Pillings Lock 2010 #13

Friday 2nd July and I am waiting for Wifey to rise from the pit, so that we can decide if we want to return to Zouch Lock today. If we don’t go this morning, we are left with less time to get Clive back to the marina, he has college on Mondays. Also, if we don’t go this morning, there’s always the chance that, after all the gorgeous weather we’ve had lately, we’ll be faced with torrential rain and be locked in with the floods. One never knows, does one? The wind is coming at us broadsides on, so we’ll not find it easy turning the boat around. Won’t that be a jolly wheeze?

Saturday 3rd July and we overnighted at the top of Zouche Lock, where there is a pub called The Rose and Crown. When we arrived yesterday morning it was still warm and sunny, although it started off with quite a stiff breeze and just a smattering of rain.

Along with our travelling companion Clive, we enjoyed a light, lunchtime snack and a couple of beers. Sadly, we couldn’t moor up as close to the pub as I would have liked, and so the walk for me was very slow and rather painful. But, we can’t allow a little discomfiture to stand in the way of a liquid lunch, now can we.
For the rest of the day we simply chilled out on our respective boats.

Today we’ll be off back to Pillings Lock Marina.

Tuesday 6th July and only 22 days to my knee op, which I am rather looking forward to, well, not the operation itself and the discomfort afterwards, but having the knees done and being able to walk properly again. Having missed the opportunity the last time we were moored at Tring, which was back at the end of 2008, it’s been a long time coming.
Today Wifey will be off to Derby to meet up with Marian for their usual girls day out. I don’t suppose they’ll be doing so quite as often as before, but it won’t be long before we are also at Mercia when they’ll be able to make it a weekly trip again. No doubt they’ll also walk into Willington on occasion, and that only takes about 30 minutes, so I dare say Sheila and I will do so on Sundays.

The village has three pubs to choose from and, being moored at the marina, we also have discount cards for some of the shops and one of the pubs. Had it not been for my pending operation we would have joined the happy couple when they went on Wednesday. The really good thing about Mercia is that the pontoons are all boat length, unlike these at Pillings where they are only about 1/3rd the length. This means we will have the full length of the boat against the pontoon and, as a result, we can point the boat nose in or tail in and climb on and off at either end.

Yesterday evening our Ashley came along to take a look at what is causing our toilet to need more than one flush. When he took it apart at the back where all the gubbings are, he found the outlet pipe to be badly restricted and the flapper valve to be almost useless. It is quite probable that the pipe to the tank is also somewhat restricted, so we’ve asked him to replace that too, which he will do on Thursday afternoon.

His attempts at clearing the build up of deposits in the short pipe and valve came to nought yesterday, but it has made a small difference. Still, that toilet has been in constant use for almost four years, so it is not surprising it needs a decoke.

The alternative, according to the manufacturers of this abomination, would have been to detach the outlet pipe at the far end and pour in some descaler, leave the fluid in the pipe for at least 24 hours, then refit the pipe and flush it through, with no guarantee it would solve the problem. Having Ashley come by and do a proper job was by far the better option. Unfortunately this means another £135 outlay for repairs that really shouldn’t be necessary.

Ashley tells us that it is most unusual to find such restrictions and deposits in canal boats, although it is far more common in sea going craft. Presumably if the crew of a boat at sea were to find the toilet impossible to use, they would do a moony over the side!! Watch out for hungry sharks, eh?

Thursday 8th July.

Yesterday we met up with Alan Oxley and his wife Chris. We picked them up at the station in Loughborough, dropped them off at their B&B and brought them back to the boat. After a bit of a chat we took them off for a pub lunch at the Quorndon Fox, our Sunday watering-hole. After that we returned to the boat for even more chat, Wifey took Rusty out for a long walk with Chris then, after more tea and coffee and even more chat, we returned them to their B&B.

Today, after they get thrown out of their accommodation, we’ll pick them up and, quite probably take them to the local Railway Museum, which happens to be just around the corner to the B&B. After that, probably lunch and back to the boat for – you guessed it – more chat and tea and coffee. But, we’ll see them off about 4 pm ‘cos Ashley is coming to repair the loo.

Saturday 10th July.

Happily for me the weather up here is a wee bit cooler than down south, a fact that I am very grateful for.

Wifey has walked into Loughborough this morning, thus saving me a sweaty drive into Quorn. Some weeks ago, on a really hot day, she walked into town with Marion and, on the way back, she came over all peculiar, which she put down to a touch of sunstroke. Hopefully, with it being a cooler start to the day, she won’t have a repeat upset. On that occasion she was fortunate to meet up with some boaters returning to the marina, who very kindly gave them a lift. Good hearts we boaters, for the most part.

Well, only another 18 days to my op, before which I must but a pair of jim-jams. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the op itself, but at least I won’t know much about it. The recovery period is an even worse prospect, ‘cos I do not have a very high pain threshold and, having read the hospital leaflets about pain control, I don’t think this period will be too pleasant.

I should be in hospital for three nights and four days, so should be home Saturday. They get you out of bed within about 12 hours after the op, and they have you walking about pretty quickly. There is also quite a bit of physio during my stay and they don’t let you go home until they are confident you can cope.

Now, in my case this involves just three steps at the back of the boat and, since the hatch slides forward, climbing in and out should not present a problem. Besides which we have a few friends at the marina, so if I need any help it’s always to hand.

We had a good two days with Alan and Chris, which we hope to repeat in October, by which time I should be much more mobile and will be able to do a lot more walking. I’m hoping they will take us to see the Spitfire that used to stand at the gates to Benson airfield when I was there in the late 60’s. Hanged if I can remember where it is now, because I really do have a lousy memory these days. But, when Alan mentioned folks we knew at Benson, they came clearly to mind. I must have some weird filing system in my head, it certainly won’t open up when I need it.

My brother Alan, and his wife Val, went up to Yarmouth yesterday with the intention of taking a pre-booked balloon flight. They spent the night in their hotel, only to be told the flight had been cancelled. Big disappointment there, but at least they get a break from routine. Now they can look forward to another break when they re-book the flight again.

Monday 12th July and, after a dry but murky start, we have at last had some rain.

After repeated requests from Glo to have the recipe book turned into a physical entity, which I am unable to afford at present, I have been working on a .pdf version. I don’t know how many of you, to whom I gave a copy on CD, have actually tried any of the recipes but, if you would also like a copy in the new format, please let me know and I will email it to you.

Having spent goodness knows how much on our pesky car, only to have it start misbehaving again, we have decided to trade it in for a newer one. As much as we would like a more recent model, we are settling on a 2002 Alfa 147 which, I have been assured by the dealer, has full service history and, very importantly, has had a recent cam-belt change. Assuming it is still at the car lot on Wednesday we will be popping along for a test drive.

When Ashley came by to repair our loo last week, he extended the outlet pipe by a couple of inches. This does not appear to have been a good idea, because we now find we are having to flush more than once most of the time. He’s coming along again tomorrow evening to chop a bit out of the pipe. Hopefully this will solve the problem. It’s true what other boaters tell you, despite living expenses being fairly modest, a boat is just a big, deep hole, into which you keep pouring money.

Tomorrow, Wifey will be meeting up with Marian in Derby again. I really do think those two should get wed!!

Friday 16th July and we are now the proud owners of a 2002 Alfa Romeo 147, 1.6 litre. We finally took the plunge and gave the car a run on Wednesday and found it to be OK. Only one snag, it has been moaning at me about the number plate light being out. I get this continuous buzzer sounding for several seconds, and then it goes off. A few minutes later it goes off again and so on ad nauseum. All we have to do now is find out how to put a new one in. But, for all that, it’s a damn fine car and we got a good deal on the old one.

Only 12 days to go and I’ll be under the knife and, hopefully, free of all this discomfort.

I had hoped to post this today but, around this area the kids are off school now and the Internet is very slow. Will try again early tomorrow morning when the little blisters are still in bed.

Saturday 17th July and, prior to dropping Wifey off at Quorn to catch the bus into Loughborough, we checked the number plate light and found the bulb to be just a wee bit loose, so that’s OK then! She is going into town to buy some material for Mario; she and Brian are coming over tomorrow to join us for a Sunday drink; and to find a crocheting pattern for some narrow, strip curtains.

Apparently there is a woman at Mercia, who makes these things and sells them to other boaters. They are just a few inches wide and include the name of the boat. Rather than buy them and, since she has done quite a bit of crocheting in the past, my better half has decide to take it up again and make her own. Should keep her quiet for a few hours!

This recipe book seems to be never ending because, whenever I look up recipe sites I always seem to find some that I don’t already have. The ‘finished’ article, now in .pdf format, is almost 450 pages long, the first 17 of which are taken up with the usual Intro page and Table of Contents. Fart too big, I feel, to be put up for sale as a single item.

So, I now intend to make a concerted effort, before going in for my op, to find as many more recipes as I can then, when I am home again, turn the whole lot into two volumes, which is probably what I should have done in the first place. I really had no idea there would be so many English recipes out there. After that, I suppose I’d better have a go at the other British stuff.

We have now decided to move our boat, and ourselves of course, to Mercia Marina at the end of August. By then, I hope, I should be mobile enough to steer the boat whilst Wifey, bless her, gets on with the locks. Brian and Marian will be on holiday then and have promised to help out. They’ll come over in their boat and accompany us back to Mercia and help with the locks. Hopefully we’ll be able to take our time and hang the journey out for a week.

O.K. With seven pages done I think it’s time to post this latest scribe. Of course, it being Saturday, it may not be possible, but I’ll give it a try.

The next offering will be after my op and will include as much of the gory details as I can commit to paper and/or memory.

Cheers for now!

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.