened down considerably with only about 4 boat going past today still not long till Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another lovely day….

Yesterday afternoon we met up with Angela and John to take the dogs out for a nice walk. At this point I will say it was a lovely walk and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We crossed the first two stiles with no problem the openings were big enough for our two to get through, the third one was a bit of a challenge. It took Saffie an age to get to the other side. There was no way that Crystal could get her body through the gap so John and Paul had to lift her (all 7and a quarter stone) over it, took some doing I can tell you but we were soon on our way through a field of bamboo which must have been about 8ft high, it reminded me of a horror movie. Total mileage walked according to Johns GPRS was 3.45 miles our dogs were shattered, so was Paul.

They stayed like this for the rest of the evening only getting up for their  tea and their last walk of the night.

In the evening we all went up to the pub to watch the Morris dancers, well Angela and I watched Paul and John had lengthy discussions on this and that.

Think at this point Paul had given up the will to live!!!!!!!

At least the dancers had a nice evening to perform.

By the time we got back to the boat it was freezing.

How was your head this morning Angela???????????

We left Fradley around 10 as we knew we had to stop at Streathay for a gas bottle, when we got there the day boat was on the dock being pumped out and about 10 people were waiting to get on board so we pulled over to the opposite bank and waited and waited and waited 35 minutes later we got back on board and left, the gas bottle can wait. You would have thought they would have prepared the boat in good time for their customers arrival but hey ho its their loss.

Goodbye Rugley

Yesterday we said goodbye to Rugley, leaving our mooring in brilliant sunshine.

The weather yet again was good for cruising and we hardly met a soul on our way to Fradley.

This is why we love our life aboard you cant beat scenery like this.

We had a bit of luck when we got to Wood End lock as there were contractors cutting down a tree so we now have a few logs on the roof, the start of our winter fuel lets hope we find a bit more.

There were volunteers on the two Fradley locks so we got through in comparative ease through the swing bridge and onto the water point. I did a reccy to see if there were any free moorings and there weren't but just as the tank filled up a big work boat that had been moored up came by so we were able to slip into the vacated spot.

We had arranged to meet up with John and Ang nb Ellen and they had just moored up below the lock so came up for a chat and we popped up to the pub for a lunch time drink. Then decided to return in the evening for a meal which was very nice, a pleasant evening had by all.

Things seem to have quietened down but as the the children are due back to school this week that is to be expected.

Good night out.

Yesterday we met up with an old work colleague of mine who lives a few miles away. She came with her husband had a cuppa with us then took us back to their house for a very nice meal. On the way we stopped at the German war cemetery on Cannock Chase and a very moving place it is.

Everything is pristine as you would expect from the War Graves Commission. The graves are of soldiers from both world wars and it is a really lovely setting. There is also a small cemetery with soldiers from the UK Poland and New Zealand.

When we got to Margaret's and Stuarts house it didn't take long for the wine to be opened. We had a lot of catching up to do as we haven't seen one another for 35 years. We managed to consume plenty of wine Paul having a bottle of red to himself Margaret,Ray (her brother)and I demolished 2 and a half bottles of white. Poor Stuart being the driver stuck to water all evening which was just as well as on  the journey back a huge deer ran across the road in front of us. Now we have made the initial contact hopefully we can see one another a bit more frequently 35 years is a lot of catching up.

A few days ago we took the dogs to the vet as they were both in desperate need of a claw trim. While there we put Crystal on the scales and she weighed 46kg which in old money is 7 and a quarter stone think its time to cut her food down. Although she is not a fat dog just a little broad across the beam (bit like me). I wont tell you what Paul said but he did mention arse and rhino. Draw your own conclusions…..