Busy bee yet again.

Paul was up with the lark today , that is to say he was up with the lark but only started work after he had watched The Wright Stuff, this was mainly because he was a bit undecided as to whether he was going to risk finishing off the paint. In the end he said "oh sod it" and got on with the job that was started yesterday.

The stern boards were done yesterday so the rest of the paint work was done this morning and then it was out with the tin of bitumen to paint above the water line.

What a good match the new paint is.

Nice and shiny now but it wont last long.
While he was busy outside I was busy inside with the Brasso getting the curtain rods nice and shiny. The bag of bits for the charity shop is growing by the day. Does any one want 3 crystal decanters and some glasses? At one point I actually caught him chatting to a couple of lady hikers one of whom took our phone number as she was interested in the bikes. Well that's the story he told me any way, (it must be true as he can't remember his phone number and it is mine that is on the bikes). At least it has stayed dry for once and the hire boats that were out in their droves today actually looked as if they were enjoying themselves.

Tomorrow we have to get water etc then we will come back here(hopefully) so Paul can paint the other side of the boat. I then have to make sure there is enough easy food in for Paul while I am at Jacks. No doubt Paul will make a couple of trips to the Gongoozlers.

Not a good idea.

Paul was determined to get the painting done today, so everything was scrubbed down, stern decks removed and the gulley given a good wash through, think there was more dog hairs in this gulley than on the dog. Weather looked a bit dodgy but no rain was forecast. Newly mixed paint was put to use on the stern decks first (these were on the chairs on the towpath) then it was below the gunnel that had the treatment. Paint has matched in fine so that is a good result.
Well you can imagine with it being Bank holiday Sunday the amount of boats that were whizzing past, so Paul was getting more and more irate as the boat was moving quite a bit. Wasn't for me to tell him it was the wrong day to do the painting I think he found that out for himself. He managed to get it all done just in time for the F1 which turned out to be a disaster for Jenson Button so all in all Paul is not a very happy bunny and to top it all it is now RAINING. So it looks as if the painting will have to be done all over again. Ah well such is life.
Have had some success with Skype, spoke with our friends in Hungary for an hour and with my cousin in Spain this week but have found we cant use the camera which isnt a problem just speaking for free is a bonus.

Another sunny blustery day

Well, we are still on the puddle banks. Derwent 6 past us yesterday on their way to Norton junction. Yesterday and today we have wandered down to the Gongoozlers for our breakfast saved me cooking and it is always a popular spot. Have popped in to the Toll house and paid the license for the next year, no stoppages list as yet but Paul can call in next week when I am at Jacks. Cant believe how windy it has been, Paul had planned to get a bit of painting done, he wanted to try out his paint on the stern deck to see if the colour mix was ok before he painted below the gunnels. But as it has looked decidedly iffy that job has been put off for yet another day. Meanwhile I have tackled another clear out job under the raised floor of the dinette 2 more bags for the charity shop. Oh yes forgot to say that Paul has tackled a job that has been on the list for months. We had a filter tap on the galley sink taps that has been redundant for some time (getting cartridges was a problem) the filter tap was removed and the pipework had to be reconfigured as the filter could not be isolated. Paul thought that was going to be an half hour job as it entailed removing some fittings and swapping them over but as with everything on this boat nothing is straightforward, the fitting in the bottom of the cupboard was an odd ball and the pipe had been cut too short in the first instance so as you can image there was a lot of f**ing and b***ing it was lucky that there was some pipe left over from when we disconnected a radiator. New length of pipe was duly installed and instead of it wringing its neck it fitted like a glove. the rest of it went to plan and is now up and running 1 job down 57 to go!!! As it was a nice day yesterday I washed the side of the boat down while Paul watched from the comfort of his chair on the tow path, he got some very funny looks from passing boaters. There was a job he was going to do today and that was change the engine oil and filter but he got out of that because he didn't have a filter only AN EMPTY BOX cant blame me for that one I don't buy the engine spares. Heaven help me if I had put an EMPTY Tbag box back in the cupboard.

Windy or what

It seems very quiet without our friends, has taken a couple of days to get back into a routine must admit it is always nice to get back into your own bed.
Yesterday we went into Rugby just for a wander , I suggested to Paul that he get a body warmer as you don't always want to wear a big jacket on the back of the boat. We went into various places with no luck, popped into the new Asda and they had a nice padded one for £10 but that was dismissed as it didn't have enough pockets just how many do you need, isn't 3 enough,well obviously not so we kept on looking.I loose interest when I am not shopping for myself so waited outside the numerous shops that were visited. One outdoor shop had a nice line in a thing similar to a body warmer with loads of pockets but not very thick and at the give away price of £59.99 Paul couldn't believe his eyes so we left empty handed yet again. As a last resort Paul went in to an upmarket surfy kind of shop I was having a chuckle to myself because although they had a sale on everything in the window was over £30 so I really couldn't see Paul splashing the cash in that store. Half hour later he emerged wearing a nice padded body warmer bargain at £32 reduced from £64 no more pockets than the Asda one but according to Paul his one has a bit more "style" needs to for that money.
My daughter had sent up our post and amongst it was a nice tax form for Paul to fill in so that has been completed and sent off this morning while we were in Daventry.
We are undecided as whether to move off for a few days it all depends on the weather if it is as windy as today we will stay here for another week just wanted to be out of the way for the Bank holiday weekend. We will probably go back towards Napton junction where we know we can turn round.I need to be near a bus route as I am babysitting for Jack next weekend. Lot quieter here today but then it is the middle of the week and the hireboats are mid holiday. Still cant believe the amount of empty places on the moorings here.

And then there were two!

This morning we waved goodbye to our friends, we have had a lovely time with them. Haven't been too far just to Fenny Compton and back stopping off at The Wharf for a pub lunch. Steve enjoyed doing the locks and the boys got plenty of fishing in but didn't catch a thing. Still I am sure they put the world to rights while sitting on the tow path.

On the outward journey we stopped at Marston Doles had hoped to get on the 48hr mooring but there was a queue of about 6 boats waiting to go down so we picked a spot just on a bit, had to get the shears out but it was a nice quiet spot. Then onto Fenny Compton where we winded then moored up for our pub lunch. 2 hours later we were on our way back again heading for a nice spot we had seen by bridge 130. When we arrived there were only two other boats, by 5pm you couldn't have squeezed another boat in, again the rods were out, again no luck. Broke the habit and travelled Saturday so it was back down the locks there were boats going both ways so that was a bonus.

I like the view of the windmill in the distance.

I did get a bit irate as we entered the bottom lock, there was a boat on the lock mooring and another came into the pound and moored on the sanitary point, as we needed the facilities I asked him if he was going to use them "no he says we are waiting for the lock" well we need to empty the cassette and we wont be able to moor up I said, he just carried on chatting to the boat opposite and totally ignored me so Paul put the boat in the lock Steve and I opened the paddles half way to empty the lock slowly so Paul could get off with the cassette, let them wait was my take on the situation. Needless to say there was no apology for being pig ignorant. Okay so I was acting like a child but I was REAL MAD and his actions delayed everyone else waiting for the lock.

Carried on past the junction and moored up by bridge 108 which gave us just 4 miles to do Sunday morning. We actually got the BBQ out Saturday evening and had a real feast of a meal. Cant beat the smell of BBQ on the tow path.

Sunday morning took a nice slow journey back to Braunston it was a lovely morning, we were taking bets as to whether the one decent mooring on the puddle banks would be free and much to our amazement it was, there was only one boat there, how unusual to find spaces in Braunston. Needed to get some potatoes so while Paul settled down to watch F1 the three of us had a wander up to the village. Back on the boat lunch over with and Ang and I got the chairs out and spent the rest of the afternoon getting nicely pink in the sun and the wind. While I was preparing the evening meal Ang came down to say there was a homing pigeon on the top box, next thing you know and Paul is knocking at the window with the said bird in his hands, he then proceeded to feed it Cherrios and water, pigeon was very impressed

with his meal in fact it sat on the boat for ages quite happy to mix with us humans, it was only when we were inside the boat eating our meal that it decided to come aboard and join us and Crystal doing her "I guard this boat from intruders "bit chased it, luckily it went out the way it came and only s**t once. There was a phone number tattoed on its wing feathers(one of which had come out) and we tried the number with no reply. We were a bit concerned that the dog had scared it so much it had keeled over but as there was no sign we assumed it had gone home.

This morning after we had seen Steve and Ang to their car the pigeon returned sitting quite happily on the TV ariel more Cherrios were put out but he didn't stay very long, again we tried the phone number but still no reply. I just hope he gets home safe.

Computer sorted!

Tuesday Paul went off to Kent to his friends funeral and I went into Daventry to have my hair done and leave the lap top in the repairers for them to have a look to see why the thing was getting slower and slower. This is the first time that Paul has left me on my own overnight since we bought the boat, I was given strict instructions on every conceivable thing from starting and stopping the engine to turning the solar panel in the right direction. But hey ho I managed and when he came back Wednesday morning with Steve and Angelique the boat was still afloat and I hadn't blown anything else up.
After a quick cuppa we all jumped in the car so we could get the "heavy" shopping you know what I mean the bottles and the cans. Paul went to the computer shop and oh what a surprise the guy hadn't even looked at it, so that put Paul in a foul temper, I was given very short shrift because I hadn't put any chocolate in the trolley(or so he thought) so off he trots and came back with a vast selection of everything HE liked did I care of course not us girls had already picked a few tasty bars of chocolate that WE liked.
After lunch as it was such a lovely day we all sat on the towpath, this time it was Steve dangling his rod. Angelique had her legs hanging over the edge near to the water and Paul had got his old fishing rod concealed it under the armco then proceeded to tickle the bottom of her feet with the end of the fishing rod making her jump. Paul told her to keep her feet out of the water because you get snakes swimming along the shoreline, as usual Angelique didn't believe him and thought he was pulling her leg. About 10 minutes later believe it or not an adder about a metre long swam along the armco past Ang's feet Paul pointed it out to her which made her more than surprised and going into panic mode, was that a coincidence or what, at least she knew we weren't pulling her leg. It proceeded over to the other side of the canal and on its way. Around 4 the boys went back into Daventry to get the laptop needless to say Paul was all fired up to have a big row but it had been looked at and a few things done so hopefully it is all sorted now. It does appear a lot faster so fingers crossed, also Steve showed me a programme that cleans out all the internet sites you have looked at and not revisited so that has also cleaned out a lot of junk.
The last time they were with us we had moored at Hillmorton and tried the Indian restaurant near to the rail bridge and the food was lovely, so Ang wanted to go again and as they had the car we decided to have an evening out. So there we all were scrubbed up nice with half decent gear on sat in the car while Steve tried to set up his Sat nav to take us to Hillmorton from Braunston, while at home he had checked the internet and knew we were about 6 miles away. Anyway after about 10 minutes of trying to get the thing to accept the address of the Indian we gave up and set off, with Paul and I saying "its okay we know the way we have been there on the bus". With hind sight that wasn't the best thing to say as buses don't go the most direct route so when we were on the dual carriage way heading towards Leamington Spa we knew we had gone wrong somewhere, of course it was my fault because I had said follow the signs for Rugby. So after finally being able to turn round we pulled into a garage got out the trusty Satnav which this time decided it would accept Hillmorton and we were finally on our way heading back in the direction we had come. Noticed where we had gone wrong first time around and eventually got to the Indian. Once again the food was excellent and the service first class, being a Wednesday it wasn't busy just a few tables occupied and on leaving all the ladies were presented with red rose which was a very nice touch I was impressed as I don't often get given flowers especially roses. (Paul please note!!!).
This morning in this awful wind we set off for the South Oxford needless to say we hadn't gone too far when the heavens opened Paul and I donned our wetties Steve and Ang hot foot it below are they wimps. Just what kind of friends are they I ask myself them in the dry, us soaking wet. Luckily it soon cleared up so Steve and I were able to do the locks in better weather although the wind was a problem for Paul, for once we were the only ones going up and at every lock there were about 6 boats waiting to come down most of which were hire boats heading back to their respective marinas. Once through the top lock at Marston Doles we decided to look for a nice spot for the night and finally found one not too far from the lock, we are on pins and it is a bit hairy with the wind really blowing a gale at times but it is quiet, good tv and a fairly reasonably internet signal.
While at Braunston a couple took the satellite stuff, we now have decided to get rid of the bikes and the rack so if there is any one out there who wants a ladies and a gents bike both of which have racks and panniers on also the bike rack which fits on the boat let us know. Unfortunately these aren't a frebbie we need to re-coup some of the money they cost us. Tomorrow we are heading for Fenny Compton please don't let it rain.

Braunston

We were very lucky and bagged the last mooring spot on the 14 dayers by bridge 89, bit of a walk to chandlery at the bottom lock especially as the footbridge 1a over the marina is closed so you have to go via the footpath by the horses field.

We have a lovely view of the church night and day.

Luckily we are by a wide bit so bit less hazardous than being near road bridge 90 where it is narrow. Saying that we lost one coat of paint off the gunnel this morning when a woman came a trifle close while passing a boat coming the opposite way. Paul's comment is best left to the imagination.

While we have been here we have been quite busy. Friday morning we popped into Midland chandlers to get a replacement globe for one of our wall lights Paul caught it with his ring and the thing cracked and the bulb blew so had to get a couple of them too. Walked to the Gongoozlers for breakfast, afterwards met Pam and Dave in the marina they were on their way for breakfast too great minds I think. In the afternoon we decided to go the chandlery by the bottom lock and I also had a bag of books for the canal shop. It was while on our way that we found out the footbridge was closed, saw Beccy who was sign writing a boat so had a chat to her. While I was depositing the books Paul went into the chandlery to see if they could get us another Shoreline solar panel, lady couldn't ring Shoreline as they close at 4 on a Friday so first thing Monday morning she will call them for us no doubt the panels will have gone up in price. That's if we can get one of course.

Now in my infinite wisdom I have decided that we have to de-clutter, we have stuff that hasn't seen the light of day since we bought the boat so I really got stuck in, some went in the bin and some was put aside for the charity shop, Paul even got involved and sorted a cupboard where all sorts of things seem to be put, still have a long way to go but at least I have made a start.

Yesterday we caught the bus to Daventry with our bag of bits for the charity shop and we also had to do a bit of shopping in readiness for our friends coming on Wednesday. I also needed to make an appointment to have my hair cut. I popped into the hairdressers and when I came out there was no sign of Paul, now he has this habit of walking off, so I wandered down to the high street still no sign now how can you loose someone who is pulling a shopping trolley with a bright red bag on it I tell you I can. By this time I was getting a bit irate to say the least so I decided to call him on his phone and where was he, no not in the pub, he was in the computer shop talking to the guy about our lap top which seems to be getting slower and slower. So on Tuesday when I go into to have my hair done I have to take the laptop into the shop for them to look at it.

Today was the perfect day to get the side of the boat washed and polished so that is another job out of the way. Oh yes another job I have managed to get done after all this time is put black out lining on the bedroom curtains only taken me 2 years must say I'm pleased with the result.

Have spent a few hours wiling away the time of day with walkers and boaters and think this evening we may even get the BBQ out.

As we have a new TV system if any wants a Sky box, sat dish and sat finder also a Sagem digi box just let us know, they may do some one a turn and they are free.