Friday 25th September to Saturday 10th October
Saturday 26th September
Yesterday was just gorgeous in terms of weather and so we took a gentle
stroll up to the town of Market Bosworth. All we really needed was bread, milk
and the paper and, whilst I took it easy on a bench by the memorial, with Alex
by my side, Wifey visited several shops. These included the newsagent, Co-op
and butcher. How she managed to fill two bags full of shopping is a complete
mystery to me, but she did!!
The weekend looks set for some more fine weather and we’ll be off to
Shackerstone this morning, but only after we’ve climbed that pesky hill again.
Sunday 27th September
Yesterday I was furious, today I’m just angry. Why might that be? Well,
I heard that news item regarding the hospital in Margate who, when admitting an
RAF sergeant to casualty, moved him to another area ‘just in case his uniform
offended other patients’.
Can you believe that? I suppose in this god-forsaken day and age it’s
just what you would expect from certain sections of society. But, and here’s
the rub, why didn’t the person concerned WAIT until somebody complained and
then, moved THEM to a different area, so that they couldn’t be offended by an
Englishman doing his duty. There’s only one word for people like that and it
begins with a capital ‘B’. Nuff said?
We’re now at Shackerstone and, although the mornings have been on the
chilly side, the past couple of days have been glorious. However, because of
those chilly mornings, we’ve had to keep the fire alight and have used rather
more coal than we expected to. So, this morning I looked up the name of the
coal barge ‘Victoria’, which is used by Royalty Fuels, to see where it’s at.
Sadly the last reported sighting was in Broad Street Basin, Birmingham, where
it was being topped up with coal. So, we won’t be seeing him anytime soon.
The above info means we’ll have to turn around tomorrow and make our
way back to the farm shop at bridge 23, because they not only sell meat and
other produce, they also sell coal. We would have bought some earlier, when we
stopped there on the way up here, but they were waiting for a delivery. The
lady running the shop did tell us that, if it was urgent her husband would go
and get some for us, but we were OK at the time.
Our heater? Well, we haven’t had that serviced yet, so we’re relying on
the fire. I have still to repair our fan, which will spread the warmth about a
bit and I suppose I’d better do so today some time.
Tuesday 29th September
Yesterday morning we made our way to the end of the navigable Ashby
canal, to Snarestone and, much to our surprise there were no other boats moored
there. Of course, that situation changed later in the day but, unlike most
years when we’ve moored here, when we would sometimes have a problem, we were
free to choose where we moored up. With the weather promising to hold good for
the rest of the week, we’ll probably stay here today as well.
The Ashby canal is in the process of being extended and should finish
up at the town of the same name in due course. However, since we were last here
the powers that be have extended the canal by almost a mile and there are now
only eight miles to go. However, before the full extension id completed, the
stretch between here and Measham will be completed, which is part of a five
year plan. Things are looking up in this neck of the woods.
Wednesday 30th September
Yesterday lunchtime we walked along the towpath from the limit of
current navigation, back to The Globe Inn and stopped in for a drink and snack.
Now, compare this: in the club at Crick we usually have a pint of Guinness, a
J20, a packet of crisps and a packet of mini cheddars; which costs us less than
£5.50p.
At some places along the canals we expect to pay more than that in just
about any pub we stop at. After all, pubs do not run as a non-profit making
organisation. We understand that. However, at The Globe Inn at Snarestone we
consider £7.95p for those same products to be something of a rip-off. Goodness
knows how much the Guinness cost, but it had to be very close to £4.00 per
pint. I only had the one, of course. I didn’t want the shock of seeing the
price.
Thursday 1st October
After disposing of rubbish and topping up with water yesterday morning,
we left Snarestone at 08.30 and made our way to Shackerstone, arriving at 10.00
and slotting into the spot we left on Monday.
Later in the day Wifey managed to get some more painting done.
This morning we’ll head on back to Market Bosworth and take that long
slog up the hill again. We’ll probably stay until Saturday morning, after first
taking that long slog again for the Saturday Mail.
Saturday 3rd October
Thursday and Friday mornings we slogged up the hill to Market Bosworth,
where we bought a trolley full of shopping on Thursday and just a few bits and
bobs on Friday.
Also on both those days, since the weather was still being kind to us,
we managed to get some more painting done.
This morning we’ll slog up that hill again, this time just for the
Mail, after which we’ll make our way to Stoke Golding and stay for the weekend.
This means another slog up hill, although not the mile of it at Bosworth. Thank
goodness for that.
Yesterday evening I had a nice long chat with my sister Carole and she
seemed chipper enough, I'm happy to note.
Hopefully we’ll get some more painting done this weekend, assuming the
weather stays dry, of course.
Tuesday 6th October
We spent the weekend at Stoke Golding and a pleasant hour in the pub
garden at the George and Dragon. This pub belongs to a small, independent
brewery and, as a consequence, offers its own brand of stout, which is somewhat
sharper than Guinness. I had a couple of pints of San Miguel lager instead.
On Monday morning we were treated to quite a bit of rain and although
it did ease up later in the day, we decided to stay put. With a bit of luck it
will stay dry enough for us to head off to the farm shop at bridge 23, which is
only about a mile from here. After a wee bit of shopping there; to include a
piece of lamb; we’ll probably go on to Hinkley Wharf and, either today or
tomorrow, take the bus into Nuneaton, where I’m hoping to buy a new printer.
Our one refuses to scan and, when printing a photo in black and white; which I
need to do for my cartoon portraits; it smears the ink and leaves the result
all green looking.
Wednesday 7th October
Well, we didn’t go on to Hinkley Wharf, but I’m one very happy chappy
as result of our decision to stay at bridge 23. After first walking up to the shop
at Stoke Golding; and that’s another steepish hill; we didn’t leave there until
about 8.45 and arrived at bridge 23 about half an hour later. Unfortunately the
farm shop wasn’t yet open, so we moored up and had a cuppa and wandered over
there at about 10 am.
Whilst enjoying my cuppa and a read of the paper, I happened to look
out of the window and spotted a whole load of unpicked blackberries, which
Wifey immediately went out to pick. Then, when we finally walked down to the
farm shop she bought some eating apples, amongst other things.
Now, instead of tea and cake at 8.30 this evening, it will be another
bowl of apple and blackberry crumble, with crumble, of course. After that bowlful
we’ll have enough left over for a repeat on Thursday evening. Yummee!!
This morning we’ll poodle along to Hinkley Wharf, only a couple of
miles away, and will probably take the bus to Nuneaton tomorrow morning.
Thursday 8th October
Since it was only two miles away from Hinkley Wharf, we waited until
almost 9 am before leaving the Farm Shop moorings. We arrived at the wharf just
after 10 am and found two boats moored there, leaving enough room for us to
moor up too. So, that’s alright then!
In fact, soon after we arrived the boat behind us left, so we pulled
Shiralee back so as to be a bit further from the bridge and the traffic noise.
At the moment though, there isn’t any traffic crossing the bridge, because it’s
been closed off due to roadworks.
Now, a couple of days ago; well, the weekend actually; we found a
Staples leaflet in the Sunday Supplement and amongst the articles for sale was
an HP Officejet 7500A Printer, which does A3 and A4 printing. Having checked at
the Argos site and found that they don’t stock it, I’m doubtful that we’ll find
one in Nuneaton today, but we’ll look around anyway.
This printer would be very useful, not just for my Cartoon Portraits,
but for other projects, such as pastel or watercolour arty things. Our Epson
doesn’t work on our current Wi Fi unit – when it did on the old one – and it has
now stopped scanning, so we really do need a new one, and the HP would be
ideal. If I can’t find one in Nuneaton I’ll order one online when we get back
to Crick.
Saturday 10th October
As I suspected, there was no sign of that printer in Nuneaton, not even
at Curry’s/PCWorld, so I guess I’ll just have to wait until we get back to
Crick.
Yesterday morning, after stopping at Lime Kilns for water, we made our
way to bridge 3, our usual last stop before the Coventry canal. The day was
absolutely gorgeous and I suppose we could have done some more preparation work
on the damaged paint, but we decided instead to chill out for the day.
Today we’ll mosey along to the end of the Ashby and turn left to
Hawkesbury Junction, where we’ll stay for the weekend and a couple of drinks at
The Greyhound on Sunday.
Take care folks and have a great weekend.
Dave, Sheila and Alex.
No comments:
Post a Comment