Category Archives: Birthdays

Jericho

Hair cutting, Tilly exploring, breakfast and baking, what a busy morning, good job the sun was out. However we had reports of rain to the north of us, would umbrellas be required?

A little later than originally planned Andrew and Jac arrived, the Oxford traffic having held them up on their journey from London. Time for birthday presents a coffee and freshly baked biscuits. Jac got a new table cloth with embroidered bees on it and Mick got a new expanding hose for Oleanna and a weed burner for use in the garden at the house.

Originally we’d planned on doing the next part of our journey by boat, but getting a mooring where we were heading could have been a risk, limited space and only 24hrs. So we headed to Sandford Lock on the Thames by car, having to sit in Oxford traffic for some of the way.

Sat outside the Kings Arms with her dog Baxter was Jenny Leckenby, she’d spent some time watching the second round of the World Championship Pooh Sticks that was taking place at the weir stream. Inside we found the rest of our party, Ian, Sally and Sam Leckenby, first cousins and those once removed. A few people missing from the table, Josh who is mid A level revision, Jo and his family who live in the States.

With eight of us it was quite a noisy affair, sorry to those other diners. Mick and I had seen everyone last summer at the Royal International Air Tattoo, but Andrew and Jac had been away on holiday so it was the first time they’d seen Ian and Sally since their wedding, way longer since seeing Sam and Jenny.

Sam and I chose our gluten free dishes from the separate menu, but were disappointed that we couldn’t have chips. This is because other things are fried in the same deep fat frier causing cross contamination which can be serious for those who are coeliac. Both of us are intolerant to gluten and were willing to risk a portion of chips between us. Solution was to get Jenny to order a side portion of chips to accompany her burger and chips. These were then passed over to Sam and myself to share away from panicking staff, our choice, our chips.

A long lunch, five hours. The service was slow, but that actually didn’t matter as there was tons to talk about. Ian’s plane that he’s building in France, the dogs cats horses goats, their granddaughter, news of Tim our other cousin out in Ukraine, all sorts.

All too soon it was time for us to leave the pub and restore the quiet. A shame we’d not brought Oleanna and Tilly as there would have been space to moor her. Hopefully we’ll get chance to catch up with Sam as we head downstream on the Thames in the next few days and it won’t be too long before we can all get together again.

**Sally, Andrew, Ian, Mick, Jenny, Pip, Sam, Jac**

An easier trip back to Jericho in the car and hopefully an easier drive back to London for the London Leckenbys.

River levels were checked again, it all looks pretty good for the next few days. With this in mind we looked at moorings in London. There are now more pre-bookable, payable moorings in London. For the dates we were looking at on the cheaper moorings we didn’t have much choice. Adjusting our dates a touch gave us a better window of opportunity. All booked, we just have to get there now.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 presents, 8 biscuits, 22nd pair cast on, 1 bored cat, 8 cousins, 1 dog, 1 portion of contraband chips, 5 hours of noisy family catch up, 2 car rides, 1 plan came together, 1 lovely day.

Pensioner Boy. 20th May

Slatt Mill Lock to Lift Bridge 178 (no longer exists)

Present time with our cuppa in bed. An electric shaver and some new pants, lots of them Well we can’t have Tom dingly dangling outside like that chap the other day can we! We certainly can’t Tilly, well done. Next up birthday breakfast. With a banana mountain ripening all the time I made us a batch of banana and blueberry pancakes, they were very nice, but maybe we should have had a third person to help us eat them!

Time to move onwards and downwards. We just needed to find a gap in the down hill boats. With the familiar Sea Otter from yesterday having passed us we quickly untied and pushed off before the next boat could come down the lock. There was chance at the next lock to check if they were relieved to have had a pump out at Cropredy before they headed off ahead of us.

Uphill boats arrived and there was time to chat. At Bourton Lock there was a chap who remembered the old lady who used to live in the cottage, back then the gardens on both sides of the lock were wonderfully kept, now it’s just trees and sideways trees.

At Hardwick Lock a single hander helped open gates and wind paddles, he had offered to help someone the other day and been pushed over by them, a scab on his arm to show for his friendliness! I thanked him and then got out of his way.

**If I ever had my hair cut again in Banbury, I’d give Izzy a try.**

Two ladies waved from Dink and Malc’s house, we waved back, we always do. Then round past the permanent moorings, an opportunity for a hair cut on the cut. Past Sovereign Wharf and Spice Ball Park pulling up in front of the restaurants at Castle Quays, the closest mooring to Lidl available for us.

A reasonably big shop, 4 bags were brought back and stowed away. We’d checked the middle of Lidl today as we always do, finding several items that may be useful. A 12volt oil pump, a trolley with reasonably big wheels to deal with the towpath, Tcut to try to brighten up the cabin sides that have oxidised, a chunky kneeling mat and a rest for barbequing kebabs. Mick spent some of his Birthday money on these useful items, however he was reluctant to purchase a hoola hoop!

Lunch then I walked ahead to wind the lift bridge up before the lock. As ever people stood and sat to watch us operate the lock, the last with double bottom gates. Last year there had been a stoppage here whilst they did a temporary repair on the top gate. Today that repair is still there, the walkway over the gate still not replaced, the locals used to use this all the time but now they have to walk round as I did.

A family of four were soon enlisted to help push and pull gates much to their delight. Then it was time to top up at the water point and dispose of fishy smelling rubbish. Whilst Mick stayed to do the chores I headed off with a bag to Morrisons. Lidl is fine for most things, but not so good if you are gluten free. The only gf items on offer today all contained coconut, which unless it’s fresh or just milk I avoid!

Walking through Banbury I looked for a 488, the bus to Chippy and kept my eyes peeled should I know anyone. It would have been lovely to say hello to Tim, Alyce or Suzette who I know live in Banbury, but not one familiar face. If there had been something on at Chippy we fancied seeing we’d have jumped on the next bus so that Mick could use his bus pass for the first time. They are currently working up to two big community productions, Lark Rise and Barn Dance which take place next month. The other day Clare asked me if I was missing working on panto, the answer has to be yes. But I’m also really enjoying waking up every morning without a mental list going through my head of design jobs I need to achieve once we’re moored up at the end of each day.

By the time I’d finished at the Morrisons check out, so had Mick at the water point. I walked back towards him from Tramway as he cruised towards me, perfect. Onwards now for one more lock, Grants Lock. Nothing has happened to the lock cottage since August last year, access to the property is owned by a college in Oxford who have refused to sell it, so access is very restrictive to be able to carry out any works on it.

We passed the hire boat who’d had their nice picnic at the services in Napton, they’d turned round today. Should we stop here? There? Round the next bend? Would the towpath get any wider so we could have a birthday barbeque this evening? A cut out area in the long grass showed itself, we pulled in, someone’s effort would assist in our quest for a wide towpath for the evening.

It was later than we’d hoped for, Tilly was given an extension, then brought a friend home! Betg a megfw meittn ton doew! She said with a mouth full as she and her friend were bundled out of the front door.

Mick set up the barbeque and got everything sorted on the towpath, I put together the kebabs and threaded asparagus onto skewers, the new one’s a touch too thick for this job, mental note taken for next time. The plan was to have asparagus for starters followed by burgers, kebabs and sweetcorn. Well the Lidl briquettes took forever to get going, then some more! I popped the asparagus on to cook, expecting to be turning it frequently. Not enough heat to do this! The spears gradually cooked, no charring a good thing. Sweetcorn was added, this normally needs turning frequently too as it colours up and cooks. No such luck.

In the end we decided that we needed a lot more coals as the rack was too far away from the heat for things to cook efficiently. But as the coals had taken over an hour to get hot in the first place and we were now starting to run out of day light we decided to turn the oven and grill on inside. Asparagus was eaten outdoors with our first glasses of wine in a week, but it was now getting chilly.

Food cooked and eaten indoors, it was now time to reveal the secret baking and blow out the candles. Happy Birthday Mick!

How on earth am I going out with a pensioner!

4 locks, 6.5 miles, 2 supermarkets, 2 hours shore leave, 1 friend, 14 spears, 4 kebabs, 2 burgers, 1 big chocolate and banana cake, 0 buses taken, 1 full water tank, 66 years old! 1 valid bus pass, 1 Mrs Tilly’s stamp of approval.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/o9EjWtT4PujqkjiP7

Is This REALLY BUMingham? 6th May

St Vincents Street Bridge Moorings

Hang on! I thought they said they’d tied up that BUMingham outside!?! Too few bricks to be BUMingham. Maybe She can’t navigate so well anymore.

Our neighbours were due to depart around 9, so we needed to be up and dressed. Tilly was given the rules and the back door opened up for her to explore. There may be trees here and quite a lot of friendly cover, but the towpaths of Birmingham are busy with runners, cyclists and woofers. NO chance of a stamp of approval here!

We had a cuppa onboard Oleanna and pointed out moorings to Clare and Graeme in their Pearsons guide. They are headed towards Crick and had been concerned about how long it would take to get there. A look on Canal plan last night suggested they’d need to do under 2 hours of cruising a day to arrive in time for the show. They could take it easy and hopefully we’ll be able to catch them up too.

As NB Lottie Jane moved away Tilly was encouraged back on board, we untied and pulled Oleanna up onto the last rings on the moorings. A space large enough for a boat infront of us, so no git gap. The doors were opened again, Well this outside isn’t as good as the last one! A slow morning, catching up on blog writing, this was at first slightly problematical as Oleanna’s router seemed to have died last night, Mick occasionally resets the router and last night it didn’t power up again. Time to teather to a phone.

**Taking it to bits, but would it go back together again?**

The theory was that the switch was maybe faulty, so he took it to bits to see if a piece of wire could be used to get it working again, but it was deemed too complicated to try, turning circuit boards over, disconnecting everything and then it still may not have worked. Time for a new router, the last one had served us for seven years after all.

Not just a simple case of buying one off the shelf, it needed to work on 12 volts, which doesn’t tend to be noted on the Argos website or the outside of the box. Would they allow him to open the box to see? We both went for a walk into the city, I had some secret mission to do myself, it being May!

I left Mick to it and headed off towards the Bull Ring. Here there were so many people! Just what were people queueing for? Wing Stop had a controlled queue that zigzagged round, the store full. Chicken wings must be a favourite round here.

Another queue was outside a new cafe EL & N, it has only been open for three weeks. Billed as the most Instagrammable cafe in the world it is very pink! Flowers cover the walls. I peeked in through the window at the wonderful looking cakes. No I didn’t go in, no lables for anything glutenfree. A later look on their website and despite a huge menu with the usual thing about allergens, there were only two items on the whole menu marked as gluten free, plus they automatically add a 12.5% service charge to your bill! But should you want a cubed croissant and can cope with gluten this looks like the place to go, certainly many thought it was worth queueing for.

**Cambrian Wharf used to be filled with boats**

I picked a few items and several birthday cards, May is very busy for birthdays, then dropped into Tescos for a few bits before heading back to Oleanna. My route took me around Cambrian Wharf. The mooring durations have changed in Birmingham this year. The pontoons used to be half longterm moorings and half visitors. Today only three boats were moored up, it’s now all longterm mooring, although the space alongside the top Farmers Bridge Lock is 4 days. Most of the central moorings are now 4 days during the main season (April to October) and 14 during the winter months. Where we are moored is 14 days all year. Double check the signage, a quick glance may have you thinking you could stay for 14 days as 4 day moorings are not often seen on the network. The new mooring times will be reviewed again next January.

Mick had been shown a router at Argos, but not been allowed to open the box to check if it was suitable for our needs. So there was nothing for it but to get on a bus to a Currys. Here the shop assistant took the wrapper off and opened up the box. Marvellous it ran on 12volts, SOLD! However when back onboard Oleanna it required a a different power plug which fortunatly Mick was able to sort. £85 and slightly quicker and still able to use the same external aerial. He had considered a 5G router, but they are still a touch too expensive.

This evening yarn has been selected for sock pair 19. I’m hoping to create something Joyous and musical with this pair, maybe adding a little bit of embroidery ontop.

0 locks, 40ft pulled up, 1 puzzled cat, 1 farrrr too busy outside, 1 rendez vous planned, 1 dead router, 1 supermarket order altered for collection, 2 buses, 1 alive router, 4 birthday cards, 1 bag of secret things, 0 treats to eat, 3 leeks, 1 pot humous, 2 rows or 3? 2.

Happy 8th Baseplate Day! 14th February

Well today marks the 8th anniversary of Oleanna’s baseplate being laid in Tim Tylers workshop in Newcastle under Lyme. It was another year and a bit before we finally moved on board to cruise her down to Crick to meet with Lillian and fully move onboard.

**Mick stood at the stern 58ft 6 inches away, 8 years ago**

If you want to look back and see Oleanna’s build this is a post from our first visit. Her story starts much earlier so here’s a link to the first Oleanna blog post, 1948 blog posts ago!

Currently we are gradually getting ourselves ready to move back on board, the date still a little bit up in the air.

Mick went down to check on Oleanna on Monday. A chat with the bully boy batteries went well, the newly oiled floor had cured so the back steps could go back in. I’ve been busy covering new and old dinette cushions and today we should receive new cartridges for our life jackets, which are currently still inflated in a closed room well away from cat claws.

The world of canals and rivers is keeping us on our toes as regards to stoppages at the moment. There is a silt build up on the River Trent which needs dredging between Beeston and Cranfleet locks. The coal boat had serious difficulty passing that way a week ago and was having to wait for levels to rise again before attempting to return to base. Since then the Trent has gone back into flood.

The Don Doors on the New Junction are having issues with their gearbox so are closed to the canal currently. Even if we got past them Vazon Sliding Bridge is closed to boat traffic until mid March whilst strengthening works are carried out to the north canal wall.

However we’d planned on crossing the Pennines. The Rochdale, Lock 67 is suffering from subsidence which will be worked on next week. Lock 65 is also showing similar signs and will be looked at next week to see what should be done.

The Leeds Liverpool has a navigation restriction near Burnley, Embankment 39, so it is still navigable. Works at Wigan have been slowed by the weather so the closure there has been extended by a week so that concrete has more time to go off, the concrete has as yet to be laid. Problems near Foulridge Tunnel seem to have been sorted.

Then the Huddersfield Narrow and Broad. There are bridge works and a lock closure on the Broad along with repairs to a wash wall which should be finished mid March. On the Narrow locks on the east side are closed until the end of February, then there is a closure in Stalybridge which should open mid March.

So at the moment the Leeds Liverpool is looking the most promising, followed by the Huddersfield canals. Further south there has been a substantial landslip on the North Oxford near Brinklow. We’d planned on heading southwards this way, but we strongly suspect it will take a while for this to be sorted so will have to head southwards through Birmingham. Or do we wait for the Trent to be sorted and out of flood then high tail it south along the Leicester Section?

Who knows! We’ll wait and see what is open when we set off.

In Sockathon News I now have sponsors for 29 pairs of socks and have raised £655 for Dementia UK. Pair 7 will soon be finished. I now have a very large box of yarn donations sent in from all over, details of which are on the Yarn Donations page. There are still a few more people who have pledged yarn donations so they will be added as yarn arrives. I think I may be knitting for a few years to use it all up! If you fancy a pair here’s a link to my JustGiving page

Thank you Debby for becoming pair 30!

**My friend Morag looking across the harbour**

0 locks, 0 miles, 8 years old! 4 routes from the north closed, 1 bathroom delayed, 1 best mate visit, 2 lodgers, 1 fair weather cat, 2 opticians appointments, 2 doctors appointments, 1 vets appointment, 1 gathering, 1 leg of lamb, 2 boaters nearly ready.

2023 A Sociable Year

A long post, it’s the annual round up.

January, we sat waiting. Waiting for a new alternator to arrive, for the River Trent to come out of flood and then for the canal to defrost sufficiently for us move. This meant Pip doing work on the boat instead of in the house, this made for smelly days and a very cold workshop under the pram cover.

After almost three weeks we were on the move again having to navigate through thick fog, navigational aids helping us not to bump into the banks! Ahead of us in Yorkshire was a troublesome swing bridge, closed to boat traffic. Our plans had to change, we arranged to moor up in Newark and head back to Scarborough by van. Chin rubs nearly made the longer journey better, but I really don’t like the outside moving SO fast!

Four days later we were back on board, the bridge ahead was now open. Tides were checked, locks booked, cupboards stocked for a few days cruising. Winter cruising can be so so pretty, yet so so chilly. A display by the Red Arrows as we left Torksey kept us amused and a defrost was very welcome when we arrived at Keadby. After four days cruising we were moored up in Goole and walking to catch the train back to Scarborough.

#unit21 in Huddersfield kept Pip occupied for much of February. Then it was time to give the house some TLC in between lodgers. A back bedroom got a makeover just in time. Mick had trips to see Oleanna, a jobs list left with Alastair and the covers headed off for some much needed mending. Tilly was kept busy checking out the neighbours, they stay inside so I get free reign of their outside!

April arrived along with two lodgers, it was not possible to do more work on the house, Pip chose to knit socks instead. Dementia UK her chosen charity this year. Donations of yarn came from dyers and Pip’s needles started to click away, keeping up with requests. 15 pairs knitted and her target met.

May, visits were made to Oleanna preparing her for cruising, these were interspersed with visits from family, delivering socks, getting the house ready and starting work on the design for panto. On the 9th of May we loaded a van and returned to life afloat. Tilly the happiest cat once she was back onboard! A day later we set off heading west. Leeds for a few days for Pip to head to Matlock for work and then a wonderful visit to see 93 year old Betty in Harrogate.

Working our way up the Leeds Liverpool Canal, locks and the new stupid swing bridge much lighter work with two boats. Our favourite canal with wonders of the waterways, friends on route, Mick’s birthday and a trip to Bowness to see the latest Ayckbourn play. We managed a night on our favourite mooring on the network sadly it was too windy to enjoy the view with a barbecue.

Up over the top, we teamed up with NB That’s It, thankfully descending the Wigan flight in a window between vandalism and blown cills that have hampered the flight this year. Then along the Bridgewater Canal, panto designing whilst on the flat. Through Preston Brook Tunnel and onto the Trent and Mersey turning right onto the Middlewich Branch.

Back on lockdown ‘Home’ waters we cruised the Nantwich pound, 5 hours 13 minutes including a lunch and shopping stop, back in 2020 we’d spent 80 days here. We cruised southwards on the Shropie joined for a day by Carol and George from WB Still Rockin’. Laura and Alison from NB Large Marge joined us for the ascent up the Wolverhampton 21.

Through Bumingham and on to Lapworth and then Hatton where we had an extra pair of hands from Jane, who hopefully now has her own narrowboat. A well deserved burger at the Cape of Good Hope with Emma and David, then a lovely evening with Lizzie (NB Panda) at The Folly, it was turning out to be quite a sociable June.

Oleanna wiggled her way across the summit of the South Oxford, very familiar water to us. Despite the sunny weather and us cruising most days our batteries were not happy, turning themselves off overnight! Diagnosis was required, we pulled into Cropredy Marina to plug in and run tests. One of our three batteries was dead, bad enough but thankfully nothing more. Once a panto meeting had been attended we could move on, except there was an emergency closure at Banbury Lock. C&RT worked hard to get the canal open as quickly as they could, thankfully our hold up wasn’t too long.

We met up with the crews of NB Azzura (Liz and Mark) and NB Perseus (Julie and Simon) both Finesse boats, had a visit to London for Andrew’s birthday. Then had a rendez vous with Paul and Christine and enjoyed a good catch up onboard NB Waterway Routes.

Down to the River Thames where we turned upstream onto waters we’ve only cruised once before. Such a lovely stretch of river, sadly with fewer moorings now. We sped up to Lechlade where we took up residence for a week so that we could attend a get together at Pip’s cousins which coincided with the Royal International Air Tatoo in Fairford. It was great to be with family on a jolly occasion.

Work took over for Pip as we made our way back down stream to Oxford, Cinderella had to go to the ball and the model needed to be finished. Then we sauntered our way back northwards. One day had us meet up with Frankie NB Discovery, NB Dusty the local coal boat and Graeme on NB Misty Blue, it was good to catch up with Graeme and hear of his adventures since we’d seen him last year.

A trip for us both back to Scarborough to do a turn around of lodgers, see a show and pick up post. Mick would have to return the following weekend to swap bedlinen over again, this time by train from Rugby. Stand still budgets and inflation required Pip to do more work on panto so her days were kept busy reducing Cinderella’s carriage from £2000 to £400.

Stoppages around the network meant we had only one real route we could take to head back north. We winded and climbed our way up to the Leicester Section. Here we met up with Ken and Sue NB Cleddau at Houdini’s Field sitting out till way after dark. Then a small detour to Welford to meet up with NB Panda and Lizzie for an evening before we continued our way north.

Another detour to Market Harborough before Leicester where North Lock had a badly leaking cill which required a crew of C&RT chaps to force the bottom gates open, booked passage was required, this meant we got a few days to enjoy the city whilst we awaited our turn.

Sadly by now the lack of water on the Chesterfield Canal meant the top end of the canal was closed, no point in rushing up the River Trent for a return visit. In Nottingham Pip’s little toe had a kerfuffle with a cupboard necessitating a visit to the drop in centre for her little pinkie to be realigned. This meant Pip had to hand the windlass and key of power over to Mick for the last locks of the year.

Downstream on the River Trent, stopping at all our favourite moorings. Pip’s knitting needles came out again to knit more socks for Dementia UK. We had a trip into Lincoln along the Fossdyke Canal, we actually managed to finally visit the Cathedral this time!

Tides were not helpful for the rest of our trip north so a couple of days at West Stockwith was needed, but that did mean we’d be sharing the tidal waters back to Yorkshire with NB That’s It whom we’d met earlier in the year.

There was time for a catch up with David as we passed through Bramwith, a jaunt up to Doncaster and then finally along the New Junction and onto Goole where a space had been found for us in the marina. A train ride to Scarborough to pick up a van and see the latest show before packing up the boat again for the second time this year.

Planned works at the house then went very smoothly. Scaffolding arriving the day after we arrived, new windows later in the day with four carpenters and two days later the decorator who was to give the house a much needed new coat of paint outside.

Mid October Pip moved to Chipping Norton for a month to work on panto, Mick and Tilly left to welcome a new lodger for the Christmas show in Scarborough. Panto was as much work as normal with the addition of Pip getting covid after the first week of rehearsals. The show opened to toe tapping audiences and many many bananas, getting great reviews. Mick had a days trip to London to support boaters who had gathered outside the Houses of Parliament for a Fund Britain’s Waterways rally.

Back in Scarborough Christmas came early with a visit from the London Leckenbys at the beginning of December, they hadn’t been to Scarborough for ten years. A few more house jobs have been done but a list has been compiled for the new year along with those on Oleanna. We’ve had a lovely Christmas, catching up with Scarborough friends, Tilly has slept lots, we’re lucky to see her before 2pm most days! I’m just resting for when the outsides start changing again.

Don’t worry Tilly the count down has started.

This year our plans changed all because of an invite from Pip’s cousins. We travelled our favourite canal, cruised many familiar waters , visited ‘Home’, climbed trees and pounced, caught up with many boating friends and made many new ones along the way. One very sociable year.

So our vital statistics for 2023 according to Canalplan are

Total distance of 805miles, 2.25furlongs and 436 locks.

There were 121 moveable bridges, of which 33 are usually left open; 151 small aqueducts or underbridges and 16 tunnels – a total of 6 miles, 5 furlongs under ground and 7 major aqueducts.

This is made up of 244 miles, 1.25 furlongs of narrow canals; 251 miles, 5.5 furlongs of broad canals; 69 miles, 1.5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 95 miles, 4.75 furlongs of small rivers; 57 miles, 3.75 furlongs of large rivers; 87 miles, 1.5 furlongs of tidal rivers; 185 narrow locks; 223 broad locks; 28 large locks.

Although according to Nebo we did

815.09 miles and 431 locks! Hmm maybe my maths isn’t so good. But then we only started using Nebolink in August, tracking our every move rather than just on our phones.

470 engine hours, 789.8 litres diesel! Ouch, having to run the engine to top the batteries up on an evening didn’t help with this, 150amp hours down to 100, 3 gas bottles, 120kg coal, 19.5 litres oil, 2 oil filters, 2 fuel filters, 1 shower mixer, 1 domestic alternator, 1 set new engine mounts, 1 overnight guest, 3 packs Dreamies, 1.5 packs Bonkers, 39 friends, 6 brought in, 34 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval, 34 pairs of socks, £1132 for Dementia UK, 2 shows, 9 lodgers, 10 supermarket deliveries, 33 boxes wine, 1 toe, 6 months cruising, 3 boat mover sightings, 209 posts, 184 likes, 9,503 visitors, 31,309 views!

Thank you for following our journey during 2023. We have a plan for 2024, but there are several invites and a rendez vous with some New Zealanders. Will we stick to our plan? Have to alter course to fit everything in? Wait and see, we’re already counting down the weeks to being afloat again.

What Did You Get? Betwixtmas 2023

**Breakfast with tea not bucks fizz this year**

Christmas Day was quite grey, but thankfully the drizzle/rain stayed away for us to have a walk down to the seafront and allow Frank to walk (without getting wet) the two miles to join us.

Glasses of fizz were at hand to help with the final food preparations.

Frank had brought round three sprout stalks from his garden, so he set to. An hour and a half later, his sterling work had got enough diddy sprouts for maybe two of us, they were added to with extras from the bumper veg box I’d ordered.

I’d seen good reviews for M&S gluten free bread sauce, so we had a taste test between theirs and mine. The Leckenby version made with brown seeded bread and some garlic, the M&S version very white and plenty of cloves. They both had good qualities, I think the decision was that they tied.

Mammoth amounts of food took over our plates. We think that this year we managed to achieve the correct quantities of everything. Plenty and still quite an amount of left overs after Frank had finished. Cheese was put till the end of the meal (my Mum wouldn’t have approved!), but just as well as my birthday cake was extreamly rich! Five days later and we’ve still only managed to eat half of it. Chocolate and Hazelnut Celebration Cake and the cheese remained in it’s wrappers!

In the morning we’d opened our Christmas presents, before Birthday cake there were the tree presents. Mick got a new litter picker (not just for tidying up the towpaths but also to help pick things up once dropped in the engine bay on Oleanna. I got the Sarah Howells Gluten Free cook book and Frank got a pair of Pip socks, the last pair to be knitted this year. This makes it 34 pairs since April, I’d forgotten to add in a pair I made for my cousin at the beginning of May.

Birthday presents followed. This pile quite often ends up with a few Christmas presents accidentally added, ambiguous wrapping, or just because.

A lovely day with fat bellies, lots of empty bottles and good company.

So what did we get?

We both got new waterproof coats.

A new barbecue. I’d considered a Cob as so many had sung their praises, but the price tag was a touch too much for Tilly’s pocket, so a slightly sterdier fold away version of the one we’ve had for the last eight or so years. It’s handy as it tucks away easily into one of the stern lockers. I got some Sketchers anti-slip trainers which are comfortable for my toe and the antislip looks as good as we’ve had before. Tilly got a flapping fish to remind her of our travels on the water. This did have to be removed after a while I just don’t understand why it didn’t die! I had resorted to numerous headbut bites and yet it still flipped around!

Lots of other goodies. Books were all cookery books this year, a Tom Kerridge book didn’t make the photo. Tilly got a new (to her) food and water bowls so that she doesn’t have to move them from house to boat to house. I’ll have something to say about that Blue one on my own blog! Plus a LOT of Dreamies. You’d better start moving the outside again so I can have those! Pyjamas were also popular, between us we got three pairs. An ice bag, very handy for knees or heads. Socks, now just not any old socks! Thank you to Kath who got me the arty socks, Father Christmas for the chunky socks, but extra bonus points to the NB Cleddau crew for the Crazy Cat Lady socks. Thank you!!!

**Sue cutting the cake, assisted by Jaye and of course Duncan!**

We’ve had a few relaxing days since, interspersed by Sue’s 60th where her family and friends took over a local Indian restaurant. What a lovely evening, Happy Birthday Sue!

**Can anyone guess which lock this is?**

The painting for our downstairs toilet is coming on. A good project to do Betwixtmas. Soon I’ll have to set the drawing board up and sort out dimensions of the lean too that we’re wanting to replace, there’s also the boat cushion fabric to source, curtain tracks, some painting and more bloomin sealant to do in the house! Then there are the boat jobs on the list. But these can all wait for the new year I think, Oh and there’s the yearly round up to write and that always takes ages.

Hope you all had a good Christmas and got some fab presents too.

0 locks, 0 miles, 12 pairs socks, 4 cook books, 4 bowls, 3 bags of dreamies, 1 fish, 1 wobbly thing, 3 pairs pyjamas, 1 bottle truffle oil, 2 waterproofs, 1 cold on the way out, 1 on the way in, 1 lodger with a tickly throat, 1 phone, 4 pens, 4 pencils, 1 bbq, 2 much birthday cake so if anyone is passing in the next few days please help us!

Panto Postcard 4, 2023

49.5 hours

Sunday, I actually managed to have a lie in! By the time I’d made my breakfast I realised the Geraghty zoom would be half-way through, I joined and it was lovely to see everyone. I then had a leisurely morning before wrapping up against the rain to walk up to Checkers for lunch.

In the past Checkers had a good reputation and I’d imagined the pub would be heaving, but not today. Glen at the theatre yesterday had mentioned that there was a new landlord so possibly a new chef too. A table had been reserved, which was in the glazed dining room (a touch chilly), not one of the cosy side rooms. Soon I was joined by Ian my cousin who lives in Fairford near Lechlade. Back in the summer we’d arranged to meet up when I was in Chippy. Recently a date had been chosen, sadly this also coincided with a mammoth singing of the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall, so Sally and Sam were not able to join us. However Ian had been left to tend after the Leckenby zoo and was more than happy to meet up and chat away for a couple of hours.

Sadly the food didn’t live up to my expectations. We both opted for Pork, I requested a gluten free one (no Yorkshire Pudding). When they arrived the poor person serving us, on her second ever shift, explained that they were both gluten free. Well one of them should have been but the other should have come with a Yorkshire. It took quite a while before it was explained to us that they had no Yorkshires! We opted for a dessert which was okay, but certainly nothing to write home about. A shame as a pub like this should have Sunday roasts to shout out about. But what more than made up for the food was a good long chat with Ian. Our families, the plane he’s building and how long he’ll be able to have it in England as it’s registered in France.

A lazy afternoon followed, doing my best to recharge my batteries before the final push of panto. Bake off was caught up on, a blog written and some sock knitting for Dementia Uk.

Monday. Jo was back, she’d spent the weekend fixing bananas together, hundreds of them! During the day bits of the show were worked on by the actors, the composers were about doing notes and we continued working on the set pieces the statues got a bit more shading as they’d looked a touch anemic under the lights.

Early afternoon we were joined by the Pippins, time for the first dress rehearsal. This went well, some tightening up of scene changes to be done, but that’s quite normal, sadly my statues still looked amenic time to give them more shading.

**Costumes still being added every day**

Tuesday. Another dress rehearsal, but first more work on set pieces.

Days like this involve working whenever the actors are not on stage so through their breaks, so meals are eaten in the dark of the auditorium. Problematic scene changes changed to nearer the end of the show, a few things still array in the interval change. At the end of the day John had one note for me regarding the scene at the end of act 1, this has a lot of dressing which had been left to last. Things still needed working on, it showed, they were next on the list. A final chicken and chips from the burger van was deserved.

**This didn’t end up being my final visit!**

Wednesday. In early to paint t-chests, logos had been stuck on boxes last night, extra bananas were added to stands by Jo, she’s now an expert with the yellow bendy things.

I’d wanted colourful lanterns for the set, a couple of weeks ago the crafting group in the theatre had started to make some for me. Empty 2 litre water and lemonade bottles had been covered with lighting gel and cut out black paper, a bulb inside and they resembled colombian lanterns. Local schools had also been invited to make some, these were smaller versions. Sacks of them arrived and the little red shades on the balcony fronts were exchanged for them, the rest then used around front of house. If you come to see the show look up in the bar and you’ll see the kids handywork.

Preview 1. What would the audience make of the show? What would the actors make of it too? I believe only one of the company has been in panto before, many of the actors had not even seen one before starting rehearsals. I sat next to Mariana the Assistant Director who originates from Columbia, her only experience had been last year when she was invited to watch Dick Whittington.

**The new shed now well and truly used**

Earlier in the day John had mentioned to the actors that the audience would be made up of Scouts, Beavers and mostly Brownies. Brownies?! The company were a touch surprised that there would be an audience of brown people watching them, more surprised that John was pointing this out. It took a bit of explaining to them about Brownies.

Blimey the audience were noisy! This is an understatement! Next to Mariana sat friends of one of the Pippins, who got the majority of the sweets during the song sheet! They were so loud Mariana covered her ears for much of the show. What a baptism for the actors. Mariana asked if it was always like this, well no, it was one end of the audience spectrum they could expect to have.

Thursday. Final bits to do. Butterflies were painted, their strings shortened for safety, Jo had finished yesterday evening, so the props jobs were split between me and stage management. Thankfully yesterday I’d got the balance of shading on the statues just about right and Nathan the Lighting Designer had found a good colour for them too, Hercules now had his own special colour.

My paints were reduced to those that may be needed for touching up during the run, everything else was tidied away. My possessions packed up, then finally I had finished painting things. Time to change into my civies.

Mick arrived with a hire car. We loaded it, did idiot checks around the building. New cocktail glasses needed to be shown to John, then a prop failure needed sorting, so I left Mick to load the last of my possessions and move the car round to my digs for the night. Last minute sewing and sticking was required, all done with just enough time for a glass of wine to be enjoyed before the show.

What a difference in audience from yesterday. Far far quieter. They enjoyed the show, Tony was a little bit reluctant to join in mind, but Tom made up for it! At least on the first two previews the cast had had both ends of the spectrum of audiences, hopefully from now on they will get a reaction somewhere in between.

Notes after the show were given, just a couple of small jobs needed doing which could be left with stage management. We headed to the pub, hoping there’d be some food available, but sadly the kitchen was closed. Mick and I headed to another pub and the story was the same there too, the burger van got our custom, one last portion of chips before returning to have drinks with everyone at the pub. Final farewells were had.

**My Chippy home for the last four weeks**

Last night at Suzanne’s, a final tidy up and pack on Friday morning. Chance to have a final chat before handing my key back and starting to head for home. First things first, breakfast, well brunch. We headed to The Straw Kitchen at Whichford Pottery a short drive north. Suzanne had recommended it and Louisa from the theatre had worked there at one time.

We were their first customers to arrive and selected a Super Brunch each. Mick had his with a homemade muffin, mine came with GF toast.

Wow it was very tasty! A bit of a shame that we wouldn’t be able to visit again easily. Afterwards we had a wander around the pottery shop where local ceramicists sell their wares. Some very nice items, but a touch too expensive for our pockets. Then we had a look outside where giant thrown outdoor pots would cost even more, several thousands of pounds, but the skill and strength to throw such pots is immense.

I’d considered trying to visit Andrew in London on our return journey, check in on him after his stay in hospital. But the extra hours of driving would have been unfair on Mick, so we headed northwards instead. The journey took a while longer than expected, a lorry having crossed the central reserve on the M18 and traffic for no obvious reason elsewhere.

At just gone 4pm, Scarborough was getting dark, the silhouette of Tilly could be made out in one of the bay windows SHOUTING!!! It took a couple of seconds for her to realise who I was after being away for four weeks FOUR WEEKS Do you know HOW many big sleeps that was?! Tom is alright, but he’s not She!

Partially unpacked we made use of the car and did a big shop, then put some clean clothes on and walked up to the Stephen Joseph Theatre for our friend Jaye’s party. This was to celebrate her receiving her state pension, she’d decided to spend it on having a party.

Most of our Scarborough friends were there, sorry not to see you Ali. A suitable surprise cake had been organised by Duncan for the birthday girl. A lovely evening, after a couple of drinks we headed back home, it had been a long day for Mick and an even longer four weeks for me. Time to cuddle up with Tilly and recover.

Borderline. 24th May

Curley Wurleys to Barrowford Visitor Moorings

Off not quite as early as planned, there was the yellow water tank to empty and the view to enjoy for just a short while longer before pushing off. We then got to enjoy the view this way and that for a while before the hawthorn blossom took over.

East Marton Double Bridge, The Cross Keys Pub high above sadly closed.

Rolling hillocks of fields, all lumpy and bright green. The farmers were busy cutting the grass in the sunshine, up and down.

It took us a while to reach Greenberfield Locks which would take us up onto the summit pound of the Leeds Liverpool Canal. A chap was busy at the bottom lock, he waved us on as he opened the bottom gates for a big widebeam. He’d been helping his mate down the flight a single hander with the use of only one arm, so a true single hander.

The middle lock was emptied for us by a volunteer and then we were urged to catch up another narrowboat who was waiting in the top lock. These guys were out for a week from Skipton, they’d be going as far as Foulridge before returning.

We were now at the highest and wound our way round Barnoldswick, Barlick if you are local. No time today to head into town for a pork pie, we wanted diesel and gas.

Pulling in at Lower Park Marina, Oleanna was stern to stern with NB Cobweb. We’d been hoping to meet somewhere, maybe share the Wigan flight. NB Cobweb is owned by Vicky and her husband David, years ago Vicky used to work front of house at the SJT in Scarborough. Earlier this year we’d just missed each other at Bramwith Lock, a comment on a post on facebook made me realise we knew each other. Sadly no-one was onboard today, their plans have changed so we won’t be sharing locks with them, maybe another time.

A fill up of diesel and a new bottle of gas and we were on the move again. We paused at Salterforth Bridge to dispose of rubbish and recycling. The Anchor pub here is also closed. Such a shame that these once thriving pubs are no more.

Now we discussed the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Two houses in Barlick flew rose flags of different colours. Was the sign further along the canal in the correct place? It was once upon a time, but today according to the OS map, we’d crossed the border below Greenberfield Locks.

Approaching Foulridge memories came back of a conversation I’d had with my brother nine years ago, Jac his wife had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully today Jac was busy celebrating her 60th birthday in London, maybe the festivities weren’t quite what they’d had in mind as Andrew tested positive for covid at the weekend. Happy Birthday Jac!

Mick checked the times for Foulridge Tunnel. On the hour to ten past heading westwards, we’d be stopping for lunch then. One boat came through eastbound, then we pushed off as the lights turned green. The mile long tunnel was damp in places, we’re out of practice as I nearly missed the three air shafts or mysterons.

Now most definitely in Lancashire we pootled on to the visitor moorings. Here we settled in and debated whether it would be too breezy for a barbecue again. The asparagus wouldn’t last much longer.

Tilly burrowing her way through the grass

Tilly was a touch miffed with the amount of footfall until she found the wooded area with fantastic friendly cover. Here she kept herself very busy for a couple of hours, which required being called back to the boat. I got to do my mad cat woman performance to a passing crowd.

We decided to brave the breeze and set ourselves up in a line along the mooring for a barbecue. Maybe we should have stopped a touch further on where the bank was flatter. It was still a very pleasing evening sitting out as the sun fell behind the hill opposite our mooring, just a shame the asparagus went black almost as soon as it went on the grill! The pork and veg kebabs were very tasty.

3 locks, 10 miles, 1640 yrds of tunnel, 3 mysterons, 73.6 litres diesel, 13kg gas, 11 fronds of asparagus, 4 veg haloumi kebabs, 2 pork steaks, 1 jolly good wood, 1 near meeting, 60!!!

https://goo.gl/maps/oAyjJZnPzCRjRLQL7

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna