What I've been doing recently

I realise I haven't written anything since arriving at Cropredy so I'd better do a catch up. Luke and I went to the Fairport Warm Up gig at Woodford Halse. I really liked the venue and it was good to see that (almost) all the old Fairporters were there.The festival weekend was great fun. Luke and Yas came up and were on the guest list so they were able to camp in a really good site behind the main stage! They had come to see Richard Thompson as they are mega fans of his and Yas has known him all his life. I spent the Thursday and Friday at the two pubs which had good bands on AND good weather which made it all much, much better. On the Saturday I also managed to get on the guest list so was able to see Morris On, Calan, Big Country, Dennis Lecorriere and, of course, Fairport. Loads of the boaters from my "local" patch came over for the festival this year, too. I have been slowly returning from the festival since then, interspersed with other commitments and events. Tom and Gemma came up to visit with Hollie. She's getting big although she was a bit of a grump that weekend. The following week I was on childcare duty with Paris. The weather was good all week so we did lots of parks, including one with a "Jungle Parc" which he loved. The next weekend I moved from Fenny Compton through Napton and moored on a lovely stretch before Braunston. This was followed by a few days in London with Kate and Paris. We did the Thames Barrier, The Tower of London and the London Eye. Again we had pretty good weather - wet on the day we did the Tower but that didn't really matter. The last couple of days I cruised back to Weedon, through both Braunston and Buckby Locks. Now where shall I go next?

The run up to the festival

I got to Cropredy last weekend and I'm moored in my "usual" spot. Several of the old faithfuls are moored up as well as some of the crowd from my winter stomping ground. I have already been to both pubs for meals, bands and also to watch the Olympics on their TVs. I don't normally miss having a TV on board but it is good to see some of the events (it's just not the same on the radio). I drove over to Northampton one evening for my friend, Debbie's fiftieth. I also went there to see the Godiva puppet getting fitted with her new boots. It is a wonderful piece of art/engineering.

Rain rain go away....please

So I have had four more days back on board and only cruised for two of them as I find I am more and more a fair weather boater. I don't mind a light shower but these deluges are just too much. I have been soaked twice on my journeys back to fetch the car! However, I have seen the best of people and the worst of them too. The worst was when I was 25 yards from the bus stop as the bus came, I was running and waving but the driver wasn't having it and pulled off. The best was when one of the Braunston villagers saw me in the bus stop and asked if she cold drop me anywhere. Would you offer a dripping wet stranger a lift? Unfortunately she wasn't going my way but I was touched by her kindness. I moored in Braunston for a couple of nights but was disappointed when I arrived at the Gongoozlers Rest just as they were closing. Being a wet day I think lots of people had decided to go and eat there and they had run out of food. I have also had a nice meal in The Folly at Napton.

Water water everywhere - except in my cooling tank

Since my last post I returned to work for a couple of days leaving Olivia in the Hartshill area, then, on my return, dodging the showers I made it down to Hawkesbury Junction and then on to Newbold. As I was mooring at Newbold I noticed the temperature gauge rising fast. I quickly switced off the engine and later on, when it had cooled down sufficiently, I looked in the header tank and found it wanting - there was no water in the tank. Friends, Phil and Jackie, were moored  a few hundred yards away and Phil popped over to have a look. We discovered a trail of rusty looking water coming from a little round culprit on the engine block. Oh yes, a core plug had "gone".

I needed to leave Olivia anyway as I was due a visit to see my grandaughter, now nine weeks old, so I decided the boat was moored in a reasonably safe place and I'd just abandon her. Anyway, last Tuesday I drove to Calcutt boats for the spare part and then picked up my good friend, Rick, who took less then fifteen minutes to clear out the remains of the old plug and fit the new one. I had to drive 100 miles but I still reckon the petrol costs would be cheaper than the cost of most engineers' time.

Yesterday I tested it all out on a one hour cruise and it all seems hunky dory. Now I'm ready for the next part of my cruise but, please, can I have some nice weather as I am totally fed up with the last few weeks' weather.

All seasons in one day

On Wednesday I fetched my car, which I had left in the vicinity of Great Haywood. The buses in Staffordshire & Warwickshire are pretty good even though the fares are a bit random e.g. 50 minute journey £3.20, 15 minute journey £2.40. Roll on bus pass!! I stopped at the antique/craft centre at Wolseley that had been closed on Monday when I cruised through - some quite interesting bits and pieces (even though some were labelled made in China). I moored for the evening near the winding hole just before Tamworth (I'm trying to moor in places I haven't stopped before). The evening was fine for a change and it was a pleasant area.

The next day started fine and I popped into the shops for provisions. By the time I got back to the boat storms had blown in and we had serious amounts of rain. I did a bit of reading while waiting for it to fizzle out. When it was at its worst I was hit by a boat that must have got disoriented in the rain/hail/thunder & lightning. It is the hardest anything has ever hit poor old Olivia and a few things flew off the shelves - luckily none of it breakable. I popped my head out and the helmsman just shrugged his shoulders. I know these things happen but i couldn't understand why he was going so fast and why he should hit me when I was in quite a wide part of the canal and not near a bridge or anything. Oh well, no lasting damage in evidence. By 3pm the weather had cheered up and I moved on to my next destination, Polesworth. It was a lovely fine evening again and I had a walk around the village.

On Friday I went to visit the Abbey and some of the other old buildings. I got chatting to several people there including a boater who has very recently been widowed and is worried that she might not use the boat on her own. I tried to encourage her to give it a go. In the hour or two that I was there, the River Anker had burst its banks and was visibly rising as we watched. I moved my car out of the car park to higher ground and within the next hour or so the car park disappeared under about 3 feet of water. One lad of eleven or twelve just couldn't resist wading through the water waist deep, much to the amusement of his mates. They just don't understand the dangers.

Today's weather hasn't been too bad - I only got caught in one heavy shower. I did eleven locks today and was grateful for the help offered and given by fellow boaters.

Free wifi...love it

I'm sitting in the pub using their free wifi while drinking a nice pint of Stowford Press. Since my last post we did have some horrible weather - wind and rain - so I took myself off (in the car) to Wightwick Manor at the edge of Wolverhampton. A nice house - only built in Victorian times but in Arts & Crafts style. Lots of nice bits and pieces of furniture, William Morris fabrics plus many pre-Raphaelite paintings. Worth the visit - particularly as it's free with the Art Pass. Another day I popped in to Stafford for some food shopping but also went to their art gallery which is in the same building as their old court house which they have kept and added some figures - defendant, barristers, judge, witness, etc. - made out of cardboard. Brilllliant. I treated myself to some "on ear" headphones in shocking pink - I never could get on with the "in ear" version.

By the way, I'm off Strongbow now! My new favourite is Stella Artois Cidre. How very continental. I'm not far from Lichfield at the moment on my way back down South. Met another single handed boater and she collects details of all the single handed women on the cut and keeps us all in touch. A good idea. We never need to be stuck somewhere without some sort of support network.

Hey the sun has come out.......

I'm online at last...

Hi all,

I am still struggling with my BT internet connection manager which appears to now be out of date - although I have topped up my "bundle" to get access!! I can't get wifi access to update my software as the software allows me access to wifi. Ridiculous. Anyway, Lichfield public library comes to the rescue (as it did 4 years ago) - support our public libraries. Yay.

Rant over, now for an update. When I arrived back at Hinckley last Thursday we were having blustery winds, so I didn't go anywhere that day (but did manage to do some marking - always good to get some of that out of the way). It rained virtually all night but by Saturday morning it was rather pleasant weather (sunny with a breeze) and I made my way towards Hartshill. I stopped just before The Anchor pub. I walked back for the car (about 5 miles) and found somewhere to park it for the night. The Sunday was another awful day with squally rain all day until 3pm. I took the car to a forward position, did some shopping and walked back. I even lit a fire - mid-June and needing a fire - don't you just love our weather. Did a bit more marking while listening to radio 4's Bloomsday productions. Wasn't Ullyses a bit raunchy? I might read it now :-). I noticed that my batteries were reading 10v instead of the normal 12v - rather a worrying development - although the starter battery seems fine, so it seems to be the domestics. I cruised through all the Atherstone locks and moored just below them. I managed to use the shower by leaving the engine running so that the pumps didn't drain the batteries completely. The other little thing I achieved this week was to light my oil lamp - I've had it a while but didn't ever use it. It gives off a good light plus the bonus of a little heat.

From Monday the weather improved and I was able to cruise good distances. On Monday I stopped at Alvecote Boat services (re batteries) but they are closed on Mondays! I then passed friends, Phil and Jackie on Longfellow, in Tamworth. The last I heard they were in Rugeley and I hadn't expected to meet them so soon. Never mind perhaps we can meet up on my way back. When I moored up near Whittington, I got the bus back to Atherstone and brought the car back to the mooring. Next day I thought I'd try Streethay Boatyard but couldn't moor anywhere near so cruised on to Fradley, where a nice man checked my batteries, alternator and other electrical doings - his verdict was u/s batteries. While there he also spotted a diesel leak. There's always something with boats. Anyway, Fradley had no engineers available so the nice man rang Great Haywood repair yard who could see me the next day, so off I went again, overnighting at Handsacre (nb: nice local fish & chip shop). At this point I noticed that my front fender was hanging off so effected one of my eccentric repairs using baling string. Off again next morning arriving at Gt Haywood about 2.30pm. Mark checked out the batteries and I had to buy two new ones. I shouldn't complain as my batteries had been with me for seven years (and were probably older than that) and I had never ever looked at them. I now realise that I should have been checking the water levels on them (like we did on cars in the good, ole days) however, no-one told me about that! He found the diesel leak but hadn't got the replacement part needed so he suggested I bring Olivia back on Monday when another guy can look at it and replace the part. On the plus side, I found a really nice place to moor and, for once, could sit on the deck with a cider in hand, reading "Cider with Rosie" and feeling quintessentially English. Cheers.

I'm now on my way back to Whittington for the car and Lichfield Library is conveniently on the way. I don't know when I'll be back on the blog but am keeping my eyes open for pubs with free wifi :-).