All tucked up down the Whitchurch Arm    ©2018 Leckenby

On Monday  just as we finished our late breakfast NB Mountbatten came past towing Jellicoe. They have paid for a winter mooring in the Whitchurch Arm up to Easter but hadn’t known that the arm would be closed off when New Mills Bridge is being worked on. After a few days at Grindley Brook, whilst Richard did the last coal run by boat (before the stoppages really get going), they had decided to return to the arm otherwise it would be wasted money. Their water would now need to be collected by van. We said our goodbyes as we doubt we’ll be seeing them again this winter.

Heading off to wind     ©2018 Leckenby

Soon after we made our own move, lifting the bridge for Oleanna to go through I stayed put and hoped that no body would want to cross the bridge whilst Mick headed up to the winding hole to turn. A couple of walkers arrived but luckily for my arms Mick did too, once through I wound the bridge back down. On we pootled back to Grindley Brook where we pulled up at the nearest end of the visitor moorings. There was a boat reversing back from the services which looked like NB Myrtle. They have a cat on board, so we hung back so as to give Tilly and their cat a good range between their homes.

Latest project    ©2018 Leckenby

Tuesday came along with the next engine service. So after Tilly had a bit of an explore she was locked inside for a snooze whilst Mick climbed down into the engine bay (on his own) to change the oil and filter. I could have just sat around in front of the stove knitting all day, but now that my tax return was done there was another job I’d been meaning to do for a while. The shower.

On Lillian (our previous boat) the shower glass was frosted so didn’t show the gradual build up of lime scale and general soapyness. Oleanna’s however is clear and shows where every little drop of water has rested. I decided to give it a very good clean which included taking the doors off. Lillian needed two people to do this as the rollers and catches were tricksy. On Oleanna you just need to push the buttons on the bottom rollers so that they clear the lower track and then lift the top rollers out from theirs. With both doors laid carefully on the bed I gave the main cubicle a good clean, I also removed the ever growing hair monster from the plug trap.

Push the button    © 2018Leckenby

Left side dirty, right side glistening ©2018 Leckenby

Pleased with my efforts I brought each door back in turn to clean. Blimey! Can you get repetitive strain from cleaning shower doors! The outside was easy, but the inside took several goes to get reasonable. Standing in bare feet with jeans rolled I started to smell like a highly vinegard fish and chips. The best thing I’ve found for removing the build up is diluted white vinegar, which we use in a spray bottle to keep the urine separator clean on our compost loo. The second door I made the mix stronger as my life and arms were starting to prefer the cloudy effect on the doors. I persevered, maybe I shouldn’t leave it quite so long next time.

Mick in the meantime had finished the engine service and moved us up to a water point to fill the now nearly empty tank. Once this was done we moved up a bit further to moor between the pump out and water points again as the night was due to be windy again. The roof was cleared of anything loose and a spring line was added to the stern to keep us into the side should the wind be bad.

Overnight we were aware of the odd gusts, but nothing compared to last weeks storm. A bit of a disappointment, it did mean that we slept quite well.

Our original plan was to leave Grindley Brook today, down the locks and start making our way towards Baddiley Lock 3 which is due to reopen at the end of Friday. Once through there we should have a clear run to Chester and be free of stoppages. No more waiting around. But this morning we still had strong winds and plenty of rain, not so nice. So instead of pushing off we put our coats on and headed to the Lockside cafe for a cooked breakfast.

A large Rosie and Jim looked down on our sausage, bacon and scrambled egg from high on the wall next to us. Rosie’s feet swayed alarmingly, caused (we hope!) by the rising heat from the radiator below. The breakfast was nice, but the sausages were nothing to write home about, more like a Holiday Inn banger.

Now you see it   ©2018 Leckenby

Now you don’t   ©2018 Leckenby

We’d let the fire go out overnight, not wanting the wind to make the fire run away with itself. Now fortified after breakfast Mick gave the chimney a sweep and good hoover out.

New black gloves standing up better than the old ones   ©2018 Leckenby

His Christmas present of new black gloves coming in use for the second time in two days, he’s impressed with their performance, Thank you Josh.

Keeping the hoover in view at all times    ©2018 Leckenby

Tilly was given the freedom of the towpath for the day, but I preferred to stay indoors and watch the hoover from a safe distance, followed by pummelling Toms hat and trying to get those balls out of the box of holes, they really shouldn’t be in there!

We’ll wait just one more day, but tomorrow no matter what the weather we need to push off.

You may notice that the layout is a bit different today. For some reason livewriter wouldn’t upload my post with photos in it (we’ve been trying most of the day!). So I’ve had to return to inserting them on blogger, which I find most annoying!!!