Sykehouse Junction to the Site of Smallhedge Swing Bridge
An early alarm, well we were both awake before it went off. Tea in bed and hopefully awake enough to have a telephone consultation with a GP anytime between 07:30 and 09:30. My phone rang from a Hull phone number at 08:20. This year I seem to have been giving the NHS a lot of my blood and this was a follow up appointment to discus the latest results. The previous results had prompted questions about iron levels and was there any history of iron overload in my family! Thankfully today various levels had returned to normal so I must have had what they call a ‘sub-clinical infection’. I had the choice of another blood test in 2 weeks or 8 weeks to check on one enzyme that was still a bit wonky. I was praised on my walking and loosing of weight and to keep it up. He also said he could only tell me with certainty what I didn’t have. Have to say this GP was good, it didn’t feel like he was in a rush and was happy for me to ask questions.
Coming over the Went Aqueduct
My biggest worry had been that if I did have iron overload then the usual treatment involves donating blood. If you normally donate blood I believe you can only do this around every three months, well this treatment would have involved giving blood at least once a fortnight, maybe once a week! So I’m very relieved that I don’t need to cruise with a vampire close to hand! Reading back on the notes the GP made, I have been noted as living on a longboat, therefore we are Vikings!
Tilly was allowed morning shore leave. It’s amazing how different she is on the boat compared to the house. When she came in she requested this mooring should be given a stamp of approval, friends had been found.
Only a short distance to cruise today. I opted to walk to operate the bridges whilst Mick brought Oleanna behind, got to keep walking to fend off the need for vampires!
Lift!
The first bridge is a lift bridge, only one vehicle held up. The second a swing bridge, another car and a cyclist held up here. I’d already spotted that the light at the lock was on red not amber, there was a lock keeper on duty, so once Oleanna was through the bridge I hopped back on board.
Two down and one to go up
The traffic light was now showing red and green, the lock was being prepared for us. On closer inspection it also contained two downhill boats. We trod water waiting for the red light to go out leaving just green. Today the Lockie had a helper. He took our rope wrapped it round a bollard three times and then couldn’t take up the slack. Once this was sorted he then passed the rope around a railing by the car park, totally unnecessary but it made him feel useful.
Very helpful if not so good with ropes
The Lockie checked which way we’d be going and if we knew about certain stoppages. There’s a pontoon near Long Sandal Lock which is being used whilst the flood defences are being worked on, then at Eastward Lock up towards Sheffield there is an electrical problem. Neither of these would affect us, we also mentioned the stoppage at Thorne Lock, he didn’t know about that one.
There’s just so much to do here
Up the lock and on to where we’ve moored before, just short of where there used to be another swing bridge. My long handled mini roller pole came in handy for passing chains round the bar on the armco, saving getting soggy knees. Once tied up Tilly the thug was let loose. The bank down from the canal is an ideal friendly spot. She was kept busy for much of the afternoon.
It’s High Street is 8 miles long!
Thankfully I managed to find a gap in weather for a walk to top up my minutes and steps. Back to the lock, over the bridge and on through fields to Sykehouse village. Here I came across a campsite at the back of the pub, tried to have a look in the church but the door was locked, checked the village sign and in all only walked about 100 yards of the longest village in Yorkshire before returning to the canal on a different footpath.
It may be deep and wide, but you still leave a wake
As I’d set out there had been a dutch barge approaching the low side of the lock, on my return I could hear gates or the bridge being closed. it had taken them around half an hour if not more to get through the lock. I crossed over the bridge and walked back to Oleanna only just being overtaken by the none slowing down barge before I got back. I think the chap needs a touch more practice at the wheel to save his crew from having to stand around waiting for twenty minutes to be picked up.
Inside Oleanna the big box needed getting rid of. It was useful for transporting another box, but really it was far FAR too big for it’s purpose, it would be handy to have a more suitably sized box. I spent the next hour tailoring it for both it’s contents and the space I could allow it. Job done it fitted snuggly in my clothes cupboard.
So what’s in the box? I might leave that for another time.
Suet crust with chicken, leek and mushrooms
This evening we celebrated my good appointment with the GP by blowing my new diet and having homemade Teviot chicken and leek pies. The pastry crust made with gluten free vegetable suit. I’m going to have to do a lot of walking to work that one off!
1 lock, 1.7 miles, 3 bridges, 2 cars held up, 1 cyclist held up, 2 outsides, 1 cat grounded to save the wild life, 0 vampires, 1 box reduction for another box, 4.65 miles walked, 75 minutes brisky, 2 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval, 2 indulgent pies.
Viking Marina to Sykehouse Junction, New Junction Canal
Maybe someone goes to work early, moving their car from beside our mooring, maybe it’s because Mother Nature is waking up extra early, maybe the docks were being that bit noisier, or maybe I’d just had enough sleep by 6am.
This morning I wanted to get quite a bit done, mostly to do with the aim of emptying the water tank. The immersion was switched on after boiling the kettle, cuppa enjoyed in bed with Tilly keeping my toes warm. Stretches done in front of the sofa and stove, almost enough room! Immersion turned off, shoes stowed in the shoe cupboard, boat hoovered through. Immersion back on.
On the sunny side
A shower, dishwasher loaded and turned on. Ahh but I’d forgotten to make myself a cuppa to go with breakfast! It’s not recommended to have the electric kettle on at the same time as the dishwasher. Yes I could have boiled the water the old fashioned way on the hob, but I couldn’t be bothered.
Mick had finished jobs at the house, he’d returned the van and was on his way back on the train. ETA 11am. I was running out of time to do all I’d wanted to tick off this morning. I managed to get half the floor washed before Mick arrived wanting to be let in the gate. As I finished with the mop the kitchen tap was turned on to drain what was left in the tank.
On Mick’s last visit to Oleanna, he’d started the process of disinfecting the water tank. We don’t normally do this, but as the water had been left for five months we felt it best. The water currently in the tank still had traces of the disinfectant, we’ve been using water from the outside tap for drinking and cooking since we arrived. Once the tank was empty we set the hose filling it up again and headed over to the office to hand back in our fob for the gate and say goodbye.
We enquired if ABP still did a booklet of tide times. Now that it’s all available on line they sadly don’t. Mick had wanted a paper copy at hand as we’ll be on tidal waters quite a bit this year, but he’ll happily make do with them online.
Goodbyes said, the last rubbish disposed of we were finally ready for the off. It being Red Nose Day, Oleanna’s faded nose was attached to the bow fender.
The switch on the Nebolink went on, we’ve still not fitted a voltage sensitive switch. A plan of action was made to extricate ourselves from the mooring. Reverse back to the big boats behind, then with blasts from the bow thruster bring the bow round past the other boats, hoping the wind would then catch the bow to help rather than hinder our manoeuvres. Job done we were facing the right direction.
Mick gave a blast of Oleanna’s horns just as we peeked out onto the canal. Two tones, red lipstick and red nose, if anyone had been there to witness it she’d have turned heads!
Goodbye Goole, Thank you again
The visitor moorings were full, a boat headed towards us. Sadly a grey overcast day, so not as picturesque as when we’d pulled away a couple of years ago, heading into the sunset. Yet it was good to be on the move again.
The little hut like boat seems to have made themselves at home, possibly pruning the trees on their mooring. Someone at the visitor moorings at Rawcliffe Bridge has added a 1 to the 2 day mooring sign. Our first update for Waterway Routes.
Quite a hazy day. The water getting choppier by the minute
A boat headed towards us from the other side of the M18 bridge. My new camera being tested out with it’s zoom. Wearing my reactive glasses outside, does mean it’s hard to actually see what’s on the screen of both my phone and camera. The phone I can adjust the brightness of the screen, I’ll have to see if I can do the same to the camera.
The log house looked to be in the same stage of completion as it was five months ago. It looks as though people are living there now and a big wave came from inside. Lots more Alpacas in the fields than I remembered.
Not sure what that look was for
Round the bend at the breach site. The breach here happened just before Christmas in 2020 and took until August or September to be open again. The breach on the Bridgewater is far bigger and could well take years before any boat traffic can navigate on the embankment again.
New Bridge Buoys
Five months ago CRT had started work on bank repairs on the Aire and Calder. This is where when the breach happened the piling along the sides of the canal started to cave in in places due to the lack of water helping to keep it upright. Buoys have marked the areas for years. A small section by New Bridge has had piling added to it to aid the original piling to stay upright, this means the bank isn’t flat, so buoys mark the pieces jutting out.
New animal escape ramps by new inviting piling
But after the first true bend in the canal there is a length that has had new piling and an animal escape ram added. The piling round here is chunky stuff, chains required to moor to it. We considered pulling in to see if this would make a good mooring, but then spotted signs asking not to walk on the bank whilst the grass establishes itself. Maybe we’ll try later in the year.
It doesn’t look as secure as windsurfing does
Someone was zooming along the reservoir with an inflatable sail. Not sure what this sport is called as it’s not windsurfing. We’d spotted WB Yorkshire Pud up ahead, a boat we look out for and usually see somewhere around here. Time to turn towards the south for us onto the New Junction Canal. No-one was moored on the posts so we pulled in and tied up.
Hurry UP!!!!
Tilly quickly got herself out from her hiding hole on the bed. Jumped onto the Houdini shelf to check the outside. STOP Phaffing! Let me out!!!! Don’t you know I’ve been waiting 10 tails, three paws and an ear for this moment!
But first things first, she’s never allowed straight out of the boat. We have to make a note of our location, using What3words and grid reference. Then the rules were recited, not that she was listening! Then and only then the doors were opened for our second mate to head off to explore. Time for a late lunch for us.
There she is by Went Aqueduct
I’d hoped to get my walk in this morning before leaving Goole, but had run out of time. So instead I walked along the New Junction, swapping sides at the next two bridges and walked up to Sykehouse Lock. Waterway Routes has different colours for towpaths. Red is cyclable, purple walkable, dashed purple is walkable where there is no towpath. I did all three. Well I can add to this that brisk walking is fine on red paths, not so good on purple as it has the potential for ankle twisting, better to walk at a slower speed. My challenge this year is going to be keeping up my brisk walking, at least 40 minutes a day, I may have to venture off the canal to achieve this and there may be days on rivers that it is impossible, but we’ll see.
Back at Oleanna a chicken was popped in the oven to celebrate being back out on the cut and to make use of the freshly cleaned oven! We had the same chap as last year back to give it a good clean as neither of us fancy getting on our hands and knees.
There’s a good view in both directions from here.
Tilly made use of shore leave and was fascinated by a mole hill that kept on expanding with no friend in view!
Still a few more things to stow away and a big box to cut down to a specific size, maybe that’s a job for tomorrow.
Springing
0 locks, 6.5 miles, 1 wind, 1 right, 1 left, 4 hours! 4.6 miles walked, 57 minutes briskly, 1 lucky mole, 1 roast chicken, 2 happy boaters and 1 happy cat being on the move again.
We all seem to have got a good nights sleep on the new mattress. Maybe it would have been better to get it made an inch thinner, giving Mick more head space under the gunnel. But he says he’ll adapt the way he sleeps, if anyone can he can!
Checking the world out this morning
The fire was stoked and the boat warmed up again. Tea in bed was enjoyed before I had a go at my morning stretches. I wondered if the bed would be good, but the width of the boat is a little restrictive, so tomorrow I’ll try the floor in front of the stove to see if there’s enough room there.
Pair 62, I think!
After breakfast it was time to empty the van. Useful empty boxes were popped back into it so they could head back to the house for the next time we move. Mick then headed to the marina office for a new gas bottle whilst I wove ends in on my latest pair of socks, these were to be hand delivered to Georgie back in Scarborough by Mick. I’d sneaked her in ahead of some boat women as they were taking their time in getting back to me, with Georgie it took her less than a minute to respond to what shoe size she was!
When did this lighthouse appear?
Mick returned having paid for our electric and the gas bottle along with a new wee tank connector. Laird was fine with us still being hooked up overnight until we leave, we are leaving a day or two before our mooring fees run out. Only the fob for the gate to return now.
Drax Power Station
Time to head to Tescos to collect our order. Six crates! Just where would I be putting everything? I really hoped it would all fit, having said that there was still quite a large gap in one of the food drawers, I can’t remember what used to occupy the space. With things squeezed into the fridge we then headed off to buy some coal. The marina doesn’t sell it, but Coopers does near East Cowick. Four 25kg bags of Excell got Mick very dusty moving them about, he should have brought his mucky coat!
Stacks of coal
Back to Oleanna, lunch and then Mick set off back to Scarborough to return the van in the morning, the final hoover round of the house, cut the grass and hide our things in the shed and enjoy a fully glutenised pizza from Pizza Tempo.
I’ve opted for tuperware this year rather than plastic bags.
I got on with sorting things for the freezer. A chicken to joint, sausages, mince and turkey steaks to portion up and then get freezing whilst we were still on hook up.
Pedestrians are shorter and thicker in Goole than they are in Scarborough
Tilly was left in charge as I headed out for my walk. Down Albert Street, right at the end, then left down towards Ocean Lock. I wonder if we’ll end up using Ocean Lock at all this year? Currently there is a problem with Thorne Lock on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, which hopefully will be sorted before the boats from Strawberry Island want to head that way along with us! Ocean Lock would give a different route to Gainsborough, round Trent Falls, but hopefully CRT will have Thorne Lock back in working order.
Ocean Lock, see the size of that motorhome next to it
Only two ships in the docks today. Down at the river the tide was neither in nor out, or so it seemed. Back through town, a pause at Boyes to see if they had a waste food container we can use when the new recycling takes affect across the canal network. I also stopped to say hello to 007 in a shop window, Sean was my favourite Bond.
I’d left the stove to dwindle as it was such a warm day, but it now needed encouraging so I could bake a jacket potato to have with left over chilli. Now it was time to find room for clothes. A shelf in my cupboard needed moving and what I thought would be an easy fit for my Sockathon yarn bag proved to be quite hard. How can that be? It came out of the drawer five months ago and I’ve knitted I don’t know how many more pairs of socks since then and only added a small amount of yarn to it. Some summer clothes needed to be added to the vaccum bags that go under the bed, I did wonder if it was a sensible thing as today had been so warm, maybe I should have put my big fat jumpers in there instead.
Rearranging my cupboard
A quiet evening for us girls, still surrounded by bags, but nice and cosy in front of the stove casting on the next pair of socks.
0 locks, 0 miles, 100kg coal, 1 bag kindling, 6 crates, 1 ordered freezer with spare room, 5 miles walked, 2 office shelves sorted, 1 wardrobe stowed, 5 boxes of wine in the cellar, 1st jacket baked, 1 new mattress to wrestle with on my own later, I’ll help jump on it for you!
Yesterday She sat down after getting up and we had a chat. She does the getting up and sitting down thing quite a lot at the moment, but it’s rare for us to have a chat about something important. She said things that She thought I didn’t know, but blah blah blah blah blah! I know what’s happening and by Cat Nip Dreamies they’ve been taking their time about it! I’ve tried to help by emptying their socks and pants drawers. I purred a lot today to encourage She to go quicker as she changed the bed linen on my bed. I even tried sign language, if She strokes my head she’ll let me out. It didn’t work!
All empty in here!
I started doing the idiot checks, checking every corner of every cupboard to make sure they’d not left anything. Then She started to stroke things, first wet, then dry, but not my head! Tom headed off early and came back in a very big boxer. He said it wasn’t a woofer and the one we were meant to have had a broken face so we got the big Boxer.
All good in Annie She’s bedroom
Tom then walked back and forth, back and forth carrying things whilst She did more stroking, still not my head! I watched from underneath my bed, the longer it went on the more worrying it got. Then they stopped. It always amazes me that we think we’ve nearly finished, there is a whole lot more cleaning to do! And that is so that other Toms and She’s can sleep in my bed and use my Wardle.
Then they’d finally finished. All morning She’d been asking me to use my Pooh Box and all morning I’d not wanted to. She stopped asking me and gave it a wash out and handed it to Tom. This meant our departure was imminent. I hid on the bed between the two piles of soft towels, ears as low as they could be. This had to be easy, I really didn’t want them to get stressed and hiding under the bed really wouldn’t have been good for She’s knees, but at the same time I had to keep up the pretence of not wanting to go. Well I do want to go, it’s just the going bit I’m not keen on. I like it when we’ve got there.
Get on with it!
I was bundled into the caravan and then into the front of the big Boxer. Time to go to the boat Tilly, isn’t that exciting! It would be if you’d just get on with it!!!
I remembered that sitting down was a good thing, lying down proved to be even better. At least Tom was doing his best to make the outside move fast, however it is a bit too fast for my liking.
Maybe one day I’ll get to explore the Sledmere outside
Two comfort breaks required, apparently my timing wasn’t so good this time, but we all got to enjoy Sledmere again.
Hooray!!! When are you going to move the outside?
Then finally we arrived, there Oleanna was waiting for me to move back onboard. She and Tom are meanies not letting me out in Goole. They kept going out, passing things in through the hatch busy busy, all whilst I could be exploring the outside, it looks to have good potential.
Maybe a paw thinner would have been better
Then there was hilarity as they tried out their new bed. It’s not as squishy as the last one so Tom might have to shrink his head to fit. I didn’t dare try it until it had been covered. I’ll let you know how we all sleep tonight.
I’m not touching it!
The view is different than I remembered it, the next door boat has been moved elsewhere so I can see the sky and watch the ducks go by. Thank you Lairdy Tom.
Boaty outside
Now I really hope they don’t spend ages and ages before they move the outside, she strokes my head and I can go out into it to find some friends. I’ll try to give them a paw with unpacking to make it happen quicker.
Viking Marina
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 big boxer, 1 clean kitchen, 2 clean bathrooms, 1 tidy house, 1 lodger confirmed, 1 inventory checked, 1 noisy journey, 1 cat who knows where she’s going, 2 comfort breaks, 1 new mattress, 2 many things to stow, 1 sunny view, 1 happy cat to be back afloat.
We are now into the run down for returning to Oleanna. We’re down to one ears wait!
Our last Sunday walk on the Esplanade
I had managed to find other things to do to help avoid cleaning things like the oven, but that avoidance didn’t go quite to plan. A day keeping a good friend company at a hospital appointment went too well and rather than being there most of the day it only took a few hours before positive results came flooding through. I had thought I’d be able to attend my last mosaic session which would have aided my avoidance, but the lady who runs the sessions had come down with a lurgy so an afternoon of sticking tiles to brown paper was called off. Only one thing for it, carry on with the packing and cleaning.
Packed things ready to go
There are various items that go too and fro to the boat each time we move. Sometimes they are needed, other times they just stay in the boat cupboard waiting to return, then they get tucked away under the dinette.
A big light weight box was delivered, packing removed from inside and the space being taken up by a lot of air was used to pack light things including a bunch of bayleaf twigs, thank you Frank! The box will be reduced in size as soon as I have time and some space on the boat. Documents read and amended. An enquiry from an actor regarding digs later in the summer was replied to.
I did help with some gardening!
Gradually the dining room filled up with items to head to Oleanna. Tilly stayed calm, she was asleep for most of the time! The occasional sniff round things just to check we were packing in a sensible way. Overflow fridge moved inside as the lean to will be dismantled in a few weeks time and only one of us needs to be around for that. Beds made up, fresh bathroom linen put out, our next set of lodgers will see four actors take over the house for a few weeks.
It’ll have to wait until next year to be finished
Despite hoping to get my next big painting completed, I soon realised that this wasn’t ever going to happen, my paints needed to be packed up and the canvas put safely away from the bleaching rays of sun light that come through my work room window, the painting is now unlikely to be finished until next year.
Three paintings however have been put in frames and left in what is known as the fishtank until I can think of where they can be hung, another job for next year.
Tilly Too and my 62nd pair of socks
Monday night we had a very tasty chicken tray bake using up various items from the freezer, I’ll be making that version again. Tuesday involved packing up the kitchen and cleaning things down.
Daffodils in The Valley starting to come out, it will be a sea of yellow in a weeks time
I managed to get my last full walk in round Scarborough in the sunshine. Down the Valley, the daffodils just starting to come out. Across the sands in front of the Spa, the tide out. Up through the gardens on the cliff to the Esplanade. I paused to pull up my big girls pants and register with a new dentist. We’re not likely to cruise through Birmingham this year and as Colin my dentist there has moved down to Cornwall, now seemed a good time to change to a more sensible location.
Last walk on the beach
More cleaning and packing, including sparkling up the big shower after the last shower had been taken. Just time to put some reasonable clothes on and walk up into town to meet with Mick’s old friend Mark. A drink at The Stumble Inn, we’ve not been in there before, followed by what seems to be becoming a last night tradition in Scarborough a meal at The Taj, well it saves on the washing up back at the house.
The boys tucking into their starters
Tomorrow we move.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 full dining room, 3 wees, 1 oversized box, 1 signature, 1 enquiry, 1 resigned cat, 2 papadums each, 2 much food, 1 set of scales tucked away, 1 stone less until today, 1 empty kitchen, 2 troughs of strawberries repotted, 1 urn of strawberries for lodgers, 2 boaters and 1 boat cat ready for the water again.
Life continues onwards in Scarborough. Jobs in the house continue. The roof space needs clearing for when we get a new roof done in a few months time, so it’s time to go through things again. All the things that have been kept for posterity have been gone through several times and are gradually being worked through in case any can go on to have new lives elsewhere. There are also all my accounts since the turn of the century! Boxes and folders to go through, only the last few years needed which now all fit into one slim folder.
Old shows, technical drawings, reference, costume designs, sketch books, programmes, scripts. A lot of these have been hitting the recycling bin, two big boxes of venue plans, but there is still a lot I can’t throw away. I haven’t started on model boxes yet, but I did do a huge cull of those eleven years ago.
Then there are the more personal things, tins from my Mum’s sewing cupboard, round robins from 1999, Christmas cards and first night cards, newspapers etc. All these will be kept as I find them interesting and many are close to my heart. Mick has yet to look through the box of telephones, I know we’ll be keeping them.
Walks round Scarborough continue, tomorrow I’ll cross the line of walking 100 miles in February. Just thinking back to last summer when I struggled to walk from one lock to the next, what a difference.
Mick has started to do research for the main part of our cruise this year. We’d originally planned on making use of the longer days in June, but our friends who will be joining us, won’t be able to until later in the summer. So we may have to cruise some bits earlier on our own before we meet up as we want to be heading southwards come September.
I’ve been helping on a community mosaic project that will adorn the back wall of a community centre. I’ve never done mosaic before, it’s quite therapeutic unless you get mosaic dyslexia trimming down tiles to fit in with the andamento, this week I did a bit of crazy paving known as Opus Paladanium in the earth section. It’s a way to get to know new people in Scarborough, although sadly I won’t be able to attend many more sessions as the commute from Oleanna will be too much soon. Instead I’ll be doing mosaic knitting on a few pairs of socks, think I’m getting addicted to this method of colour changing.
Tuesday’s view of the Humber
Tuesday the 25th February arrived. Mick was on an early train down to Goole. Today was the day when Hannah would be giving Oleanna her Boat Safety Test which needs to be done every four years. The stove was lit, a touch more warmth to help dry things out and be a more pleasant place to work in.
Tuesday’s view in Scarborough
Hannah pointed out that we should have a sign to indicate where the diesel cut off is. Handily she happened to have one in her bag, so that was a very quick fix.
New sign
She looked in the gas locker, noting that it gets wet in there. When Oleanna is out of the water for repainting next year, Hannah suggested we get the vent holes in the gas locker extended upwards. This is so that even when the water tank is full and we’ve got full bottles of gas on board any leaking gas would be able to escape through the vents as they would be guaranteed to be above water. Oleanna passed and is good to go for the next four years.
Hooray!!!
See you soon
We now have medical appointments to attend, finish jobs at the house, finalise arrangements for workmen in the future, finish emptying the roof space, do some more painting and mosaicing, wait for a big box to arrive and then pack our lives away to move back on board.
Nine years with this little thug in our lives
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 111.7 miles walked in February, 2 many boxes, 2 many plans, 6m diameter mosaic, 1 pile appearing in the dining room, 1 lazy cat, 1 boat safety passed, 1 boat ready for this year, 1 mattress still required, 9 years of Tillyness.
Not a bad nights sleep, the cat kept quiet! Time for some breakfast. The Travelodge only offers a grab and go breakfast, not suitable for me, so we headed into Northwich, surely Waitrose cafe would have something I could eat, surely!
We stood in line then I asked if there was anything on their menu I could eat, did they have any gf bread? The lady serving said she was embarrassed to say that the only thing she had to offer me was flapjack. How disappointing. I ended up opting for some porridge, if I was coeliac I wouldn’t have touched that.
One solitary sandwich
A sandwich for lunch maybe. One, just one gf sandwich and I didn’t like the filling so Waitrose were disappointing again. They tried to make up for it as we left as a lady thrust two bunches of flowers into my hand, sad gits flowers that had already been reduced a few times but now were free! Mick posed with them pretending he was being ever so loving getting me flowers.
Just after 10:30 we pulled up having followed google directions to Swanley Bridge Marina, at the wrong side of the marina! Round a big stinky block, a farmer was spreading muck, and we found the entrance along with big signs for Willow Boat Painting. Sally was here to meet us and show us what she had in her shed right now.
Such an old romantic, when things are free!
Sally and I had a long chat before Christmas and it was here that had a slot become available in the next couple of weeks time. This would have been really quite well timed meaning we’d be able to move back on board a freshly painted boat and sail away more or less when planned this year. However it would have meant dropping everything a couple of weeks ago and cruising long days, hoping the Trent didn’t go into flood and then waiting for C&RT stoppages to open ahead of us. It was all a bit too quick.
It would be possible to get Oleanna grit blasted by D and J Engineering next door, Danny would be able to weld the extra T studs on for us and do anything structural we wanted. He would also do the 2 pack blacking before Oleanna would move into Sally’s shed for painting.
Sally’s process is pretty much the same as other painters, the number of coats of primer, undercoat and top coat. Sign writing would either be done by Martin her partner or a lady who used to work for them, this would be at an extra cost (as it is with most painters). Wood working could be done by a carpenter who also works at Swanley Bridge, so everything close together. Getting your boat in and out of the water is charged for by the marina, so on top of Sally’s price. Other extras would be things like having the gas locker repainted, other lockers, woodwork varnishing, such as doors or hatch linings.
In the shed were two boats gleaming with their top coats. One was still taped and masked up for coachlines, the other nearing completion. Both looked lovely, we’ve seen a couple of her boats recently out and about NB Alchemy being one of them.
Blasting
We went to meet Danny next door and remind him that we would rather like a price/estimate for grit blasting and blacking. I’d chatted to him before Christmas about this on the phone, but he’d not sent me one. He’s a man that does his work, emails and paperwork are not his specialty, however when you want to compare painters and their prices, even if you are looking into the future it would be handy to have a price. He said we’d have one before the weekend.
Noses in waiting
It had been good to meet Sally and see her work. As we pulled away we chatted over our impressions and what we thought. Willow Boats has a very good reputation, we liked Sally. It would be good to have a price from Danny, Sally would kick him if he didn’t get one to us soon. Downside is they are a long way from Scarborough for Tilly. We’d be realistically looking at October 2026 as we’d not really want a slot in the middle of summer when we could be cruising. There are also all the extras, like gas locker, woodwork, so it’s hard to put an overall price on the repaint. The jury is out until we get a price back from Danny, which will hopefully be soon.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 times round the inner ring road, 1 disappointing Waitrose, 2 bunches flowers, 4th painter, 1 chatty Sally, 1 even chattier Danny, 1 absent Martin, 1 chippy, 1 waited for price.
Time for the annual round up of travels on Oleanna. So sit back with a glass or mug of something nice, put your feet up and I hope you’ll enjoy the read.
We saw the New Year in in the house. Some canal side painting to hang in the downstairs toilet kept me busy during betwixtmas. I decided to set myself a new knitting challenge for the year, to knit a pair of socks each week for the full year to raise funds for Dementia UK. Emails were sent out to numerous yarn dyers and the parcels of generous donations started to arrive along with my needles starting to knit round and round in circles.
Late January we hired a car. First trip was to Dewsbury to purchase fabric for new dinette cushions, it also gave us chance to catch up with Mick’s old work colleagues Mark and Sarah on our way back. The next day we started to do jobs on Oleanna. Mick set too in the engine bay and The Shed to get ready to install our new lithium batteries, I sanded and cleaned the oak floor inside. Window surrounds with water damage were sanded back, stains removed and then revarnished. The stove top was given a fresh coat of paint and the floor two coats of Danish Oil. Mick fitted the batteries and chunky cables and tested things out, all seemed to be good.
Bowls of soup kept us going whilst on Oleanna and whilst in the house I made gluten free crumpets and focaccia. I just have to make the most of the big kitchen whilst I’ve got it!
February. More and more donated yarn arrived, I was going to have to make space on Oleanna for it, just as well I wouldn’t be making a panto model this year!
New dinette cushions were covered. The Galley tap was replaced, we’d discovered that the tap we had was no longer made, but managed to buy two along with spare cartridges, hopefully these will see our boating days out! The new battery installation was tidied up and hooks were added into The Shed to make better use of the storage in there.
Tilly had her yearly vaccinations and we stocked up on flee and wormer for her. Opticians were seen, improvements to a bathroom in the house were started, we had our first lodgers of the year and a lovely visit from Pip’s old school friend Morag. We then called together our Scarborough friends for a gathering before a final tidy up of the house and our return to Oleanna at the beginning of March.
Shore leave permitted for another year
With just about all the house jobs done in the house we moved back onboard, this pleased Tilly and she found her way into the secret passage as soon as she could If I stayed in there I might never have to return to the house again!
Our first aim for the year had been to join the Fund Britain’s Waterways cruise on the Thames, quite a journey from Goole especially when all routes south were blocked by winter maintenance. Once we’d stocked up the boat we headed straight for the New Junction Canal, pulling in to give Tilly some much needed shore leave. She was happy and so were we to be back out on the cut.
We headed towards the first of the stoppages that would be lifted, got stuck by rising waters on the River Aire, made a dash to Lemonroyd when levels dropped a touch. Here things didn’t go too well, two visits to an emergency dentist and Oleanna’s cooling system developed a fault for which we needed a part. Thank goodness we’d upgraded our batteries, but there was no hot water. Alastair from Goole came out to fix our problem and we had a few days plugged in at the marina before river levels dropped and Woodnook Lock on the Aire and Calder reopened we could now be on our way again.
Making our way up towards the Rochdale Canal we negotiated river sections just coming out of the red and made our final dash to Brighouse before the level rose again. We were now at least two weeks behind our planned schedule to reach London in time for the campaign cruise, yes we could have upped the hours we were cruising, enlisted extra crew in places to speed our journey, but we opted to slow down and enjoy the journey and abandoned joining the cruise.
Through Tuel Lane the deepest lock on the network arriving in Hebden Bridge for Easter weekend. We enjoyed cheese, hot cross buns and a pint with Alex one of our favourite actors. Then an evening with old college friends Alan and Doug up near Todmorden before we carried on climbing over the Pennines.
The Rochdale was how we remembered it, hard work but wonderful scenery. The Great Wall of Tod and ducklings took us up towards the summit where we’d booked our passage across the top, a shame it was an overcast damp day. Two C&RT chaps helped us up the last uphill lock and then down the first few locks on the other side getting us through a section guaranteed to be low in water.
There was a pause in Littleborough meeting up with Mick’s sister Anne and his niece and great nieces, first time I’d met the great nieces and the first time we’d seen Anne and Ruth since lockdowns.
A mystery man arrived near Slattocks on our descent towards Manchester, Paul Balmer (Waterway Routes). He’d offered to help us on the long stretch into Piccadilly but arrived a day earlier to help get us to the Rose of Lancaster, he did return the following day and was rewarded with the first batch of apple flapjack.
Down the Rochdale Nine and onto the Bridgewater Canal where we turned left heading southwards. We pulled in for a couple of days at Little Bollington for Mick to have a couple of days away in Scarborough, leaving Tilly and myself on the embankment where the breach on New Years Day 2025 has now happened.
Through Preston Brook Tunnel and on southwards on the Trent and Mersey. Up the Cheshire Locks for the first time this year we paused and had a night out at the New Vic in Stoke to see One Man Two Guvnors with a cast of so many familiar faces. Then on through Harecastle Tunnel and down to Stone where we were joined by Bill and Lisa who got to work their first locks.
At the beginning of May we turned a right at Great Heywood and onto the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. Unfortunately one of our new lithium bully boy batteries had gone faulty. This needed sending back which took some packing and planning for a pick up. It was deemed to be faulty and a replacement was made ready to be sent out to us when we’d reached somewhere suitable.
Pretty when the sun’s out
A dentist check up in Birmingham suggested I’d be needing a few appointments so it was just as well I’d been before we arrived in Birmingham. Up the Wolverhampton 21, we like that flight, and an overnight stop at Urban Moorings to donate our deposits from our separating toilet.
We now had a rendezvous. Messages had been sent back and forth and as we arrived in Birmingham we were able to pull in right behind NB Lottie Jane where Clare and Graeme were waiting for us. They were over from New Zealand for a few months and had borrowed their friends boat. Over dinner we arranged to share the broad locks ahead of us, they’d head off in the morning and we’d loiter for my dentist.
A few days later after coinciding with another Graeme on NB Misty Blue, then descending Lapworth Locks we rendezvoused again on the embankment above Rowington on the Grand Union. Here there was a meeting of boats as we managed to also coincide withChris on NB Elektra and have a guided tour and a catch up sat out on the towpath.
Down Hatton, both boats glad to have company to work the locks, we rewarded ourselves with a meal at The Cape of Good Hope. Onwards to share the locks back up the other side with Clare and Graeme. It was very nice to be able to spend some time with them again before our journeys took us in different directions at Napton as we headed onto the South Oxford Canal and they headed towards Crick for the boat show.
Mick’s birthday was seen in on the South Oxford, now a state pensioner! A new battery was delivered and looked after at Aynho Wharf for our arrival, more socks were knitted, one pair hand delivered in Thrupp and we managed to moor at several of our favourite moorings as we headed down to Oxford.
Sally, Andrew, Ian, Mick, Jenny, Pip, Sam, Jac
A big Leckenby get together was arranged at the Kings Arms by Sandford Lock on the Thames. Andrew and Jac drove over from London and Ian and Sally along with Sam and Jenny drove over from near Lechlade and Windsor. We had a very loud Sunday lunch, so good to be able to get us all together at a jolly event.
Now we headed down stream on the Thames, we usually end up going up stream! Perfect timing to meet up with Australian visitors Siobhan and Patrick in Wallingford for lunch.
A perfectly timed arrival at Clivden meant we got to moor on an island for the second time, perfect for Tilly. A warm evening bbq above Boveney Lock, watching the royals in Old Windsor. Then we arrived at Weybridge where we joined the River Wey, with a transit licence we moved up to Pyrford Marina meeting up with Ann-Marie and Dave from NB Legend and then a trip back to Scarborough to do a turn around at the house.
On our return we picked up extra crew member Kath (Mick’s sister) and turned onto the Basingstoke Canal. Kath has lived close by to the canal for several years but never seen a boat on it. The following day we joined forces with NB Olive to continue our climb up the locks, there were now 6 cats in the locks not just 1! We cruised our way up to the end of the navigation only to have a phone call saying that a boat had hit a lock gate behind us and that the Deep Cut flight of locks was now closed. Would we be stuck for days, weeks or months?
Oleanna’s horns were removed for some of the lowest bridges on the network, we’d actually have had plenty of space for them. Lunch was enjoyed with Marion and John, a walk over the top to visit the other end of Greywell Tunnel was enjoyed in the sunshine. We then spent the next few days waiting for news on the broken lock and trying to find moorings for Tilly away from NB Olive as Tilly isn’t too keen on other cats!
We spent time visiting Brookwood Cemetery, walking in the woods near Mytchett Visitors Centre and caught up with Sam Leckenby for a meal. Then we heard that the Canal Rangers would be able to give us assisted passage through the troubled lock. Four boats were bow hauled through, only cats allowed to stay on board. At least we’d managed to cruise The Basingstoke Canal on our second attempt.
Downstream on the Thames again to Teddington and a lovely early evening trip to Brentford ended our journey on the Thames this year. We’d booked a mooring in Paddington Basin for a few days giving us chance to catch up with friends and family in London. Andrews birthday was celebrated in true Leckenby style, meet ups with Christine and Paul for Tapas, brunch with Kathy and a few pints with Nick, Kerry and Harry were all enjoyed even though my left knee was starting to seriously play up.
We pulled out from London as the General Election was looming, we’d done postal votes some days before hand. Back along the Grand Union heading northwards we decided to attempt the Slough arm for a second time. Sadly our depth meant all we achieved was a load of weed around the prop and had to abort our mission.
The Grand Union is a very familiar waterway now to us, we climbed up to the Tring summit and headed off to Lizzie’s 50th birthday party in Crick. Lots of boaters we’ve met through the years were there to have a catch up with. We also took the opportunity to catch up with my college friend Jen who’s joined us for a or two cruise in the past.
The first lock of the Marsworth flight was hard work for my knee, the second impossible. Time for role reversal, I’d be at the helm, Mick wheeling a windlass from now onwards. A turn onto the Aylesbury Arm, water Oleanna hadn’t been on before. Our only sight seeing was at an NHS walk in (more like hobble in) centre in High Wycombe, but we did pop to say hello to Ronnie Baker.
Another turn around in Scarborough before we headed towards Milton Keynes joined for a lovely day by Mike and Chris. Northwards to Braunston and onto the North Oxford Canal passing through the large landslip site which had the canal closed for months earlier in the year. Right onto the Coventry Canal, Atherstone and up to Fradley where we turned left for the first time in years.
Now we met up with our old shareboat NB Winding Down and walked round Shugborough Hall, my knee having improved with exercises. Straight on to Stoke then a right onto the Caldon Canal. There was the opportunity to coincide with Debbie and Dave on NB Bonjour, handing over another pair of socks, before we carried cruising both arms of the canal. Having limboed our way on the Basingstoke we decided to give Froghall Tunnel a go. Horns removed again, we slowly but surely managed our way through and had a very quiet night in the basin one lock down on the Uttoxeter Canal, another first for us.
At the beginning of September we retraced our route back to the Trent and Mersey with perfect timing to meet up with Mike and Christine on NB Alchemy, we had time for a catch up and introduction to Tilly before we headed in different directions. Middleport Pottery was visited for the first time, then it was through Harecastle Tunnel for the second time this year.
Paul joined us again to assist us down the Cheshire Locks getting us a little ahead of schedule which meant we were at the Anderton Boat Lift at a weekend meaning Lizzie could join us for the trip, even though it was an exceedingly wet day. This ticked off Oleanna’s seventh and final wonder of the waterways.
We cruised to both ends of the River Weaver on new waters for all of us. A tour of the Daniel Adamson was offered and taken and the last pairs of socks for my sockathon got sponsors. The monthly market in Northwich caught our attention and we had a very lovely evening in Manchester with the London Leckenbys when Josh moved to the city to study at the University.
Back southwards on the Trent and Mersey we crossed paths with NB On The Fiddle and NB Cobweb meaning I could hand deliver some more socks to an old SJT colleague. We started up the Cheshire Locks on our own, but soon picked up Bridget and Storm who were in need of a canal fix, it was great to have a couple of days with them.
Now we turned over the Trent and Mersey and onto the Macclesfield Canal. The Bosley flight was low on water so I handed the helm back to Mick and reclaimed the windlass, Mick is willing to give Oleanna extra umph when needed.
A belated birthday trip on the PS Waverley for Mick had us moored in Macclesfield for a few days, NB Alton stopping to top us up with diesel and coal. Then we were across the top of the Macc and down the Marple flight ready to turn onto the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
Rain gave us a day off in Stalybridge. Another pause was taken at Uppermill for a trip to Scarborough to see the latest Ayckbourn play and meet up with our lodgers before they headed homewards.
On our final ascent to the summit of the HNC, we thankfully we swapped roles due to low water levels, a 100 meter dash and quick thinking by Mick averted disaster at Lock 29W where Oleanna had got stuck on the cill as the lock did it’s best to empty itself behind her. Once we’d reached the summit we had a quiet afternoon preparing for Standedge Tunnel the following morning.
Our third time through the tunnel, Tilly resigned to hide tucked away behind Mick’s pillow. In Marsden there was then a wait for a lock bridge to be mended before we could descend through Yorkshire. Paul came to assist again on a very drizzly day getting us to Slaithwaite.
From here we had a trip southwards to help celebrate Kath and Sean’s Civil Partnership, a wonderful day with all the Geraghtys together.
Mick and I worked the rest of our way down to Huddersfield where Paul came to assist again wanting to check data for Waterway Routes which is hard to do without being on a boat. We finally waved goodbye to Paul in Wakefield and did our best to avoid the River Aire going into flood, but ended up having to wait a few days at Castleford.
Back on the Aire and Calder we headed to Sykehouse Junction and tucked ourselves on the moorings at the start of the New Junction where we’d moored on our first night this year. Tilly was given shore leave, I remember it well! whilst I tried to finish off some painting jobs before we returned to Goole.
By the end of October Oleanna was tucked up in Goole and we were back in the house with our next lodger, the baddie from the Christmas show at the SJT. Back in the land of veg boxes, get togethers with friends, lantern parades and walks on the beach. Jobs in the house have been listed, a few ticked off and more to work through next year in between lodgers.
The run up to Christmas also included visiting a couple of potential boat painters. A trip to London for a boat trip on the Thames to mark Marion and John’s Golden Wedding Anniversary and at the same time catch up with my family too.
This year Christmas was just the three of us with lots of food and some sock knitting of course. In fact I knitted right up to the bongs of Big Ben at midnight getting part way through my 55th pair of socks in 2024.
So this year was The Year Of The ……
… SOCK!
Now for our final statistics for 2024
This year is the first full year that we’ve logged our journeys using Nebo, but I’ve also kept a tally as we’ve cruised using Canalplan, I’ve got quite a spread sheet. The two methods of recording distances give different totals so I shall list them both. Nebo calculates distances, has average speeds and maximum speeds. Canalplan doesn’t do speed, but includes locks, tunnels, bridges, etc so I suspect I’ll carry on with both next year.
Canalplan stats.
Total distance of 956miles, 4 furlongs and 846 locks.
There were 56 moveable bridges, of which 11 are usually left open; 205 small aqueducts or underbridges and 28 tunnels – a total of 12 miles, 4 furlongs under ground and 1 major aqueduct.
This is made up of 426 miles, 1 furlongs of narrow canals; 279 miles, 7.5 furlongs of broad canals; 55 miles, 1.75 furlongs of commercial waterways; 44 miles, 1.5 furlongs of small rivers; 137 miles, 5.75 furlongs of large rivers; 5 miles, 0.75 furlongs of tidal rivers; 417 narrow locks; 353 broad locks; 55 large locks; 2 boat lifts.
Nebo stats.
Underway 289.95 hours; end mileage 943.24miles; average speed 2.5mph; maximum speed 27.8mph (the link was doing something odd for the first few months then it became more realistic); maximum speed 6.5mph (I hasten to add this was on the River Aire heading downstream in the amber)
Nebo2024 Cruise Map
Other stats.
58 Vehicles held up at moveable bridges; 1011.03 litres of diesel bought; £0.90 lowest diesel at Viking Marina Oct 2024; £1.24 maximum diesel at Aynho Wharf May 2024; 490kgs coal; 3 x 13 kg bottles of gas; £52 electric at moorings; 2 buckets of compost deposits; £20 donation; 630.4 Engine hours; 4 packs Dreamies; 51 friends; 4 brought in; 2 upset tummies; 40 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval; 51 boxes of wine; £252.45 spent on mooring fees; 1 overnight guest; 0 shows; 12 lodgers; 5 supermarket deliveries; 1 problematical knee; 8 months cruising; 20Litres oil; 0 fuel filters; 2 oil filters; 1 kitchen tap; 3 new batteries; 1 faulty; 150amp hours to 460 amp hours (at 24 volts); 1 boat mover sighting; 1 blue boat sighting; 11 days of guest crew; 54.4 pairs of socks; 1,000,000 plus knitted stitches; £1525 raised for Dementia UK; 271 posts; 268,000 words; 353 likes; 399 comments; 15900 visitors; 41300 views!
Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2024.
The count down to the start of our travels for 2025 has started.
Over the last week or so, Mick had noticed that Oleanna’s heating hadn’t been coming on when we’d expect it to. Snow in Goole as seen from our webcam suggested it had been quite cold, along with the sensor in the engine bay. This needed checking out. So on Thursday Mick caught the 9am train down to Goole, arriving 20 minutes late due to signal problems near Brough, £2 back on his fare.
I was left in Scarborough to bring in the weeks shopping and await the delivery of a new cooker hood for the house, along with chasing up quotes to replace our lean to.
Hello! Mick on Oleanna
It was chilly down in Goole. Mick opened up Oleanna and fired up the heating. He thinks that the temperature sensor he’d added a couple of years ago isn’t working. This connects to the Aldi Boiler and because we’ve never got round to drilling holes through cupboards and drawers, it gets positioned out side the electrics cupboard when we’re not onboard. There is a thermostat on the Aldi boiler controller, but that sits inside the electrics cupboard where it tends to be that bit warmer than the cabin. The solution for now is to leave the electrics cupboard open so the boiler controller will hopefully notice if it gets below a certain temperature and then fire up the central heating. Our gas boiler has the advantage of being able to work off electric when we’re hooked up, so there’s no danger of us running out of gas and the gas can be left turned off in the locker.
In Scarborough I somehow missed the delivery driver. Or they didn’t even bother to knock on the door, maybe not even come up the street. Delivery to be attempted again on Friday.
A sunny bedroom
Tilly and I spent time tidying up the bedroom. Our listing on the SJT digs list was in need of updating, ready to go out to actors coming to Scarborough in 2025. Some new photos were needed, the original one of our bedroom was quite pallid and dull. With a jollier duvet cover on the bed this would make a difference. I just needed to tidy up and keep Tilly out of view. All easier said than done. The sun shone, reflections showed laundry baskets piled high with our possessions on the landing. Tilly managed to get inside the wardrobe and flash her white bits through the glass, but after numerous photos we succeeded. I now just have to get the accounts up to date to check we’re charging a suitable amount.
Mick ran Oleanna’s engine. Then checked the temperature of the battery terminals where he’d just recently shortened the chunky cables to the Bully Boy batteries. The new crimps were holding well and the temperature was good.
Mick went to find Alastair, who was busy welding. We’d left several jobs for Alastair to do for us, so Mick just wanted to check in. Today could have been an oil change day, removing that job from the list, but it was too cold so Mick left it on the Alastair list, hopefully next week.
When we get a repaint, we don’t want the same to happen again
When getting quotes for a repaint I’d been asked by one place if we could take photos of the locker lids at the stern. Our stern lockers have wooden tops that slide and lift off. When Oleanna was new we quickly noticed we couldn’t help but mark the paintwork opening and closing the lockers. We keep all sorts in them, the tiller, spikes, chains and nappy pins are in there they tend to be opened twice a day when we’re cruising. The lids were reduced in size a fraction to try to help with this, but after 8 years the marks are embarrassingly bad. A suggestion made by Paul Balmerto reduce the lid size and have a wooden surround that they sit in is a good one, so any bumps happen to the wood rather than the paintwork. Mick took photos, lots of them.
His next job was to find the big container of Fertan we’d bought back in April. It took some hunting down as it had been beavered away in the port side bow locker, paints tend to be kept on the starboard side. Then some Uhu glue was wanted back at the house and I knew exactly where a couple of tubes of it were on the boat.
Bye bye
All jobs for the day had been ticked off, Oleanna’s cabin warmed up a touch, it was time for Mick to lock up and head back to Scarborough.
Some sunrise sock knitting
This week has been all about cake! Great British Bake Off final, whilst I knitted away at a pair of ‘Cake’ socks using a cake of yarn I’d just wound. Then a cherry cake was made to use up some frozen fruit from the freezer. On Wednesday Frank must have heard me cracking the eggs from two miles away. Whilst the cake was baking I got a message asking if the kettle was on and if there was any cake! The recipe said to leave it to completely cool, but needs were such that we consumed the first slices whilst still warm. A second slice was had to see if it improved as it cooled. Thursday Frank returned, quality control of the now fully cooled cake was needed. Our consensus, it was crunchier and tastier whilst still warm.
Frank tucking in
Out on the canal network there has been plenty of water. In recent years we’ve spent November on the South Oxford. The amount of rain that fell a week ago had Banbury turn into a lake, the new moorings by the new cinema and Tooleys up by a foot, the bus station under water. Even higher up the canal Cropredy found itself become an island all roads cut off and the 300 boats moored at the marina needing their mooring ropes loosening overnight. Levels have been high elsewhere, towpaths being over topped and navigations closed, they are only just starting to return to normal levels. I hope everyone and their boats remained safe after Storm Bert.
Christmas cards ready to be written
On another note should you have ever stopped in Berko and enjoyed a pint or watched a Mikron show at The Rising Sun, take a look at this link. They are seeking financial assistance to help pay legal debts they have incurred over the last three years after a noise complaint was made by a neighbour. We of course do not know the other side of the story, but it would be a truly miserable world if such pubs ended up closing.
The Rising Sun back in 2017
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 0 oil change, 1 slightly warmer boat, 1 caput sensor, 2 locker lids, 1 bottle fertan, 2 tubes Uhu! 1 upstaging cat, 50th pair of socks, 2/3rds cake gone within 1 hour, 1 sunrise appointment, 54 Christmas cards, only a few hours left to add your name to the sockathon list, 2 sock shots from New Zealand, £1450!!!
Well my fundraising for Dementia UK has reached £1360 which is absolutely brilliant. THANK YOU!! And there is still some sponsorship money to come in for the 53 pairs of socks in my original challenge. Yes a year has 52 full weeks and knitting a pair of socks a week throughout 2024 would mean that I could stop when I reached 52 pairs. But that would leave a couple of days overhanging and as the 53rd pair will be for someone who’s birthday happens to be right at the end of the year I obviously had to include them.
Some Panto socks
However in the last few weeks I’ve had quite a bit of interest from a Boat Women group on Facebook, people wanting to be added to a waiting list. Then whilst at a friends house the other evening I had requests for 3 more pairs. So currently I have an extra 22 pairs to knit, not all this year I hasten to add! I might allow myself the first week in January off.
I’ve decided to keep my list open until the end of November for anyone else wanting to sponsor a pair. I don’t want anyone to miss out and it would be great to be able to use up more of the wonderful yarn that was donated by indie dyers.
If you thought you’d missed out and would like a pair, speak up NOW! Or forever have chilly toes.
80th Birthday socks
I’ll need your shoe size and a word to base your socks on. This could be anything, a season, mood, era, colour, just so long as it’s not blue as I’ve just about run out! You could even request socks to match your boats livery. I’m happy to add your name to my list, then get in touch shortly before I’m about to cast on the first stitch for you to make a donation to my Just Giving page. Mental reminder to self, must extend the closing date of my page.
Pair 49 are currently on my needles so as it’s week 47 (I think) I’m a couple of pairs ahead of myself. So there are nine days left to put in your request to be added to my list. More photos of finished socks have been added to the Sockathon page
Anyhow, boat news. On Tuesday our webcam showed us that the world of Goole had gone white with snow. We’d been expecting some here in Scarborough too, however it missed us. Mick can tell how cold the engine bay is whilst sitting in front of our fire, the temperature had dropped to 2C.
On Wednesday morning we woke to a little dusting of the white stuff. Whilst we lay in bed with our morning cuppas Mick had an alarm from Oleanna saying the power was off. It came back on briefly, but went off again, all before the marina was open. Was it just Oleanna or a more wide spread power outage?
Pair 48 with my faithful assistant
I checked all the Goole facebook pages I’d joined when there was the breach on the Aire and Calder, no mention there. Should Mick jump on the next train to Goole to check things out? The next train was cancelled.
Just gone 10am he gave the Marina a call. It wasn’t just Oleanna, Mick got to talk to Laird and he was having difficulty getting into his office due to the lack of electricity. Mick quickly left him to get on with things, no point in getting a train, our inverter would inform us when the power came back on, this was 3:15pm.
MY PAWS!!!!!
The heavens opened in Scarborough and the world became a very white one, over a proper inch, maybe even two fell during the morning. Very glad we didn’t need to go anywhere. Once it had stopped Mick swept the paths in front of the house. Tilly headed out to assist, but soon changed her mind. I couldn’t see my paws and She’d suggested I should get them painted a different colour, maybe a dark red! I wasn’t up for that. Maybe she should knit me some bright socks to wear out in the snow. I don’t fancy trying to put them on you though Tilly!
A touch different
The image for our Christmas card has been chosen and worked on, a little bit different from past years. Veg box ordered, Duck ordered, Christmas booze arrived. I’m going to run out of things to do in preparation for Christmas before November is out! Well that’s what comes of not doing panto and not being able to get on with a decorating a dining room due to having a lodger.
Another visit to the SJT last week to see the touring production of John Godber’s Perfect Pitch. The play was commissioned back in 1998 by the SJT and premiered as part of the 10 x 10 Season. It was also my first design for The Round. It played in rep through the summer with Comic Potential (Alan Ayckbourn) and Love Songs For Shop Keepers (Tim Firth). A couple going caravanning for the first time to a site just south of Scarborough, having their idyllic weekend broken by a couple who pull up close by. The play has been updated and sections rewritten meaning the caravan can now be just off stage, saving on set build and touring costs. Back in 1998 we also had real grass that required watering and grow lamps on through the night to keep it alive. I’ve now seen several productions and still no-one has beaten John Branwell in the part of Grant.
Perfect Pitch 1998
More quotes have come in for both boat and house. One boat yard’s excuse for not having got back to me in two weeks was ‘That boat doesn’t need repainting!‘ Well that’s because the photos I sent were when she was a matter of weeks old, she’s done at least 7000 miles and most probably over 5000 locks since then. Still to hear back with a price from them, think he’s already lost the job.
Anyhow, keep warm everyone, well until the weekend when we’ll be leaving doors open and admiring the blue bells coming up!
0 locks, 0 miles, 53 to 75, 5 house quotes, 6 boat quotes, 2 more to come in, 1 appointment, 3 Morse episodes, 1 extreamly bored cat, 1 focaccia, 2 veg boxes, Tilly Too keeping the snow outside, 2 boaters nearly ready for Christmas.
