Wheaton Aston

A couple of inches of snow joined us to the towpath this morning. There was nowhere near as much as we had in December up on the Llangollen. Mick went out to clear the solar panel and check on the fat balls in the hedge.

Tilly became very brave and ventured ashore. There had to be some friends in need of assistance below the white stuff. She didn’t find any and the wind put her off being out for any length of time, so instead she spent much of the day crouched down by the windows keeping an eye on the fat balls and those that came to feed from them.

An incognito hire boat came past, all it’s crew wrapped up the best they could against the elements. The engine was slowed, they were going to wind. The winding hole has a boat moored along one side of it and we are on the last rings on the towpath side, so swinging the stern of a boat round with the wind we had today needed to be timed well and done with some umph to get the stern round far enough for the wind to help rather than hinder. Try as they did the wind just held them along side the moored boat. The chap at the helm wasn’t giving the throttle enough to get them off. Poles came out and a lot of pushing was going on, crew jumped off the front with poles too, still no luck. In the end after much discussion between themselves, and watching on our part, they reversed back and then swung the bow towards the towpath, at last giving the engine some umph they turned the boat sufficiently to get the bow to turn with the aid of the wind. Congratulations all round, especially as they hadn’t crashed into anyone, just a bit of gentle nudging of the boat in the winding hole.

After sorting out a supermarket delivery, we settled down to watch some telly and after watching about a colossal hotel in Singapore with a swimming pool on the 54th floor roof (you’d never get me in there!) we then watched a classic Black and White movie. Sunday afternoon flicks all cosy and warm. In homage to my Hitchcock season quiz last year, when I spent all day everyday sat on the sofa with my broken ankle, I took a couple of photos. Can you name the film? We’d never seen it before but it is a classic and very funny.

Across the way on the side of the chicken shed is a banner advertising Momtaj Spice, the village’s Indian Restaurant. The offer on the banner was for a meal for £9.95 Sunday and Thursday. I had a look on their facebook page and there was another offer for 50% off food when you dine in. We decided to give them a go and risked the crunchy pavements to walk to the other end of the village.

Positioned above a pub you walk in through what feels like the back door and up a chilly staircase. A warm welcome greeted us and we were shown to a large table which they moved to nearer a radiator for us to warm up and melt. There was only one other couple seated , so not the busiest of nights for them. The huge menu took some reading, especially the dishes we’d not heard of before. We chose a Lamb Rogan Josh, Mushroom Bahji and a Chicken Palak. Everything was very nice especially the Palak which we’d not come across before. Some Indian chilled medication finished off our meal and with the 50% off it was well worth the very chilly walk there and back. Highly recommended, especially if you check their facebook page for any offers.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 inches, 4 paws, 1 tail still attached, 3 moving boats, 7 attempts to wind, 3 fat balls, £250 a night to £3500 for a suite, 1 classic, 3 famous faces, 2 false starts, 1 scalping, 1 puddle, 2 cobras, 2 poppadums, 1 pickle tray, 2 curries, 1 side, 2 rice, 1 kulfi, 1 cheese cake! 50% off very nice.