Blake Mere to Ellesmere Junction

Waking naturally without an alarm clock has a lot to be said for it, except when you want to get stuff done! We didn’t sleep in that late but the sun had certainly been up for a while when we opened our eye lids. No time for tea in bed today, I needed to get the fretan washed off the gunnel and any excess water wiped off so that it could dry whilst we had breakfast, then I could apply a touch up coat of black. I foolishly hoped I’d be able to get the other side done today too!

A bit of blue was needed on the edge of the bow too where some had chipped away. I started off with the multiforte, applying it where needed with a brush and then rolling over it with a dry roller. Only doing a short section at a time I realised that if I gave the roller a bit of umph then I could give the whole side a thin coat at the same time. I was only meant to be patching up the big scrapes where rust had started, but this would look much neater. It took a little bit longer, but nowhere near as long as a full proper coat. As I got near to the stern Mick prepared Oleanna to cruise and clicked start on the trip computer.

Three quarters of a mile to the winding hole where we turned and headed back. Originally we’d thought of returning to the mere but with storm Caroline heading our way we didn’t want to be surrounded by the masses of trees, so we carried on back to the junction and pulled in opposite the service block. Tilly could come and go, although the gusts of wind made her stick close to the boat, whilst I sanded down, washed and fertanned the gunnel. Hopefully there will be a lull in the weather tomorrow and I’ll get chance to touch up the paint before snow arrives.

Over the last few months I’ve done my best not to mention about our battery situation, or lack of it, hoping not to jinx the arrival of the third one at Finesse. To recap, October 2016 we decided to fork out and go for Lithium ion batteries for Oleanna. A big initial outlay but the batteries would hopefully out last our boating years/decades. The battery tray in the engine bay was built to house two 24volt 50amp hour batteries with room for a third battery should we feel that the extra capacity was needed. Two batteries were ordered.

One arrived, this was used to test systems, even though it felt lonely in the engine bay. The second one took it’s time. The company seemed to have stopped manufacturing 24 volt batteries, but first there was one in America, then Germany. Luckily we didn’t hold our breath as by March we would have keeled over when it still hadn’t arrived! In the end the company promised that a battery was being made for us and would be flown over from the States. This then turned into quite a wait but the suppliers gave us on loan two 12 volt 100 amp hour lead acid batteries so that we could move on board whilst we waited.

Early on we decided that having a third lithium battery would make sense. The second battery must have arrived June/July time. Because we’d opted for a third Finesse kept hold of the first two to wait for the third one to arrive, so that they all could be fitted at the same time. As expected the battery took longer to arrive than we’d all been told and arrived at the end of October. We had a celebratory drink when we heard, only a year late!

Finesse put the batteries on charge to level them all out before bringing them out to fit. We were all looking forward to the end of the battery fiasco and we could at last class Oleanna as complete.

Ricky called.

The original battery wouldn’t charge and was doing a very good impression of a block of useless nothingness! He’d called the supplier who said they’d collect it and do a reset, this all sounded like it wouldn’t take long. The battery was collected from Sheffield in the first week of November. Ricky and Chris have chased it up several times, but had no luck, until today. The company has tried to reset the battery twice to no avail. So a new one has been ordered. They say it will be in Sheffield the first week in January……………………we’ll see.

0 locks, 2.23 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 tunnel, 1 NB Seyella, 2 gunnels washed, 1 painted, 1 sanded ready to go, 10 minutes upright, 3 foot too heavy,  1 duffle bag needing to be shortened, 2 boaters living within their means, 4th battery on it’s way, 2 boaters not bothering to hold our breath, 2 blowy far too blowy for my bottom!

Ellesmere to Blake Mere

Over our stay here at Ellesmere we’ve been buying what we needed when we needed it from Tescos so that we could empty the freezer and fridge before we went away for the weekend. The advantage of this is that our club card suddenly wants to welcome us back with open arms and persuade us to always shop at Tescos. So we had ended up with two £7 off when you spend £50 vouchers. A list was put together and a shopping trolley filled. We then left out goods up to £50 made a list of them and went to pay for the first load before returning to use our second voucher. Thank you Tescos, you may see us again in the next few days but then not until next year.

With everything stowed and a load of washing on, we pushed off and headed to the services. The homeless chap was walking into town and gave us a big smile and wave. Whilst filling with water we came across his little camp by the dry dock where a roof over hangs. He now has several sleeping bags, all which were laid out airing, a small primus stove and there were a few items of food. If it hadn’t been for the lack of a couple of walls it would have looked quite cosy.

We stayed until the washing machine had finished so that we could leave with a full tank of water, then reversed up to the junction were we winded and headed back towards the meres. The weather has been very mild today and tomorrow should be similar, maybe a last chance to touch up the scrapes on the gunnels. The edge is quite low at Blake Mere so we pulled up, let the cat out and I pulled on my painting dungarees. I worked as quickly as I could before the light faded. Scrapes sanded down, rinsed off and some Fertan applied to work it’s magic overnight.

What a place! Huge big trees to climb, views across a very wide canal and plenty of holes to put my arms down. I managed to find a friend who seemed to be a little bit chilly, so brought it home to warm up in front of the stove. The side was opened for me, but then quickly closed again. So I tried the front, which also got closed in my face. I don’t know why they didn’t like my friend, it was great fun and very playful.

As the sun went down the odd clouds that had surrounded us for much of the day disappeared into the gloom accompanied by a cacophony of pheasants. A couple of hours later this was replaced by numerous hooting owls from near and far across the mere. Noisy but wonderful.

0 locks, 1.05 miles, 1 right, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 chicken into 5 meals, 1 sad gits mince into 3, £14 saving, 1 jolly warm wave, 1 side ready for paint tomorrow, 1 diddy friend, 1 murder!

Ellesmere

Still having the car for the majority of the day we decided to go for a recky trip up to Llangollen. In my younger years holidays in Wales always involved lots of rain and today the weather lived up to my expectations, it started to drizzle as soon as we stepped out of the car.

First we went to check out the basin moorings. Finding somewhere to park took us a while. The nearest roads to the basin are double yellow lined from September until June or July, but we found a 45 minute space which would do us today. Two boats were moored up at the furthest point from the path down and a group of kayakers were enjoying the water. Plenty of space for us right now, in the summer it can be really quite busy here. We had a chat to a chap from NB Yarwood who informed us that an Aldi and Home Bargains had opened up this year. Six years ago there wasn’t much choice in the way of shops.

An end mooring will serve us best, mostly because of Tilly, she’s not accustomed to pontoons, sure she’d be fine but I really don’t fancy trying to scoop her out balancing on a gunnel. The friendly cover should keep her busy and I suspect she’ll wander a bit further for some taller trees to climb, but hopefully there’s enough to keep her happy whilst we unwrap, eat and drink.

Butchers was next. I’d found a farm shop a few weeks ago who seemed to be taking orders. When I emailed them they responded that they’d send me a price list, which they haven’t, they also haven’t replied to my last email. It being a bit of a distance away we decided to see what the butchers were like in town instead. Google had suggested that there were two, but one seemed to be more a bakers. So the nice chap in Gwyn Davies got our order and our name was added to his list of duck eaters. With Christmas Eve being on a Sunday this year we’ll have to pick our bird up the day before. When I asked what their opening hours would be I got a similar response as I got last year, ‘5.30 until everything is picked up’. In other words don’t be tardy! We’ll be wanting other things from them too, so best not leave it too late anyway.

Next the Post Office to check if they do Post Restante. This is at a petrol station which has a sizable shop attached. After explaining that we lived on a boat the lady wrote out their address for me and they’d be happy to keep post for us, so we have an address this year.

Aldi and Home Bargains had a visit, both very new stores between the A5 and the river. This was followed by some lunch before we returned following a rainbow back into England.

Tilly had a good explore, conquering some seriously pruned leylandii. Last week we managed too eat our way through the contents of the freezer to be able to defrost it whilst we were away. We put the last few bits from the fridge into it hoping that they would be kept suitably cool as it defrosted, which worked. So all that was left on whilst we were away was one light and power to the central heating, should the temperature have dropped. This all worked well, but did mean that today I had to mop out the freezer. Tomorrow  we shall stock up again and be on our way.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 last day of a car, 2 good moorings, 16 more to chose from, 1 wet wales, 0 parking, 1 duck, 1 address, 1 quick view of THAT aqueduct, not that one but THAT one! 1 clean freezer, 1 happy to be outside cat.

Ellesmere

After picking up a very important box from Vermeulens we climbed into our hire car and headed off to Scarborough leaving Tilly in charge of Oleanna and a possible coal delivery.

Ellesmere isn’t quite the furthest away we could be across the country, but nearly! Our journey took us through Wales, across the very foggy Pennines until we reached sunny Yorkshire and  then the left over snow on the fringes of the Moors and Wolds guided us along the wide valley bottom to Scarborough. Thursday morning Scarborians had woken to a couple of inches of snow, so I’d wondered if my walking boots were going to be needed for trudging across town, but the roads and pavements had all dried up.

We had a bit of time to kill so headed into town to Boyes. Four inch foam was a little bit too expensive here sadly, but they did provide me with a new fitted sheet that I can alter to fit our dinette when made up into a bed. I did this on Lillian and it worked a treat holding the selection of pieces of foam together. Across the road is the Market Hall. The hall has just reopened since having a £2.7 million refurbishment so it needed to be looked at. Very modern, now with a mezzanine floor around three sides. Small shops on the top floor along with food outlets, below butchers, green grocers, Italian Bakers and Pasta maker. All very refreshing, bright and I wish we’d been there earlier as most stalls were closed. I really hope that the small shops prosper, I personally won’t be buying anything from the Honey/Wax shop and wonder how it will survive once Christmas is passed.

Still with some time to kill we took the car up to the castle to watch what remained of the afternoon sun dipping behind the hills. The view from up here is always wonderful, right across the bay and the silhouette of St Mary’s adds to the atmosphere. I found myself wondering whether Scarborough was still ‘Home’ to us. Three and a half years ago we left to start a year afloat, Oleanna (and Lillian before) is certainly home now, but Scarborough still holds my heart.

First meeting was with Gisselle my hair dresser whom I’d last seen two years ago. She works from home in the old town and has two Black and Tan Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who have to come and say hello, the newest was very enthusiastic to meet me. Last year I had a trim in Marple which took quarter of an hour and was okay. Today I left with half the hair I’d arrived with, fully caught up on news and smelling of dog after 90 minutes!

Next was Dawn and Lee’s house where we received a very warm welcome, put on our glad rags and were joined by Frank and Ben for a sharpener before crossing over the valley to the main event of the weekend.

Jaye and Duncan were having a house warming party, which also just so happened to coincide with a landmark birthday for Jaye. Most of what we call the SJT Survivors were there. I think the only person who is still employed by the theatre is Jaye and she tried to leave a year ago so qualifies as a member. Sadly a troublesome show in Liverpool kept Ali away and a poorly Emily didn’t make it either, so we didn’t get chance to catch up with them. A mixture of SJT and Raven chatted away the night, drinking and eating our way through all that the kitchen table could hold. Christine had produced a fantastic birthday cake encrusted with malteasers, toblerone and chocolate fingers. Unfortunately all of our Shropshire blue topped Vermeulens pork pie went very quickly so we had no left overs to return home with.

Thank you to Jaye and Duncan for another top party and chance to see old friends again.

The seagulls were more muted over night than we’ve known, so we both had a good nights sleep. After bacon and eggs and plenty of tea we said our farewells to Dawn and Lee. Another short visit, but well worth the drive.

On our way home we stopped for a comfort break on the M62. It’s possibly the quickest visit to Ikea I’ve ever had, yet we managed to pick up a few stocking fillers, wrapping paper and a couple of new side plates and be back on the road arriving back in Ellesmere just after dark.

Tilly was glad to see us and hadn’t wrecked the boat. Eight bags of Excell lay on our roof and the diesel gauge showed an almost full tank. NB Mountbatten had been, an invoice tucked under a bin inside the pram cover. Oleanna was a little bit chilly, the stove had gone out but the Alde boiler had been left ready to switch itself on should the temperature drop below 8 C. Mick soon had the stove cleared out and a new fire lit.

A meal out was called for as it was Advent Sunday, the start to my birthday celebrations oh and Christmas! It is also our anniversary, we got together fifteen years ago. The Red Lion had run out of their Sunday roasts (traditionally Roast Beef as I grew up) so as Mick worked his way through a large gammon steak topped with black pudding and Shropshire Blue I enjoyed a Sirloin steak with all the trimmings accompanied with a pint of Wainwright each. As the weekly quiz was due to start we decided to see what beers the White Hart had to offer. Three real ales to choose from, music from locals in one room which was pulling in the crowds. The only seats available were a couple of bar stools where we felt slightly in the way when a darts match started. Great to see a pub so full, but after one pint we retired back to the boat to keep Tilly company and have a glass of wine.

A very good weekend.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 ginger hire car, 10 inches of pork and Shropshire Blue, 8 inches gone, 90 minutes to cut a straight line, 2 welcoming woofers, 09 or 60!? 1 big Happy Birthday to Jaye, 1 smaller happy birthday to Duncan, 3 more mentions of Duncan, 4 now and 2 photos! 1 lovely evening with friends, 1 muffling closed window, 2 bacon egg and mushroom butties, £15 better than £25, 4 coated donkeys, 2 rolls paper, 2 plates, 0 meatballs, 1 lonely cat, 1 coal delivery, 4 pints, 2 huge plates of food, 15 years, here’s to the next 15.

Ellesmere

Normally when you’ve been for a job interview, that you didn’t get, you wouldn’t expected to be invited to see the end product let alone get to go to opening night. Well a month or so ago I got an invite to the press night for The Sleeping Beauty at Chipping Norton Theatre. After trying to work out if we could get there by train and bus, we realised that we would have to stay the night in Chipping Norton, this all added up to quite a lot to go and see a Panto for free. Seeing a matinee would be a lot easier for us as we’d be able to do it in a day and they were happy to give me tickets for a show today.

The theatre is on a very well named street, Spring Street. Anyone who ever worked at Hull Truck, before it moved to it’s new home, referred to the theatre as Spring Street, a very much loved building. In Hull Spring Street was where various shops had their storage and people lay in the cities morgue across the road from the theatre. Here in Chipping Norton the street is very different, Cotswold Stone cottages line the street, a Fullers pub next to the theatre, what is not to like.

The theatre bar is small, beautiful paintings  on the walls above depict theatrical scenes, Red Riding Hood telling her Granny Wolf to Shhhh in an auditorium box (or is she saying F* Off!). A line of people do a dance with miniature puppets attached to their necks just as in a Nick Lane Christmas show.

We had front row seats in the circle of the small auditorium, holding about 200. Below was full of a local school and behind us were Mums and Dads with pre school kids, a box was full of seventy year olds, a good mix of a crowd. Looking around there were no moving lights, no mirror ball. A card hung in front of a projector blanking off the black light that they always emit when on, above a pulley and string routed up into the lighting box, so it could be removed when needed. My kind of theatre.

The strong cast of seven and four youngsters filled the stage with energy, song and dance with a new take on the Sleeping Beauty story. Chipping Nortons Panto boasts to be a proper Panto, no pop songs, no TV celebs, written especially for them with all original songs. It is very popular and this year they are doing 101 shows over two months. The first half was as you’d expect, Tudor Princess cursed at her christening, which is amended by another fairy. Clumsy King, helpful jollying along side kick, colourful Nanny Fanny, pretty principle girl, a man actually playing principle boy. After all the usual ‘behind you’ ‘ oh no you won’t’ ‘Bo!’ slosh scene etc, she pricks her finger and falls asleep along with everyone in the castle.

After the interval it is four hundred years later, 1967, the summer of love, flower power. The remainder of the original story is quickly finished off, Jagger Prince (surname not title) kisses Princess she wakes they are in love. But Belladonna Bindweed returns, now a property tycoon and kidnaps Jagger taking him to her Bond villains layer, including a laser to chop him in half. He is rescued by his Princess now clad in a Kill Bill outfit, Principle boy. Strangely enough they all live happily ever after, Belladonna Bindweed changing her ways and a double wedding on the cards.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and talked about it for most of the way back home. If you are anywhere near,or even 100 miles away, go and see it. It has almost everything you could want from a Panto, the only thing missing a cow/horse/camel, but there would have been no space anywhere back stage for one.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 pretty market town, 1 sink plunger mill, 1 sink plunger laser, 400 years slept through, 1 bench with roadside view, 1 Eamonn Dame, 2 love trists, 1 binding belladonna, 1 great way to start December.

Ellesmere

All of us woke up in a start last night, Tilly beat us both to the window facing onto the canal. We’d been woken by a strange noise or noises.

Living on a boat you grow accustomed to ducks and swans pecking at the side of your boat either to help clear the weed from the water line or hoping to alleviate you of some slices of Mothers Pride. The noise was not that noise.

In spring ducks get frisky and no matter what time of day or night they try to drown each other whilst supposedly mating. It is not spring.

Occasionally a large fish surfaces for air and somehow slaps the side of the hull under the water. This was only part of the noise we heard.

What we heard  was partially under the surface of the water like a fish, but also higher up maybe even on the top of the gunnel. Slapping, knocking and splashing at the same time. So something bigger than a fish or duck.

It made it’s way towards the bow and then disappeared.

Neither Mick or myself had our glasses on, so couldn’t see much, but Tilly did see what ever it was! For a cat who can be so vocal at times, normally about dogs or trees, she has remained silent for much of the day. The look in her eyes was total astonishment as she turned back towards us.

We may be 435 miles or so away from Loch Ness, but we think Nessie has a family relative who abides near here. Maybe Ellie lives in the meres and moses, using the canal to get from one to another and back and forth to Tescos. One thing we are certain of, what went past us was not a normal occurrence.

This afternoon whilst we were both pottering about the boat there was a knock on the roof. Outside stood a short chap, maybe in his 60’s. He was freezing cold, teeth chattering. He said that he was homeless and was currently living by the dry dock on the other side of the canal. Coming from Scarborough you get used to the stories people tell you about having been on a stag do and somehow ending up in town for the night and now having no money to be able to get home too Leeds, ‘Could you please help?’ One chap once asked me for help three times in one week! He obviously wasn’t getting much help, or was gradually getting rich! But the chap today was obviously very cold or a very good actor. If it was the later he also had a good costume designer as he was wearing a very strange collection of clothes. He wondered if we had a spare jumper that he could have, he’d managed to get a sleeping bag, but had very few layers under his oversized coat. I offered him a hot drink which he turned down. Mick donated a jumpery top and we gave him a fiver. Both of which he was very grateful for even though he disappeared quickly back in the direction of Tescos to put the jumper on. On a walk earlier in the day  Mick had seen someone huddled up by the dry dock. It is bitter out there, I do hope the chap is okay.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3.30 am awake, 6 hours hunting Ellie down, 0 Ellie found, 2 kippers, 1 bull finch, 2 hours ripping fabric, 1 walk, 1 pie bought and eaten, 1 big pie on order, 1 reindeer for the bow, 15m cotton rope, £1 Christmas lights, 1 free upgrade, £5, 1 set of chattering teeth.