Friday 2nd May to
Friday 9th May
Friday 2nd May
I seem to remember us talking
about taking the bus into town this morning; either Tamworth or Nuneaton;
before moving along and down another four locks. But, are we still going to do
so, that is the burning question of the day?
Wifey has now finished
designing her cushion cover, which is of Rusty and is being done in
cross-stitch. We found a small shop in Atherstone yesterday morning, that
stocks the silks that she needs but, as they didn’t have a big enough backing
upon which to make the cover, she decided not to buy the silks there. Such is
the female logic!!
Anyway, there’s a huge,
out-of-town shopping centre near Nuneaton, that we can bus to from Fazeley and
which has a big craft shop, so we’ll probably find everything she needs right
there. This cross-stitch of Rusty has thousands of stitches in it, so it’s
likely to take her the rest of this trip and quite a bit of our next stay at
Crick.
Talking of Crick, we don’t
even know if we’ll get a place there, because Noel refused to take a deposit
when we left, instead asking us to phone him in September. So, we could end up
at Yelvertoft, or even Debdale Wharf. I already have a hospital appointment for
next January, which is in Rugby and which I really don’t want to miss.
Saturday 3rd May
Yesterday I decided to make a
start on a new pastel, this one of a photo taken along the Llangollen. It
started out as an A4 size, but I soon realised it would probably look better at
A3 and so, with that in mind, I prepared my bits and pieces last night, in
readiness for a tracing session this morning.
The mornings, as you may have
noticed, are getting lighter already and, around about 5am I can see the light
through our bedroom curtains. I usually wake up anywhere between half four and
five am and lay back until about 5.15, at which time I struggle out of bed and
carry out my ablutions and get dressed.
This morning was no
different, except that I hadn’t reckoned with a clear sky, which made 4.30 seem
like 5.30am, so up I got, did the necessary and made a start on my tracing.
This is quite a big job with lots of fine detail, so you can imagine my
surprise when, having finished the tracing and looking at my watch, I
discovered it was still only 5.20am.
I am not generally prone to
such a dumb mistake, but it has been known on the odd occasion, which is why I
usually check my bedside clock. This time I didn’t bother and paid for my sins.
But, every cloud has a silver lining and this cloud means I get to enjoy an extra
hour of daylight. The fact that I am now somewhat cream-crackered is a price
I’m willing to pay. Besides which I’ll catch up later in my armchair.
Now, here’s something that
I’m sure you’ll all find amusing, especially the male chauvinists among you. It
comes from my good friend Alan Oxley, a man who seems to spend an inordinate
amount of time sending and receiving jokes, to and from his old workmates. I’m
grateful to him for this little beauty.
A COWBOY'S TOMBSTONE:
Here are the “Five Rules for Men to Follow for a Happy Life” that Russell
J. Larsen had inscribed on his headstone in Logan, Utah. He died not knowing
that he would win the "Coolest Headstone" contest.
FIVE RULES FOR MEN TO
FOLLOW FOR A HAPPY LIFE:
1. It's important to have a woman who helps at home, cooks from time to
time, cleans up, and has a job.
2. It's important to have a woman who can make you laugh.
3. It's important to have a woman who you can trust, and doesn't lie to
you.
4. It's important to have a woman who is good in bed, and likes to be
with you.
5. It's very, very important that these four women do not know each other
or you could end up dead like me.
Sunday 4th
May
We left the bottom of
lock 9 at precisely 8 am yesterday morning, heading for the last two locks and,
because one of the paddles was u/s on the first, it took over half an hour to
pass through. This meant that the three mile trip took us almost two hours.
The approach to
Polesworth is by the side of a park and, ever since the park has been open
there seems to be a shortage of boats mooring there. I can only imagine the
problems this park has caused boaters; especially during the summer months;
with drunks and rowdies late into the evening.
So, not wishing to
upset the current trend, we carried on to the other end of the town, only to
find it almost full of boats. The problem here is that, despite it being a
popular spot for moorers, there are no time restrictions, except the usual
maximum stay of 14 days. This means that those folks who are genuine
‘continuous cruisers’; by which I mean that they don’t stay in a marina during
the winter months; tend to stay here for the maximum time allowed. Still, we
did manage to get moored up, right at the far end, and we had to use our pins
too.
With this being a Bank
Holiday weekend, and being aware that the butcher’s wouldn’t be open on Monday,
we trotted off into town for a bit of shopping, with greengrocers and
mini-market taken in along the way.
The rest of the day was taken
at a very steady pace, but we did learn something interesting from another
boater, the pub beside the canal here is, as far as he’s concerned, a pretty
good one. Thus far in our previous visits we’ve avoided this pub, preferring
instead to walk into town. But, just for a change, we might pop in there today
and give it a try.
We now have just five days
before we meet up with the rest of the boats taking part in the BCN trip, so
we’ll be off to Fazeley Junction tomorrow morning.
Monday 5th May
A brilliant day yesterday,
all sunny and warm and we spent an hour at The Bull’s Head pub, which is just
beside the bridge here. The pub has recently been refurbished and still smells
faintly of paint, but it’s quite pleasant inside.
This is one of those rare
pubs that calculate their GP to the penny. Most pubs don’t bother and round up
or down (yeah!) to the nearest five pence. I think my Stella cost me £3.32p, so
Wifey had a few coins to put with the others that she keeps and bags up. Me?
Well, I save £2 coins. They are slow to mount up, but come in handy by the time
we get back to the marina.
I have one of these Wireless
mice – or should that be mouses? – and every so often it suddenly stalls and
refuses to work. At first I thought this was the battery running down but,
having replaced them only a few days ago, I don’t think that’s the case.
Anyway, this morning the darn
think packed up again and, no matter what I tried, it simply wouldn’t work. So,
out came the old mouse on a USB lead, which worked fine at first. And then,
just when I needed to move the mouse, to correct a typo, that one stopped too.
It started up again when I moved the pointer with the inbuilt roller pad, but
it seems that this is a computer glitch and not the mouse. Hmmm! How do I solve
that one? Any suggestions – by email please – would be most welcome.
Tuesday 6th May
We left Polesworth at 8 am
yesterday morning with a bright and sunny start. Two locks and five miles later
and here we are at Fazeley Junction, which joins the Coventry to the Birmingham
and Fazeley canal.
We had intended to take a
walk to the nearby shops but, since we really didn’t need anything urgently, we
decided to stay put and and partake of a coffee.
A little later, since the
weather was in our favour, out came the Donegal Green paint and brush. Now,
that’s the starboard side of the roof all nice and patchy.
Wednesday 7th May
Yesterday morning; in
preparation for starting up the Birmingham and Fazeley canal; we travelled
about half a mile, to the nearest winding hole, turned around and moored up about
100 yards from the junction, with the port side to the towpath. It was my
intention to get some painting done on that side of the roof, but since it was
still wet from overnight rain, that was a no-no. It did stay fine for most of
the day, but rained again later. That’s one of the problems with repairing
paintwork whilst cruising; we’re very much at the mercy of the weather and
which side the towpath is.
We walked around to the local
Tesco store after our coffee, armed with a small list of about six items but,
when we arrived there Wifey suggested using their trolley and tried her best to
fill it up, mainly with special offers. We now have about 10 days-worth of main
meals, but since this store doesn’t have its own bakery, she had to make bread
upon our return. We both hate sliced bread; only ‘real’ bread will do for us;
something that can be cut to our preferred thickness, especially when it comes
to toast.
Thursday 8th May
After topping up with water
and disposing of rubbish, we made our way up the Birmingham and Fazeley canal
and stopped at Drayton Hire Boats for coal and gas. From there we made our way
up to the lakes; about two miles further on. Along the way we passed one of the
boats that will be accompanying us on the BCN trip, but they we’re going back
towards Fazeley Junction, presumably to top up with water and such.
Having moored up and settled
down to our only coffee of the day, down came the rain. So, no painting today
either.
Later in the afternoon that
same boat; ‘Go for It’; came past us again, probably to get a few locks behind
them before our meeting on Friday. We’ll take a few locks in this morning and
make the final leg to the meeting point on Friday morning.
We’re hoping the weather is
kind to us, especially on Saturday morning, when we have a multitude of locks
to get through, along with the other 19 boats. How the organisers of this trip
are going to work this, I have no idea, but it will probably take all day for
all 20 boats to pass through all those locks. I’m not sure just how many locks
there are, but it’s well into double figures. I’ll certainly let you know how
we did on Sunday morning’s report.
Friday 9th May
Well, since we really did
need to get moving yesterday, despite the rain we plodded on through four locks
and two miles and stopped outside Marston farm Restaurant.
This morning, again despite
the rain; which is sure to come soon to accompany the high wind; we have
another seven locks to go through, along with four miles, in order to meet up
with the other 19 boats, one of which has now been moored up in front of us
since yesterday afternoon.
Hopefully we won’t be
subjected to even more wind and rain for the rest of this trip. Now, that
really would put a damper on thinks!!
Andy and sandy were supposed
to be meeting us at Perry Barr locks, but Sandy phoned yesterday to tell us
that their van had failed its MOT and that they would meet us at Titford
instead. This is just as well, because we have no idea when we’ll reach Perry
Barr.
Now, with 15 minutes to spare
before I wake Wifey up from her deep slumber, I’ll get this blog posted.
Take care and enjoy your
weekend.
Dave and Sheila
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