Shiralee: Crick Marina # 1

 

1^st November to

 Saturday 2^nd November

 After walking to the Health Centre on Thursday; which we figure to be about 1½ mile round trip; I swore I would not do so again. However, since I really do need the exercise, I recanted that decision and walked there again yesterday morning in order to collect my medication, and I’m glad I did because I felt all the better for it.

 This also means that, at Sunday lunchtime, assuming it’s not peeing with rain, we’ll be able to walk to the pub. Now that I think about it though, the walk from Mercia marina into Willington would have been no longer and it’s flat for the most part.

 Carrying Rusty out to the car park is OK at present, but I dread to think what it will be like in icy conditions. She’s not a heavy dog by any means, but it only needs one slip and we’ll both suffer. So, we’ve either got to ask Noel for a move to a different pontoon; one that’s nearer to some grass; or I’ve got to buy a decent pair of boots, before that icy stuff turns up.

 Actually, the boaters in this small marina are really friendly, so I’m really not that keen on moving. Watch this space!!

 We had a chat with our neighbour yesterday and discussed the problem we’ve been having with our water pump. Now, since the expansion tank sits over the hot water tank, (Clorifier, in boating terms), we didn’t consider that the pressure there could possibly affect the cold tap. However, for some complicated reason that I have now forgotten, Martin suggested that we check this out and, lo and behold, the pump now works perfectly.

 We have suffered that problem ever since we left Mercia, and it’s been getting worse, so, why did we not think of that earlier? Dumb and dumber!!

 Andy will be returning the car on Sunday morning and, while he’s here he’ll be removing our water filter and inserting a length of pipe. We don’t want a recurrence of the broken filter any time soon. He was also going to sort out our batteries for us, but he’s going straight to his sister’s place after fitting the pipe. This is not a problem since we are now on mains power, but it will have to be sorted out before we go cruising again.

 Talking about mains power, we have now rescued our toaster from the bowels of our cupboard and, having bought some of those lovely square toasting crumpets from Asda, I’m quite looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Sadly, our electric kettle packed up just before we left Mercia, so we’ve got to buy a new one. There are plenty of them about, but they all seem to be 1.7 litre capacity, whereas my awkward wife wants a 1.0 litre one. Go figure!

 Sunday 3^rd November

 Joy, oh, joy, only very distant sounds of fireworks last night, unlike Mercia, where they usually hold their own display and we have to suffer the smoke next morning. I guess I’m getting old!!

 Well, the one thing I had hoped would be OK, isn’t. I’m having problems with the Internet. OK, we had a problem when we were moored up a couple of days ago, but we expected that but, we didn’t anticipate problems here in the marina. Indeed, not only does our signal from ‘Three’ drop out, but the local, free WiFi signal is even weaker than ‘Three’.

 This morning I tried sending an attachment to Emma in NZ, but it simply wouldn’t go out. Looking at the icon in the System Tray, I noticed it had been crossed out, meaning ‘No Signal’. So, after re-positioning the unit, I tried again. Still no joy. So, I then rebooted the unit and the laptop and, hey presto, the message went out, along with the attachment. This kind of situation really does become quite tiresome. I might have to put the WiFi unit into its little box and screw it to the Topbox on the roof and then plug it into the laptop. What a palaver!!

 Monday 4^th November

 Andy and Sandy popped in yesterday, on their way to Andy’s sister in Cambridge, and brought the Alfa with them. We had a real good chat, catching up with the gossip and our separate escapades on the cut.

 The car is running well, she’s old but happy; a bit like me really; so I suppose, after all the money we’ve spent on her since we bought it about three years ago, we had better keep her for a while longer. Besides which, we’re not yet in a position to trade up; or down as the case may be!!

 We popped into The Wheatsheaf pub at lunchtime and, whilst it wasn’t as busy as the Red Lion, it seems like a friendly enough pub; parent’s with kids and football kit etc.

 Tuesday 5^th November

 We’ve discovered something else about Crick, that’s just a wee bit disagreeable, and that’s getting our cassette to the disposal point. As I mentioned before, at the end of the pontoons and through to the car park the pathway is all loose gravel, which makes it pretty difficult when wheeling a sack barrow. Then, having driven up to the disposal point, we have to drag the barrow around the office block, or heft it out of the car and carry it there, which is no mean feat considering the full-up weight of the thing.

 As an aside, I do hope the management here are not like Paul Lilley at Pillings Lock, who trawls the Internet for signs of adverse comments about his beloved marina.

 Today we’re taking the bus into Rugby for our big shop. From what our neighbour, Martin tells us, Daventry is well worth a visit for small shopping expeditions, so we’ll probably give that town a try later in the week.

 Friday 8^th November

 Yesterday was one of those days where we didn’t do much of anything. Well, after the excitement of Wednesday we thought we’d take it easy.

 I think I’m getting the hang of this pastel painting, and it’s taken me long enough, I have to say. I don’t plan on posting everything I do, but I thought you might be interested in this latest offering.

 

 This is of Cheddar Gorge and is taken from a photochrome photo from about 1900. When I showed the photo to Wifey, she assured me that, apart from the road now being paved, the scene will be pretty much as shown. At least, the cottages are still there. I can’t be sure about this because, although we have visited Cheddar and other parts of Somerset, any photos we took at the time seem to have been mislaid.

 The next pastel I do will be something of a surprise for my mentor, Emma. I’m not even going to show here what it’s of until it’s finished.

 This afternoon I will be obliged to undergo a New Patient Review at my local Medical Centre. That should be fun. Hopefully they will leave my medication as is, rather than behave like a new broom.

 Saturday 9^th November

 Yesterday became rather tyersome. No, I haven’t misspelled that last word. Tyresome is what I said and tyresome is what I meant.

 We drove up to the Co-op yesterday morning, rather than walk, which was when we encountered our slice of bad luck. In order to pull into the lay bye outside the shop, it was necessary for me to mount the pavement, but when I did so I put the front wheel over the storm drain and down went the tyre.

 Naturally I panicked at this, simply because the changing of car wheels is not at all easy for me, since I can’t kneel down on the new knees, and that’s when our slice of good luck turned up, in the shape of two young Latvian lads.

 I once possessed a spider tyre iron, but that seems to have disappeared. I also should have had a straight one with the jack, but no such thing abides in my boot. Then along comes my second slice of luck, this time in the shape of a local mum, who loaned us hers.

 Those two lads eventually managed to change the wheel but, even though I didn’t want to embarrass them, I felt I should at least offer them some recompense for their trouble, but they wouldn’t take it and the elder of these two; brothers as it turned out; had already said goodbye and walked off.

 Believe me I’m not usually that lucky. Having a flat tyre would normally occur on an open road, miles from the nearest habitation so, hallelujah for those two Latvians.

The new tyre, incidentally, meant a drive over to Daventry and cost me £48. And, that’s not the end of it either, because I know we need to change the two back ones before the car will pass its MOT.

 Monday 11 November

 I paid a visit to Alan on Saturday and tried to do some shopping. I need a pair of boots, I also need pastel paper and a few pencils and I wanted an in-car t.v. arial. After much fighting through traffic, which can be rather horrendous on a Saturday, we managed to find most of the pastel stuff we needed, but not the boots or the aerial.

 Hobby Craft supplied the pastel stuff and, since Alan also wants to give pastels a try, he bought loads of stuff. Unfortunately, as with many big stores, they all stock the same stuff, so I couldn’t get the individual pastel pencils that I want.

 We called into Maplin’s too but, when I asked a staff member about the aerial, he looked at me as if I was potty. However, when I mentioned that it runs on 12 volts, he pointed to just one of them and walked away. In the event we found about five of this type of aerial, so I have to wonder what sort of training these stores give.

 The evening, as you would expect, was spent supping pints at The White Admiral, which was followed by a very pleasant repast of chicken and chips. We then watched some drivellish film about a disastrous flood, followed by some great Status Quo and retired quite late, by which time we were all quite knackered.

 The trip to Harlow took 1¾ hours and, by the time I arrived back at the marina, I still had more than half a tank of juice, so moving to Crick is saving quite a bit of dosh.

 My next trip to Harlow will be on Alan’s birthday on 13^th December, so I guess I’d better buy a card and pressy.

 Today we have a trip to the vet, which we’re not really looking forward to.

 Tuesday 12^th November            

 Well, the visit to the Vet was not a happy one. Our wee pooch has been diagnosed with a Lymphoma, which accounts for the lumps we have found under her neck and the other lumps elsewhere. She doesn’t seem to be in pain, although she is rather shaky on her legs. The Vet has given us Steroid pills and we have to take her back next week, to see how they are working. At the age of 17, whatever the Vet does for her will only be for short term relief. He said, she could live another four months, or four years with the condition, although the latter is most unlikely. Still, we’ve enjoyed her company for the past 11 years and are most grateful for that. Whatever happens during the immediate future, you may be certain that we won’t let her suffer.

 As for the weather today, well, after a miserable day yesterday and rain overnight, the sky is now clear and the sun is shining.

 Now, at six pages long I suppose I really ought to post this blog.

 Enjoy the rest of your week.

 Dave, Sheila and Rusty.