Where I belong.

Ice crunching from Market Harborough to Foxton

2012-02-15T15:58:00.000Z

Market Harborough to Foxton (Ice Ice Baby).

2012-02-15T15:42:00.002Z

Market Harborough to Foxton 5.15 miles travelled in 4 hours.

Today was the day to get underway again. With the temperature rising, the ice has begun to melt, so we thought it was time to make a move, but before we made a move I wanted to fill the water tank, so connected the hose to the water tap near the boat. Whilst the water tank was filling, Keith started Hadar's engine to get it nice and warm before we set off. The water taps along the towpath are so slow, that after almost three quarters of an hour there was no sign of the tank being full, so we decided to stop filling, we could top up at the top of the Foxton Locks, where we know they are quicker.

Having been stuck for 2 weeks, it was nice to get underway again, we winded in the basin, pulled into the sanitary station to empty the toilet cassette and get rid of rubbish. We said our goodbyes to boating friends, Jo and John on NB Acen and Viv and David on NB First Fruits. We will probably not see them again until October.

The ice was about 2" thick to begin with in places, it would then drop down to 1" thick, so plain sailing for the first few hundred metres, then the 3" thick ice kicked in as we approached Bridge 14 near the Old Union Canal Society Moorings, but Hadar was coping very well with the ice, the only problem was the bends, where it took us a couple of goes to get around them, because 70" boats do not bend in the middle.

There is something very magical about crunching through the ice in glorious sunshine. I bet there will be some reading this posting and thinking you are mad. But hey we could move so we did. There will be others reading this and asking what about your blacking? Its paint, it can be replaced and will be next Spring. I know that some people are very precious about their blacking and that is their prerogative, but it will not stop us moving in the ice. I read a posting on Maffi's blog yesterday, about how two hire boats were out on the Oxford and they got threatened and verbally abused. It is not acceptable boating behaviour to abuse other canal users. If the hire company felt it was alright for the boats to move in the ice then so be it. We are continuous cruisers and will cruise in any weather if we can.

Whilst on the move, I kept the coffee flowing, I also heated up some Sausage Rolls to keep us topped up. It was not particularly cold, I was only in a jump and a waistcoat. The wildlife was out and about, we saw a couple of Squirrels playing chase up and down a pine tree, a long Kestrel hovering over a field looking for some lunch and the ducks were very happy we were breaking the ice for them, so they could move more freely.

The ice looked amazing with it double layer. The first layer being the ice and on top frozen snow, which contained hundreds upon hundreds of air bubble, it really did look amazing. We made it to Foxton Village and I stepped off of the boat to work the swing bridge which was a little stiff, so I had to work to get the darn thing open. Keith moved through and picked me up at Black Horse Bridge. We moored up before the Foxton Locks swing bridge, with a view to taking on diesel at Debdale in the morning, before heading up the locks.

All moored up, I made us some soup and rolls for lunch. After lunch Keith went to make sure the locks would be open in the morning for us to move, which they will be. My phone rang and it was Debbie from the hire boat company in Market Harborough, she wanted to know how far we had got, as she had a hire boat which wanted to go out, so I told her our progress and she was going to inform the couple of the hire boat that they could follow our trail. I am sure they will be glad to be out and about, after all they have paid for a boating holiday, not a sitting in the basin holiday. A knocking on the engine room door, set Paddy a barking. It was Paul from Waterway Routes, he is out and about taking photographs and gathering information for his website and DVD's. It is always lovely to see him and to have a quick chat. He was then on his way to Market Harborough.

So that has been our day so far. We have a good TV signal, so lots to watch later on. I now have to think about dinner tonight.

The Question

2012-02-14T11:52:00.001Z

Stoppage: Lock 38 (Kings Lock) to Lock 31 (Double Rail Lock)

2012-02-14T09:04:00.001Z

Stoppage: Lock 38 (Kings Lock) to Lock 31 (Double Rail Lock)

17 Mar 2012 - 01 Apr 2012

Associated Regional Office: Central Shires Waterways

As a result of the continued dry weather, the reservoirs which supply the GU Leicester Line are not re-filling as planned, so work needs to be undertaken to reduce water loss on the canal to prolong the 2012 cruising season.

Therefore, the canal will be closed to allow the 8 locks to be drained and have all the gates re-lined to reduce water leakage through them.

The nearest winding hole to Lock 31 is upstream of Lock 30 (Kilby Lock).

The 8 locks within this section will be drained and the water level in the adjacent pounds will also be lowered. Therefore, no boats will be permitted to moor within this length for the duration of the works.

British Waterways apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

(Enquiries: Telephone 01827 252000 during normal office hours.)

Frantic couple of days.

2012-02-13T16:51:00.001Z

Sunday 12th February.

It was not a day of relaxation for me, it was a day of cleaning and titivating. With the towpaths being covered in snow, we and I include the dog in the we, have dragged the snow into the boat despite wiping our feet, this is a lesson Paddy has not mastered yet and at the age of 8 years old I do not suppose he ever will, so the floors were swept and mopped with my new Addis Twist Mop, which works a treat. The bathroom got a Spring clean, this included the tiles on the wall and floor. By the time I had finished it was sparkling for all of five minutes. Next to get my attention was my clothes cupboard in the back cabin, which needed tidying and sorting. I have a policy when I buy something new, something old must go and in this case it was two of my old shirts, which became rags.

With a nice tidy cupboard, it was time to make some lunch and to sit down and watch a Sunday afternoon movie. Whilst I was busy with tidying the boat, Marmite found it all to much to watch, so spread herself out in the back cabin and relaxed.

So Sunday was a busy day for me.

Today being Monday it has also been a frantic day. Frantic for the reason that we went in search of our ever increasing mound of lost post, which I mentioned in a previous posting BLOG. I had this theory that with us only being one of three with the same post code, the postman must have delivered out post to one of the other addresses. Before we went on the mail trail, we popped down into the town to buy some storage boxes for our stock of goodies for sale. Back at the basin we then set about discovering where our six missing pieces of mail had flown off to. I thought maybe one of the other addresses had our mail and luck had it that a gentleman living in one of the houses was loading stuff into his car.I asked him. "Has the postman delivered anything to you that does not have your name on". He went off to check and came back with two of our missing letters Yayyy. He then said he would keep an eye open for anything else, and put it in our box. My other thought was the mail be in the house next door, which was now empty, so we headed to the hire boat office to see if they had a key, because it was a British Waterways house, only to be told they did not have a key and we would have to contact the company looking after the house.(Drat). However there were two items of post for us at the office, which included our voting mail for the new Canals and Rivers Trust. Whilst we contemplated our next move to find the two remaining items of lost post, we sat outside the office and waited for the postman to arrive, so we could show him exactly where our mail should be put. We sat and we sat. We waited and we waited, but no postman. Keith was now getting cold, so he headed back to the boat with our storage boxes. I carried on waiting for the elusive postman, but by the time it hit midday I was also cold, so went back to the boat for a warm and some lunch. Lunch over, I headed out again to see if he was about and was told he had been grrrr missed him by minutes. The last two items of post we are missing are our driving licences, which is a real pain in the behind, because we have contacted the DVLA and they will send out another licence for both of us, but if the flippin postman does not know where to put them, we will never get them. So although we have some of our post, we are still waiting to get the remainder of it and I will be out looking for the postman again tomorrow. Back on the boat, I set about putting our stock items into their new storage boxes and Keith went off down the town to the bank.

I don't know about you, but I am exhausted just reading this hahahaha. My day has finished with us taking onboard our Tesco food delivery, which Keith helped me with, because the towpath is still lethal, and I did not feel comfortable wheeling a heavy trolley along it. I have just finished putting the food away, so the fridge, freezer and cupboard are all full again, the Canal and Rovers Trust voting form has been filled in ready for posting tomorrow and I am now going to sit down and relax until dinner time.

Chat soon.

A sad loss.

2012-02-12T09:26:00.002Z

I was so shocked to hear from Keith the tragic news that Whitney Houston has died at the young age of 48.

Whitney was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was staying for the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. I am a huge fan of The Body Guard and the song "I will always love you", which is a person favourite of mine.

May she rest in peace after a trouble life. xx

Cold, yet stunning.

2012-02-11T12:04:00.001Z

It has been reported that it got down to -14c over night.

It was most certainly a Haw frost last night.

I could not resist going out with my camera.

Everything felt so clean and fresh.

It was so pretty watching the ice sprinkle to the ground off of the trees.

The birds and wildlife are finding it difficult to find food.

A lovely day for a walk.

The trees looking like they were covered in glitter, with the sun shining on them.

The deliveries must go on

2012-02-11T11:02:00.002Z

The deliveries must go on. Mark Boardman on his working boat Dusty has made it into the Oxford Mail. Mark has been delivering coal and diesel through this cold snap. He was ploughing through 3" of ice to reach his customers, who I know were very grateful for his help. Mark is one of the nicest people you could ever meet and I know he does his utmost to reach everyone.

Market Harborough Museum.

2012-02-10T13:16:00.002Z

How a couple of hours can change what you get up to. There was I thinking my day would be a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but in fact it has already been fun. I took the broken zip out of Keith's fleece, so it is now ready for me to put the new one in, that is a job for tomorrow or Sunday. Whilst taking the zip out, I was listening to Hfm the local and very good radio station and they mentioned the Hallerton Helmet, which is on display at the Market Harborough Museum.

I said to Keith "We have not been there yet have we".

His reply was "No we could go down now if you like".

So without further a do, we closed the boat up and trundled down the town to the Museum, being careful with our footing, because the pavements were slippery.

We wandered around the museum and found the Hallaton Helmet.

The helmet is stunning and well worth a look.

The museum is free to visit, and although it is quite small, there is quite a large display regarding the Hallaton Treasure, which includes the helmet and the coins. So if your in Market Harborough you should go and have a look.

Having enjoyed our wander around the museum, we trundled back to the boat for some lunch and a coffee. Now I really am not doing anything else today. Well when I say nothing else, of course there will be dinner to cook, animals to feed, fires to stoke, bed to lay out and the general stuff I do everyday to keep body and soul together.

Snowed on and frozen in.

2012-02-10T09:45:00.001Z

We woke up this morning to another two inches of snow, which is now covering the ice on the towpath, so it was gently does it as I walked Paddy.

Before I get on to today's ramble, I should update you on my day yesterday. It began with all the usual morning stuff, which you must be bored with hearing about by now, but the fires are important at the moment. After we had breakfast, we decided to try and move the boat, because we were leaning at a rather jaunty angle. I got on the bow with a pole and broke some of the ice, whilst Keith moved the boat backwards and forwards. We managed to move the boat a few feet, which put us back on a level playing field. I could then stop feeling like I was running up hill. After a coffee Keith suggested we walked down to the Royal Mail sorting office to see if they had our missing post. For some odd reason we have had four items of post go missing, one piece of mail being a cheque. So having donned our hats, coats and gloves we gingerly tackled the towpath and footpath around the basin to head down into down. To get to the Royal Mail sorting office we had a 2 mile walk there, which was done at a brisk pace once on the clear pavements. On arrival at the office, Keith spoke to a postal worker and he went in search of our mail, but came back with the news it was not there grrrr, so it seems it has flown off somewhere, which is not good news. We will now have to send out a search party to find our post. The cheque situation I have already sorted, but we now have to find our other post before we leave Market Harborough. Having walked back into the town and had a wander round, we decided to go into The Sugar Loaf, Wetherspoons Pub for a Curry Club Lunch. I have had a Curry Club meal before with friends, but for Keith this was his first one. We both enjoyed our meals and a pint of Ruddles each which was included in the price of the meal. With us both pleasantly full, we walked back to the boat where we were greeted by Paddy and Marmite who were waiting for us in the back cabin. The rest of our day was spent doing odd jobs and watching TV.

So on to today. As I said at the beginning we have a couple of inches of snow again. It really does look stunning out.

Even the wharf looks pretty in the morning sunshine.

I do not think we will be doing much today, although I do have to change a zip in Keith's fleece jacket, because he has managed to break it. So we will see what the day brings.

Happy 5th Birthday to Hfm, who are a fantastic local radio station.

Right off to do something, have a wonderful day xxx

Life Afloat.

2012-02-08T14:08:00.001Z

Everyone who either has a boat for weekends, holidays or like us lives onboard full time gets asked the same thing by passers-by. Oh it must be such a wonderful life? These are the people who watch programs like "Waterworld" or "Locks and Quays", so they only ever see the sunshine, the glasses of wine enjoyed on the bow and happy smiley people. What they do not see is weather like we are experiencing at the moment. Living afloat is hard work and it is not always for the faint hearted. I am all about posting boating warts and all, so that people can see a true picture of life afloat. If this makes just one person realise that it is not necessarily for them then I have saved that person a fortune.

The reason for me saying all of the above, is because of some of the posts I have read this morning about people struggling to get water. Ian and Irene on NB Freespirit, managed to get water, but only after struggling to move the boat a few feet. BLOG. Then there was Al and Del on NB Derwent 6, who had to walk about a third of a mile to get water with a sack barrow BLOG. When we encounter this sort of weather, we all have to be prepared for anything to happen. It is not all about sunshine and Pimms on the bow. But I for one would not change a thing. I love the the rough with the smooth and I am quite happy to get down and dirty, which is what I did this morning, when Keith and I changed the filters on the generator, we also gave the generator an oil change, because it had been 200 hours since we had done the last one. So if your reading this and thinking you want to buy a boat, think very carefully about whether you would be able to cope in the icy conditions we are experiencing. I of course realise we do not get many winters like the past three, but you do need to think before you dish out your well earned cash and yes I know you can always go into a marina for the winter, but they also suffer with frozen water taps etc, so it is not all sweetness and light even on a winter mooring.

Chat soon xx

No Parking (mooring).

2012-02-07T15:32:00.001Z

Someone has a good sense of humour, this was posted on Facebook today.

Hair cut, crown and retail salt.

2012-02-07T15:25:00.001Z

It is now sounding repetitive, but yes it was another cold night last night, with the temperature getting down to -2.7c, so more ice on the canal and the slush along the towpath was frozen solid, making for dodgy conditions under foot when I took Paddy out for his morning stroll.

With the temperature expecting to drop to at least -8c tonight, the towpath is going to be a nightmare.

Last winter it was like walking on glass, so I am going to be taking great care.

Because Keith had to have a crown fitted at 12.30pm, we had a late cooked breakfast, which will sustain him for the rest of the day, as he is not supposed to eat for 24 hours. After a lovely cooked breakfast, which as always was cooked by Keith, we walked down into the town to Wilkinsons, to pick up our cushions order.

I wanted a couple of Union Jack Cushions for the saloon and as Wilkinsons was the cheapest U could find at £5 each they were my choice. I have seen then for between the £5 I spent and up to £20 each, which to me is a hell of a lot of money for a cushion, but I suppose with the Olympics and the Jubilee happening this year, everyone is trying to cash in. We popped into the indoor market, and low and behold on the material stall I found an apron pattern I have been looking for for ages. It is a pattern for a 1930/40's wrap around apron, very similar to what my Gran used to wear. I want to make one for the Village at War weekend at Stoke Bruerne.

I need to lengthen it, but the pattern is pretty accurate, so yayyy I am a happy bunny. I now need to find the right material.

11.45am I headed off for my hair appointment at 12 noon, whilst Keith headed off to the dentist for his crown fitting. Inflation has hit in hairdressing as well it seems, because a dry trim last year at the same hairdressers was £12.75, this year it is now £15. I would not mind but I do not have a shampoo, I have a dry trim of half an inch off my long hair. It takes no more than 10 minutes to comb it through and snip the ends off. Mind you I did get a coffee as well, so maybe I was also paying for the coffee. I will be going to Super Cuts more often I think as they charge £13.95. My other option is to shave all my hair off, this I can do myself and so will cost me nothing.

Having finished at the hairdressers, I went on the hunt for some salt, to sprinkle along the towpath alongside our boat, so that I could get into the hold and on to the bow without falling arse over tit so to speak, because I wanted to fill the water tank. I went into three different shops and they did not have any salt on the shelves, in the end I called into the paper shop opposite Union Wharf and bought two bags of salt for 69 pence each, which I thought was great. I got back to the boat, cleared the snow from alongside the boat, which was slushy, this will freeze later, so the salt will be coming out. I gathered the hosepipe, then checked that the tap was working, thankfully it was not frozen, so I got on with filling the water tank. Keith then came out and helped me get some coal out of the hold for the next couple of days. Jobs all done, it was then time for a coffee and a sit down.

So another day done, I am now getting itchy feet and have the need to move, but until the ice goes we are stuck, because we need to wind in the basin, which is impossible when it is iced over. Not only that we are sat on the bottom, so we need to get out into the channel to move, but are iced in. Hey ho that's life, we will just have to sit it out like every other boater.

Chat soon xxx

Trip to Leicester.

2012-02-06T16:49:00.001Z

There is still snow on the ground and fog was lingering in the air, but we decided that we would probably take the bus into Leicester, but this would only happen if my delivery of bunting arrived from Parcel Force. I had kept a track of my order and it was on the lorry ready to be delivered, but I did not know what time, so having walked Paddy, done the morning chores, Keith and I walked up to the hire boat office to wait for my delivery. As we walked around the basin Malcolm who helps to run the fleeted shouted across that a parcel had arrived, yayyyyy no standing out in the cold to wait for my parcel, sure enough it was a large box full of bunting for this seasons selling fest. We collected the boxes and took it nice and steady back to the boat, because it was slippery under foot. I then did a quick change out of my boating gear and into something a little more lady like. We were then off down the towpath again to the bus stop. The X7 arrived 15 minutes late at 10.30am, but that was understandable considering the weather conditions. Keith handed over £10 for two days tickets and we took our seats. It is 12 miles to Leicester, because it goes up hill and down dale, but we did eventually arrived in Leicester. We had a wander around the outdoor market, to see if there was any red rose material, which there wasn't but there was something close, but it was sods law because the gentleman only had 4 metres of it and I wanted 5 metres grrrrr. Having wandered around a little more just browsing, we spent three quarters of an hour in Dominoes toy shop which has 3 floors.

Each floor is stuffed with toys, some of which bought back childhood memories. Just up the street we went into a Chinese Buffet for lunch as we often do when we go into Leicester. We then went in search of some black socks for me, Primark was my final destination, I do so love that store. Before heading home on the bus we went into the Silver Street cafe for a coffee.

It was a lovely day out even if it was foggy and damp. We are now back on the boat in the warm. This evening the temperatures could drop below 0 degrees, and if this is the case it is going to be deadly on the towpath. Stay safe and warm out there people xxxx

And so the snow came.

2012-02-05T09:57:00.001Z

Saturday 04/02/2012.

A bitterly cold start to the day as the temperature over night had dropped to -14.9c. Some of the boaters moored with us had ice on the inside of their windows when they woke up, because we have portholes we had no ice at all and were still nice and snug inside the boat. As per-usual the morning began with a nice hot cup of tea in bed, but this morning we also had toasted crumpets, which were delightful. As we sat in bed watching a little TV, I also got the back cabin stove going, to increase the heat in the cabin, which then attracted Marmite to the side bed, where she settled down until I got up to take Paddy for his walk.

After doing the usual morning chores, Keith helped me to get some coal in from the hold, because with snow expected I wanted to make sure the coal was gathered in ready in case I could not get into the hold for a few days. We then walked down into the town, because Keith needed to change an item we had bought on the Friday. It was very obvious that there was a big police presence, this was because they were expecting a group of protestors to stop off on their way to Leicester. Clearly the police were taking nothing for granted, because the same thing happened last year and the police got caught out. On that occasion 500 protestors turned up in Market Harborough and caused problems having been into The Sugar Loaf for drinks. Today The Sugar Loaf closed its doors until 1pm, so that the protestors could not get tanked up before heading to Leicester. Whilst down in the I went to the indoor market and bought 2 brush cotton shirts for £10 from John's clothing stall. I bought similar shirts last year and they wash really well and are still in good order. We popped in to see a friend in her shop, whilst there a coach load of protestors turned up, got off the bus walked down to The Sugar Loaf, found that it was closed, so they all got back on the bus, as we walked back to the boat we saw the coach with the protestors on board heading for Leicester, so what with the pub being shut and the police presence there was no trouble. Back on the boat we settled in and waited for the snow to arrive, which it did at 4.30pm.

Sunday 05/02/2012.

This was the view from our galley window this morning as Keith cooked us Mushrooms on toast. I got up just after 7am to go out and take some photos of the snow which fell over night. We have had between two and four inches here in Market Harborough.

It is a winter wonderland outside and like the child that I still am, I wanted to enjoy it before it is ruined by lots of footprints or before it melts.

The ducks and swans still have their pool in the basin. I dare say they will be getting large supplies of bread again today.

Someone had clearly been busy with this fantastic snowman on the opposite bank of the canal.

Paddy really enjoyed his walk in the snow.

For this photograph he sat and waited for me to take it, bless him he is a good lad. I am not happy about allowing his to run along the towpath without his lead on in these conditions, because it would be so easy for him to run out on to the ice which is covered with snow. Paddy hates water, but when the canal is covered in ice and snow it looks like land to dogs and they will just walk out on to it. Whilst out walking there were doggie footprints on the ice and a fellow boater said that his dog had been out on the ice, which is hugely dangerous. I sent in a warning request to the local Hfm radio station, asking them to ask dog owners to keep their dogs on leads.

Good morning and well done for getting into the studio. Keith and I are enjoying the program.

Could I ask you to give out a warning to dog owners and walkers who walk the towpath in Market Harborough up near Union Wharf.

Over the past couple of days, I have seen doggie footprints on the canal, where they have gone out on to the ice. The ice is not thick enough and is highly dangerous, so it would be better if dog owners kept their dogs on leads. Not only that now there is snow on the canal, dogs think it is land and just walk out on to it if not on a lead. We would hate to witness a tragedy from our boat.

Many thanks

Jo on the boat.

People really fail to see how dangerous it can be. No one wants to spoil their fun, but I would hate to see a dog go through the ice.

I am quite sure I will be out taking more photographs later.

Chat soon xx

Life is too short.

2012-02-03T15:01:00.001Z

First snow.

2012-02-03T14:56:00.001Z

It's arrived a day earlier to what the forecasters said. This morning I opened the back cabin doors to find a dusting of snow on the canal and towpath.

I absolutely adore snow, it brings out the child in me. Even Paddy had a spring in his step when we went for his walk.

After breakfast, we had a few things we wanted to do in town, we also wanted to visit the local radio station Hfm with who we love dearly. They are about to have their fifth birthday and we wanted to take a card into the station, as we cannot go to their birthday part on the 10th February, because we hope that we will be on the move then, if the ice goes away. The radio station was the first port of call, where we received a warm welcome and a nice hot coffee. We spent an hour chatting to the DJ's about all their news from the past few months. Whenever we are in the area we like to listen to Hfm and to pop in and see them all when we get the chance. Having said our goodbyes until we see them again in October, we headed off into town to pick a few things we had forgotten yesterday, this included some elastic for Keith's tracksuit bottoms, which he wears in the evening. The elastic in them is no longer doing its job, so we went into the indoor market to purchase some more and whilst there we went and chatted to John who runs the outdoor clothing stall, where we buy our trousers, shirts etc for boating in. John like all the other stall holders are extremely worried about having to move out of the market. The council want to sell the indoor market hall to a big name retailer, meaning the stall holders will have to move. This is extremely upsetting for all concerned. There has been an ongoing petition, which now has over 10,000 signatures, but as yet the council are not listening to what people are saying. Hands off our Market. John say's they have been told they have possibly two years before they will be forced out, which is a real shame. We wished John well and hoped that we would see him in October, when we would be stocking up on new trousers etc.

Back on the boat in the warm, it was time for lunch and a coffee, before sitting down to watch "Carry On Sergeant" made in 1958 and was the first Carry On film.

I did have a shock today. Keith and I keep a supply of British Waterways pump out cards on board, which we sell on to people who require them, we do not make any money on them we sell them on for the price we buy them, so no profit for us, we just offer a service, so I was absolutely horrified to find out this morning that in a year the cards had gone up from £10 to £18. With such a hike in the price we have decided that once we have sold the remainder of the cards we have left, we will stop supplying them. It makes me glad that we do not have a pump out on our boat. I wonder if anyone else has noticed the hike in the price of pump out cards??

Chat soon x

Market Harborough.

2012-02-02T13:43:00.001Z

Brrrr after another night of minus temperatures, we are surrounded by ice again, but it is no where near as bad as last winter. We were awake before 6am, which is completely ridiculous when we have no need to be up so early, but a lot of it has to do with going to bed at 9.30pm. Keith had been snoozing in his chair from 8pm and I was left watching "Romancing The Stone" on E4, whilst also listening to Keith snoring. As 9pm approached I was also beginning to nod off, so at 9.30pm I gave in and woke Keith to let him know I was off to my bed and that he should also follow, which he did. Snuggled down in the back cabin beneath the duvet, I was soon in dream land.

Waking up so early meant the only thing to do was to make a cup of tea and put the TV on. I also got up and riddled the fire in the back cabin to generate a little more heat. Marmite clearly felt the warmest place was the back cabin, because she snuggled down beneath the duvet when Keith got up to go to the toilet. Watching the news I always find so depressing these days and this morning was no different what with the violence in Egypt and the Argentinian's getting on their high horse about the Falklands and Prince William going to the Falklands to do his training. No wonder I am not politically minded, but I do like to know what's going on in the world and the best way to do that is in bed with a hot cuppa and some toast, which I got up and made.

Finally out from beneath the duvet, Paddy was the first to get my attention, with his morning walk along a frozen towpath and snow flurries in the air. I was definitely crisp, but not get deep and even, but who knows we may get some of the lovely white stuff for the weekend. Back on the boat I stoked up the saloon stove, whilst Keith went off with the full cassette to the sanitary station, he also checked our post box for any mail. Unfortunately the letters we were expecting have not arrived grrrrr, he also collected a parcel from the hire company office, which Debbie took in for us. After getting the jobs done, we decided to walk into town, but not before giving a Tesco petrol voucher to our friends Jo and John on NB Acen, who are moored in the basin for the winter. When ever we get given fuel vouchers we always give them away, as we have no car. We had a chat with Jo and John and got to see their new designed galley which is stunning before heading down to the town to get a few bits. In fact we bought a new dustpan and brush, a mop, sink plunger, cod lover oil tablets and primrose oil tablets, so nothing exciting.

With lunchtime upon us, we went and had something in The Sugar Loaf a Wetherspoons Pub. Like so many Wetherspoons, it is housed in an old building this one dating back to 1810. It used to be Thomas Goward's grocery shop, where he traded until 1910. We had never been inside before, but had walked past it many times. Inside it is really lovely, we enjoyed our meals and two halves of Ruddles for just over £8. The place was pretty much full with people. After a very nice lunch we then wandered back up the hill to the boat, which felt lovely and warm as I opened the slide on the back cabin.

I do not think I will be venturing out again today. I will be sitting in a nice warm cabin with the TV on I reckon.

Chat soon xx

Coffee, Mr Tesco and Market Harborough.

2012-02-01T17:43:00.001Z

Having done the usual morning chores, I suggested to Keith that we should go out for a walk to stretch the legs and to take in some fresh air, so we put on our hats and coats and headed off to Foxton Locks.

There is something incredibly refreshing about walking when it is cold and frosty. The air feels so new and clean.

Moored in the spot we had been moored in at the weekend was The Candy Boat, Trev was cutting up wood, so we stood and had a chat with him. We caught up on the news of their season and how well it had gone. Having enjoyed catching up with Trev, we went into Bridge 61 for a coffee and a chat with Dawn who was on duty in the kitchen. Mick stoked the fire up and it was not long before other people came in for a warm and a hot drink. Our walk back to the boat took us away from the canal and along a footpath towards Foxton village, which comes out behind Foxton church.

We really enjoyed getting out in the fresh air, back on the boat I baked some bread and made us some soup for lunch. I then settled in to wait for Mr Tesco to arrive with our much needed food delivery.

2.45pm Mr Tesco arrived with our food delivery, which I collected from him at Black Horse Bridge. Then we prepared the boat for the off, as we wanted to head for Market Harborough.

At 2.55pm we set off from Foxton village, I opened the swing bridge and then whilst Keith steered the boat, I was down in the galley putting our food delivery away. It was wonderful to see the fridge, freezer and cupboard full again.

It takes more than a bit of ice to stop us moving. The ice in question was about half an inch thick and in places there was none at all. Having stowed all the shopping away, I made dumplings for our Lamb Shank stew which was cooking in the back cabin stove and some coffee for Keith and I to warm us on our journey.

Keith snug in his donkey jacket and hat.

The light was beginning to fade as we approached Market Harborough.

With so few boats on the move of late, we knew there would be a mooring outside of Union Wharf and we were not disappointed, we had a few to choose from, but for us it was the depth of water which chose our mooring, because on the first two attempts to get it we did not succeed, thankfully it was third time lucky, but we are still not right into the bank, so Paddy may have to do a leap of faith when he needs to go for his walk. So we are moored up, and now nice and snug, against what is supposed to be a cold night again with the temperature dropping to at least -2c according to BBC Weather for this area.

I really did enjoy cruising in the ice, there is something magical about listening to the ice break and watching it slide across the surface of the water.

Right off to enjoy a evening by the fire.

Chat soon x

Operation poop:

2012-02-01T12:13:00.000Z

Every responsible dog owner would love to see this happen all over the country.

Chilly Wednesday.

2012-02-01T09:47:00.001Z

The view from the galley window was a real picture, with the early sun shining on the frosty field. Over night the temperature got down to -3.2c, so a hard frost and yet there was not a lot of ice on the canal, but we are sheltered a little by trees.

Because the calm conditions the canal is like a mill pond, which lends itself to fantastic reflection photographs.

I could not resist taking the camera out.

On such a chilly morning, Porridge was on the menu for breakfast, which I made when I got back from walking Paddy along what was a very hard towpath, as the mud was frozen solid, this was great because no muddy footprints would be dragged through the boat. Breakfast eaten and fires stoked, the generator went on to charge the batteries and I put a load of washing on. I am waiting now for my Tesco delivery man to arrive with a bountiful amount of food to restock my cupboards and fridge which are both looking a little bare as it has been three weeks since we shopped for food, but it is always good to use up things which have been hanging around for a while. I have been informed that my food will be arriving between 2.20pm and 3.20pm, so we may make a move after that for MH all being well. If there is any ice it will not bother us to much, as we are not precious over paintwork or blacking. A boat is for boating with, so as continuous cruisers we will move if we can. Of course if the ice does get to thick then we would have to reconsider. Washing has just finished its cycle, so I am off to hang it up in the engine room and back cabin to dry, then we will see what the day brings.

Keith bless his heart, just got the local radio station HFM to play "Angels" by Robbie Williams for me awwwwwww.

Chat later maybe xxxx

Being Positive.

2012-01-31T12:57:00.003Z

Now anyone that knows me. I like most people enjoy a grumble every now and again, after all I am a woman. I have been known to take the P ocasionally. And I am not above being sarcastic or down right angry ( I tend to keep angry hidden)

But every now and then I like to take a deep breath and count my blessings for what I have had and have now. so here goes -

I have a partner who loves me unconditionally.

I have some truly wonderful friends.

I am living the dream.

I do not have to worry about working.

My body behaves itself most of the time and is not too shabby.

I still have all my own teeth, even if a lot of them are filled.

I still have my own hair.

I live on the boat of my dreams. (Actually my other half's dreams)

I get to go where I like, when I like.

I do not have to worry about household bills.

I get to see stunning countryside and wildlife everyday.

I have a comfortable life.

In fact, if I think about it, I dont have much to compain about - darn it!

But I am a woman so that may not last for long.

It would not take much...

2012-01-31T12:47:00.002Z

..... to make a grumpy old woman happy ...

Good Morning.

2012-01-31T09:48:00.001Z

Cold, dull and no ice on the canal as yet. I was rudely awoken at 6am by Keith as he stepped over me to visit the smallest room on the boat. As he was up he made us both a cup of tea, which we drank whilst watching the BBC 1 news. They were on about the school league tables and how the government have cut the value of more than 3,100 vocational qualifications. Apparently courses such as horse and fish husbandry can be worth the same as four GCSEs. WHAT!!!

When I was at school you did the core subjects. English, Maths, the Sciences, History and Geography, these in my opinion should be the ones which schools are judged on in the league tables. All the other stuff they recognise should never have been scored on, because not all schools do subjects such as nail technology. If your going to do it in one school, it must be across the board. Other subjects at my secondary school were Cookery, Needlework, Religious Education, Metal Work and Woodwork and of course German and French and Physical Education. That was our choice. I do think these days they have taken it all to far. Maybe they should think about getting back to basics, so they can then really see how schools in Britain are doing. I am not against vocational education, but they need to stick to the core subjects first. Just my opinion.

I have a Lamb Shank stew to prepare, having allowed the Lamb Shank to stew yesterday, I am going to strip the meat off the bone today, add lots of vegetables and potato and then return it to the back cabin stove to cook for tonight's dinner. That will be my morning taken care off.

Chat soon.

Eccentric Leeds U-boat captain held over £1m fraud - Main Section - Yorkshire Post

2012-01-30T12:48:00.000Z

Eccentric Leeds U-boat captain held over £1m fraud - Main Section - Yorkshire Post

A short jaunt.

2012-01-30T11:49:00.001Z

Bottom of Foxton Locks to Black Horse Bridge, Foxton village. 0.7 miles, 1 swing bridge travelled in 1 hour 5 minutes.

Another cold start, as the temperature dropped down to -2c over night. I peered out of the porthole and saw a layer of ice on the surface of the water, which told me how cold it had been brrrr.

There was no hurry to do anything this morning, as we did not have far to go, so we leisurely drank our first cup of tea of the day in bed, whilst watching Challenge TV. Marmite were up early running up and down the boat chasing each other, so they definitely had a spring in their steps. The spring in Paddy's step continued as we walked down the towpath for his first walk of the day. Although it was a cold start, it was stunning to see the ice on the canal again.

After Breakfast I sorted out both of the fires and did a general tidy up, before we decided to move over to the water point to take on water at Bridge 1A. It is the only tap they have working from November to March.

Whilst the tank filled with water, Keith got rid of rubbish and emptied one of our toilet cassettes, he also posted a birthday card for a family member, as there is a post box next to the Foxton Locks Inn, which is always very handy. Tank full, I opened the swing bridge whilst Keith reversed the boat. It was then onward to Foxton Village.

We are moored up near Black Horse Bridge, with a view across a field with horses in.

We have moored here before, as we are away from the noise of the road and of the barking dogs in a house on the opposite bank of the canal. They seem to bark at anything and must drive the neighbours mad. With there being no wind, the reflections on the water are stunning today. I may just have to go out and photograph some of the reflections.

Before having had a coffee, I climbed into the hold with the coal scuttle to get in the coal for the back cabin and the saloon stove. Whilst I shovelled the coal, Keith emptied the scuttle into the coal bin in the back cabin, it can take two and half scuttles to fill it, I then filled the scuttle with coal for the saloon fire, so that if it is icy out in the morning, I do not have to do it then. I have baked some bread for lunch, we will be having bacon rolls for lunch. In the back cabin stove there is a Lamb Shank cooking slowly, which we will have for dinner tomorrow. I am not planning on doing much for the rest of the day, so may post later, but may not lol.

Chat soon xx

Sunday Happenings.

2012-01-29T15:45:00.001Z

It was a calm evening last night, so I got a lovely photo of the pool at Foxton last night, with the Foxton Locks Inn all lit up and Bridge 61 Inn. All was still and quiet.

This morning we had a cold start, after a heavy over night frost, there was even some ice in the middle of the pool. The chill was soon taken off the back cabin, once I got the fire opened up. After I got back from walking Paddy, Keith had a lovely cooked breakfast on the go, this morning it was poached eggs on toast, with bacon and hash browns mmmm and very yummy it was too.

Having made sure both fires were st0ked up, I prepared pork chops on the back cabin stove for dinner, they were to spend all day simmering in the oven. I then set off up the towpath with my litter grabber and empty coal sack to collect yet more rubbish. I had already got half a coal sack full and was not more than half way along the moorings, when a gentleman called Jim got chatting to me about the state of the litter lying in the hedgerows. Jim I was to find out owns NB Moonshadow, which he has had for almost 3 years. Jim and I must have spent over half an hour nattering about all things boatie, whilst also putting the world to right. He picked my brains on things, which of course I was only to happy to help him with. If if you ever meet up with Jim on his boat, give him a hearty wave and if you have time have a chat with him, he is a lovely guy. With my rubbish bag full again, I set off to the bins, Keith put his head out of the engine room door and ask "Would you like a coffee". I of course said yes please.

After lunch the rest of our afternoon was spent chatting to passers-by and boaters moored at Foxton. Hire boats came down the flight ready to return to Market Harborough. Foxton Locks was very popular with walkers and cyclists and a few lads fishing. I got on with making butterfly cakes and keeping the fires burning. The temperature has now begun to drop 15.44pm and people are beginning to go home after a nice day out. We are now back inside the boat, with a coffee and "Carry On Dick" on Film4.

Great day.

2012-01-28T15:54:00.001Z

Yesterday afternoon I went out with the camera to see if there was anything out and about that I could photograph.

There were plenty of Rabbits and all's I could think was Rabbit stew mmmmm.

Then Squirrel stew.

The wildlife as a bit thin on the ground in the cold wind.

This morning (Saturday), we woke to bright sunshine, but a cool breeze. Paddy loved running along the towpath off his lead, conce we were past the moored boats. I do not allow him off his lead until we are past moored boats, because I do not want him to wee on boaters ropes, or up the side of their boat, which has happened to us before now. I also know that he is under control, should a dog jump out of a boat at him which has also happened before now, on the past two occasion, Paddy has been duffed up through no fault of his own. So past the moored boats he sped off along the towpath like a puppy. On the way back he was not in such a hurry.

Back on the boat, Keith had prepared breakfast, which was enjoyed after I had fed both mog and dog. I then had both the fires to sort out. With jobs done, I took my litter grabber and a coal sack and started picking up the rubbish in the bushes along side the boat. Just in the length of our boat I collected to coal bags full of rubbish.

The rubbish was not just the general publics rubbish it was also boaters rubbish, which is now in the bin where it should be. I collected a further bag full walking up to the swing bridge in front of the Foxton Locks Inn. Tomorrow I will head in the other direction, where I know there is plenty to collect. I find it appalling that in such a beautiful and historic place that people do not pick up their litter. Whilst out picking up the litter a gentleman on a hire boat asked me about using the locks and if someone was their to help, because he and his partner were terrified of doing the flight on their own, so I offered to help them up the flight and to show them what to do, this offer was gratefully accepted, so I told him to come and knock on the boat when he was ready to leave.

Litter picking done for the day, Keith made me a coffee, Keith and I then donned our windlasses to help Dave and Carla up through the Foxton Flight. Carla steered the boat and Keith showed Dave what to do. Once Carla got the hang on the boat she was a natural. On getting to the top, we wished them well for the rest of their holiday and they thanked us for our help. Whilst on the flight I met up with Rob and his partner who were heading to their NB Novae Vitae. As we were walking back down the flight having seen Dave and Carla off Rob was coming up the flight. We called in to see Gary at the Top Lock Cafe to collect some new stock for the Summer selling and then headed back to the boat, where it was now time to enjoy some soup for lunch. As I was about to do the back cabin stove I opened the back cabin door to see NB Quo Vardis coming through the Rainbow Bridge 'ole, so I stepped off the boat to chat with Ian and Liz, who moored in front of us. They were off to Bridge 61 for a Bacon Roll and a coffee, so Keith and I joined them for a coffee and a huge catchup on all their news and gossip. I do so love catching up with people we know and yet see occasionally. The clock was ticking and Ian and Liz had to get off back to Debdale marina, so we parted company, knowing we would see them again sometime.

I am now back on the boat, fires stoked up, mog and dog chilling out and the TV on with an old cowboy film screening. I have just made a batch of fairy cakes which I will finish for tomorrow when we are expecting a friend to call. It has been a stunning day at the locks with the sun out.

In the sunshine it has felt almost like Spring.

Chat soon xx

It's a cats life.

2012-01-28T15:19:00.001Z

Just trying out Dad's rag rug.

Just chilling out on Mum's clean bath towel.

I can see ducks from here.

Time to relax.

It is so warm in the back cabin.

Just read Towpath Talk and now I have Paddy where I want him under my paw.

Debdale on to the bottom of Foxton Locks.

2012-01-27T13:36:00.001Z

Debdale to Foxton 1.3 miles travelled in 50 minutes.

It has been so quiet where we have been moored, that I have slept really well, not only that we have not seen another moving boat, walker or cyclist, it has been heaven.

Yesterday (Thursday) was a day of sunshine and cloud with a brisk cold wind, but this did not stop Keith and I walking the 1.5 miles from the canal to the Kibworth Shooting Ground down a track then a road and then along a main road, which was busy with traffic speeding along. I am not a lover of speeding cars along a road that has no pavement, thankfully the verge was wide enough to walk along. Keith has had an air rifle for the past few years, but has not been able to use it because he did not have a proper sight for it, so we walked to the shooting ground so that he could purchase a telescopic sight for his air rifle, which we of course took with us. The intention of having the rifle on the boat is to shoot game, to eat, but of course when he shoots game he wants to make sure he kills and not wounds. When we arrived at the shooting grounds, shotguns were going off and clays were being broken, this bought back memories of when my eldest son used to do clay pigeon shooting, he got so good that he could have shot for Hampshire. Richard Faulds also used to shoot at the same place, Richard went on to win the men's double trap at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The shop was a bit busy with shooters signing in, and getting gas cartridges recharged, but as we were in no hurry and getting our breath back from the walk we waited until we could be seen.

Keith was recommended a Hawke Sport-HD IR (3-9x50 AO Mil Dot model) which according to the Hawke website normally retails at £94.95, but we got it for £50, a bargain, and it was fitted to his rifle. The shop being located at the shooting ground was ideal as he could test out and adjust the sight whilst there. Keith was given a target, which he could used on the air rifle range. Despite trying to set the sight up he was struggling, but with a bit of friendly assistance from some shooters already at the range, he soon got the sight approximately zeroed to start with, now it just needs practice which he can do in his own time and on a warmer day, because I was sat freezing my fingers and toes off. I am looking forward to our first kill, which I can put into the cooking pot. Keith is hoping it will save us a fair bit in food costs with meat being expensive. I am just looking forward to the cooking side. So watch this space for exotic recipes. Having packed the rifle away we made our way back the way we came, by this time the wind had strengthened and it had got decidedly colder, just as well the walking kept us warm. Back on the boat it was time for some much needed lunch and a coffee to thaw me out. I had some Sausage stew left over which I made into a soup. The rest of yesterday was spent on the boat watching a film. Both of us were ready for bed by 9.30pm.

This morning we set the generator going at 8.30 to charge the batteries, I took Paddy for his walk and Keith went online to check emails. He had a message from a friends saying he would be coming to Foxton over the weekend, so would like to catch up with us, so Keith suggested we move to Foxton today in order to get a mooring, because we know it gets busy at weekends, so at 9.35am we set off for from our lovely quiet mooring to head for Foxton locks.

We passed by Debdale Wharf which was quiet, we will be back there in a few days for diesel. When we arrived at Foxton, Keith tried to moor the boat on the 14 day moorings just before Rainbow Bridge, but they are too shallow for us to get into, and we didn’t want to risk getting stuck with the water situation at present in this area. I suggest there needs to be a bit of dredging doing on, especially as this is a designated mooring. With the other places further forward not big enough for us to get into, we were fortunate though to get into our favourite mooring place through Rainbow Bridge, at the junction. Having moored up and checked the fires we popped into Bridge 61 for a coffee and a chat with Annie, who was on duty today. We are now looking forward to our weekend visitor and anyone else who cares to come and say hello.

Just before lunch, I took a bag of rubbish to the bins and on the way back met up with Dan who owns NB Jenor and his lovely new dog Alfie. I was sad to learn that not only had his other dog been killed by a train, he is yet another boater leaving the water after just a couple of years. Work commitments and personal reasons are taking him off of the water and back on to the land. It is always sad when you see people you know leave the water, but we all have our reasons for doing what we do. After a lengthy chat with him, I wished him well in case we did not see each other again.

So that is my Friday posting. I hope you have a wonderful weekend xx.

Should have checked the window

2012-01-26T14:37:00.000Z

Obviously someone did not check the sighting of this advertising poster at Waitrose in Abingdon. I wonder if it will get changed?

Smeeton Aqueduct to Debdale Wharf.

2012-01-25T11:46:00.001Z

Smeeton Aqueduct to Debdale Wharf. 2 miles travelled in 45 minutes.

Having spent a couple of days at Smeeton Aqueduct, we decided to make a move towards Debdale Wharf, where we will be taking on some diesel.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a quiet affair because the weather was not very nice for walking, which is what we had planned on doing. It was raining cats and dogs for most of the day, which of course is more than welcome. We had thought of walking up to Saddington Reservoir, but did not see the point in plodding across muddy fields to go and check on the water level, so instead we stayed in all day and did a few things on the boat, including making a Sausage Casserole, which we enjoyed with large Dumplings. With so much sitting around, I was ready for my bed at 9.30pm. I think with Keith snoozing beside me in his chair it made me feel tired.

This morning (Wednesday) the rain has gone and we had a overcast start to our day. Paddy and I went out along the towpath for our walk. On a regular basis we see missing dogs and cat poster, but this morning I spotted this missing person notice.

Stuart Taylor has been missing since the 13th December. I have seen the posters at Foxton and in Market Harborough, but non of them had the heart felt message on them from Stuart's partner Lorraine. I have to say it left a lump in my throat. I sincerely hope Stuart is found safe and well very soon. If your reading this and think you know where he is Please contact one of the numbers on the poster photograph above, or contact your local police. My thoughts at this time are with his partner, family and friends, who must beside themselves with worry.

Having eaten breakfast, stoked up the fires, charged the batteries, had a coffee and tidied up, we left Smeeton Aqueduct at 9.55am and headed towards Debdale Wharf. It seemed as if there was no one else on the move, but then we saw a hire boat coming towards us through a bridge 'ole. The hire boat allowed us through the bridge 'ole first, which was very nice of them.

Over the past few days we have not seen another moving soul, everyone seems to be stuck to their moorings and going no where. Maybe that is why we love Winter cruising so much.

We are now on a one boat mooring place near Debdale Wharf, the bird feeders are up and already the Blue Tits and Great Tits are tucking into an early lunch. The TV aerial will be going up after lunch and I am quite sure I will be finding plenty of things to do job wise, however I am not over doing things because of the wrist, which is slowly getting back to normal, but I am aware of it when lifting the coal bucket and emptying the ash, so I have to be careful, as i do not want to mess it up for the rest of the cruising year.

Chat later maybe x

Foxton to Smeeton Aqueduct, near Saddington.

2012-01-24T11:28:00.001Z

Foxton to Smeeton Aqueduct, 3.9 miles, 1 swing bridge, travelled in 1 hour 35 minutes.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a pleasant day. I got a load of washing done at the laundrette, the load included lots of small towels and flannels, so doing them in a big machine was a bonus, because our machine only takes 3.5 kg. Whilst the washing was doing its thing we went and spoke to Gary and Jenny at the top lock cafe, having enjoyed a nice chat with them both, we walked back down to check my washing and had a coffee in Bridge 61. Washing all done we began walking back to the boat, and as we walked over Rainbow Bridge, I spotted a pair of Foxes out in the field.

So having dropped the washing off at the boat, I took my camera and went and took some photographs. Sadly non of them were that great because the Foxes were to far way for my camera. Back on the boat I hung the washing up in the back cabin and engine room, so it had a good chance of drying with the stove going.

After lunch, with no decent films on the TV, we closed the boat up and walked up to the top of the Foxton Locks to see Caroline and John on NB Vanyar who we have become very good friends with. Caroline welcomed us on board and made us all a coffee. Keith and I spent a lovely couple of hours chatting to both Caroline and John, I think we managed to cover pretty much every topic.

By the time we got back to the boat it was 4.30pm and I needed to think about dinner, which consisted of a homemade pizza, potato and peas. The evening was spent watching "Dancing on Ice". I do love Chico, I reckon he is going to be fantastic if he stays in.

Monday morning began early, with Keith getting up just after 5am. I then was up, so with no prospect of either of us going back to sleep, I made us tea and toast in bed, with of course the TV on.

8am I was up, dressed and off the boat with Paddy in the early morning sunshine. There was not another living soul around, so we enjoyed a quiet stroll along the towpath, with Paddy sniffing down every Rabbit hole he came across. Before we left our weekend mooring, Keith went off with the trolley to empty one out of our toilet cassettes, whilst he was away I prepared the boat for the off and by 8.45am we were ready to set off. Whilst Keith moved the boat, I walked down to the swing bridge to open it. Keith picked me up at Rainbow Bridge, we were then on our way to Smeeton Aqueduct. All the mooring places at the bottom of Foxton Locks are pretty much empty and any boat that is there has either just got there or has a patrol notice on it because it has been there to long. This is quite a surprise because, normally the moorings are clogged up with boaters who over stay. There had been a number of boats on the moorings when we came down the Foxton Locks a couple of weeks ago, and these boats had been there for months. So obviously the enforcement officer had clearly had enough. Some of the boats have now moved to the top of the locks, which in my opinion is not far enough. Others have gone off completely. I do not think I have ever seen Foxton Locks so empty. But it is about time that the enforcement officer did his job.

We really enjoyed out morning cruise, we did not see another moving boat, so winded with ease before Saddington Tunnel. We are now moored up at Smeeton Aqueduct, which is where we will stay for a couple of days. No photographs today because my signal is rubbish.

Chat soon x

Making herself comfortable.

2012-01-21T15:34:00.001Z

Over the past few weeks Keith has been making another rag rug to add to our stock. Marmite decided she needed to test it for comfort.

Coffins

2012-01-21T12:38:00.003Z

The other day I wrote about a Humanists funeral and how they use wicker coffins, well today I came across another sort of coffin. I am not being morbid, but we will all go someday and therefore a coffin will be needed, unless you have another idea. Narrowboat World reported on a narrowboat coffin. The narrowboat coffin was designed and made by Crazy Coffins. It just goes to show you can have anything you want these days. I personally like the wicker coffin.

Etta James

2012-01-21T12:00:00.003Z

Soul legend Etta James passed away yesterday at the age of 73 following a length battle with leukaemia. My all time favourite song of hers is "At Last". I love to sing along to that song. She will be sadly missed.

Little irish girl Becky calls a demolishion company and asks

2012-01-21T11:56:00.000Z

Is it funny or in bad taste???

It say's it all.

2012-01-20T12:26:00.001Z

Thank you to Tracy Arbon for letting me post this photograph.

Barbara, River Trent Volunteer Lock Keeper.m4v

2012-01-20T12:24:00.000Z

Gill, Caen Hill Flight Volunteer Lock Keeper.m4v

2012-01-20T12:22:00.000Z

Gallows Hill to Foxton.

2012-01-20T12:11:00.001Z

Gallows Hill to Foxton 2.35 miles, travelled in 1 hour.

Last night having settled down to watch the TV, there was a clattering noise on the roof of the boat, it sounded like hundreds of fairies tap dancing on the roof, but it was actually hailstones. However the fairy bit would have been much nicer. The hailstones were coming down heavily for a few moments, followed by rain and strong gusts of winds, which the aerial did not like, so the TV picture kept going off. Eventually the wind went away and the TV picture settled enough for us to watch "The One Show" and other delights. By the time we went to bed, I was beginning to wish I had lit the back cabin stove, because the temperature had dropped, but it was to late for that, so we just had to snuggle down beneath the duvet.

Having enjoyed a good nights sleep, we were awake early as usual, so Keith got up and made us our morning cup of tea, and I made us some toast, which was of course followed by watching old game shows on Challenge. I am sure they must pick the thickest people to go on to these shows. On "Family Fortunes" name something associated with Superman, so this gentleman says "His black hair" duhhhhhhh. Of course that was incorrect. Still it does make me giggle at seeing the fashion and hair styles.

Paddy had a rather damp walk, because it was raining when we stepped off of the boat. I stepped off, Paddy had to be dragged of kicking and moaning because he does not enjoy getting wet. So he did what he had to do and then legged it back to the boat, where I stoked up the saloon stove and relit the back cabin stove. Having fed Mog and Dog, I watched as the rain continued to fall steadily, the decision was then move or not move, we decided to move rain or no rain, it really does not bother either of us what weather we cruise in.

This was Keith a couple of years ago when we cruised in the snow, so a little rain is nothing.

Having got our boat ready for the off, we set off for Foxton in light rain. When we got to Foxton Village I had a problem getting the swing bridge to register that it was shut to release the gates, once Keith had got Hadar through, so I had to do it a couple of times to get it to work, it eventually clicked into place and we carried on to Foxton locks. We moored up at our usual spot before the swing footbridge, just as the rain was getting heavier, did we care NO bring it on I say, as we need lots of rain!

We are going to be here until at least Monday, after that we will see. I am looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend.

Chat soon xxx

Market Harborough back to Gallows Hill.

2012-01-19T15:59:00.002Z

Market Harborough to Gallows Hill, 2.8 miles travelled in 1 hour.

It was moving day today, but not until we had done a few things. After all the usual morning chores, Keith and I went down into the town to change our address with the doctors, dentist, and opticians, so we will get any updates required, I also booked a hair appointment for when we are back in Market Harborough, so it is all neat and tidy for the Summer. Keith contacted Royal Mail about stopping all the junk mail that is put in our tiny postbox. The fact is we have so much junk mail that the postman cannot get our proper mail into the box, so takes it to the hire boat office, which is ridiculous. All junk mail these days is classed as first class mail and the postman is required to put it through our letter boxes or he could face the sack believe it or not. Which I think is complete and utter madness.

With everything done in the town, we had lunch on the boat and then started to organise ourselves so we could move off from our mooring. Whilst waiting for another boat to wind in the basin I got chatting to a lovely lady off of NB Paneke (stupid me forgot to get her name). But I know she and her husband both read our Hadar blog. We got chatting about cotton dishcloths and how I got her via the blog into knitting her own. I am glad to have been of service.

The first thing we did was wind in the basin, before mooring at a spare pontoon to empty our toilet whilst there was still a Canal Boat Club boat at the sanitary station. After nattering to a few people in the basin, the sanitary station was available, so we pulled away from the pontoon and on to the sanitary station mooring, where we took on water and got rid of rubbish.

We then set off in glorious sunshine towards Gallows Hill , where we will spend the night.

With the sun shining, it was giving everything a warm glow.

This rather bare looking tree looked lovely in the late afternoon sunshine.

We arrived back at Gallows Hill and moored up with the sun slowly setting. Mog and Dog were happily snuggled up in the saloon as the fire is going and the kettle was hissing on the stove, so I made us a coffee whilst Keith tuned the TV in. Dinner tonight is a homemade mince beef curry, which we will have with cous cous, which we enjoy instead of rice occasionally. I am now looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the TV.

Chat soon xx

Volunteer lock-keepers needed to help new charity

2012-01-19T12:06:00.002Z

With the New Charity status coming in this year British Waterway's are making a big thing about volunteers.

If you love the waterway's and have a few hours to spend out in the fresh air then why not get involved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16607420

In Market Harborough they have the Harborough Towpathers who look after a mile stretch of towpath, from the Wharf to br14 The Old Union Canal Society moorings. The group go out and pick up litter, painting, cutting back shrubs and will be doing hedge laying and path laying. It is a great way to meet people and to look after a stretch of waterway near them. Keith and I have helped out and enjoyed every moment.

If you feel you can help have a look at the British Waterway's site. http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/be-part-of-it/volunteering

MP asks Minister about viability of Canal and River Trust — Waterway Watch

2012-01-19T11:46:00.000Z

MP asks Minister about viability of Canal and River Trust — Waterway Watch

Canal & River Trust in call for volunteers to carry out historic waterways role of lock keeper - Need to Read - News from @walesonline

2012-01-19T09:10:00.000Z

Canal & River Trust in call for volunteers to carry out historic waterways role of lock keeper - Need to Read - News from @walesonline

Homeless 'pirate' took millionaire's yacht | News

2012-01-19T09:09:00.000Z

Homeless 'pirate' took millionaire's yacht | News

Gallows Hill to Market Harborough.

2012-01-18T16:32:00.002Z

Gallows Hill to Market Harbrough 5 miles travelled in 2 hours.

Today was dentist day for Keith, he had to have his first round of treatment for a new crown, so we were going to be moving, but that was not before we woke up at 6am. The wind and rain actually woke me up, followed by Marmite dreaming on the side bed. Marmite was growling in her sleep, which was hilarious because she is a cat. I have never heard her growl before. After the usual early morning cup of tea, we were up and about. Paddy and I set off a long the towpath in a very light drizzle. This was such a change from the previous few days weather, where it had been crisp and cold. There was still ice on the surface of the canal, so we knew we would be breaking ice.

9.25am we untied the boat and slipped our mooring, which was very much enjoyed over the past few days.

The ice was anything from half and inch thick to an inch thick, but Hadar was not bothered by that, she coped admirably with the task.

After an uneventful 2 hour cruise we pulled into a piled mooring outside of the 48 hour moorings, and I walk up to see if there was anything available near the wharf, which there was so I waved to Keith to let him know and he bought Hadar down to the 48 hour moorings.

Having moored up, I did a quick change of clothing from my boating tat to something a little more respectable, because Keith had his first appointment at our dentist, to have his tooth prepared for a crown, so we went into town for some shopping and had lunch at Pizza Express, before going to Keith's appointment. I did not go in with him, as I am not keen on the dentist, although I do go for my appointments like a good girl, I went off to get some more anti-inflammatory tablets for my wrist, then went back and sat in the waiting room of the dentists. I sat watching Sky News for an hour whilst Keith had his tooth prepared for his crown and he also had a filling done, so it will be soup for his dinner tonight. After Keith was all sorted we walked back to the boat, where we will be spending a relaxing evening in front of the BBC, because that is all we can get.

Chat soon xxxx

Why Oh Why.

2012-01-17T13:18:00.001Z

Another stunning morning, which began at 6am with Keith climbing over me to go to the smallest room on the boat. With him being up, he made us a cup of tea, so I also got up and stoked the back cabin fire up to get some heat into the cabin. We sat in bed, drank our cuppa and watched Challenge as we now do most mornings when out TV signal allows. Many of the programs are a blast from the past, this morning we had "Family Fortunes" with Les Dennis, plus "WipeOut" with Bob Monkhouse. I enjoy seeing the fashions and hair styles from those years, they do make me giggle. I put my head out of the engine room door to take the photograph above as the sun was coming up. It really was a stunning sunrise. I also made us some Porridge and a coffee, which was also enjoyed in bed. Breakfast in bed is such a luxury. Marmite then came and got beneath the crocheted blanket at the bottom of the bed, so she must have been feeling the cold. The temperature did get down to -4.3c over night and even when I got up it was still -4.1c out.

Up and off the boat, Paddy and had a lovely walk along the towpath, there was no sign of another human being, just us and the wildlife, now that is a perfect way to begin the morning. So when I came across more stupid dog owners and their poo bags I was outraged.

Why oh why do they bother to pick up their pooches poo, but then see fit to hang the bag in the hedgerow.

The bags were hung where they could be seen, so was this or these dog owners hoping the poo fairy would come along and remove them? It is not rocket science, take it home and bin it or find a poo bin and put it in. Along here if your walking to Gallows Hill Bridge their is a bin and if you walk in the other direction to Bowden Hall Bridge there is a bin, so there is no flippen excuse. If you do not want to pick it up then take a small spade and flick it into or over the hedgerow, that way it will bio-degrade. Leaving the bags hanging in the hedgerows is so irresponsible, because it will not bio-degrade in a bag and is actually dangerous to other animals. In this particular field there is a flock of sheep, now if the sheep should happen to eat one of these bags, it could endanger their lives. STOP BLOODY DOING IT. Opps sorry for my outrage, but it makes me spit.

During the morning whilst I got on with sweeping up the dog hairs and dirt throughout the boat, Keith went off litter picking, and he actually collected those dog poo bags.

For a change there was not much litter to collect.

Along this stretch there are a couple of trees which always catch my eye.

This one I have named the Lightening Tree. The name may ring a bell with some people because there used to be a series called "Folly Foot", which had a lightening tree in it. The series ran from 1971 to 1973 and it was one of my favourite programs as a child.

The other tree is this Pine tree, which always looks glorious in the early morning sunshine.

When I had finished the sweeping up, I went out along the towpath and picked up sticks for my stick bucket in the back cabin, these will be used tonight to dampen the fire down in order to keep it in over night. With Keith back from his litter picking duty, it was time for some lunch and another coffee, whilst eating luch we were listening to BBC Radio Leicester as we could not pick up Hfm grrrr. Whilst listening to Jonathan Lampon, who was talking about a Humanist funeral he went to yesterday. Now it was not something I had heard of before, but I like the sound of a non-religious funeral. I am not particularly religious, even though I was in the church choir as a child and I was baptised and confirmed. It is definitely something I would look into doing when the time comes. I also did not realise it is Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday, so a big Happy Birthday to him.

Right time for me to close this down and to watch a film or two, if there is anything good on.

Chat soon xxx

DEJA VU - A TRIBUTE TO JOHN JINKS - BLUE SYSTEM MUSIC

2012-01-17T12:47:00.000Z

Walk to Great Bowden and back.

2012-01-16T16:22:00.001Z

Having had lunch and a coffee, I was in need of a walk, so I suggested we walk to Bowden Hall Bridge and back to stretch our legs.

The sun was shining and with not a breath of wind, it was the perfect day for a walk, so with walking boots and fleeces on we left the boat with Paddy who was determined to come with us. He had been bouncing around the cabin like an excited puppy. Off we went along the towpath to Bowden Hall Bridge, once there Keith suggested we walk up into Great Bowden, because we have never walked up there before.

As we walked along the road into the village the views across the valley were stunning.

The village is a very pretty little village with a large green.

In the old days there would have been stocks on the green. They could probably be put to good use even today. There is a couple of pubs in the village, plus a couple of shops and a post office. We almost stopped for a coffee at Welton's, but then realised we only had just over £2 between us and they wanted £1.50 for a cup of coffee, so we carried on with our walk. But should you need supplies then both shops were useful.

The church is St Peter and St Paul. It is a lovely church and was built in the 13th century and was restored in 1887.

The Old School was built in 1838 by Charles Shuttleworth, sadly he died before it was completed. In 1983 the school was changed into the church hall when a new school was built in the village.

The Round House is rather splendid and is a Grade II lisred building built in the early 19th century.

The village hall was built in 1903 to commemorate Edward V11’s coronation and is where the Old Union Canal Society holds its meetings. Maybe one day we will get to go to one of their meetings as we are members.

After a lovely walk, we made our way back through the village, along the towpath and back to the boat collecting a broken fishing rod and an old umbrella all disgarded by their owners, who were to lazy to take them home and bin them.

Both Paddy and Keith were beginning to flag, so once back on board Paddy retired to his bed and Keith and I enjoyed a cup of coffee.

Dinner tonight is Lamb Chops, which have been cooking slowly in the back cabin stove, so should be nice and tender. We will have them with mashed potatoes and veg. Off now to get on with a few more jobs before the light fades outside.

Chat soon xx

Sunsets and feeding birds.

2012-01-16T15:42:00.001Z

Last nights sunset proved me with yet another photograph opportunity, as the temperature began to drop off like a stone. The temperature got down to -4.6c over night, so another heavy frost and the canal remained frozen. On waking up, I got the back cabin stove going by racking out the ash I had used to keep it in over night. With the bottom door of the fire left open, it soon kicked into life and we had a roaring fire. I also put some logs on the stove in the saloon to get that going as well, so it was cosy for when we got up, whilst up I made us both a cuppa, and we sat in bed watching TV for an hour, before it was time to get up to take Paddy out for his walk.

Back from our walk and breakfast done, I sat in the engine room and took some photographs of the birds using the bird feeders. Sadly I was not quick enough to photograph the Green Woodpecker which came calling. But did get the usual feeder birds.

Long Tailed Tit.

Robin

Great Tit

Blue Tit

All were eager for some easy to grab food. My morning was rather quiet, with me doing the usual tidying and cleaning, so I was looking forward to a more entertaining afternoon.

Chat soon x

Sunday

2012-01-15T16:54:00.001Z

Before I get on with today's posting, yesterday ended up being a very quiet day after all. The only excitement was Mark on Callisto coming past us during the early part of the afternoon, on his way into Market Harborough, to supply boaters with diesel and coal. On the one hand I really miss selling coal, because I loved the job and the customers, but on the other hand what with the prices increases, low water levels etc, I think we made the right decision to stop selling coal during the summer. Of course we are still selling all our other items which can be found on our products blog. I am always of the opinion, that as one door closes another one opens and we already have new ideas for the coming selling season. As the afternoon wore into the evening, we seemed to be stuck in our chairs watching TV films, which included "Jurassic Park. The Lost World". The final watch of the day was "The Million Pound Drop", before we headed off to bed.

We woke this morning to another very hard frost, the temperature had dropped to -4c over night.

The boat was surrounded by ice, because the canal was frozen. We sat in bed drinking our first brew of the day, I also stoked the back cabin stove up a little, to take the chill off of the cabin, it must have been chilly because Marmite crept into bed with us, she only ever does that if it is cold. After watching a couple of episodes of "Takeshi's Castle" it was time to get up, because Paddy was on the wander, which meant he wanted to go out. Now I am not one of those people who just opens the cabin door and chucks the dog out to do what it has to do, I believe a dog should be supervised at all times when off the boat, so make sure he goes out on the lead so I can pick up after him.

Up, dressed and bed put away, I went off along the towpath with Paddy whilst Keith got on with cooking our Sunday breakfast of Poached Eggs on Toast with grilled Bacon, Keith also had some Black Pudding, which I personally cannot stand, ewwwww all that dried blood. Breakfast was very good as always. I then bought a bag of wood in out of the hold for the saloon fire and emptied the ash pan.

With it being so chilly outside it was a good day to stay in and clean out a few boxes and get a couple of requests on the local radio station HFM. I asked for Olly Murs "Dance with me tonight" and Keith asked for The Shadows "Apache". After some lunch, we settled down to watch the Sunday afternoon movies on TV, whilst they were showing, I kept the fires burning and got bubble and squeak ready for tonight's dinner. This is now cooking with the Sausages in the back cabin stove. All in all it has been a very quiet day, just how Sundays should be. The sun has now begun to set giving us a beautiful sunset.

I am now off to check on dinner and to enjoy a relaxing evening with my better half.

Chat soon xx

Intelligent Border Collie Puppy

2012-01-15T16:35:00.000Z

I

2012-01-14T16:32:00.000Z

A man came home.

2012-01-14T16:25:00.001Z

This is oh so true, thanks Sarah for posting this on your facebook.

A man came home from work and found his 3 children outside in their pyjamas, playing in the mud. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and no sign of the dog. Walking in the door, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, In the front room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel, the... family room was strewn ...with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the bench, the fridge door was wide open, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table and there was sand everywhere. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried something had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas reading a magazine. She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her and asked "what the hell happened?" She smiled and answered "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?" "Yeah.." he replied. She answered "Well.. Today I didn't do it" :) :)

Cold start.

2012-01-14T10:03:00.001Z

The temperature began to drop off sharply last night, giving us a pretty sunset, this photograph does not do it justice.

Having enjoyed a fantastic nights sleep, we were awake at 7am listening to the birds waking up. I think most of them were on the bird feeders enjoying the opportunity to get some food without having to work to hard to find it. The temperature got down to -4.1c overnight, so we woke to a very heavy frost and a think layer of ice on the canal.

After a cup of tea in bed and the TV on for the Challenge Channel, it was time to get up and take Paddy out for his walk, which I was looking forward to because I love walking in a heavy frost.

Paddy was off like a rocket along the towpath, a lot of this reaction was to do with the gas guns going off some where in the distance. Gas guns for anyone who does not know what I am talking about, they are used by farmers to protect their crops from birds and animals eating their crop. They are extremely loud and can be a real nuisance.

They are not supposed to fire anymore than four times in an hour and they should not go off before sunrise or after sunset according to the NFU. Some not only scare the birds they also scare pets. Paddy hates them, I am sure something like this in his early days scared him so much he really hates them now.

Having enjoyed a lovely morning stroll watching the sun coming up, we headed back to the boat where Keith was making me toast and a coffee. I fed Paddy and Marmite, before sitting down to enjoy my breakfast, I then got on with the job of sorting out the saloon fire. The back stove I had done, whilst we enjoyed our cup of tea in bed, in order to warm the cabin up a little.

I have no idea what I am doing for the rest of the day, but it will include resting my wrist, which seems to be improving.

Chat later xx

Market Harborough to Gallows Hill.

2012-01-13T13:37:00.001Z

Market Harborough to Gallows Hill, 5 miles travelled in 2 hours.

What am I like, I was in bed at 9pm last night, yes that's right 9pm.

Because we had no TV we put "The First Wives Club" (1996) on, starring Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton. After just half an hour Keith was snoring, so I was left to watch it all by myself. The plus side to this was I got to tuck in to Tuc biscuits all by myself. I could happily have eaten the whole packet, but I was very good and only had a few. The DVD finished at 9pm and with Keith still sleepy, I suggested we just as well go to bed.

There I was having a lovely dream about recycling and Foxes, when I was woken up at 5.30am by a screaming sound, which was unmistakable, it was a Fox screaming blue murder somewhere close to the boat. The screaming barking went on for a couple of minutes, it sounded like this Fox was very distraught over something, I then heard another Fox barking in the distance and the Fox near the boat got quieter and quieter. I then wondered if it had fallen in the canal, but never saw anything when I took Paddy for his walk, so I am now thinking it was a Vixen calling to a male, after all it is the breeding season, so there could be the patter of tiny feet soon. It was very close and I do know that Foxes use the gardens on the offside of the canal, so maybe it was coming from there. With both Keith and I very much awake, I got up and made us both a cup of tea, before we settled back down to see if we could both drop off, it was then at 6.20am a Tawnay Owl began hooting near the boat. Something was telling me we were not meant to go back to sleep. There was nothing for it, but to get up and make us some toasted bread muffins, because I was hungry. People were walking past the boat early as well with heavy footsteps, anyone would think they had hobnailed boots on.

With no chance of any further sleep, we were up and I was off the boat walking Paddy down the towpath with the sun coming up. We had been touched by Jack frost over night, so there was a lovely white film over everything and not a breath of wind. When I got back to the boat, Keith was already to take the toilet cassette to the sanitary station, so whilst he did that I got the hosepipe out and began to fill the water tank. The taps on the towpath at Market Harborough are very slow, but on a morning like this morning, it was just wonderful to stand and listen to the birds. As the tank was filling a man on a bike came hurtling towards me and I thought he was just going to run over my hosepipe like so many cyclists do, but no he slowed down, got off of his bike and carried over my hosepipe saying "Good Morning" as he did so, so I thanked him and said "Good Morning " back. If only they were all like him. I say treat people as you wish to be treated yourself and he clearly likes to be treated right.

9.25am we were ready for the off with the sun shining and smoke bellowing from the chimney on the back cabin. We said "cheerio" to Jenny and Jim on NB Jolly Roger, who were off out themselves and we were on our way. We had a very pleasant cruise in the sunshine and got to see some of the wildlife.

(Waiting for Breakfast)

(Can you see me)

We carried on past the moorings where we were wanted to moor, and onto the next winding hole which was the other side of Gallow’s Hill Bridge passing the glue factory, which was cooking up bones if the smell was anything to go by, we winded and returned to the Gallow's Hill moorings so that if the weather should turn extremely cold and the canal freezes, we are pointing in the right direction to get back to Harborough.

All moored up Phil one of the British Waterway's maintenance checkers came past on his bike, so we had a chat to him and let him know about a tree down we had seen the other day, which has not be dealt with yet. Phil went on his way and I got on with preparing some lunch on the back cabin stove. The TV aerial is up and we have a fantastic signal, so we can watch TV later and for the next few days, because will stay here until Wednesday morning, when we need to go back to Market Harborough, so Keith can go back to the dentist in the afternoon. I have put my bird feeders out and the Blue Tits are already tucking into the nuts.

Welcome to the 21st Century.

2012-01-12T16:06:00.001Z

Can you see it??

2012-01-12T16:04:00.000Z

Caution.

2012-01-12T16:03:00.001Z

Junk mail and dentist.

2012-01-12T15:41:00.001Z

Having spent a night on the slant, this morning we were back on the level again and the boat has actually come into the bank, but I am not tightening the ropes in case we need to move back out again.

With a fairly decent nights sleep, I was up making a cuppa at 7am, this meant that we were awake to Marmite, so she could start complaining she had no food in her dish. Paddy was content just to rummage in his bed. Back under the duvet, we decided on the order for things to be done for the day. Mine always begins with taking Paddy for his first walk of the day, followed by making the fires up, followed by breakfast, of course not necessarily in that order everyday. This morning one big difference was Keith got the empty gas bottle out of the locker and went off to Brandon Hire Company to get a new bottle. We always go there when in Market Harborough, because they are the cheapest around £22.05 for a 13kg bottle. Everywhere else we have seen them at £25. Whilst Keith struggled with the gas bottle I got the trolley out, Keith was soon on his way to pick up a new bottle, so whilst he did that, I went into the hire boat office to collect my parcel from my dear friend.

Inside wrapped in Christmas Paper was a lovely purse and this handmade bag with my favourite flowers on it. I am so in love with my new bag and purse.

Keith arrived back with the gas bottle, so I helped him put it back into the locker, whilst being a little wary about my wrist which is still sore. The rest of the morning flew by as we did very little, I caught up on e-mails, contacting all the firms who keep sending us junk mail in our post box, which cannot take it as it is only small. I get really cross that the postman puts this rubbish in our box and I dare say you feel the same way? By the time I had done all of that it was soon lunch time, so I made us some soup and rolls. I also put half a chicken in the back stove to cook slowly. Lunch over with, we set off down the town to do a few more things, before Keith had to go to the dentist. I wanted some more bird food, as I am running low and even though it is not cold, the birds still need feeding. 2.10pm we were at the dentist and Keith was seen, he has to go back next Wednesday to begin the process for a crown. Having parted with £204, which is another huge expense we could do without, but that is the way things go, we left the dentist and walked back to the boat. The chicken is cooked and smells mmmmmm. We have already decided that we are heading off tomorrow for a few days to the middle of nowhere, so I will post tomorrow on where we are.

Chat soon xx

Black Horse Bridge, Foxton to Market Harborough.

2012-01-11T16:27:00.001Z

Foxton Village to Market Harbrough 4.8 miles travelled in 2 hours 15 minutes.

Yesterday was a quiet day, I went out with my camera in the morning to see what was out there. But it was all quiet on the wildlife front, so I did not get any decent photographs. At 3pm I went with my trolley and stacking boxes along the towpath to meet the Tesco delivery driver, who rang me at 3.30pm to say he was on his way. Not long after he arrived with my food haul. I loaded it into my boxes and having said cheerio to the driver, I pushed my trolley laden down back along the towpath to the boat, where Keith was waiting in the galley to take the boxes off of me, I then had the job of stashing my haul away in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. With all three places full to overflowing, we are set for another couple of weeks on the food front.

This morning, after a reasonable nights sleep, we woke to a very chilly back cabin, so having had a warming brew, I got up and lit the back cabin stove, I then took Paddy for his walk hoping I would see the Fox I had seen yesterday on the hill. I even took my camera this time just in case. I did see a Fox, but only saw its back end and tail going through the hedgerow, so not worth a photograph. On the way back to the boat, I could see the fire was well and truly alight.

Breakfast was a nice warming bowl of Porridge each, before we began to get the boat ready for the off.

I said "goodbye" to the horses opposite, who had given me such a wonderful view.

Whilst Keith moved our boat, I walked up to the swing bridge to open it. I met one of our customers Claire off NB Jubilee, so we had a quick natter whilst Keith caught me up. We were soon on our way to Foxton, passing under Johnson's Bridge where part of a tree had been down a few days ago.

The wood had all gone, so nothing for us to pick up. At Gallows Hill we stopped to check the propeller, because Keith thought we may have something on it, whilst he was up to his elbows in the freezing water, I did collect some nice pieces of wood which will need cutting up when they have dried out. Nothing on the propeller, we headed off again towards Market Harborough. I do love coming back, because I always see changes to places and things. Proof that nothing in this life ever stays the same for long.

On the way into Market Harborough at bridge 12, Uncle Tom's Br there was a tree partially blocking the canal, so Keith has spent in a report to BW about that, so they can remove it.

At 11.40 we arrived at The Wharf, Market Harborough, where we winded and pulled into a mooring on the towpath. As we winded in the basin friends moored in the basin all waved at us, welcoming us home. Ok it is not home, but it does feel like it because we did the coal run here for 3 years. We have some very good friends here and a post box, so always love coming back. Normally we would spend the winter here, but due to the water levels being so low, this winter has been spent else where as you have probably read. All moored up, we got chatting to Jenny and Jim on NB Jolly Roger, Viv and David on NB First Fruits then came along to see us, so joined in the conversation, by the time we had put the world to right, it was lunch time.

After lunch we walked down to the dentist to get Keith booked in for a crown (Poor bank balance). He has an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to get some of the work done. We then walked around the town getting a few items, which included something for my poorly wrist. I know typing is not making it any better, but needs must. Along the way we met up with people we know, so caught up on news, we then popped in to see Nina who runs Nina Couture. Nina and her husband Steve have a boat at Crick Marina and is on my Facebook page, so it was nice to finally put a real face to the name. I have to say her shop is beautiful as is Coco her dog, who was very happy to greet us. We spent a while chatting with Nina, before leaving her to get on with her shop. I am quite sure we will see her again.

Having done all we needed to do in town, we walked back to the boat collecting our post from our box on the way. The box was rather full, but most of it was junk mail, so we will be having words with our postman. Christmas came to Hadar once again as we opened up our cards and a calender. We know we still have some parcels waiting to be opened in the office, but we cannot get those until tomorrow.

No TV signal here, so we will be delving into our DVD collection tonight. I am now off to think about something for tonight's dinner.

Chat soon xxxx

Anyone over the age of 35.

2012-01-09T15:44:00.002Z

Anyone over the age of 35 should read this, as i copied this from a friend Pip Haynes off of NB Windsong, she posted it on her facebook and it really struck a cord, so I thought I would share it.

Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own carrier bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. I apologised and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The cashier responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right about one thing -- our generation didn't have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day here's what I remembered we did have.... Back then, we had "paper" bags to put our shopping in, we returned milk bottles (even collected the silver caps for the blind), fizzy pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator or lift in every store and office building. We walked to the supermarket and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two minutes up the road. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of England. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used screwed up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

There are many lessons the younger generation could learn from our old days, not that I am that old yet.

But this did make me smile.

Onward to Foxton Village.

2012-01-09T11:20:00.001Z

Yesterday (Sunday) was another quiet day after our lovely lunch. I got this great photograph of Kane watching the world go by on board NB Endeavour. Kane belongs to Kev and Ann who we have got to know over the past couple of years.

Kane is a like a big teddy bear.

Having spent a nice quiet night on the Foxton Locks Inn moorings, we considered moving, but as we had been warned about a tree being down at Johnson’s Bridge on the Harborough arm, which had to be removed by contractors, we were waiting to see what was going to happen. The last thing we wanted to do was end up sitting at Johnson’s Bridge for weeks, unable to wind as the winding hole is the other side of the bridge. Keith rang Steve Morgan at British Waterways to find out what the situation was. He was told to speak to Bill the head lock keeper at Foxton as he was handling it, along with many trees that were unsafe in the car park at Foxton locks. Now because Bill works at weekends he has Monday and Tuesday off. Whilst walking back to the boat Keith bumped into Mark who works on the land team, who had just arrived to unlock the locks in Bill’s absence. He very kindly rang Bill, who rang back a bit later, as he was driving, to confirm that the tree had been successfully removed, so we were free to move off, although Bob who runs the Foxton Locks Inn had said we were welcome to stay on the moorings for a couple of days.

With the good news we decided to move off from the pub moorings. I went and opened the swing bridge. We passed Laughing John on his boat and had a few words as we covered the short distance to Black Horse Bridge at Foxton village, which took all of 15mins. We did not moor up near the bridge like we normally do because there was a boat already there, so we are moored further back with a nice view across a field with horses in it all ready for our Tesco Delivery tomorrow. I have nothing planned for the rest of the day, just the usual stuff of cooking, cleaning and seeing to Keith, Paddy's and Marmite's every need.

Chat soon xx

Foxton Top Lock to Foxton Bottom Pool.

2012-01-08T14:36:00.001Z

Yesterday (Saturday) was a quiet affair for us. We had no real plans, but did walk down the locks to have a coffee at Bridge 61, before strolling back up the flight, chatting to Bill the head lock keeper and others. I used the laundrette at Bridge 61, because they have a 15kg washing machine, which meant I could get all the bedding done in one go, as I wanted to wash the mattress and pillowcase protectors as well. So when we got back to the boat, I loaded up my rucksack and walked back down the flight to use the machine, which costs £3.50 for a wash. I did not bother with the drier, because I could hang it in the back cabin to dry. After an hour and a half the wash was done and was hung in the back cabin, which looked more like a Chinese laundry. For the rest of the day, I tidied the boat and then watched films.

This morning (Sunday) we had a change of plans. We had intended to travel down Foxton locks on Monday morning, but whilst sitting in bed drinking our morning cuppa we changed our minds and decided to travel down this morning. After all the usual boring morning stuff, we cast off from our mooring at 10.25am, I walked to the top lock to get it ready, but when I got there someone had already opened the paddle for me, so I got the chance to stand around and chat to Gary who runs the top lock cafe, whilst Keith bought the boat into the lock. We didn’t rush down the flight, which took us an hour, mostly because I was chatting to the gongoozlers who were interested in how the locks worked. As we got to the bottom lock, I checked to see if there was any room to moor on the Foxton Locks Inn moorings, which there was so we did at 11.25am.

The Foxton Locks Inn did not open until midday, so I changed into something a little tidier for a Sunday and at 12 noon we strode into the pub and ordered a really nice Roast Pork, which stuffing, apple sauce and a Yorkshire pudding. Keith reckons this is just how Sundays on the canal should be. The locks themselves are very busy with walkers, cyclists and sightseers, this means that the businesses will have a good day. We have only seen a couple of boats move, so boat wise it is very quiet.

Having enjoyed our, back on the boat I cleaned the back cabin brass and blacked the stove, which is out at the moment because it is so mild. Keith has managed to get us a TV signal, so we can watch something on TV.

Chat soon xx

Crick to Foxton Locks.

2012-01-06T16:10:00.001Z

Crick to Foxton Locks 17.8 miles travelled in 6 hours and 15 minutes.

I have had the most fabulous days cruising.

What a difference a day makes, because today was as calm as can be with lots of lovely winter sunshine to warm us after a chilly night.

We woke up this morning to a frost and there was not a breath of wind to be had. I took Paddy for his walk and took in the stunning sight of the sun coming up over the marina. Back on the boat we had breakfast, I then relit the back cabin stove, which I allowed to go out overnight because of the string winds. With the fire relit and the kettle filled up, we made our plans for the say.

Our first thought was to head for Welford Junction for the weekend, but then the plans changed as they do so often and we decided that because it was so lovely we would head for Foxton Locks and hope there would be a mooring.

We left Crick at 8.15am with the sun coming up over Cracks Hill. The vegetation cut back ended at Crick, this was probably due to the Christmas and New year break, so I expect they will be back on the job next week.

It was a bright, chilly morning perfect for cruising. There was plenty of wildlife out and about as well, because we saw two Kingfishers, a couple of Hares a few Buzzards.

This one sat and still and allowed me to take its photo.

Then it took flight.

For a while I took over the tiller whilst Keith went inside the boat. It was pure pleasure to be steering today and to see such fantastic views in the sunshine.

Part of the vegetation cut back seems to have included the reeds which have been over taking the canal. As we cruised along we noticed that two of the largest clumps of reeds that have been reducing the cut width for a longtime have been removed, making life so much easier, especially the clump on the bend north of Mountain Barn Bridge, which was difficult to get round let alone meet a boat coming the other way!

Whilst Keith continued to steer the boat, I got on with cooking our dinner for tonight, it was then placed in the back cabin stove to cook slowly.

On route the wildlife just kept on entertaining us.

A beautiful Kestrel sat in a bush looking for some lunch before hovering overhead.

What surprised us was how few boats were on the move and moored on the summit. There are usually a few which moored up for long periods of time and we have got to know them, but only a couple were in their usual places. Maybe like us, they decided not to stay up here due to the water shortage, or maybe they just got moved on. We only actually saw three boats on the move. On route I heated up some pasties and made us coffee to sustain us until we reached Foxton Locks. A fairly longish day for us, 6hours 15mins, but it saw us all the way through to the top of Foxton locks. Shock of all shocks there was only on boat moored at bridge 60. There was no one moored up above the locks, we took our pick of the moorings. Keith then walked to the top lock, there was no keeper there, they had already been and locked the gates up and left. He did see a notice on the lock keepers cottage it said "there was no lock keeper on duty, and to follow the instructions on the lock beam". There was no mention of water shortage restrictions. But we will try to see Bill the head lock keeper over the weekend to find out if we can go down through the locks. We know we cannot get past Johnson's Bridge No7 because there is a tree down and is closed until it has been removed. So we may have to stay at Foxton for a few days.

Chat soon xx

Watford Locks to Crick.

2012-01-05T12:03:00.001Z

We had a wild night on board, with lots of rocking and rolling and no we were not partying, it was purely down to the weather. There was also a lot of heavy rain which is of course most welcome at the moment as the reservoirs are still struggling with their water levels. Yesterday I was told that the levels are creeping up slowly, which whilst great, this may not be fast enough to stop restrictions when the boating season gets underway for many. Of course for us all year round is a boating season being continuous cruisers.

After a rock and roll nights sleep, which woke me up a couple of times as it did Keith, we sat in bed drinking tea at 7.30am discussing whether to move or not.

The decision was yes we would move as the wind did not seem to bad. So having walked Paddy up the locks, had breakfast and got the boat ready for the off, we set off from our over night mooring at 9.20am. I set the first lock and Keith bought the boat in, I opened the paddles to fill the lock and then walked up to the second lock to let some water down into a very empty pound, it was down by at least two foot, which is not good. I let in enough water for Keith to creep into the second lock. I shut the gates behind him and opened the paddles, before walking back to the first lock to close the gate. Phew we managed that bit without to much of a hitch. The rest of the flight was ok apart from being blown around by the wind. The water level above the top lock was down by a couple of inches, but nothing to worry about we hoped as we made our way towards Crick Tunnel. Whilst we cruised through the tunnel, I made got our cups ready for a coffee and sat in the back cabin. As we came out of the Crick end of the tunnel the wind had suddenly got much stronger, so we decided that it would be best to stop and shelter from the ever increasing winds.

We managed to eventually get into a mooring opposite Crick marina, I was struggling to pull the bow in, which was being blown out into the canal by the strong winds. With the centre line tied to a mooring ring, Keith bought the bow in under power and I immediately tied the bow up before it could escape back out into the centre of the cut, that is how strong the wind was. As I sit here typing this posting it is really blowing up a storm and according to the Radio 2 it is chaos out on the roads and rail, with bridges closed, trees and lines down. We are now battening down the hatches and staying inside for the rest of the day.

Stay safe out there xxx

Braunston to Watford Locks.

2012-01-04T14:56:00.001Z

Braunston to Watford Locks 6.6 miles, 6 locks travelled in 4 hours and 20 minutes.

It was time to untie the ropes and set off after our Christmas and New Year break in Braunston. We had really enjoyed our stay, the only dampener to the start of our New Year was with a dog owner, but enough said about that.

Having left our mooring, we pulled on to the sanitary station to empty both toilet cassettes, fill the water tank and get rid of a lot of rubbish.

Keith then reversed the boat in to the junction and off we went.

It was time to say goodbye to Braunston for a while as we passed by The Boat House.

Their moorings are now restricted to 4 hours in the Summer months and 24 hour in the Winter. I have a feeling they will now get very few boats mooring up, which is a real shame. I waved goodbye to Braunston's beautiful church and then the stop house, where BW staff were hard at work.

We made our way to the bottom lock with a vain hope that there would be a boat waiting to go up.

Unfortunately this was not the case, there was no boat as two had gone up in front of us, so we moored up to wait up to an hour for a boat to come a long. I made us a coffee, whilst Keith went into the Chandlery opposite. We got to chat to Jonno and wished everyone there a Happy New Year.

When does one stop saying Happy New Year to people???

Having waited long enough, I went and set the first lock and Keith bought the boat in. Still no boat coming so we were on our own. We passed NB Hector (Another Roger Fuller boat) in the first pound. I was sad to see the Admiral Nelson pub all shut up again and the windows blanked out. No one has been able to make that pub pay, which is a real shame. I wonder how much longer people will keep trying, before it is turned into a dwelling?

As I arrived at lock 4, there was a boat going into lock 5, they had been moored in the pound. I asked "Would you like to share the last two locks", the gentleman said "Ok then", he moved his boat into the lock and waited for us to join him, which was very nice of him. We shared the final two locks, thanked them for waiting and wished them well, before we headed off into the tunnel. Whilst moving through the tunnel, I put some Cornbeef pasties in the back cabin stove to cook for lunch, so we could eat on the run. We arrived at Norton Junction at 12.20pm and saw Al and Del on Derwent No6 moored up, they popped their heads out of the side window and asked "Are you going up", we said we hoped to and would let them know what it was like. One of the first things I noticed as we cruised along was the the vegetation had been cut back on the offside.

It was fantastic to have no hanging branches getting in the way. The only draw back was you could see all the rubbish from the industrial units. Maybe the companies need to be made to clean up their mess?

We had been told towards the end lf last year, there would be a purge on the vegetation and it seems they were true to their word. Now they just need to tackle the over hanging hedgerows on the towpath side. The Cornbeef pasties were cooked so we ate them as we made our way to Watford Locks.

We arrived at the locks at 1.15pm moored up on the 48 hour moorings. Having locked the boat up, we walked up to see if there was anyone to ask about the water levels. We did find a BW employee who was just making himself a cuppa, he told us that the water level is pretty stable at the moment due to the rain we have had. So tomorrow morning we will be heading off up the locks and on towards Foxton.

It has been fantastic to be on the move again. For us to be moored anywhere for 14 days is very rare, we do like to be on the move, but Christmas and New year is different. So here's to being on the move again and to being back on our trading patch.

Chat soon xx

So Iconic.

2012-01-03T14:37:00.002Z

I was reading my Facebook page and Maffi on NB Milly M, posted a report about the Spitfire still being built on the Isle Of Wight. It is fantastic to think that such an iconic aeroplane is still being put together.

Spitfire report.

Currently there are 50 airworthy Spitfires out there WOW.

Reading that item bought to mind the Spitfire of Charles Church which used to fly over the village I lived in. When ever I heard his plane coming overhead, I always ran out into the garden to watch and listen to it fly over. Charles Church owned several Spitfire's and flew them from Popham Airfield, which is the home of the Spitfire Flying Club, it has the name of Charles Church in his memory. The airfield is still owned by his family. Sadly Charles Church died in one of his aircraft in 1990. The sound of the engine still rings in my ears.

New Year's Day Visitor's

2012-01-02T16:06:00.001Z

How was your New Year's Day?

Ours was pretty quiet to be honest as I said in yesterdays post. I also mentioned a chest of drawers, which I wanted to makeover.

(Before)

So with a bee in my bonnet about getting jobs done, we set about tidying all the drawers and getting rid of rubbish. With the chest of drawers empty we then stripped it down. Keith sawed the timber to size and screwed it all back together.

(After)

Makeover complete we the new drawer unit under the TV shelf, it now has the printer sitting on top of it and we now have more room in the saloon.

Having completed our tidy up, there came a knock on the boat. Stein and Jacquie off of NB Like Ducks 2 Water paid us a visit, to let us know they would be leaving the following morning. We welcomed them on board, where upon I made us all a cuppa. After a lovely chat, they were on their way back to their boat and we settled in for the evening.

Today Monday 2nd, it has been another day of getting jobs done. First we sorted out the hold by moving all our storage boxes into the saloon, we then moved some of the coal bags further back in the hold to make a barrier for the lose coal, with that done, I emptied all the remaining coal bags into the gap. We then put our storage boxes back in the hold, having given them a Spring clean getting rid of anything we have not used in the past 6 months. By the time we had done all of that it was time for some lunch. After lunch we then tackled the engine room. Keith had bought some more sound proofing board from Midland Chandlers the other day to go around the generator and he wanted to fit it, so we emptied the engine room of any clutter and took the shelf above the generator out. Having cut the sound proofing board to the right size, it slid in to position without any problem at all. The shelf went back in, we have left the other items from the engine room in the hold, because we hope this week to get a new silencer measured up for the generator, so no point putting everything back, because we will have to remove it all again. In all it has been a very good day for getting things done. As the afternoon slides into the evening "Von Ryan's Express" is on the TV, Paddy and Marmite are snoozing and I am looking forward to a nice hot shower later to get rid of the coal dust.

Chat soon xx

Happy New Year.

2012-01-01T10:23:00.002Z

I hope that you enjoyed a fantastic New Years Eve. Ours was a little strange. Having enjoyed Chinese Nibbles for dinner along with a pint of Old Speckled Hen, we settled down to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End". Keith fell asleep just after 8pm, leaving me to watch most of the movie on my own. He woke up towards the end of the film, but by then I was tired so at 10.15pm I was off to my bed and therefore I was not destined to see the New Year in, which is no big deal. Keith came to bed as well, but after just an hour he was up and woke me up whilst climbing over me, claiming he was to hot, even though the back cabin stove was almost out. So there was nothing for it, but to get up and make a cup of tea and see the New Year in with BBC 1. The fireworks were incredible. Braunston church bells began to peel as it approached midnight and the music from the pub got louder.

The fireworks in London were truly incredible and I would certainly love to see them for myself one year. We wished each other a Happy New Year and then I was off to my bed again, Keith followed on sometime later, in fact he did not come to be until 1.40am arghhhh. This time though I did not feel him climb over me. having had an interrupted nights sleep we were awake at around 8am, so Keith made us both a cup of tea before we got up to get on with the usual morning chores. Whilst I was out walking Paddy, Keith was cooking us breakfast for the fist time in 2012.

Breakfast all done, I did the washing-up and then got on with some new year clearing out. First cupboard was the food cupboard to get rid of things which are either out of date or never used. This has tidied up things no end, so now when I open the door, things do not fall out on top of me or Keith. The next cupboard to get the same treatment was the cupboard with all my storage containers in. Some of them have never been used, so are just taking up room, it was time for them to be binned. Living on a boat means you cannot have lots of stuff lying around which never gets used. Everything must have a use or its place, otherwise it goes. We have a small chest of draws, which also going to get used for something else once Keith cuts it down. Because we do not haver much space on our boat, I am always trying to clear stuff as I put it out, to make sure we are not overwhelmed and because it is the start of a new year, it is the perfect time to clear out the old. With two cupboards down, I will work my way through the rest of them over the next day or two.

It maybe a new year, but to me it is just another day. I am not saying that in a depressed manner, but to be honest it is just another day in a year which is now counting down to 2013. Of course we have got many things to look forward too. The Queen's Golden Jubilee, The Olympic Games to start with and then there are the things we hope to do this year. Firstly we want to get up on to the Leicester Line to collect our Christmas post, but this can only happen if there is enough water underneath us. Then we want to head for Whaley Bridge after the Winter stoppages to get our electrics and batteries organised. Easter we are hoping to go to the Ellesmere Meet. After that we have an idea of where we hope to go, but we never make any fixed plans, because they tend to go to pot.

So what are your plans for 2012???

I am off now to check my meat cooking in the back cabin stove and then the day is my own. So have a wonderful 1st day of 2012 xxxxx

Last day of 2011.

2011-12-31T15:28:00.001Z

Yesterday being the 30th December, we walked up to see Jacquie and Stein on NB Like Ducks 2 Water, but they were not at home. On the way there we saw Andy and his dog Lyra coming heading for the Midland Chandler moorings, so after discovering that there was no one on Like Ducks 2 Water, we walked round to Midland Chandlers and had a few words with Andy who was out and about for a few days. It is always nice to catch up with him and Lyra.

Keith went into Midland Chandlers and thanked them for their help with the battery wiring, we then walked back to the boat and after a coffee we got on with completing the rewiring necessary to bring Hadar up to scratch, we had run out of time the day before. I was once again the gopher (spelt correctly this time). With all the usual jobs done and nothing much else to do we got on with the job in hand and completed the rewiring, well when I say we I mean Keith, because to be honest the electrics goes over my head a little. I do try and take in as much as I can but I only have a small brain, which is getting smaller the older I get. I can do the basics though, which I think is important when living on a boat. Keith added a cable from a battery –ve terminal to the hull. Luck would have it that one of the cables he removed the day before yesterday was a perfect fit, so now the –ve side of the 12v is now properly earthed to the hull. Phew. He then ensure the 240v Earth was also connected to the hull, which apparently it wasn’t, but it is now so phew again. It turned out that he had disconnected at some point, which we cannot recall, we can only think it was due to a previous problem which I know have no recollection of. But at the time it must have been important. Keith is now happy that everything is as it should be electrically speaking. We are now going to keep our fingers crossed, that this improves things now that we have the extra freezer on board. With the electrical work done, the day was a bit of a damp squid with it raining most of the day, so we did not get the insulation work done on the generator, we sat and watch a couple of films instead.

New Years Eve, wow I still cannot believe the year has gone this fast. After walking Paddy and having breakfast, it was time to think of what the last day of 2011 would bring us. The generator was run to charge the batteries, which were low having left the freezer on all night. Having sorted out the fires, I suggested we paid a visit to Jacquie and Stein on NB Like Ducks 2 Water, so we locked up the boat and headed off up the towpath, to find Stein tying the boat up on the sanitary station in order to fill up with water etc, so we walked on round to see him and Jacquie, but before getting there we said a Happy New Year to Peter Underwood on NB Blackberry Way who was setting off from his mooring in front of us.

Stein invited us on boat their beautiful boat, where Jacquie made us a coffee, which we enjoyed with Mince pies whilst chatting about anything and everything. Jacquie and Stein have been on the water some 6 months now and look very happy with their choice. It was wonderful getting to know them as we chatted and I am sure we will see a lot more of them whilst we cruise the waterways. After a couple of hours of chatting, we wished them both a Happy New Year and left them in peace.

Back at the boat it was time for some lunch, we then got on with taking down the Christmas lights and all the decorations, which have served their purpose. Normally I would leave them up until the 12th night, but as we have been having battery problems, we have not had the lights on, so as I see it there is no point in keeping them up. The Christmas tree and decorations are collecting dust from the fire, so taking them down also made me put the duster around to clear the dust. With the decorations put away for another year and the dust laid to rest, I poured us both a pint of Old Speckled Hen and we settled down to watch the new Ben Hur made in 2010. The end to 2011 will be a quiet one for us and no doubt we will be in bed before midnight, so I will take this opportunity to wish you all A HAPPY NEW YEAR. I will see you in 2012.

Chat soon xx

Last Thursday of 2011

2011-12-29T15:07:00.001Z

Hi there.

Yep it is the last Thursday of 2011, where did this year go?

I keep asking myself and others that question and I still do not know the answer. The year has flown by, maybe because I have had such a lot of fun this year as far as boating is concerned. Of course like any other year, it has had its down, but I can honestly say there have been more ups.

Like most mornings on the boat, it began with a cup of tea in bed, whilst I listened to the Sparrows arguing over the food in the bird feeders. Sparrows are in real decline, even back in 2006 there were worries about the Sparrow and their numbers and that worry has not changed and because of these large population declines, the house sparrow is now red-listed as a species of high conservation concern, so I have watched these Sparrows over the past few days with fascination as they munch their way through the nuts and seeds.

Up and about, I took Paddy for his morning stroll along the towpath and saw NB Like Ducks 2 Water. Jacquie and Stein walked past us yesterday, whilst we were chatting to Elaine off of NB Relaine, so we had a quick natter, we are going to pop round and see them over the next couple of days and catch up with their news over a cuppa.

After some breakfast, Keith went round to Midland Chandlers to pick up our new battery cables. We had 3 people say that our cables from the Victron invertor/charger and the batteries, and between the batteries, were too small, so the plan for today was to replace them all. I did non of the replacing that was left to Keith to do, I was his gofer for the morning. Our existing cables were 40mm and we have replaced them with 70mm ones.

For the past couple of years we have been trying to get to Whaley Bridge to get Brett from Kuranda to check our electrical system, especially following the blown up battery incident, which was not a lot of fun. Recently we have been having problems with the charger not starting up correctly, which has steadily been getting worse, so yesterday Keith telephoned Brett for some advice and he confirmed our cables were to small. More expense which is just what we could do without.

After taking up the back cabin floor, we began with taking out the old cables and replacing them with the new ones, which went far better than either of us expected. In all it took 2 hours start to finish which was not bad really, considering the scale of the task of 4 batteries to rewire and new cables to feed through from the batteries and master cut off switch to the Victron. Especially as it is something you really need to take time over to make sure that you get it right first time, and especially making sure no accidental shorting occurs, sparklers are for Bonfire Nights only! We will only see the real benefit of this when we change the batteries for new ones, because Brett reckons the ones we have at the moment, which we only bought a couple of years ago will be shot, so I can see more money evaporating from the bank account. We will pick up new batteries if needed when we do eventually get to Whaley Bridge this year. Job all done and the floor back down, I relit the back cabin stove, which I had let out overnight because we knew we would be working in the back cabin and it would have been roasting. With the stove warming up, dinner is now cooking for tonight. I wasn't much help with the rewiring, but having a gofer did mean Keith did not have to keep getting up and down to get things, and I learnt a lot by just watching him. They say your never to old to learn.

Chat soon xx

Man arrested.

2011-12-29T09:47:00.002Z

A man has been arrested after the discovery of a woman's body in the Grand Union Canal in London. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16346461

Sad to think she will not be seeing the New Year in.

Hotel Boats For Sale.

2011-12-29T09:41:00.002Z

Another boating business is up For Sale.

Me and My Shadow Hotel Boats. http://commercial.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=222229

Is it something you would like to give a go, then maybe this is the pair of boats for you.

It's all over.

2011-12-28T12:06:00.001Z

Hello readers.

Well that's it another Christmas over with, I guess we are now on the countdown to the next one, with the New Year almost here we will then have the highlight of 2012 to come with the Olympics being held in this fine country of ours.

So how was your Christmas?

The days running up to the New Year always seem very boring to me.

Our Christmas was a quiet affair on the boat. Having done the usual morning stuff, I got out of my everyday clothes and put a skirt on and a pair of heels, which I never normally wear on the boat. I have worn skirts before, but very rarely wear heels on the boat because boats and high heeled shoes are not a great combination. Keith even dressed up as well for Christmas Day, of course only Paddy and Marmite were going to see the changes, but hey I know it made me feel more festive. All the festive cooking was to be done in the back cabin stove, so I cooked Pheasant for dinner with all the trimmings, which although I do say it myself was very nice, for pudding we had a mince meat pin wheel with ice cream, the mince meat was supplied by our good friend Elaine. I am gonna have to put in an order for some for the Christmas to come. After a very enjoyable dinner and glass of wine, we settled down for the festive films, but the wind got up and was blowing the TV aerial around so our signal was constantly interrupted, which meant we could not watch the films properly, so we delved into our new DVD's and watch the last two Harry Potter films, which I have to say were well worth the watching. During the evening we did not bother with a meal, we just picked at nibbles. I went out and checked whether the TV aerial had moved in the wind, and found out that it was a couple of inches off line, and hey presto it gave us our TV signal back enough to watch "Downton Abbey", which I wanted to watch no matter what and I was not disappointed. Yippee Mary is not marrying that dreadful Carlisle and is now going to marry Matthew at long last. Poor Bates what will be come of him as he fights to clear his name, I cannot help but hope he and Anna have a wonderful life together in the end. I know it is only a program, but it is a flippin good one and much more interesting to watch than the very depressing soaps. Why oh why do the soaps all have depressing subjects for Christmas?? I stopped watching them some Eleven years ago, because they had got out of hand with their doom and gloom. So Christmas Day was a quiet but lovely one for us.

Boxing Day began with a cup of tea in bed (no surprise there). Then it was a walk with Paddy along the towpath before enjoying a breakfast cooked by my better half. Fires were stoked and kettles were filled before decisions were taken as to what to do for the day. The decision was very little, which meant more films, so we began with "Goodnight Mr Tom", followed by "Garfield 2". It was a shame they were spoilt by all the adverts for sales and holidays, come New Years Day they would be advertising Easter. Lunch was nibbles, because we were both still recovering from Keith's cooked breakfast.

I do not know if it is just me, but did you notice that Boxing Day everyone seemed to go out walking and cycling, and not to mention boating? It was like Piccadilly Circus on the canal and on the towpath. So staying in was the right thing to do.

Tuesday 27th December. Having let the back cabin stove out over night, the back cabin still felt warm, so warm that we slept with the hatch open slightly. Its December and so very mild, to think this time last year we were frozen in at Market Harborough. What a difference a year makes. After breakfast and walking the dog, it was time to get on with some boat jobs, which included taking the back cabin floor up to check the gearbox oil, tighten all nuts and bolts and to empty out a small amount of water in the blige. So far there is very little under the floor due to condensation, which is very good, this is probably due to the mild conditions. With the floor back down, the rag rugs were shaken and put back, I then took the full toilet cassette down to elsan to empty it and to get rid of a bag of rubbish, but on my way I got chatting to Betty and Graham off of NB Tranquility, I was there so long Keith came looking for me. It had been sometime since we had seen them both, so it was lovely to catch up on all their news.

Lunch was eaten at The Boat House, over a pint of Marstons. The place was heaving by the time we left with the waitress rushed off her feet. She had told her boss that they would be busy, but her boss reckoned not, so he did not put on any extra staff, which turned out to be a bad idea, because they were over run by customers. I offered to get the waitress a pair of roller skates, because she is going to be exhausted by the end of the day. We enjoyed a lovely meal and on the way back called in to see Keith and Ann on NB Oakfield. Unfortunately we caught them in the middle of their lunch, but were still welcomed on board, where we enjoyed a coffee and a natter. Keith was talking batteries and invertors with Keith (confusing I know) and we chatted about our plans for 2012, not that any of our plans are definite. There came a knock on the boat and it was Lynne and Paul off of NB Piston Broke, who we have met in passing, but never to chat to, so it was nice to meet another boater and blogger. No sooner we got chatting to them, there was another knock on the boat, this time it was Betty and Graham off of NB Tranquility, so as Keith and I were the uninvited guests we gave up our seats and said our goodbyes to what was now a crowded boat. It was lovely to see everyone though.

I did a recent posting about adding a new freezer to our boat, which is fantastic by the way, the downside is the we now need another battery, because the ones we have are not lasting all night, this is not a huge problem, because we can get one and Keith can fit it. We are also having an issue with our inverter which is more of a problem, because it is saying the batteries are charged when they are not, whilst using the generator, so it looks like we may have to call someone out to look at that again. I can see the bank balance screaming in January, but these things must be seen to.

We now creep ever closer to 2012 and hope that it is a good year for everyone. I will see you in the New Year xxxxxxxxx.

Merry Christmas.

2011-12-24T13:39:00.001Z

To all my blog visitors I wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the very best for 2012.

It is Christmas Eve and time for me to take a break from blogging and just enjoy our Christmas.

May I take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all my readers during 2011 and I look forward to being back in 2012. Have a wonderful festive time with family and friends, and remember to stay safe out there. xxx

Before I sign off completely, I will do one last post for today. We were awake early drinking our usual morning cuppa, whilst discussing the days chores. I was then up and off the boat with Paddy walking the towpath in the early morning light.

Across the fields the sun was coming up, giving off a warm glow.

It is morning's like this that make it great to be a live.

When I got back to the boat, it was time to get the stove going, so I could cook the Pheasant, then got on with cleaning and tidying the back cabin, whilst Keith got on with wiring a switch for the new freezer. Just as I finished the back cabin tidy up, Adam and Adrian came past on NB Briar Rose on their way to collect their turkey from the butcher in the village, they said they would call on us on the way back, so I got out of my everyday tat and put on something more in keeping with the festive season, after all I wear the same sort of clothing all year round, so it is nice to dress up a little at Christmas. With my dirty togs destined for the washing machine and some mince pies warming in the back cabin stove with the Pheasant which smelt devine, there came a knocking on the side of the boat, to which Paddy barked. It was Adam and Adrian bearing gifts of mince pies which we enjoyed with tea and coffee. It was lovely to catch up with them both and to hear about their plans for 2012 with their boat. Far to quickly it was time for them to head off, as they wanted to find somewhere to moor for the night.

Hopefully we will see them during next year out and about on their lovely boat.

I checked the Pheasant and it was cooked to perfection, alls I had to do then was to strip the meat off of the bone. The meat will be cooked in gravy for tomorrows Christmas dinner and the bones will be used for stock.

I am now going to put my feet up and watch a Christmas movie, so on that note once again Merry Christmas and I will see you on 2012. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Didn't we have a lovely day.

2011-12-23T17:18:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Yesterday ended with Keith washing up after dinner, a shower and then us sitting in front of the TV until bed time. The back cabin where we sleep smelt fantastic, because all day I had, had a gammon joint cooking in the stove for Christmas. Before we crawled into bed I checked to see if it was actually cooked, which it was and for that I was thankful because otherwise we would have been smelling it all night and little sleep would have been had. So with the Gammon joint left in the galley over night to cool, I got a wonderful nights sleep. Keith reckoned he tossed and turned all night because he was to warm. I did let the stove go out over night, because I knew we would be out all day today.

Awake early and a cup of tea drunk, we were up getting the morning chores done, because we were off into Daventry. I know we must have been mad with it being so close to Christmas, but as we had no Christmas shopping to do as such, we wanted a day out and a little bit of retail therapy, so we caught the 10.35am bus, which was a little late, but that was probably because the roads were busy. It cost us £4.70 for the both of us return, which is not bad. The weather was supposed to be wet, wet, wet, but there was just a slight drizzle when we left Braunston.

We arrived in Daventry and our first stop was to find somewhere for a cup of Coffee. Having enjoyed a nice coffee at the Milk Bar, we then set off with one of our objectives to find a Freezer thermometer. We tried Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi which we thought would be good places to find such a thing, seeing as they sell frozen foods. Bit we were wrong there. Still the visit to all 3 made us glad we had done all our food shopping already for Christmas, because they were all heaving with impatient shoppers. We then found a little electrical shop which had exactly what we were looking for. As so often when we go out we spent some of our day browsing around the charity shops, and the market stalls. I got myself a nice skirt to wear over Christmas. Yes the legs are coming out over Christmas, so it is bound to snow (Of course I know it won't, the weather people have said so). Lunch was hadat The Saracen’s Head. Keith and I both had the Chicken Tikka which we always enjoy at any of the Wetherspoon's pubs, with half a Ruddles Best each. That set me up for the rest of the day. I told Keith this was the one and only curry dish he would be having over Christmas, because our Pheasant would only probably do one meal, two if I use the left overs in a casserole.

Because we know our TV signal here in Braunston is dodgy, we went in search of some more new DVD's to watch over Christmas, Blockbusters did us proud, with 3 we wanted to see at reduced prices and what was even better was when Keith went to pay for them he was told The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Blu-Ray was actually £7 and not the marked £10, which was even better, we do love a bargain. Also we bought Angels & Demons from a charity shop for £2.99, which is the film after The Da Vinci Code.

The weather on the whole had not been to bad, but it did decide to chuck it down just after we got to the bus shelter to wait for the bus back to Braunston. People were running for cover as the wind blew the rain horizontal. The bus was running last as it had been earlier but unlike some people moaning, we were happy to wait. Our journey back to Braunston was wet, Keith pushed the stop button so we could get off at The Boat House Pub, but the bus went up into Braunston village, so we whilst we were there we walked to the butchers to see what meat he had that we could put into the new freezer.

Whilst we were there browsing the meat people were coming in to pick up their turkeys and trimming for Christmas Day, I am so thankful it is only us two for Christmas lunch. I was hoping to buy their delicious lemon chicken pieces we bought from them last time we were here, but sadly they did not have any which was a shame because they were really yummy. I did purchase some sausages, pork and lamb chops which all looked nice and will make a welcome addition to the new freezer. We walked back to the boat in heavy rain, so we were a little soggy by the time I unlocked the boat. I got changed and hung my soggy trousers up to dry. I then cleaned the back cabin stove chimney and grate before relighting the fire. I also had to get some coal out of the hold, so got wet yet again, but hey ho.

The back cabin stove is now nice and warm, as is the cabin. I have dinner to think about which won't be much because we ate out. We will then settle in for an evening in front of the TV I think, after our great day out in Daventry.

Chat soon xxx

Another day closer.

2011-12-21T15:34:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Are you ready?

Is the shopping done, because we are another day closer to Christmas. Christmas came early on board Hadar, with an early present.

Oh dear it seems I snore arghhhhh. I am not known for my snoring normally, but Keith prodded me twice in the night, because apparently I was snoring. I can only put it down to the fact I am a little bunged up at the moment due to the damp weather. Keith it has to be said was also snoring, but instead of prodding him, I just turned over, which made him move as well. I come from a family where my father snored very loudly, so loud that he could be heard from one end of the house to the other and when I was a child we lived in a long house. I remember my mother taped him one, to prove to him that he snored, but he would still not have it that he made such a din. Gosh tapes, who remembers those? They were a flippin pain when the tape got tangled up and you could always guarantee that it would happen you your favourite tape. CD's is a huge improvement, as it the MP3 player. I am not into the i-pod thingy. Anyway enough of that, having woken up later this morning, I heard a boat go past with a lovely sounding pop, pop engine this was about 8am, so as I was awake I got up and made us both a cup of tea, which as per-usual was enjoyed in bed, I also sorted out the back cabin stove.

Talking of stoves, remember to regularly sweep the chimney and also check that your smoke alarms and CO2 detector alarms are working properly. Yesterday a boater had a lucky escape, when their dog kept barking frantically up and down the boat trying to wake them up, which eventually he did. Through the night smoke had been seeping into the cabin. If it had not been for their dog, neither of them would be here today. So do not delay do the checks, it may just save your life. I also read in the new Towpath Talk that a boater had a lucky escape, having removed the batteries from their alarms. Life is way to short as it it, why make it even shorter???

With all the morning jobs done, Keith and I went off to see Tony and Paul Redshaw to discuss silencers for our inbuilt generator. The silencer we have does the job, but we would like to get it a little quieter if possible. We spent about an hour chatting to Tony and Paul about all sorts of things, including the silencer which will be looked at in the new year. We then went on to Midland Chandlers to have a look for a few things, whilst there we asked about a freezer we had seen on their website. Now whilst they did not have what we were looking for, they did have another freezer which would do the job, they were also prepared to do us a good deal on it as it is Christmas. Having ummmmed and arghhhed we came to the decision it was exactly what we wanted, so I did the deed and paid the Philco PHCT36FZ.

We said we would collect it after lunch with our trolley. On the way back to the boat, we called on Keith and Ann on NB Oakfield, but there was no one about, hopefully we will see them before Christmas. Back on the boat I made us some lunch, we then got on with moving the tumble drier from its home and into the hold, because the new freezer was going to take its place. Keith then put in the wiring for the new freezer which runs off of 12volt. We then made our way round to Midland Chandlers, collected the new freezer and made our way back to the boat, where we unpacked the freezer from its box. Keith and I then man handled the freezer into the engine room and through to the galley. Keith wired it up, switched it on and now we are waiting for it to freeze. The new freezer is such a welcome edition to the boat, because it means I can take on more frozen food, which means more supplies. We already have the Shoreline fridge/freezer, which has been excellent, but I have always wanted extra freezer space and now I have it.

I spoke of Towpath Talk earlier in the posting, well I sent them a photograph of ice on the canal and it has appeared in their gallery, so thank you to them for posting it.

With the new freezer purring away, I then got on with cooking some Liver and Onions for dinner, this will be had with mashed potato and vegetables.

Chat soon xx

Time to move on.

2011-12-20T12:41:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Onley to Braunston 3.8 miles travelled in 1 hour 50 minutes.

Having spent a lovely weekend out in the countryside, it was time to move on to what would hopefully be a mooring for the Christmas holidays. With the ice of the past few days all gone, there would be no smashing or crashing past moored boats. Before we left the mooring, I remembered to gather up the bird feeders from the make shift bird table, I have on occasions forgotten and left them behind. I did however leave behind the fat balls to keep the birds happy. I am quite sure someone else will put more food out.

9.35am I cast us off and got us underway, whilst Keith was doing something in the back cabin. I do so love standing at the tiller, even when the sun is in my eyes, which it was this morning because it is so low in the sky at this time of year. As we approached Willoughby Keith took over on the tiller whilst I made us both a coffee.

As we got closer to Braunston I spotted Ian and Alsion on Working Boat Gosty Hill moored up some way from the bank.

We exchanged a few words with them, wishing them a Merry Christmas, they are off up on to the Ashby Canal for Christmas and are very well loaded.

As we went past they cast off and got underway.

Braunston Church came into view, like a beacon of hope.

Behind us the sky was getting ever darker, which meant we were about to get rather wet. As it turned out it did not rain much at all.

Overhead a Buzzard was getting harassed by a Crow, which would not leave it a lone. We arrived in Braunston and met up with Keith and Ann on NB Oakfield, who were taking on water at the water point near Midland Chandlers. We exchanged a few words of our plans before we continued through to the water point and elsan disposal between the A45 bridge and the stop house to empty out and top up. We also took the opportunity to fill up our 2 water carriers so we have plenty of water on-board whatever the weather brings. We winded at the marina entrance and returned to a mooring opposite Tony Redshaw’s which will do us nicely for the Christmas holidays, during the winter these moorings are 14days.

We had thought of stopping on The Boat House moorings, but they are now for patrons only and only 24 hour, which is a real shame. Obviously people have been abusing their hospitality, so now there are restrictions. We have stayed there for a weekend, but have used the pub whilst there. It is a shame when a few spoil things for the rest of us. We had not been moored up long, when Del and Al on NB Derwent 6 came past on their way to Norton Junction. I popped my head out of the engine room door to wish them a Merry Christmas and hopefully we may see them in the new year.

The TV aerial has gone up, but we have no BBC channels again, oh well as long as we have ITV for "Downton Abbey" over Christmas I am happy. I have no plans to do much for the rest of the day, but who knows what may come to pass.

Chat soon xxxxxx

Winter has arrived.

2011-12-18T10:34:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

I mentioned we had a home made bird table outside the galley window.

Yesterday the birds were very eager to get some food that they did not have to find for themselves.

Keith and I got a few jobs done yesterday, he was busy with wiring jobs, he wired in a small inverter for the back cabin TV and he wired in his power supply for his computer, if it is successful he is going to do the same with mine. I on the other hand moved some coal in the hold, I then tidied and polished in the saloon, straightened up the Christmas tree which had a drunken droop going on. Just as I was making lunch Maffi came past us on NB Milly M, so I signaled to him I had a cuppa on if he wanted one, with a thumbs up I made him a cup of tea whilst he pulled in, in front of us. We stood nattering with him for about half an hour, we then noticed the very dark sky coming over our heads, so Maffi was on his way before the heavens opened, which unfortunately they did as he left. We will not see him now till probably the New Year, so wished him a happy festive season as he headed off to Oxford for Christmas.

The rest of yesterday was spent in the warm watching films on TV, drinking coffee and keeping the fires stoked up.

This morning (Sunday) I woke to another heavy frost and ice on the canal.

At 7.30am Keith had gotten up to visit the bathroom, so I got up and stoked the back cabin stove, to being up the heat level a bit as it was a little on the chilly side. I then put the kettle on for a brew, whilst that was boiling I saw to the saloon stove as well. Kettle boiled it was back to bed to enjoy my early cuppa, whilst listening to the ducks walking around on the ice. Ice makes some incredible noises as it cracks against the hull of the boat. I could also hear the birds squabbling on the bird table, as they all wanted something to fill their tummies against the cold.

8.30am it was time to get out beneath a was time to climb out from beneath a warm duvet, because Paddy wanted to go out and Marmite was making it known she wanted feeding.

As we set off along a frosty towpath, I caught sight of some brave or would that be mad runners running up to the top of Blaby Hill.

I actually cannot think of anything worse than running, but for some it is everything, so good luck to them. Paddy and I were quite happy to stroll along the towpath.

Back on the boat Keith was making us a cooked breakfast, which filled me up for the morning.

The sky began to darken and the snow began to fall yippee.

Now I of course realise not everyone enjoys the snow and it does cause havoc when travelling or getting around, but I am just a huge kid at heart and I love the snow. We will not get much no doubt, but I love to watch it fall, if it settles that is even better.

With the fires backed up, it is now time to enjoy my Sunday. I have no plans to do much today and I know there are a lot of movies on the TV, so I think it maybe a movie day in between cooking, cleaning, looking after the other half and the animals.

Have a fun day xx

Not looking good.

2011-12-17T13:48:00.001Z

We had thought that we would go back on to the Leicester Line come the New Year, but it is not looking at all good, if the update is anything to go by. We already knew the water levels are well down, so have stayed away.

British Waterways Notice.

Restriction: Grand Union Leicester Line - Lock 18 Kibworth to Lock 30 Kilby
02 Aug 2011 until further notice
Associated Regional Office: South East Waterways
UPDATE (16 December 2011): As a result of the continuing water shortage and the anticipated limited boat movements on this length, the canal will close temporarily over the Christmas and New Year period.
The closure dates will be 25th, 26th and 27th December and 1st and 2nd January. Outside of these dates the canal will continue with the opening hours of 1000 hours – 1400 hours.
We will continue monitoring the water situation and provide further updates where appropriate.

Rugby to a mooring between Br 80 and 81.

2011-12-16T15:54:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Rugby to the middle of nowhere, 6.6 miles, 3 locks travelled in 3 hours 20 minutes.

We had planned an early start, but did not wake up until 7am, so after a cuppa in bed we were up and dressed and I was off the boat with Paddy for his morning walk. I was bitterly disappointed that the forecast snow did not arrive, the only thing we had was rain, which of course is very welcome at the moment.

Having had breakfast, we donned our rucksacks and made our way to Tesco for our last food shop before Christmas and the New year. It was pretty quiet, so we managed to get on with what we wanted to do without pushing our way through the crowds or queuing at the till. In fact we arrived at a till as the person in front was leaving, perfect timing. We lugged all the shopping back to the boat, a pack horse would have been so useful, because it was all up hill to begin with then a short walk into the park down hill before we got back to the boat. I opened up the boat and the galley window and Keith passed the bags to me. Before unpacking the shopping, we emptied the two toilet cassettes and got rid of rubbish, Keith then fired up the engine, whilst I untied the boat. As we left the mooring at 10.10am Al and Del on NB Derwent 6 waved us off and said they would see us tomorrow. It was onward to Hillmorton to fill up with water, before climbing the locks. We could not get right into the bank to take on water, so we had to watch our footing, because the bank is grass and was slippery with the mud, but with no accidents, we filled the tank and I then walked up to set the first lock, which was sure to warm me up, because it was cold.

There is still only one of the pairs of locks open, but with it so quiet, there was no queuing, even though we did see a boat go up whilst we were on the water point.

Keith carried on without me whilst I shut the gate, I then walked up to the next lock.

Keith held the boat in the pound whilst the lock emptied.

The lock gates is alive with fungi.

Lock done it was on to the last lock, where we met up with Nick Wolfe off of Working Boat Aldgate, he was off to saw up some wood. As we would not see him before Christmas we wished him a happy one, before we all went on our way.

At Bridge 74 Tarry's Bridge, where there used to be stabling for canal horses, the stables have been turned into accommodation. They look very tastefully done and I love the train.

We cruised past Barby Marina, which looks rather sad, because it is still unfinished. The boats which have already taken moorings there are having to moor around the edges of the marina, which cannot be that great.

After a very pleasant cruise on a cold winter morning, we arrived at bridge 80, which is desperate need of repair. Is this going to be another bridge lost?

Just after the bridge we moored up on a nice deep mooring and this is where we will stay for the weekend. Someone has made a bird table out of an old draw front and a pole, so I made the most of it and put the feeders out. Within a couple of minutes we had our first visitor, a Robin came calling followed by Blue Tits, a Green Finch and Long Tailed Tits. I will be taking photographs over the weekend. We have TV but no BBC channels, but I am not to bothered by that.

Last night we watched "The Kings Speech" and I thought it was brilliant. I can see why people raved over it now. It is a must have for the DVD collection.

Right off to sort out dinner. Chat soon xx

We moved.

2011-12-15T16:47:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

We moved from our overnight mooring on the towpath at Rugby and on to the Broughton Park moorings opposite for a few reasons.

Reason one was the boat behind us, ran his generator till gone 9pm last night. Now as any good boater knows you are not supposed to run your engine before 8am or after 8pm, but it appears some people think they are above this. We sat watching the Royal Variety Performance and 8pm came and went as did 8.30pm, I was beginning to think that I would be going round to ask him to turn his generator off. 9pm came and went and then phew it was turned off. It would not have been so bad if it had been at the bow of the boat, but with it backing on to our back cabin I had visions of us going to bed with it still running. I am of the opinion, if you need to run your engine or generator after 8pm then either moor in the middle of no where or at least have the decency to knock on the boats near you to ask if it is ok. It is not much to ask is it? So the generator went off and peace was restored. We did not actually go to bed until 11.30pm because we sat up and watch the end of Die Hard 4.0.

Reason two was when I walked Paddy this morning I walked him over to Broughton Park to see if it was correct that the Elsan was in working order again, as reported on Keith and Ann's blog NB Oakfield. Yippee they reported correctly that it is indeed in working order once again, so we want to empty our cassettes and thought we would have to cross our legs until Hillmorton, but that is now not the case, so thanks Keith and Ann for the information.

Reason three was the weather forecast. The forecast is for gales and snow, now the snow we would cope with on the towpath side, but were more worried by the gales because we were moored on just other peoples bits of rope tied into the concrete bank, which may well have held, but we were taking no chances. We also did not want to moor up on pins, because they would have pulled out. Unfortunately we could not get our chains to fit anywhere along the stretch we had, so decided that the ringed moorings on Broughton Park were a better option, so after getting back from my walk with Paddy, we had breakfast, fired up the engine and moved all of a few feet across the cut. Securely moored up, we both felt happier with our decision, the only draw back we have no TV this side of the canal grrrrrrrr.

At 10.45am we gathered a few items including Bonnie Bear and headed off back to the towpath side on foot to go and have a coffee and mince pies with Al and Del on NB Derwent 6. It was Bonnie Bears first visit to our friends, so it was her first cuddle away from our boat.

I think she enjoyed herself, she certainly had a smile on her face.

We had a great time with Al and Del, before we knew it the time had sped on to gone 2pm and it was time to leave them in peace. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them, I think we must have covered very subject under the sun apart from toilets. That has to be a first. Back on our boat Bonnie Bear relaxed in the back cabin, whilst I made us a sandwich for lunch, we then headed out again with our small trolley to go and get Paddy's dog food and some cat litter for Marmite. I was going to buy her cat food there, but Tesco are cheaper, so will do that tomorrow if we are not snowed in. Whilst we were out and about the mince and vegetables were cooking in the back cabin stove for a Lasagna, which we will be having for dinner tonight. I have layered it up with lasagna sheets, white sauce and cheese and it is now cooking in the stove for tonight's dinner. So no TV signal, that means we will be delving into the DVD collection tonight. I may just have to put "The Kings Speech" on tonight. Everyone has raved about it, so I am looking forward to seeing it. The solar lights we bought yesterday are working in the back cabin and look lovely. It makes a change for something to work first time, normally I land up taking things back.

Right time to check on dinner. Have a good evening, stay safe and warm xxx

Newbold to Rugby.

2011-12-14T16:01:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Newbold to Rugby 1.25 miles travelled in 35 minutes.

Not exactly a huge cruise today, but it is serving a purpose, because we want to stock up for Christmas and the New Years festivities. Before we got under way. I was up and off of the boat with Paddy for his walk, which took us down to the post box in the village to post off our boat insurance, I also took the opportunity to put a coal bag with ash in it, in the bins by the Barley Mow Inn. I like to put our cold fire ash in bags and then deposit it in BW bins, rather than throwing it into the hedgerows. I know a lot of boaters do just throw it in the hedgerows which is fine, I just prefer not to as I think it is unsightly.

We set off from the 48 hour mooring at 9.35am, the morning was cold, but dry and the wind had dropped which was appreciated. This part of the canal is not hugely beautiful because you are beginning to enter Rugby and the industrial side of the town. But it was quiet as we approached Rugby, our hope was there would be a mooring for us and thankfully we were not disappointed, because just as we passed under Masters Bridge we pulled into an empty mooring behind Maffi on NB Milly M and Al and Del on NB Derwent 6. Maffi very kindly took the bow rope as I stepped off of the boat with the centre rope. There are no rings or proper piling, so many people moor on pins, but we were fortunate to find bits of lopped rope along the concrete, so used them to moor up on. I just hope they hold now, with the wind expected to get up again. There were moorings on the opposite side of the canal, but you then have a lot further to walk, so we are going to stay put for now.

Having enjoyed a natter with Maffi, we had a coffee before walking to Maplins with Keith's shopping list as follows:-

We returned back to the boat with these plus the following:-

Keith wanted the invertor for our TV in the boatman’s cabin, which up till now we have been running of the main invertor, but he has decided to fit a separate one specifically for this TV, it will save having to get out of bed to switch it on or off! Now I love that idea, but we will still have to get out of bed to plug the aerial in hahahahaha.

The resistors are so that he can convert our Christmas LED lights to operate directly of the boat 12V supply, rather than batteries. So this will save me having to charge up the batteries, which is a good idea.

The cable is for wiring up the invertor, this is over my head, so I will leave that job to Keith.

Whilst Keith was looking for his bits I wandered around looking at lots of interesting stuff, but I then spotted the solar powered LED’s, which I have been looking out for, and at half price at £9.99 a set we bought two sets. I love fairy lights they will also save us battery power.

Keith then spotted the radio. We had thought of waiting for the New Year sales to get a new one, but with £20 off of £49.99 we felt we would probably do no better in the sales, so bought one. Our old radio’s display failed a couple of months ago, and although it still worked it was difficult to tune into radio stations without a display.

With our purchases all bagged up, we walked back to the boat and I got on with making some lunch. I was just about to slice some Cheese when Al and Del came past the window, so I nipped out and said "Hello" to them both. We stood nattering for a while, before agreeing to meet up tomorrow for a proper chat over Mince Pies and Coffee. So we have that to look forward too.

With lunch eaten Keith installed the radio with out much fuss or drama and I got on with putting up one set of the LED’s, in the back cabin, I just need to wait 6-8 hours for them to charge up. So all in all we have had a fruitful day.

I now have to think about something for dinner. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do today, but I am sure I will come up with something.

Chat soon xx

Christmas is coming.

2011-12-13T17:30:00.001Z

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN.

What annoys you????

2011-12-13T12:18:00.001Z

I do not know if anyone else has been watching "That's Britain", it tackles what drives us brits mad. It has me thinking about what annoys me and I am beginning to think I am a Grumpy Old Woman, because my list is endless.

1. Dog Poo (in bags or otherwise).

2 Litter.

3. Mobile Phones in Restaurants and Cafes.

4. Manners.

5. Respect.

6. Swearing when it is not needed ( I see no need to swear). I am talking about the F and C words.

7. People who seem to walk right through me.

8. Cyclists who think they rule the towpaths.

Ok will stop now because I could go on and on, see told you I am a Grumpy Old Woman ;0).

Tell me what annoys you????

Another life lost.

2011-12-13T11:07:00.003Z

Dangers lurk around every corner it seems and I was sad to read of another young life taken by the game of jumping locks.

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Teammates-tribute-little-magician-died-canal-lock/story-14114735-detail/story.html

Locks are not places to play, they can be dangerous. This is the second death this year due to jumping locks. My worry now is that locks will be deemed so dangerous that they will want to fence them off.

Grimes Br. 26 to Newbold.

2011-12-12T15:17:00.002Z

Hiya there.

Grimes Br. 26 to Newbold. 5.05 miles travelled in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Hiya there.

Another stunning morning after an overnight frost and the temperature getting down to -2.9c.

A corker of a start to my day, what with walking along a crispy towpath with Paddy, then setting off in the sunshine at 9.30am, having spent a lovely weekend on the Grimes Bridge mooring.

I said goodbye to the horses munching hay in the field opposite and said hello to a lone Magpie, who was chattering in a tree as we passed under Grimes Bridge.

There was hardly a cloud in the sky as we met more boats on the move, than we had seen in the past week or so.

We arrived at Stretton Stop (Rose Narrowboats), where I stepped off the boat to open the swing footbridge, being careful to make sure I was sure footed in icy conditions. The last thing I need to is to injure myself before Christmas.

We left the swing bridge behind and headed off towards Newbold. Trains were coming and going along the railway line which runs along side the canal.

No matter what the weather I love every moment of the life I have. What is there not to like on such a clear and beautiful day. I dipped inside to make a coffee in the back cabin.

In no time at all we were heading through Newbold Tunnel.

On reaching the other side we pulled in for to fill up the water tank at the water point. Whilst I kept an eye on the boat, Keith went and had a look at the Barley Mow Inn notice board to see what was on the menu, we decided we would have lunch there, but that could not happen until the tank was filled and a mooring was found. Keith checked on the mooring situation, to find there was plenty of room for us on the 48 hour moorings, so with the tank full and NB Heron waiting to use the water point, we moved off and let them take our place.

All moored up, we shut the boat up and headed off back to the Barley Mow Inn for some lunch.

The pub was taken over by a new family a couple of years ago and they made us feel very welcome. There is a warm friendly atmosphere and with the Christmas decorations up, it looked lovely. We enjoyed our meals and a pint each of Old Speckled Hen. A definite place to eat if you stop at Newbold.

When we moved to find our mooring, I noticed flowers and cards by bridge 50. The landlady at the pub told us that a few days ago a man drowned in the canal by the bridge. So very sad at this time of year for something like this to happen. It was unknown as to what had happened. News Release.

It is now 3.15pm and the afternoon is descending into evening as the light fades. It is shower night and then I will settle in front of the TV.

Congratulations to Little Mix for winning "The X-Factor" last night, they are the first group to ever win the show. Marcus Collins was so gracious in defeat. I am sure that Marcus will have a glittering career and look forward to seeing what he does with his singing. I guess the next big TV event will be "Dancing on Ice" in the New Year.

Right off to make a coffee and then it will be dinner time.

Chat soon xx

A day of doing very little.

2011-12-11T17:27:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Sunday was a day of doing very little. It began early as seems to be the norm these days. Maybe it comes with getting older, but for some odd reason, I wake up earlier and earlier. At this rate by the time I reach my mature years I will not be sleeping at all, which is never good.

So after a cuppa in bed whilst watching TV, it was then time to take Paddy out for his walk. Whilst we were out rambling a long the towpath, Keith was on the boat cooking me breakfast, this morning it was Bacon, Mushroom, and Poached Eggs on Toast. he had Black Pudding with is, ewwww I am not a lover of all that cooked blood, so gave it a miss. After breakfast I got on with sorting out both the fires as per-usual, whilst Keith did his thing. The generator charged the batteries and Marmite and Paddy ate their breakfast. Sunday has always been a baking day for me, so I thought I should make some cake, because the cake box was empty. I made us a Lemon and Lime Drizzle Cake, which should last us a few days. I then turned my attention to cooking some Bolognaise Sauce for dinner, which we would be having with Spagetti. I like to make my own, but will occasionally use jar sauces. My Bolonaise Sauce, is made with Red Wine, Garlic, Onions, Oxo Cube, Tomato Paste and a tin of chopped Tomatoes. The smell from the back cabin during the day was sublime. With dinner taken care of it was time for some lunch, so we finished off the stock from the Oxtails I made a stew with a couple of days ago. Those three little Oxtails had fed us for three meals, so well worth the £2.95. Soup was enjoyed with buttered bread and a slice of the Lemon and Lime Drizzle Cake.

The rest of my afternoon was spent watching Sunday films, making coffee and tending to the fires. Paddy jumped up on my lap for a cuddle, he is such an old softy, but once he wriggled to much he was put back on the floor, of course this made Marmite jealous so she then settled down on my lap for half an hour, by which time it was time to get up and put a Rubarb Pie in the back cabin oven, that will be pudding after tonight's dinner.

Tonight it is the X-Factor final, so come on Marcus Collins. Actually I like Little Mix as well, so who ever wins will be fine. But I do have a soft spot for Marcus.

I hope your Sunday has been a lovely one xx

Celebrity status.

2011-12-11T17:00:00.002Z

It seems that Bonnie Bear is becoming a celeb, she has now got her own facebook page. I am now wondering where this will end. Already people are booking her for hugging sessions. Next it will be autographs.

Bungy Bear.

2011-12-10T15:03:00.001Z

Bonnie bear was washed as you will have read from her previous posting, she then hung around in the shower to drip dry.

She then thought she was going to do a bungy jump, but in fact she was left hanging around in the back cabin for a day to dry in front of the stove, for company she had the smell of a stew cooking in the oven.

A couple of day on she is now happily enjoying the side bed in the back cabin. I have a feeling she is going to be putting a lot of demands on me from now on. She has already said she will only accept hugs by appointment.

Coldest night of this winter so far.

2011-12-10T10:29:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

The temperature got down to -4.9c overnight, so we woke up to a very heavy frost and a layer of ice covering the canal. It was very picturesque at 7.30am, when I opened the back cabin door to look out.

Keith and I were in fact awake at 5.50am arghhhhhhh, which was annoying because I purposely stayed up late last night to see if I would sleep in. I went to bed after "Windtalkers" a film with Nicholas Cage, which was on Channel 5. So staying up still meant I woke up early, so won't be doing that again. There was only one thing for it, but to get up and put the kettle up. I also stoked up both of the fires, because there was a chill in the air. The back cabin stove had to have the ash riddled out of it, to get it to roar into life, but in no time at all it was sending out heat, so whilst we watched one of the early "Deal or no deals" on Challenge TV, I made us both some Porridge, which we devoured whilst in bed, how indulgent is that?

8.30am I was up and dressed, because Paddy was stirring in his bed, which meant he wanted to go out and Marmite was on the prowl looking for some breakfast. As Paddy and I stepped off of the boat, the ground was white and crisp under foot, it was stunning.

The ice on the canal was thick enough to leave the ducks standing out in the cold. This is the cold start to the day this winter so far, but according to the weather forecasters it is not going to last, the wind and rain is coming back. So I made the most of my morning walk in the frost. The view across the valley was breath taking in the sunshine. It is a lovely view for those moored on the farm moorings.

One of the farms ponies was tucking into some hay for breakfast, which will help to keep out the cold.

Paddy enjoyed his run up and down the towpath, when it is cold and frosty he has a spring in his step. When we got back to the boat, the generator was on charging the batteries, so I put a load of washing on, which turned out to be a problem, for some reason the inverter took offense and switched itself off. Keith turned off the immersion heater and I switched the washing machine off, so he could reset everything. Inverter back on we left the immersion off and I put the machine back on, but it did not spin the washing, so I had to repeat the process all over again. Finally after an hour it was all done and is now hanging in the back cabin to dry. Just have to hope my washing machine is not going wrong. It is now 10.30am and still frosty outside, but the temperature is climbing. Not got much planned for the day after all it is the weekend.

Chat later maybe xx

Alderman’s Green to Grimes Bridge No.26

2011-12-09T13:11:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Alderman's Green to Grimes Bridge No. 26 5 miles travelled in 1 hour 50 minutes.

A very chilly beginning to my day as I stepped off of the boat with Paddy. There was a heavy frost on the ground and a thin layer of ice on the canal, but it was bright and sunny and the wind which was very strong yesterday had died down.

9.10am we were ready for the off, so I cast off the bow rope making sure to be careful on the slippery front deck. At this time of the year, the sun is especially low, so as we are heading south the sun was in our eyes making us both squint.

I do love this time of year for cruising, not only is it very quiet, you also get amazing views, because there are no leaves on the trees and bushes.

I have often posted photographs of picture graffiti, some of which is art. Today I photographed this piece of graffiti because I thought it so apt.

Before arriving at Ansty where I wanted to top up with water, I saw this rather beautiful pony.

She was in her full winter coat, so ready for whatever the weather may throw at her.

At Ansty we tried to pull in for water, but we couldn’t get in close enough to get a hose onto the bow, and I was not about to make a leap of faith in slippery conditions, so we will have to top up at Newbold when we get there. As we left the water point we had a geese flowing us.

I was thinking Christmas Dinner mmmmm. Not sure how I would get one in our back cabin stove though.

We arrived at Grimes Bridge No.26 and moored up in a good deep mooring for us, its out in the countryside, so nice and quiet we hope for the weekend. All moored up it was time to close the boat up against the cold. I stoked up the back cabin stove and got on with chopping up the vegetables for our Oxtail Stew. Whilst the vegetables were in the pan with the onions, garlic and gravy, I stripped down the Oxtail bones, the meat will be added later with mushrooms. With the stew now in the stove, it was time to turn my attention to getting a bag of coal out of the hold, Keith came and gave me a hand. I then got on with toasting crumpets for lunch, which we had with mince pies and a coffee. The time is now 1.10pm and we have "Carry On Constable" on Film4. The rest of my day will be spent doing odd jobs, cooking and cleaning, so nothing to exciting.

Chat soon xx

Happy Bonnie Bear.

2011-12-08T11:26:00.001Z

Having been rescued from the cold dirty water of the Coventry Canal, it was time for a wash and brush up.

Not sure I can squeeze into this sink.

Time for a shampoo and set.

Time to have my feet washed, see how happy I am.

I spent the evening hanging around in the shower, which was not very comfortable, but I have been told I will be spending the rest of my drying time in the back cabin where it is nice and warm. I think I have found myself a very comfortable home, but not sure about the furry animals which inhabit this boat, the dog looks at me as if it wants to eat me arghhhhhhhhhh.

Coventry Basin to Whiting's Bridge No.5 near Hawkesbury.

2011-12-07T14:37:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Coventry Basin to Whiting's Br No.5, near Hawkesbury Junction 6.5miles, 1 lock travelled in 2 hours 31 minutes.

I am not a woman who likes to be rudely awoken, it does not put me in a good mood, so to be woken up at 3.45am by some gobby youths was annoying to say the least. Surely at that time in the morning they should have been in bed? We lay awake listening to them shouting about and using all the swear word books in their vocabulary, I was also waiting for them to come near to the boat, because I would have been up and out of the boat. I am not a violent person, neither do I do confrontation, but you disturb my sleep at your peril. Thankfully as they were getting louder, the heavens opened and they must have legged it, because all went quiet. So there we were laying in bed wide awake, the only thing for it was to get up and make a cup of tea. After settling down beneath the duvet, I managed to go back into an easy sleep, when Marmite came and said good morning, which must have meant it was time to get up.

We were already to leave the basin by 8.30am, so we left our mooring and pulled in at the sanitary station where we emptied the toilet cassettes and got rid of rubbish, water is not needed until after next week. We said our goodbyes to the basin and headed off to our first port of call Tesco. But before we got there we picked up a new crew mate.

We had seen the bear on the way to Coventry, but could not get to it, but today we rescued this very cute Teddy Bear which I have named Bonnie the Bear. She is very dirty and of course wet, but after I finish this posting I am going to give her a good old wash. She will not fit into the washing machine, so I may have to get the scrubbing brush out.

We made it to Tesco, moored up and set off with our bags to get a large shop done. This shop was not just food it was also stuff for Christmas, so it was expensive arghhhhh, but had to be done. Somehow we managed to spend almost two hours walking around Tesco, mind you it is a large store. With the shopping done and loaded on to the boat, Keith steered the boat whilst I stowed the shopping away. We arrived at Hawkesbury Junction at 12.50pm, I stepped off of the boat and did the lock. As usual there were no moorings, so we carried on out into the countryside and we moored up just north of Whiting's Bridge No.5, near Hawkesbury Junction. We have the roar of the M6 near-by but it is shut out a little by a tall hedge. This will be home for a couple of days at least, because we are in no hurry.

Right I am off to give a dirty bear a bath, chat soon xx

A morning out in Coventry.

2011-12-06T15:08:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

We had a change of plans over night, which we can easily do because we continuously cruise. The old plan was to head out of the basin to Tesco and onward to Hawkesbury Junction. The nw plan was to stay another day (song title in there somewhere) in Coventry.

We woke up this morning to the temperature having dropped to -1.6c over night, so it was a bit nippy when we woke up, I opened the cabin doors to a heavy frost, which meant that the engineering brick paving was slippery under foot when I took Paddy out for his walk.

By 9.30am we put on our coats and hats and set off into the city. I was on a mission to find a pair of waterproof walking shoes. Millets has now closed down in Coventry, so having been to Trespass and seen their prices we were on the hunt for somewhere else to buy some shoes. Keith asked a Coventry Council worker if he knew if there was another Millets in Coventry, he reckoned they had not moved, but had closed down completely, but he did know of a Sports Direct and was very kind enough to take us to the store, which was really nice of him. In Sports Direct, I bought a pair of Karrimor Arete Low Ladies Walking Shoes they were originally priced at £54.99, but I bought them for £27, so a real bargain.

The cheapest walking shoes in Trespass were £29.99, so I saved myself £2.99 and they look nicer.

We pottered around the city, stopping in the market to have a coffee for 75p each, which is an excellent price. We then popped into Wilkinson's to buy some more bird feeders, the ones on the market were to expensive. Whilst in Wilkinson's I bought a bottle of Shiny Sinks, which I am going to use to clean the brass work outside, it gets rid of the grime and tarnish and helps to being the shine up, ready for me to finish them with Brasso.

Lunchtime was approaching so we went into the Red Panda and had a Chinese Buffet meal, which was just as good as it had been the last time we ate there. After a lovely lunch we were just about all walked out, but I did go into Textiles Direct to buy some flannels. With nothing else to buy we sauntered back to the boat, which was lovely and warm. I began unpacking the shopping whilst the kettle was boiling on the back cabin stove, this was Marmite's opportunity to get nosey. Firstly she was in the bags to see what we had bought, then no sooner had I opened the shoe box and taken the shoes out, she was in the box led down. Marmite is just like a child, give her a cardboard box and she is happy.

Consider we are on the countdown to Christmas the city was not overly busy, even with the International Market on. I am sure that the big stores will be hoping that things improve as the days go by, otherwise we may see many big names going to the wall in 2012.

Time for a coffee and then feet up before feeding ourselves, mog and dog, I will then have the fires to do and the washing up, it will then be time for bed.

Chat soon xx

Dear Santa

2011-12-06T09:17:00.001Z

Burton Hastings to Coventry Basin.

2011-12-05T17:22:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

Burton Hastings to Coventry Basin 10.7 miles travelled in 4 hours 10 minutes.

Brrrrrrr a very chilly start to the day after the over night temperature dropped down to -0.9C, so there was a frost on the ground and on the roof of the boat.

After all the usual morning stuff we set off from our weekend mooring just ater 9am, but didn’t get very far, in fact we only made it round the first corner and the engine coughed, spluttered and then died. Keith ducked down into the engine and I was left steering the boat in the breeze. Fortunately the wind blew us back into the towpath, with my guidance. Having fitted a new fuel filter over the weekend, we now had an air lock. Keith started bleeding the fuel system at the filter, he then fired her up but no go, so the next place to check was the injector pumps. With us moored up I helped him take the rocker over off and he bled the injector pumps. This time she fired on both cylinders and even ticked over from cold which she had not been doing, so changing the filter seems to have worked, fingers crossed. Of course it could have been the fact that Keith also cleaned the air filter, so it may have been this, or both, but at least we are back to full working order again. Engine ticking over sweetly I cast off and away we went, we had not gone ar when I recognised a Northwich bow coming towards us, it was David & Margaret on Adrastea coming the other way.

We had a brief chat before proceeding on our ways. They are spending Christmas on the Ashby so we will not see them again until at least next year.

Coming towards Hawkesbury Junction we saw NB Gerald No13.

The boat was all shut up, so Roy was out somewhere we thought, this proved to be the case because just after passing Hawkesbury junction we met up with Roy and again we had a brief chat before we carried onto Coventry Basin.

When we arrived in the basin there were only 2 other boats in the basin, so plenty of room to moor. We had a quick lunch of soup and bread and butter, before setting off to do some shopping in Coventry City. I wanted to go back to Argos to take my litter grabber back, they very kindly exchanged my broken one for a new one, so hopefully this one will last longer than the other one. Keith and I both like Coventry City, not only is it close to the basin, there is all the shopping we need there. I stocked up on some more bits & pieces for Christmas, especially at Poundland and 99p Stores, where I bought some Pringles for 99p a tube. I refuse to pay the supermarket prices, so will go looking for them else where. Normally when I am near a B&M I will get them from there because they are about 89p. I also bought some heavy duty gloves to help me with my litter picking. At Christmas we like to watch movies and eat nibbles, so we have bought ourselves the last two Harry Potter DVD's, so that is Christmas Day afternoon sorted unless we get a better offer. The odd thing was you could get The Deathly Hallows part 2 easy enough, but we had to shop around for Part 1, no one seemed to have it. Eventually we found one copy so bought it for £10.

I was a little surprised that the city was not busier with shoppers, maybe it is a little to early for some people. I am so well organised that I have even posted all my cards. The light was fading as we walked back to the boat, the Christmas lights were just coming on, so we did not get the chance to see them in all their glory. By the time we got back to the boat we were both flagging a little. Dinner is now in the back cabin stove and the kettle is on. No TV signal here so we will probably watch a DVD or just play games online.

Tomorrow we are off to the big Tesco out of the city to stock up on food.

Chat soon xx

Sunday a day of rest Ha ha ha.

2011-12-04T16:35:00.001Z

Hi Folks.

As I sit and type up today's events it is pouring with rain and the wind is getting up. It is fantastic to hear the rain thumping on the roof of the boat, as if it were asking to come in.

Sunday began early with Keith getting up and making us a cup of tea, which was enjoyed in bed as we watched the Challenge channel. I do enjoy watching the old game shows, this morning it was Fun House and Takeshi Castle. Oh this girl knows how to get her day started with some fun ha ha ha. By 8.30am Paddy was rummaging around in his bed, which meant he was going to want to go out, so I was up dressed and out the door with him by 8.45am. As we walked along the towpath, Paddy had his nose to the ground, whilst I listened to the Field Fare in the trees. Of late I have seen hundreds of them eating the Haw Berries, which are in the hedgerows this time of the year.

Back on the boat Keith cooked us Bacon and Poached Eggs on Toast, which went down a treat, I then got on with stoking up both the fires ready for the day. With the back cabin stove warming up nicely, I got on with making a Turkey Casserole, which would simmer away all day in the back cabin stove oven. I cooked off the Turkey pieces, added onions and fried them as well before adding, Carrots, Swede, Potatoes and Leek. I opened a tin of Chicken Soup and added it to the pan along with some mixed herbs and garlic paste. I topped up the pan with some water, put the lid on the pan and popped it in the oven, another job done. With dinner cooking the generator went on to charge the batteries, so I took the opportunity to hoover the through to get rid of the dog hairs and dirt. I always look on it as a treat to use the hoover. Strange really because when I lived in a house the hoover got used every day. But on the boat I usually get the broom, dustpan and brush out. Whilst I got on with all of the jobs Keith tried to repair our indoor, outdoor thermometer because it had been playing up for a few weeks. I have no idea if it will work, but we can but try. Keith them cleaned the air filter on the engine, which was a little dirty. Only small jobs but all worthwhile doing. Most of the jobs were all done by 11am, which left the the rest of the day to watch Sunday films and it gave me the chance to chat to a dear friend on the phone. We have known each other for over 20 years and yet we still have plenty to chat about when we get the chance. Friendships like that do not happen every day.

The afternoon has now draw into the evening and as I said at the beginning rain is thumping on the roof of the boat, "McLintock" with John Wayne is on the TV, Paddy is in his bed, Marmite is in the back cabin and dinner is ready, I am now just waiting for the garlic bread to bake. This evening we will watch the results for "X-Factor" to see who goes into next weeks final. Last night I really enjoyed the final of "I'm A Celebrity". Dougie won, but to me both he and Mark we both winners, because they were such lovely young men. Gosh that makes me sound old Ha ha ha. Here's to next years program, I love a good laugh.

Right off to check on dinner and to fed the animals, so hope your weekend was a good one.

Chat soon xx