Chocolate Box bridge this morning

Whilst they had breakfast I was allowed out for an hour. There really wasn’t much point I’d checked out all the good holes and found any friends to be found yesterday, so I stayed close and was home well in time for them to move the outside again.

The Selby Canal isn’t that long, just over five miles long, so we didn’t want to use it all up too quickly. So we planned on stopping at one of two places we’d reach before getting to the outskirts of Selby.

The sun was out and our solar panels are starting to earn their keep. 250 watts this morning until a shadow is cast over them. With Mick’s remote battery monitor ( for want of a better name, it does more than just monitor the batteries) we could see how much less power there is being generated if you hold your arm up casting a shadow over the panel, 50 watts less. We still have our stove going so the chimney can cast a shadow on one of the panels depending where the sun is.

Coming in to moor with an audience

We pootled along to the next mooring, Gateforth Landing. There has always been a boat moored here when we’ve come past, but today it was free. With quite a high wall it was hard to step up off the bow, but we managed and tied up. With no roads nearby, only the towpath and a footpath leading into Gateforth it would be a better place for Tilly, the trains on the East Coast Main Line don’t worry her!

One way

The other way

Tree stumps, plenty of friendly cover. Before I got to check out what was behind the sideways trees she was calling me back and trying to pick me up. I wasn’t having any of that! I still had six hour and twenty six minutes left!!

Ouch!

From across the field we could hear screaming. Not kids playing screaming, but serious screaming. There were a couple of horses galloping across the field. My first thought was that it could be a hunt, I wanted Tilly back in doors if it was. A cat was killed last year in Norbury by hounds and this was not a fate for Tilly.

Soon we realised that there were only two horses, one had bolted, the rider screaming as it sped across the field. She soon fell off and her horse continued out of sight. There were a couple of people with them and the girl who’d fallen stood up quickly. At quite a distance away from us we couldn’t help, but for quite sometime we could hear the horse still disturbed.

Now this IS a Field

With all this going on I went to have a look. For as far as my cat vision could see there were fields. Fields with things growing in them, just for me! It tasted quite good,even the local deer must have agreed as they were munching it a mile away.

Hard to get a good look round

This outside sadly doesn’t get a Mrs Tilly stamp. Why when there is so much to do? Well it’s because it’s far too high. When I get off the boat I always have a quick look round to be aware of my surroundings. But here all I can see is a big stone wall, behind that is a bit of a hill, so I have to sit up very tall to check it’s safe. One time there was a rudy great big horse! I did see that one, because it was sooo big!

Trial with ink and colour

The first colours being laid in for the front cover

I got my paints and fine drawing pens out. Scanned the illustrations I’ve been doing to the highest resolution my scanner would let me, this was just in case I seriously messed up inking and colouring them in, then I’d have chance to go back and do them all again.

A try out with pens and watercolour on a sketch that won’t be used gave me the confidence to ink in the cover drawings and start to add some colour to them. I still need to work out the background for one of them, but that will come as I work on them.

What’s over there?

Deer!

During the afternoon a walk was called for, but Tilly was out. She soon showed her white tipped tail when we clambered off the boat. Instead of leaving her in charge she came with us for our walk, admittedly it wasn’t as far as we’d have gone without her. It also takes time as she gets distracted by any movement. But having her bound back to join you is great and quite often funny as she turns and does her cartoon arched back at you, for no reason what so ever.

Busy now!

0 locks, 1.28 miles, 2 chocolate box swans, 250 watts, 0.5 hours engine as we cruised, 1 high mooring, 2 fallen trees, 3 benches, 2 nails,  2 huge fields all mine, 1 bolted horse, 6 screams, 5 deer, 3 inked in sketches, 2 colours, 1 happy tired cat.