These are two photos I took to illustrate the difference between yesterday and today.
Yesterday from the side hatch.
This is today, thoroughly miserable.There have been a few hardy souls who have braved the weather.
Yesterday afternoon we were all sat on the tow path enjoying the sunshine. Today its batten down the hatches and stay tucked up inside.
It rains again!!!!!!!!
We took advantage of the sunshine yesterday to move stopping at the water point to fill the tank and use the elsan at Anglo Welsh. We knew we had to pay for the privilege and was told it was a £1 a cassette when Paul went to the office with £3 in his grubby little hand the guy said what is that for so Paul replied three cassettes and was told “no, it is just a pound no matter how many cassettes” so the £2 went in the charity box. Once the tank was full Paul reversed and we headed up to Tixall and are now moored just past the “wide”.
In the afternoon I walked to the village to post a letter and warn them that there would be post arriving for us only problem was the Post Office shuts Thursday afternoons so this means another walk on Saturday well its more of a hike as it is a 20 minute walk from where we are moored. Should be fun with the shopping trolley!!
Today yet again it is raining and I suppose the only good thing is you tend to get jobs done that you keep putting off. I have cleaned out the cupboards given the floor a wash and Paul has his head in the wardrobes giving the back lining a coat of emulsion a job that has been put off since we came out of the yard (nearly two years) but of course there was no rush. As this weather looks set in for the day I think this afternoon I will settle down and read my Kindle Paul can watch what ever black and white film he likes.
Late this morning with the weather being unusually fine there has been quite a bit of boat traffic of one sort or another. Firstly this came along and chose a unique way of mooring up.
Caused a bit of a bird jam with ducks and swans waiting to get through.
Then we could here children's voices and round the corner came this little lot.
There were 5 boats in total each with an adult and children of varying ages, they were all having a whale of a time and it was good to see kids actually doing something exciting. We only got hit by one canoe and they were very apologetic.
I did read in yesterdays paper that apparently you put a couple of years on your life if you stand up more, so today I stood to read my book, stood to eat my breakfast and stood to drink a glass of wine. Paul reckons I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, we will see………….
We had a trip into Stafford this afternoon and I managed to get Paul to part with £75 for a new electric razor it was half price so a bit of a bargain. He has been moaning for ages about his old one and every time I broached the subject he would make an excuse as to why he shouldn't buy a new one, well today he didn't have any choice as I steered him into Boots choose a razor and then open his wallet to pay for it. I of course collected the points which will enable me to buy myself something nice at a later date. If this wasn't enough excitement for his wallet he then took me into McDonalds for lunch Phew I needed a sit down after that Oh no I should have stood that could have been another 5 minutes on my life…….
Yes it is still raining, not constantly I grant you but short sharp showers which have made the tow path muddy so plastered dogs after every walk.
Yesterday a boat went by and 5 minutes later there was a knock on the boat. On the tow path stood Martin from nb Erin-Mae a fellow blogger who has been reading our blog and thought he would stop and introduce himself. Which was much appreciated as it is nice to meet up with people who take the time to read the blog.
We haven't been up to much lately Betty and Graham have gone up to Stone and we are moving tomorrow. We did walk the rubbish up and got chatting to a chap from Anglo Welsh who said they have no bookings for the weeks of the Olympics even though they have offered quite large discounts and with the conditions of the rivers some customers have been transferred to depots where there is no access to rivers like Great Haywood. With the weather being so dire I should think that a lot of the hire companies are suffering at the moment. Still we must stay positive after all we aren't on holiday so what ever the weather throws at us we can either stay or move.
Since we arrived here on Monday we have had a couple of good days and the rest have been awful days. The fields around us are flooded and the River Trent that runs near Shugborough has burst it banks here at Little Haywood so if we are told there is a water shortage I think I will scream………
The weather hasn't stopped Paul fishing though and he has had some lovely fish. For those of you that are interested here are the best.
An 18 pounder
11lb
The last carp was Pauls pride and joy but just after I had taken the photo it leapt out of Pauls arms straight back into the canal.
For those of you that weren't interested sorry!!!!!!
We plan to move on Monday we need water etc. so lets hope it stays dry.
Today Betty and I went exploring to see if we could get up onto Cannock Chase. It was a lot easier than we thought, just come off the tow path at b72 turn left down to the main road and there is a sign post opposite taking you into the car park and up on to “The Chase”.
We passed this little beauty.
The River Trent.
Unusual bridge over the river, you can just see the places pedestrians can pop into when a car comes along.
There were a few cars in the car park and we then had a dilemma, which route should we take. Well we plumped for the most obvious and just went straight ahead along a nice path, there are posts with route numbers on so in theory you shouldn't get lost but there were lots of interesting path off the main route but we were that confident to go off exploring. These are the pictures I took.
We did disturb a buzzard but other than two dog walkers that is all the life we saw. If I can gee Paul up enough I think we will take the dogs up there.
Oh yes when I was in bed last night and Paul was fishing this is what he caught.
and as I write this he has caught a humungous fish a hire boat stopped while he reeled it in no doubt it will be on here tomorrow, bet you cant wait!!!!!!!
Today it was a hop skip and a jump to Little Haywood, we managed to do the journey before the rain came down yet again. I have decided that while we are in the area I am going to go for a walk on Cannock Chase and I am going to visit Shugborough Hall. Paul wont do the later as old buildings aren't his thing but I thought that we have been here so many times and not visited this lovely house that now I must put that right. On looking at their web site on the 19th August there is a “Spitfire prom” where one of the last remaining spitfires does a display and The National Symphony Orchestra provides the music, if we play our cards right we can get a decent mooring at Tixall and watch and listen for free.
While we are here Paul wants to get a couple of jobs done so if we go off the radar for a bit that is why we wont be moving for a week.
The weather looks pretty wet for at least another couple of weeks so staying put seems like a good idea to me. Thing I will go exploring and take the camera.
