British Summer Time

This week all the household have been suffering with a nasty cough, cold, aches, sleepy bug. It started with Paris who was sent home from school with it - he was like death warmed up for the next two days and then made a miraculous recovery. The next day Kate came home from work with it and spent about 36 hours just sleeping and coughing and aching and feverish. Next morning (Friday) I went down with it too. I keep dozing, coughing, have had nosebleeds, a tight chest and lethargy!! Today I had to force myself out to move the boat as my 14 days were up at Braunston. It felt freezing on the tiller and if you'd seen me you would have noticed me trembling even though I had my thermals on and about 3 other layers. I found a nice place to moor, walked the two miles back to the car, dropped a crate of logs to boater Rick and homeward bound. I really hope it warms up a bit for next week.

Sociable in Braunston

Last Tuesday was a mild day and I was able to move on down to Braunston. Had a straightforward journey through the tunnel and started off down the locks. At the second lock I was caught up by the crew from the following boat so I waited for them and we went down the rest of the flight together. They are off to the Llangollen shortly and looking forward to it immensely. I moored on the 48 hours by the marina and went off in search of something to eat. I met a friend, Jackie, walking her dog. Quite random that we were both in Braunston on the same day and at the same time! Life is like that sometimes. Full of coincidences. I rang another friend who is moored in the marina and we spent a lovely evening catching up with each others' adventures since I last saw her in May. The next day I had a slow start as I didn't feel very well :-(. Was it the wine? or something I ate? or was I poisoned by my smoky BMC engine? Anyway I forced myself to get out and walked back to Norton Junction to fetch the car. I felt a lot better after the walk, the fresh air did me a lot of good. I had another evening with Mo who made us a very nice healthy looking stir fry (and just a teeny tiny glass of wine as I didn't want to upset the old stomach again). The next day I moved down to the 14 day moorings and then caught up with more friends: Pete, who was off to Daventry and Linda, who is considering a trip up the Ashby but awaits the latest developments in the weather forecast - heavy snow expected over the weekend. I also caught site of Chris passing on one of his mates' boats as I was bending over filling my coal bucket on the stern, so received a cheeky comment! At this point I met Suzanne, off the boat moored in front of me and we went for a cup of tea at the Gongoozler's Rest. Lastly I managed to fit in a visit to Rick as I hadn't been to see him for quite a while. After that I had to scoot off as I was booked to see "People", the Alan Bennett play being streamed to the Odeon from the National Theatre. The cinema was packed and the play was very enjoyable. If anyone is in Braunston this weekend, pop to the marina where there is a marquee set up for you to buy tea and cake, or bric a brac or have a go at the tombola - all in aid of Macmillan Nurses. Help support those who have put a lot of time into preparing for the fund raiser.

Buckby Locks

A beautiful day for the first "proper" cruise of the year. I treated myself to a new gas bottle so that I don't find myself unable to make tea at any time. Then I started through the locks. Lock 13 was fine but at Lock 12 I just could not budge the bottom gate to close it once I was in the lock. I tried and tried until all my energy had gone. A friend, Pete, was on his way to help with the locks so I hung around waiting for him and hoping that someone might walk by and give a hand, but it seems that they were all having their lunch break. Almost an hour went by before Pete arrived and then he made it look so easy. I'm putting the experience down to lack of muscle tone due to not having needed to do any locks for the last four months :-). I'd like to say that the rest of the flight went smoothly but, actually, Olivia seemed to bob about quite a bit in the locks and I got caught in the flow by the entrance to the top lock. Mind you both Pete and I agreed that this is the worst flight that we know (and we know a few between us). Found a reasonable mooring space near Norton Junction and within Pete's eyeline so I feel happy to leave her for a few days. It's my last day at work tomorrow, after 25 years. Strange notion but I'm sure I will soon be forgotten.