Norbury Junction
A few days ago we’d contacted our friends Alison and Laura, who used to own NB Large Marge, to see if we could meet up as we were roughly in their area. Today they were free and so were we.
Oleanna had a tidy and a sweep through and as Mick returned from a trip to the bins I could hear loud voices, they’d arrived.
It’s almost two years since we last saw them, they came out to meet us here then, but a faulty boiler in their (new to them) house, meant they were too late for lunch at the pub. Cuppas and some of my chocolate chip cookies and plenty of chat later we walked up to the junction and pub.
The sun was out but blimey it was blowing a hoolie! We were glad to get inside to the shelter of the pub. The specials menu looked attractive but in the end we all chose a burger. My gluten free one came with a bun and I ordered extras of cheese and bacon, well just because I don’t want the gluten doesn’t mean I don’t want the tasty extras! They were all very tasty.
We retired back to the boat for another cuppa and more chat of Jaffa (their parrot), chickens and keeping tortoises in the fridge. It was very lovely to see them both and we did try to persuade them to join us on the Leeds Liverpool later this year, NB Large Marge was a touch too long to fit the locks up there.
What no tasty friend?! Jaffa always looked lipsmackingly friendly through the window, but they’d not brought him. It was a shame as I’d liked to have caught up with him and met his chicken friends. She wouldn’t let me follow them home though!
The C&RT notice we’d been waiting for came through at lunchtime today, meaning the Shropie is now open ahead of us. So we shall continue northwards and see what happens with the Marple embankment.
This evening we couldn’t resist sampling the fresh eggs the Margees had brought, very creamy yolks. Thank you ladies and your lady chickens.
Coronavirus will affect us, nowhere near as much as others as we live a fairly solitary life on the canals. But I wait to hear decisions that will almost certainly be made regarding my show in July. Should Mick keep his dentist appointment next week? Will the government bring in stricter measures to protect the population? Avoiding going on a cruise if you are 70 doesn’t seem ample to us and the need to build up ‘community resilience’?! What exactly does that mean? Anyhow, we will continue pootling along until something stops us.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 Margees, 5 eggs, 8 cookies, 5 hours of constant chat, 4 burgers, 2 pints, 2 glasses wine, 4 elbow bumps, 1 cat wanting to jump ship, 1 route ahead open, Yay!