Category Archives: Christmas

Video Link From Scotland. 11th December

‘Avecoat Marina

Mick set off this morning to see if he could catch up with a parcel that had been diverted to Bethnal Green sorting office. With card in hand he arrived and joined the queue where news reached his part of the line that the sorting office was closed due to strike action. His trip out though did mean he bought some stand in presents for his sisters as the parcel containing those also hadn’t arrived despite several attempts at delivery.

Meanwhile back at the house preparations were underway for the first Leckenby Geraghty family get together since the pandemic. Whilst Andrew and Josh worked on work things Jac and I made salads, prepared a fish pie laid the table and tidied up, all under the watchful supervision of quality controller Finn, he’s very particular about his fish pie!

Kath was first to arrive out of the cold, soon followed by Christine and Paul. John and Marion had changed their plans and driven up from the south coast, sadly they wouldn’t be staying as Marion was full of cold. An exchange of presents was done accompanied by some festive fizz before they headed off back home with a welfare package of fish pie. Anne, Mick’s fourth sister joined us briefly via video link from Scotland, which was lovely to have everyone together for a short while.

What a lovely afternoon and early evening, drinking, eating and chatting away. The fish pie was very tasty along with the salad. Then pudding came out decorated with some of the candied orange slices I’d made the other day. Sitting in the tuperware they had got very sticky again. One orange seemed to have candied better than the other. The cheesecake was very rich, which went down well.

It really was great to get people back together for an early Christmas, just a shame not everyone could stay or be there. There were a couple of plans talked about for next year, where we hope to be able to get the next generation and the one below that together too.

Around 6pm Josh came down and said it had started to snow. By 7:30 this was more obvious looking out of the window as it was starting to build up. A taxi was called to get people home and as we waved goodbye there must have been at least an inch and a half of snow.

Poor Marion and John had left us most probably around 3pm and had got stuck on route home by snow. A pause in a pub for a few hours before they altered their route back to the south coast, arriving home as we were all heading to bed.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 canal not frozen (Hertford Union) yet, 3 sisters, 1 videoed in, 11 bottles, 1 welfare package, 0 left overs of fish pie, 0.25 left of cheese cake, 1st get together since 2019, 4 stand in presents, 1 still to be caught up with, 1 happy Finn, 10C on Oleanna! And don’t I know it!!!

If people would like me to post how I candied the oranges I’ll add it to the recipes, let me know.

Supermodels. 10th December

‘Avecoat Marina

With Tilly left staring into the corner of the boat, ‘in charge’, we headed off with overnight bags to meet a taxi which took us to Tamworth Station. Today we’d not be heading northwards but south to London. For this we needed the platform opposite the entrance. Getting there you really need to read the signs, as just getting the lift up to the higher platform doesn’t actually work! You need to take the second lift, hidden round the corner under the viaduct to be on the right side of the higher tracks to then be able to take another lift down to the correct platform. Tamworth Station may be handy for access to different parts of the country, it however is quite confusing.

We were lucky to get seats as the train very quickly filled right up. An hour and a half later we arrived into Euston. A 30 bus took us the short distance to Kings Cross where we alighted and walked round the corner onto York Way. We were looking for a recessed courtyard at Jahn Court and the Supermodel exhibition.

Architects Piercy & Company have put together an exhibition of architectural models based on buildings they have designed, some built, some not. All the models have a life given to them, some with sound, all with light and several with moving elements.

They were made over a period of five years between projects. Jahn Court building is part of Endurance Land’s ten-year plan to revitalise the Regent Quarter to the east of Kings Cross. The building is currently in a stripped out state awaiting redevelopment and gives an interesting background to the exhibition.

Each model had either a motion sensor or a button to press which would set things in motion. Projected people moving about staircases and landings. How passing daylight affects a building, revealing different things as the day progresses including a giant balloon dog.

A camera on a track through and around a model, the footage projected onto a screen close by. A choir singing as light directs your eye around a modern church.

By far the best was Two Villas. Two Georgian villas open up like a cantilevered metal tool box to display the rooms inside.

This was closely followed by Steel House. This was the first model of the collection, it is modeled on a steel framed house that had to be craned onto its site. The buildings slide or rise upwards, a bird flies over the roof, a puff of smoke comes from the chimney. Apparently there was an aroma of cinnamon, but we didn’t notice it.

**Footage of the models being made and the rather nice benches** **to sit on.**

A very good way to spend an hour, thank you Heather Bleasdale for sending me the link to the Ian Visits article about it.

Back on the 30 bus and out to Hackney and the London Leckenby’s where a warm welcome awaited us. Plenty to catch up on as we tucked into a wonderful beef stew. Josh headed out to meet some friends to watch the England game whilst Mick, Jac and Andrew settled in the living room to also watch.

Meanwhile I busied myself in the kitchen, blitzing digestive biscuits, beating cream cheese and sugar together, melting chocolate and grating the zest off oranges. I managed to occupy myself for just about all of the match aided by my assistant Finn. By the time we’d had another glass or two of wine, pudding for tomorrow was baked and cooling on a rack.

**Finn who comments all the time as you cook**

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 very frosty Tamworth, 1 taxi, 3 lifts, 1 train, 30 bus twice, 8 models, 1 beef stew, 1 chocolate orange baked cheesecake, many glasses of wine.

‘In Charge’ 10th December

‘Avacoat Marina

They were busy busy busy again this morning, even though they pretended not to be! Tom did the yellow water and She put things in bags. Tom topped up the water and chatted to Next Boat Tom. Apparently because Oleanna is plugged into the water post that is why it is keeping on flowing, Next Boat Tom is pleased about this, Oleanna is keeping the water post from freezing.

I was relieved when the magic food bowl came out, that meant I wouldn’t have to go anywhere fast. But it did mean that they were leaving me ‘in charge‘. Now the ‘in charge’ bit is okay, I don’t mind that, I’m always ‘in charge‘. It’s the being on my own and being ‘in charge‘ that I’m not too keen on. No-one to hear me shouting at the back doors, no-one to sit on in front of the stove, no-one to cuddle up to in bed at night and most importantly no-one to play fishing rod with at bedtime!

It was time to sulk!

Two pouches of food in the magic food bowl!!!! Double sulk time!!

NO choice of toys today, She said I still had the good ones out from last time they went away. Triple sulk time!!! Then She put all the cables away, so no surfing the internet! Quadruple sulk time!!!! One for each paw!!!!!

Tom put so much black stuff on the stove, that should keep it warm for ages and ages. But then it was closed right down. ‘Right for night.’ It might last ages and ages and ages but it wouldn’t be Full Body Stretch Out Cat Warm! Tom said that when the black stuff ran out then the central heating would come on. But that wouldn’t come on until it was Round Cat Chilly! Think I might need to make use of the extra duvet on the bed.

Then there were head nudges, I turned round for those. She said it would only be for a couple of big sleeps. Well that would be no time at all as that is all I’m doing here in ‘Avecoat Marina, sleeping! They stepped outside, leaving me inside. Closed the door, made the rattly noise. Then stepped off Oleanna leaving her to get surrounded by more and more ice!

Time to shut myself down for a while and hope they are back before I run out of dingding.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 pouches of food, 2 compartments closed, 1 black stuffed stove, 2 big sleeps, or 58 big sleeps? 1 cat home alone, 1 cat in charge.

Anything But. 9th December

Alvecote Marina

Have to say my cuppa in bed in the morning is taking longer and longer each day. I put the kettle on, stoke the fire whilst it boils, give Tilly some biscuits for morning dingding, remind her where her food bowls are out of the cold, then climb back into bed. Tilly joins me and warms back up my toes. It’s nice under the duvet.

The ice in the marina crept across towards Oleanna overnight, but I think my glancing at it every now and again is stopping it in it’s tracks. Here’s hoping so as it is very weird living on a boat that doesn’t float because its frozen in solid and one day soon we’ll be wanting to leave!

I set the oranges on top of the stove this morning to help them dry out a touch as they were still very sticky. Sitting on a cooling rack above a baking tray which was placed on a trivet meant I didn’t fill the boat full of the smell of burning sugar. After quite a few hours they seemed to be less sticky so they were boxed up in between greaseproof paper for use at the weekend.

The Christmas food shop needed amending. A while ago we’d arranged a food delivery for the 20th, the nearest we could get to the big day. Our festive bird is on order to be collected a couple of days before Christmas, but will we get to where we had planned to be able to pick it up? We’ll sort the bird but having to make two trips would be silly. The order would be too early to include our Christmas veg anyway, so I’ve cancelled it. A new order has been done to arrive at the marina before we hopefully leave, ice dependant.

**Orange syrup on my porridge this morning was rather tasty**

The order includes everything but bread, diary and veg for Christmas. A weeks normal shop. Then a stock up of the freezer and various tinned things should we end up being stuck somewhere waiting for ice to melt. I’ve maybe overdone it, but we’ll see. Quite an expensive shop and I’ve just remembered I’ve not included anything to bake my birthday cake with! The order will need amending, again!

Another job that needed doing was addressing envelopes for Christmas cards. I just need to do the round robin, print off more cards and they can head off in the post to arrive sometime in the next few weeks.

Tilly’s pooh box got a clean out to stop her whinging at the back door. A small amount of litter was added, as I could tell she was desperate. She was straight in there, but seemed to be disappointed at the lack of litter to scratch through. This was cleaned out before I gave her the usual quantity. All nice and fresh for tomorrow now.

The shower trap also got cleaned out, maybe I should consider getting my hair cut short!

Well another day of successfully not getting round to doing my accounts. Soon I will have run out of excuses!

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 accounts, 1 clean pooh box, 15 sticky slices, 3XL just in case overall, 70cm just in case zip, 45 envelopes, 10 Paddington stares, 1 Mick coming back on the train, 1 boiler mended, sort of!

A Quick Defrost. 8th December

Alvecote Marina

John our neighbour was about this morning, stocking up on heat logs. We chatted through Oleanna’s side hatch regarding coal and how thick the ice tends to get within the marina. I also asked if the taps freeze up, knowing the answer before I’d even asked the question.

Yes this morning as expected there was ice on the water. Only cat ice, but it’s a start. The water in front of Oleanna must get sunshine in the morning as that hadn’t, as yet, turned solid. I stoked the fire and made myself a good bowl of blueberry porridge with a big spoon of golden syrup, yum.

The stove is keeping us warm on the boat, but the floor does tend to stay chilly, sheepskin slippers help keep the chill out. Yesterday Tilly didn’t seem to eat very much, I remembered her doing this in the house and we worked out her food bowl was sat in a very chilly place. So today to encourage her to eat something I’ve moved her food bowls and laid them on a Towpath Talk so she can keep up on all things canal orientated.

First job to tick off the list was to finish painting the big model door. It just needed a bit more paint and then all the black lines to be added before I glued on the butterfly net and snow shoes. I also made a Christmas wreath, held on with some white tack, so that it was a touch more festive when opened by Abi. Time to wrap it up. I had to butcher a useful shoebox for some card and used the only two padded envelopes we had, I think it should now arrive without getting too dinted. Just need to get to a post office to post it now.

**That’s the third time I’ve painted this door all different sizes**

Today I’d ear marked as a day to do accounts. I excelled in finding other things that needed doing. Getting our Christmas cards ready for printing and printing out as many our current stock of photo paper would allow. I saved the folding, writing and envelope addressing for another time when I’d like to avoid doing something.

**It’ll soon be time to make one for the cratch of Oleanna**

Mid afternoon I set the dishwasher going with a full load, John had used the water tap in the morning so I hoped it would still work for me to top up the tank. I wound out the hose pipe attached it to the tap. The tap worked but no water came through to the other end! I’d obviously not managed to empty all the water from the pipe the day before. Time to bring it in for a cosy while in front of the stove to defrost.

Tilly brought my attention to the small pool of water on the floor under the sofa after a while. Time to try the hose again. I didn’t bother unravelling it this time, I just pointed it towards the bow of Oleanna, still no water. More time in front of the stove was required.

Third time lucky, I could hear water rushing around the coiled up hose, then it stopped. After a minute or so a splurt and splutter, I had flowing water. A trickle to start with but that soon increased. By now the dishwasher had finished so the tank got filled up to the top. As soon as it overflowed the tap was turned off, hoping to avoid a puddle of ice just where we and John want to step off our boats onto the pontoon.

I wound the hose back up, emptying out as much water as possible then brought it inside to live in the shower where it can stay until the temperatures rise again. Serious water saving may be required should the tap freeze.

Mick did various jobs around the house including putting up the Christmas decorations. This will make it more welcoming. Today it had snowed a touch in Scarborough, not enough to make a snowman, just a dusting.

Far too late now to start my accounts, so I popped a couple of potatoes into the stove wrapped in foil. Then got on with candying some orange slices. Thinly sliced they were lowered into a pan of sugar and water syrup and left to simmer for a good 40 minutes. Then they were lifted out and left to dry off on an oiled wire rack. By now my potatoes were cooked so I enjoyed them with the last chicken from our Sunday roast and some corn. Very tasty.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 big door finished, 1 parcel ready to go, 0 accounting done, 3rd time lucky with the hose, 1 little puddle, 1 top hat arrived almost before it was ordered, 2 oranges candied, 2 jacket spuds, 6 stars on display, 1 very very bored Tilly.

Hey Ho Ho ! 7th December

Alvecote Marina

Christmas deliveries this year are a touch of a worry. Will the strikes affect present giving? Will anyone be in to receive parcels in advance? Changed delivery dates getting cancelled by the courier and moved by a week, which would be too late for collection by us! Here’s hoping things arrive. Then there are the orders that for some reason payment gets declined, so you have to order it again, delaying dispatch by a couple of days. Hey Ho Ho!

This morning thankfully a very important parcel did arrive on the date specified. Other things can be a touch late, it’ll just end up being someone else wrapping them and not me for the big day.

-1C when I woke this morning. It will take another day I reckon before we start to see ice on the canal and marina. The sheets on working boat Victoria glistened at me this morning, the white frost accentuating the creases.

Time to do some work. I’ve now been given a float for #unit21, so it was time to spend it. Giant spoon, top hat, pingpong bat, all easy small things.

Then hunting round for trainers for everyone. Trying to get the same shoe in sizes 8 down to 13 kids took much of the afternoon. In the end I settled for one style of trainer for everyone bar one person, but I found something a bit similar for them. Next we’ll see if they fit. None learning disabled actors are pretty quick to let you know if shoes don’t fit right. Learning disabled actors tend to say ‘Thank you Pip, they are lovely’, ‘Really comfortable’, ‘They don’t rub’, ‘Thank you’. Then a week or so later you hear word has come through from their Mum or PA saying that the shoes are really uncomfortable and are crippling them. It’s lovely working with the Dark Horse actors but sometimes I wish they weren’t so polite, especially when it come to shoes. But here’s hoping we have enough time to get everyone comfortable before the show goes out on tour. By the end of the day I’d spent over £700!

With colder temperatures due it’s time to keep the water tank topped up. We may be right beside a tap, but the tap or pipes leading to it are likely to freeze. I’d put the emersion heater on for an hour early on in the day, hoping to take a shower and then top up with water before the temperature started to drop. However the water had only reached tepid, so another hour was required.

I topped up the tank, made sure I drained the hose pipe before stowing it again, any excess water left away from where people walk so as not to create an ice rink. I left the shower until later.

Coal skuttle was filled up during daylight hours so as not to disturb our next door neighbour. Ash pan popped at the end of the pontoon outside the hatch for ease of use and hopefully out of the way.

Up in Scarborough Mick had done some shopping, visited his favourite pizza shop and chatted to neighbours. A couple of handyman jobs needing doing by someone with a long ladder. Hopefully he’s found someone to do them. I think he also did a bit of Christmas shopping too!

TV reception is totally pants here in the marina. So long as there is just an inkling of reception I can access online TV. I’ve watched Jamie Oliver cooking up a clementine and ginger roast duck with noodles. Our Christmas duck will be traditionally roasted, but I’ll keep this recipe in mind for another time as it looks very tasty. I then decided to see what Ghosts was like as we’ve never got round to watching it. Two episodes later, I now need Mick to catch up with me!

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 trains, 1 full tank of water, -1C, 12 pairs trainers, 5 cycling shorts, 1 neon top, 2 many neon covered boobs, 1 top hat, 2 wands, 2 braces, 70cm of wooden spoon, 2 duvets on the bed on the boat, 1 twinkly night.

Should We Stay Or Should We Go Now? 4th December

Alvecote Marina

As we laid in bed having our morning cuppa we had a quandary. With the weather set to take a turn to the colder end should we head onwards and stock up with coal and diesel? Our natural boaters instinct was to stock up and be prepared. Micks cold and my calf muscle made us want to stay put, after all we are plugged in and have a water tap close to hand in the marina.

We plan on being in the marina for a few days, trips away needed and the boat being plugged in handy as the Alde boiler can work on electric to keep any major chill at bay. The marina office is closed on Sundays so we couldn’t check in today, hence our arrival yesterday. Maybe we should have checked in, been pointed to our mooring, but then continued onwards to Glascote and Fazeley to be able to stock up at Fazeley Marina where the diesel ten days ago was around 22p cheaper than here at Alvecote! Diesel prices depend on who had the cheapest delivery recently.

What to do? One minute we were gearing ourselves up to move Oleanna, the next a quiet day with cooked breakfast appealed more. The breakfast won. Here’s hoping we don’t regret our decision when the temperature plummets.

The Geraghty zoom subjects consisted of Eastern European sofas, pigeon scarers and pass the parcel etiquette. This was followed by breakfast.

Time for me to do some work and order in some materials to make some props. Being in one place for a few days means I can get things delivered to a nearby shop for collection. The actual building of the props will wait til after Christmas so that we can actually live in the boat for the next few weeks. Calculations were done, working out how many yoga mats would be needed, a lot of πD maths to get the most out of them.

Christmas shopping was also started on-line. Somehow the day had vanished, not that we’d seen much of it being slotted into our mooring, a boat 18inches away on both sides.

The day ended with a roast chicken and arrangements being made with the London Leckenbys for the start of the family festivities.

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 siblings, 4 bags of coal, 5 yoga mats, 2 sheets corex, 70cm long spoon, 1 watch list chocka, 1 float waited for, 1.714kg chicken, 1 cosy bored cat.

Noting Locks. 2nd December

Springwood Haven to between Locks 5 and 6 Atherstone flight

Grey and misty. The hill opposite came and went as we had our breakfast. A call to the marina to check on their diesel price, £1.63 confirmed that we’d be continuing onwards without topping up the tank, maybe we should have pulled alongside the boats at Armada where it was £1.44.

We pootled onwards. At Hartshill the first building of the yard sits by the bridge. Today it had scaffolding up around the two chimney stacks. This brought our attention to the interesting roof line on the left. The building curves round into the yard, a common feature so let horses and carts turn the corner more easily. This means that the roof line is cut off with the curve, the gutter staying low .

The Mancetter Marina now looks more settled than when we last passed and soon afterwards the Rothen work boats line the off side bank. Looking up above the moorings to their yard you can see boats and skip boats stacked up on racks ready to be selected for the next job on the canals.

Coming into Atherstone people are starting to get with the Christmas festivities. Trees in houses and bankside Santa hats.

The moorings seemed to be busy, but we’d have found room for Oleanna if we’d wanted to stop. The end nearest the old hat factory was empty, a recent fire and road closure have most probably put people off mooring at this end.

Mick walked up to the top lock a paddle already raised to keep it full. As he opened the top gate two volunteers popped out from their hut. As the blackboard suggested we’d be the first boat through the top lock today.

One chap walked ahead to set the second lock as Mick and a chap in high vis emptied the first one. High-vis man stayed at the top letting the other chap walk down with us.

We made steady progress down the top five locks, Mick hopping back on board below and the volunteer heading back up the flight.

The moorings in the longer pound had plenty of space for us. We pulled in about half way between the two roads. Lunch first, then a top up shop. As we walked back up the towpath I could see feet at Lock 5, a boat was coming down, the second through the flight today. Considering the amount of boats we’ve seen moving in the last few days it was a surprise not to see more boats on the flight.

Today I tried adding notes to my Nebo voyage at each lock we entered. This gave us an extra page on our log, with times. Nebo is looking to be the way we go, except we’ll be wanting to run it from the trip computer inside Oleanna, so adding notes won’t be so easy as on a phone. More thought is required on this matter.

We started our shopping in the Co-op, but the lack of eggs and price of a few things took us across the way to Aldi where the gaps were filled in.

Back at Oleanna Tilly wasn’t too impressed with the outside, muddy and some sideways trees, but not enough for a stamp of approval. I got on with making some mince pies.

The recipe from my gf River Cottage book for frangipane topping had appealed and I wanted to see if the extra that Adam adds to his pies would work. I rolled out my pastry and lined the muffin tin, blind baked them.

Whizzed up the frangipane topping. Spooned in the mincemeat, added a blob of cream cheese and then topped with the frangipane. The recipe said to bake them for 30 minutes, but I could smell they were doing well long before that. The tray was turned round in the oven, a chance to notice the topping had splurged across the top of the tray and not sought height.

They were left to rest for ten minutes, a knife round them to free them from the tin, gluten free things always stick, a greaseproof circle used at the bottom to aid removal. Then another ten minutes before it was time for quality control to test them. They were very fragile and a plate and fork needed. Verdict yummy, Adams addition a very good call! The rest were left in the tin to firm up more before removing.

A second mince pie was enjoyed for pudding this evening. One thought was that maybe the frangipane topping was a little bit treacly. The recipe uses light muscovado sugar, maybe the next batch I make will just have caster sugar instead, see what that does. All the same they are very nice.

5 locks, WE 4.19 miles, Pip’s Nebo 4.4 miles, Mick’s Nebo 4.3 miles, 5 notes added, 2 much walking, 12 mince pies made, 4 consumed, 2nd night of chilli on the stove, 1 unimpressed cat.

https://goo.gl/maps/z4DdVQQ3TEot28zm7

Advent Roast. 27th November

Newbold visitors mooring

A lie in and then tea with the newspapers and handing over of Advent calenders. Mick has a Science Museum one and I have one with Reese’s peanut butter cups. The Geraghty zoom covered parkin, leaf mould and the World Cup.

Then even though it was Sunday I needed to do some work. Time to read the latest version of #unit21 the show I designed for Dark Horse in Huddersfield. They have been successful in being awarded funding to tour the full show next year in February. For the showing last February we produced Act 1, Act 2 was to follow.

Script read, notes taken. Then a spread sheet for the budget. I spent much of the day hunting round the Internet for materials to make giant mugs, finding extra small overalls and working out how the budget should be spent. Mick and Tilly pottered away the day, keeping quiet when needed.

**Reminiscent of the array of velcro at Nottingham hospital seven years ago**

Advent Sunday dinner was popped in the oven then it was time to catch up with my brother who’d had an overnight stay in hospital a few days ago. Thankfully he seems to be on the mend after an operation. There was lots to catch up on and festive plans to be made.

Our joint of roast lamb was very tasty indeed. Not a patch on the Advent Sunday meals my Mum used to make. These would have huge joints of beef and big proper Yorkshire Puddings as starters. But the most important part of the day was spending it with my God Mother Betty. Today I made sure I sent her an email, hope she was having something nice to eat too.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 calendars, 2 acts read, 1 page of notes, 1 joint lamb, 1 BP email, 1 brother in one piece.

Two Chocolates Short. 25th November

Avon Aqueduct

A negative result this morning meant I’d be seeing how my calf muscle was faring after a week of not walking anywhere other than around the boat. Our mooring here is about a mile away from Rugby Station, half of the walk through a park the other half along quite a busy road. My calf muscle seemed to be improved, the original problem having been rested away, however I’m still aware that I did something to it a week ago, avoiding going down steps and walking too far sensible precautions.

Today I headed into Birmingham, catching a tram up to Brindley Place from where I had a bit of time to kill before my appointment with the dentist. If it hadn’t have been for HS2 closing the Curdworth flight we’d have come by boat, today there was plenty of room for us to moor.

Three people were stranded on the island at Old Turn. A Christmas tree had been erected and wreaths were being added to pots for some sparkle. I hope someone returned for them as it’ll have been a touch chilly out there in the shade.

My dentist did a one stop shop for me. A check up, followed by hygienist, then a half hour wait for a little bit of patching up where I’d lost part of a filling. All done and dusted in under two hours and I could be on my way again with a much lighter wallet.

The next tram wouldn’t be for a while so I took my time walking back into town to have a nosy at the Christmas market. This meant I got to see the glowing statue of engineers Boulton, Watt and Murdock. I didn’t recall ever seeing it before, but that’s because it was only put in it’s current position in April this year.

The big wheel, ice skating ring were back. A chap sat on a crate playing his squeeze box I did it my way a song from Dick Whittington I couldn’t help but sing the changed lyrics in my head. The sky was blue, as it quite often is when in Birmingham, and the Franfkurt Christmas market seemed to be busy.

Food and drink outlets in the wooden huts with reindeer and fairy lights, I was hungry but nothing attracted me to fork out the prices that were being charged. All very festive though. I hobbled down to the station where I could buy myself a slightly cheaper sandwich.

A group huddled round someone, many taking photos. What was so interesting? Keir Starmer at a White Ribbon day event. An aid was gesturing to him to move on, I took my photo and headed for my platform only to find the lift ‘Out of Service’. By the time I’d reached the platform another huddle of people stood around Keir on the platform alongside my train. How had he beaten me? They’d certainly not come past me on the stairs. Ahh, that would be why the lift was out of service!

Mick met me again at the station, my leg a little bit sore now, maybe he’d have been willing to give me a piggy back back to the boat! Our reasons for being in Rugby were all ticked off, we could now move on. But instead we decided to stay one more night, today had been a busy day and the sofa was calling.

I made up a beetroot risotto and decided to have a go at cooking it on the stove top, imagining it might take a couple of hours. Everything was heated up in my cast iron pot and the lid put on, I normally do this recipe in the oven for half an hour. The stove proved to be good, saving gas. I lifted the lid after an hour to give what I thought would be still crunchy rice a stir. Well the rice was already cooked, over cooked in fact. A very early evening meal.

Afterwards I wanted something sweet, we still had a box of chocolates from when the London Leckenbys had visited. Mick said he’d thought of giving me them as an advent calendar, but the box is only 22 chocolates, 2 chocolates short for advent. Here’s hoping there is something suitable for him to buy in Tescos tomorrow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 1 tram, 2 hours in the dentists green world, 3 stuck on an island, 1 market, 1 Keir, 1 lift out of service, 45 minutes not 2 hours, 1 cold much improved, 6 monthly wormer, 1 harumphy cat.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna

Category Archives: Christmas

Video Link From Scotland. 11th December

Supermodels. 10th December

‘In Charge’ 10th December

Anything But. 9th December

A Quick Defrost. 8th December

Hey Ho Ho ! 7th December

Should We Stay Or Should We Go Now? 4th December

Noting Locks. 2nd December

Advent Roast. 27th November

Two Chocolates Short. 25th November