Thrupp to Kidlington Green Lock

I’m in two minds.

1 mind

It’s really rather great to have her back. It means that I get someone nice and comfy to sleep against in the middle of the night, instead of Tom who isn’t appreciative of my extra warmth. I get to hear my name being called out along the towpaths of England and Wales (I like the sound of my name). And I get extra Dreamies and the odd head nudge too, Tom doesn’t do these.

2 my other mind

I won’t get to stay out for quite as long as I like! She closes the door so I can’t go back out before it’s even dark (Tom sometimes does this too). She’s not so easy to get passed with friends when I bring them home.

But for the moment I think I like it better when she’s home in the same outside as us. Not the chippy one she keeps going on about.

Today they have swapped outsides in the rain, tying one up which has a very muddy field alongside. I’ve had great fun digging it up for the farmer.

This week Tom has been moving the outside by himself again. I keep offering to lend a paw but he keeps refusing. I even brought home a new member of crew to help out but he didn’t seem too pleased at the idea and spent ages finding it to just leave in the outside!

Apparently the other day, when the outside was the big meadow with all the cows that walk for miles that way and then miles the other way only to change their minds and walk back again, Oleanna completed her 2000th mile. She is sad that she missed this milestone. I missed it too as I mustn’t have been looking out of the window at the time, I wonder if it was very big?!

I quite like this outside, but Tom thinks he might try to move us closer to Oxford on his own next week. She was a bit too pooped to move much outside today and didn’t want to be messing with those heavy bridges. Now if he’d kept that new crew member I’d brought home there would have been two of us to help with them. Instead he’ll just have to struggle whilst I watch from inside.

1 lock, 2.04 miles, 2013.25 miles in total, 1 rejected crew, 4 brown paws, 2 minds, 1 happy face.