Eric had waited for nightfall, but really wasn’t all that impressive. Maybe our mooring was sheltered, but we’d been expecting much worse. Sideways rain and being buffeted about had been our expectations, but it passed over with a few huffs and puffs and a couple of small showers.

Time for a haircut. Mick got a set of new clippers at Christmas. The attachments are numerous, ears, noses, beards and hair. The shortest one for hair is a little bit longer than I used to use so Mick isn’t quite such a skinhead as normal. It was nice to have sharp clippers again, those awkward thin bits (yes he has a few left on top) were a lot easier to cope with today. As the clippers buzzed away Tilly kept an eye on us and the towpath from up high.

This afternoon we had Nick Lane to visit. Nick is a writer, director, actor and a jolly lovely man who I know from my days working at Hull Truck. He arrived early, well he only lives around the corner! For those who know Nick this is a rarity but it meant we got to spend more time with him. We had a lovely catch up talking boats, plays, friends, windows, knights and Thorne. 

Nick is being kept busy with various projects up and down the country. His kids Christmas plays have been going down a storm in Scarborough the last few years and he’s been commissioned to do an adaptation of Treasure Island this year.

I designed a few of his Christmas shows at Hull Truck when there used to be an adult show playing in the evening with a kids show on the same set during the day. An Italian restaurant became a town square for an actors troupe to tell the story of Pinocchio. A modern  warehouse office became various locations to tell A Christmas Carol. All good bonkers fun. 

It was so lovely to see him and be able to spend some time catching up.