Category Archives: Gluten Free Cooking

Port Side. 8th August

Woodlesford Lock to Oil Terminal Arm

Mick was off straight after breakfast for our Saturday newspaper, heading up into Woodlesford, returning just in time for 10am and the Geraghty Zoom. Todays topics, dragons, being tongue tied and art patrons. Tilly had been refused shore leave as we intended leaving soon after seeing the family, so to stop her incessant winging at the back doors she and I had an extended game of pen at the dinette. This seemed to do the trick.

Before pushing off we emptied the yellow water tank and then pushed over to the water point to fill up. Rubbish was disposed of and Tilly got a fresh litter box whilst we waited for the tank to fill. NB Barley came past leap frogging us. At the time we thought we might catch them up, but then our plans changed.

To reach Selby for our passage up the Tidal Ouse to York we need to do a couple of hours or there abouts a day. Quite a few of the moorings will mean that Tilly will be deprived of shore leave, so we decided to only go a short way today. Our chosen mooring would have all she would want, shady trees for us and the possibility of a barbecue. But this would mean a longer day tomorrow to catch up, not really a problem.

A chap stood at the downstream panel for Woodlesford Lock pressing buttons. He was there for ages without the gates opening, so I went to see what was happening. He said that Barley had left the paddles up when they left. I assumed he’d meant the paddles at the downstream end. He stood and pressed the gate button, nothing happening, kept pressing the paddle button, nothing. I looked below the lock, there were signs that the level in the lock was higher than below, suggesting that the lock had started to fill itself after being used. A full lock is a safer lock should anyone fall into it and rivers tend to have sufficient water to cope with this.

I suggested he tried turning the panel off, removing his key and starting all over again. This worked and the lock emptied. I suggested to use my key on the top panel so that hand over would be easier, the chap agreed. Once in the lock he gave a thumbs up, just after I’d pushed the button to fill the lock the chap at the helm disappeared inside. Through the front doors I could see two of them were making a snack and drinks, they only came back up on deck when the lock was nearly full, admittedly their boat had only wandered about a bit in the lock as it was a gentle filler, but still.

Lots of people have been making comments about the state of the canals since lockdown, towpath cutting, reeds taking over, weed. But today here was the biggest thing I’ve noticed. Woodlesford Lock normally has the grass kept neat as my Grandfather would have liked to see it and the flower beds immaculate. Any dead heads removed and not a weed in sight. But today the grass is long, some flowers are in bloom but all around them is filled with weeds. One can only assume the volunteers who normally look after the area have been shielding.

Below the lock we cruised about a mile to join another boat in our chosen mooring. We winded so as to have the port side to the towpath and tried to get in. A few tries didn’t work, in the end we reversed back behind the other boat and tucked in nicely.

Here the towpath is actually a little bit away from the edge, giving us a grassy area next to us without so much footfall. Tilly got straight to work, rolled in the dust and then headed off into the friendly cover.

I mixed up some sourdough cracker dough and experimented with the flavouring. The last two batches I’d made were rosemary and thyme with parmesan. Today I went for paprika, mustard, garlic and pumpkin seeds. They were okay, but I’d forgotten to sprinkle on some seasalt before baking them. They could have done with a touch more flavour.

Then a batch of gluten free rolls were mixed up and left to rise whilst I got on with clearing the roof and preparing to wash the port side whilst Mick listened to the cricket.

Under where the plank and poles sit the red bar on the roof has developed some rust spots. So these got some attention before the roof was washed. On finishing the roof the batch of rolls had risen enough to be shaped and left to prove. This was all timed very well with washing down the cabin side which had got extreamly dusty in Calverley.

The barbecue came out and Mick chopped away at the big chunks of charcoal with an axe, they were soon glowing away and ready to cook on. Halloumi and veg kebabs and some pork and apple burgers tonight, all whilst Tilly had extended shore leave. Todays temperatures hadn’t been quite as high as we thought they’d be and by the time we’d finished eating it was decidedly chilly out, no sitting out to watch the sunset tonight.

1 lock, 1 mile, 1 wind, 10am zoom,1 newspaper, 1 empty wee tank, 1 full water tank, 0 rubbish, 1 unkempt lock, 1 twonk head, 0.5 roof clean, 1 cabin side clean, 1 big puddle of oil, 6 more patches of rust, 1 coat fertan, 4 kebabs, 4 burgers, 4 rolls, 4 glasses of wine, 1 chilly evening.

https://goo.gl/maps/bt57uWPLg44rcpaK8

Crawling into Leeds. 6th August

Rodley Swing Bridge to Granary Wharf

Leaving our very close neighbour for the swing bridge

The voice of Houdini woke us up along with plenty of people already out and about on the towpath at 6. By the time we’d had breakfast and were rolling back the covers two other boats were pulling away from the moorings.

Well that meant there were three of us heading towards Leeds, one swing bridge each and we could leapfrog all the way. Moss Bridge Swing Bridge behaved, it was still a cool morning. Back in 2014 it was stuck hard, no chance of pushing it without the aid of a tractor, which all took some sorting as the bridge is owned by Yorkshire Water and not C&RT.

Our bridge was the last one, Ross Mill. I’d just got momentum going when a chap wearing blue came towards me. I quickly stopped the bridge and pushed it back closed to let him across, he was to be our lock keeper at Newlay 3 Rise. One boat was already at the top of the locks and then the three of us heading from Rodley. I had to wait a while to close the bridge, weed causing problems for most of us and numerous trips would be made down weed hatches today.

The last to arrive at the locks we were waved straight in by the Lockie. The other two boats were travelling together and we could team up with NB Barley, as they had been at the locks overnight they were to go first.

With two Lockies on hand the staircase of three was descended quite quickly. One of the boys in Blue knows NB Ellis so we had chats about Stanley Ferry and fridge freezers whilst we waited for the chambers to empty from one to the other.

Jenny from NB Barley and I walked on to Forge 3 Rise where another Lockie was expecting us. He was pulling huge amounts of weed out from above the lock and the chambers. Chatting with him it seems that things along this stretch are improving. The large groups who used to come to drink and swim at the locks do so less often, the increased footfall due to new housing developments and a new station seem to be putting them off.

The level below the staircase was really quite low, but whilst boats were coming down the staircase above they wouldn’t let water down. A glance before we emptied the bottom chamber at the levels suggested we might just make it the half mile to Kirkstall Lock, bumping our way along the bottom, so we gave it a try.

The Lockie now headed down on his bike to see why the level had dropped overnight. Someone had closed the gates with debris between them, so the water had just been flowing straight through the lock overnight. He cleared things and then returned. By now the bywash was running but more water was needed so he ran water down the flight too.

In the end it took us just over an hour to cross the half mile pound to reach Kirkstall Lock, the weed still a good few feet away from the bank. Once in the lock weed hatches needed to be cleared. Andy pulled out reams of weed whilst Mick pulled out t-shirts and a pair of pants.

We led the way through the next long pound. Under the arched footbridge that straddles between refurbished mills. Past Leeds Industrial Museum, maybe one day we’ll pay it a visit, but not today.

At Spring Garden Lock we waited for Barley to catch us up, their prop attracting so much more weed than ours. Here the bridge across the bottom gates is rotting through nicely, so no access across it. With one gate open, Mick nestled Oleanna behind the closed gate to wait.

Oddley 2 Rise needed setting the last boat through having come up. I emptied the bottom chamber whilst Jenny topped up the top one. Then with the boats in the top lock we lifted paddles. On the other staircase locks along this stretch there have been spillways to channel off excess water, the chambers not having been built to the same depth as each other. But here excess water seems to drain over the top of the bottom gates as well as flooding the surrounding area.

Below the raft boat was moored up on the offside. In the last four years it has continued it’s journey towards Leeds and I’m sure it has been extended by at least a third since we first saw it up near Skipton. An interesting construction built with all sorts people don’t want anymore.

Once down St Ann Ings Lock we had only one more to descend to reach Granary Wharf, Office Lock.

I walked down, disturbing a chap who covered the spliff he was making when he saw my camera. I was far more interested in a bit of graffiti than his next smoke though.

Right up against the canal new building work is taking place. This means that the water point just above the lock is inaccessible as it’s on the wrong side of the fencing. The offside gates have been left just enough room to work them and the foundations of the new building seem to stretch right up to the lock.

Jenny walked round to check on moorings and there was plenty of space for us to swing round onto one of the pontoons. We’d thought about continuing to find some trees for tomorrow, but by now we’d had enough. So a quiet afternoon and evening instead.

Office Lock

Tilly however had other plans. Yesterday I’d taken the opportunity to give her a spot on for fleas, not that I have any! This means no collar for a couple of days, therefore no shore leave. I knew she wouldn’t like it at Granary Wharf so this wouldn’t matter. Normally in places like this and BUMingham I let her out for her to make her own mind up, which usually happens quickly. But today without a collar this was not on the cards. Instead I sat out in the closed pram cover whilst she checked out the surroundings. This outside looked alright, a patch of grass, some tiny trees and a big curved wall that I started to make calculations to climb. Tilly tried any available gap in the cover with her nose and when one looked like she might just be about to squeeze out she was pulled back inside and the back doors closed. She is SO mean!!!

Yesterday I’d made a quinoa crust for a quiche and today filled it with the left over chicken from a roast, courgettes, bacon and onion. I did a trial custard using eggs and soya cream, this set thank goodness and was quite tasty, much better than previous attempts without proper cream.

12 locks, 3 of which staircases, 3 swing bridges, 7am push off, 4 boats going down, 1 very low pound, 1 sulking cat, 2 t-shirts, 1 pair of pants, 1 hour waiting for water, 1 water point out of bounds, 1 pair molegrips, 1 full water tank, 1 load washing, 1 tasty quiche, 1 noisy mooring for the night.

https://goo.gl/maps/sHoU4jc85icpsgbi6

No Touching The Gunnels With Your Toes. 27th 28th July

The House, Scarborough

Tilly was right to sulk with us as we were heading away for the night, but we would be back, she knew that really. After six years and four days it was time for us to spend a night at our house in Scarborough.

With no Enterprise office in Skipton we’d had to look elsewhere for a hire car and Skipton Self Drive came up trumps. The depot was about a ten minute walk away from our mooring, so very handy and at £30 a day for a small car it was on a par with prices from Enterprise. Mick headed off before breakfast to pick it up and made use of the car park at Morrisons until we were ready.

The drive to Scarborough was a very slow one. The sat nav suggested a couple of hours, but our route around Harrogate and Knaresborough was plagued with road works and very long queues. But we arrived in Scarborough just gone 1pm and headed straight to Sainsburys were a click and collect order was waiting for us. We’d ordered essentials like toothpaste, garden waste bags, milk and of course to keep Mick happy cheese twists!

At the house the fridge was turned on, a bulb moved from the utility room to the downstairs toilet (we’d forgotten the bring the one we’d bought last time!) and we could have a cuppa with our lunch. It takes forever to get anywhere in the house. To go to the loo on the boat can never be more than 20 paces, but in the house double or triple that. Stairs too!

Mick sat and waded through the post, then spent much of the afternoon ringing around utility companies. I headed upstairs upstairs to find some bedding.

Six years ago we’d never imagined we’d be away for so long and even though my memory is pretty good I could not remember where things had been put. Duvets were easy to find, one bag even had been labelled, but the others were a case of opening them up and checking the sizes. Why did we have so many single duvets when we didn’t have a single bed?!

In the end I found a 15 tog king size duvet, one cover that would fit it, one fitted sheet and a couple of towels. To my amazement the vacuum bags things had been put in six years ago were still vacuum sealed, things smelt a little bit musty but an airing over the banister rails soon got rid of that.

The next request from Mick, did we still have a bread bin. Well the poor soul has had to live without a bread bin and a toaster for six whole years! I’d given him a whole shelf in a cupboard for bread on Oleanna too! Back up the windy stairs and I found it straight away.

Next gardening tools. We’d brought sheers from the boat and a tenant at some point had left a pair that looked quite good. Just where had the gardeny box gone? Soon found and there was everything that would be needed apart from a yard brush.

The canopy at the SJT . The restaurant opens this weekend and cinema back on in August

The afternoon was spent trying to tame a rose bush that used to send out a few shoots each year, now it was taking over the skyline of Scarborough. I managed to fill a sack and a half before the heavens opened and gave me a good soaking. Then with muddy wet hands I couldn’t turn the front door knob to get in so had to hammer on the door to get Micks attention.

By the end of the day, all utilities were back in our name, we could sleep the night and I’d made a big hole in the garden.

I made an order on line for some fish and chips from Cappleman’s who do gluten free and we headed off to collect them. They were very tasty and were accompanied by a bottle of white wine which had made its way into our essentials shop.

After a shower and a failed hunt for a hairdryer, a big list of jobs was written up as we sat on the sofa looking at a dining room table with a ladder resting on top just a few feet away, no TV for us.

Yum! Cooked in dripping just how they should be.

The 15 tog duvet was maybe a bit of overkill, but I suspect the summer weight one, if I’d found it, would have been too light weight. With a wider bed and space all round it in a huge room it all felt quite weird. No touching the other side of the boat with your toes or clambering over Mick and Tilly in the middle of the night to visit the loo. The seagulls woke us both up at 4am just as the sun was rising, they didn’t want us to forget they existed and serenaded us for a couple of hours. Oh how I’ve not missed those rowdy buggers!

Our neighbours trees have gone, we’ve nearly a sea view!

Just as we started to drink our cuppa in bed Mick’s phone rang, a plumber was on his way to talk about a boiler that wasn’t working. By the time Mick had quickly had a shower there was a knock on the front door and the chap who’d done work for us ten years ago was here to meet with us. The house has two boilers, one of which had ceased working a little while before our last tenant moved out. It obviously needs replacing before winter. We also had a short list of other jobs needing attention, including a gas pipe that had been put in after the kitchen floor had been dug up a few years ago and the builder had damaged it. The way the pipe had been done worked, but is not suitable as the pipe it passes through is a different metal. We can either dig the kitchen floor up again, or go for an electric hob instead. The latter will be the solution. Good we got to see the plumber as we can get things moving on that front if his price is okay.

A shopping trip to B&Q for a new mop and bucket, some window putty, a door mat and two brooms. One for the garden, the other for Oleanna.

The grass got a cut and all five rose bushes were trimmed back. I know it’s not the best time of year to be doing this and I have no idea really what I was doing, but they needed taming, luckily there was no Sleeping Beauty awaiting to be discovered in the flower beds.

Can anyone help me identify a few plants please?

This bush has tripled in size since we left, it has clusters/pompoms of little blue flowers earlier in the year. A huge bush with loads of yellow flowers. And one that at the moment has clusters of berries, it possible has red flowers earlier in the year, but I’m not sure.

Three small trees were removed/chopped back. A mass of ivy pulled out, the hydrangea dead headed from last year and Mick gave the forsythia a trim back into a better shape.The garden looks a lot better. Next time we’ll have to tackle the back gardens!

Six years ago houses on the street were being rented out, but now there seems to be more owner occupiers and a community feel about the place again. The chap two doors up came for a chat. Since Mick moved in back in 1991 he’s never had a conversation with this fella, turns out he’s the Town Crier! There will be celebrations in the street for VJ day when he’ll be crying for all to hear from the top of the street.

Once the kitchen floor had been washed, this is more floor area than we have in total on the boat, three windows liberated from sticky back plastic, the carpets hoovered and the car full of garden waste had been emptied at the tip it was time for us to head back west.

This time we took the back roads, confusing the sat nav, but avoiding holiday traffic on the A64 to York and most definitely avoiding Harrogate and Knaresborough road works.

Back at Oleanna Tilly was ecstatic to see us, sulking forgotten about and head nudges all round. We treated ourselves to an Indian take away as it had been a productive visit. Just a long list of jobs to work through on our next visits.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 2 routes, 1 big big house, 1 plumber, 5 sacks, 2 fish and chips, 1 bottle, 2 brooms, 1 mop, 2 buckets, 1 collapsible, 5 windows liberated, 1 tidyish garden, 1 happy Mick, 1 toaster, 1 breadbin, 1 loaf of bread left in it! 1 very happy cat, 0 poppadoms!

Vegan Rolls, Beef Burgers And A Pooped Cat

Keld Well Bend

Nudged round the corner just a touch more

As we finished off our cuppas in bed this morning we heard an engine start up. Were our neighbours about to head off or were they just using the microwave? We soon saw the lady walking along the towpath and then herd their prop start turning. We got dressed quickly and were out pulling Oleanna along by half a boats length to be just a touch further away from the bend yet still keeping the views. Perfect!

Breakfast was finished just shortly before the bow of NB Billy appeared around the bend. Last night they had stayed at East Marton so Clare’s daughter could join them for a few days.

We had chats before they carried on around the remainder of the curly wurlys reappearing round the last of the big bends, a final wave. Our bows may cross again this summer as their planned route is similar to ours, but we are slowing down now, who knows we may pass on the Ouse!

Mick had requested a loaf of bread and with a barbecue planned for later I decided to try out a recipe for some dinner rolls made with yeast, not sour dough, to have with some home made burgers. Both types of bread could share the top oven, but mine needed a couple of hours to rise rather than just half an hour for Mick’s.

I needed to make some seed flour, pumpkin, sunflower and a few sesame seeds got zuzzed with the hand zuzzer and then forced through a sieve. Lots of other flour was added along with psallium husk and yeast. No egg or butter as my beef burger buns would be vegan. Have to say after two hours I was glad to see the dough had risen nicely. Mick’s multiseed loaf did it’s thing too before both were put in the oven. Not a bad result, the boat smelt wonderful, although the proof would be in the eating.

The sun had come out so I decided to make the most of being outside and washed down the starboard side of the roof and cabin. Blimey it really needed it. The matting that our coal sits on leaves a pretty pattern and around each mushroom vent was really quite yucky. Have to say I’m not sure when I last washed Oleanna, just hope I can get the port side to match soon.

With the cabin washed I decided to have a go at the grab rail. The red paint has now faded and started to go white in parts and I’d wondered if some t-cut might just bring it back, sadly it didn’t work. Red is renowned for this as it is the first colour to fade in sunlight. I never did get round to finishing touching up the grab rail last summer so some patches need some more work anyway. The original plan was to repaint the grab rail after travelling through Standedge Tunnel but that trip has been put off to another year. So I need to get some more paint mixed as somehow the tin we got shortly after Oleanna was launched is not the correct red. When we were in Sheffield last the painter at Finesse gave me the dregs of a tin to keep us going.

Next I turned my attention to the scratches that a broken branch on the Bosely flight had inflicted all the way along the cabin side. Ages ago I’d bought some blue scratch cover. This seemed to do a reasonable job, although it depends on what angle you stand at, but it is far better than it was. The cabin sides just need a polish now. I suggested to Mick that that was a blue job, not a red one. He’s not so convinced though!

Mick gave our life ring some new rope. The original rope had given up a little while ago so needed replacing. Should you ever need to use a life ring the rope makes it easier to grab and keep hold of in the water. The ring had a good wash too before going back on the roof within reasonable reach from the stern.

This evening the barbecue came out despite increasing cloud cover. The big bag of charcoal we bought at Bollington Wharf was opened, Restaurant grade charcoal. I thought it would burn quickly, but it held it’s heat very well.

A while ago Mick had ordered by accident some vacuum packed sweetcorn. We quite often have sweetcorn for a starter, but we won’t be using this type again. Very watery with little flavour.

I added some red onion, whole grain mustard and tarragon to some beef mince for burgers and they were very tasty indeed and almost stayed together on the grill. The buns were very tasty, maybe next time I’ll leave them to rise a little bit more before baking them.

With glasses of wine to accompany our meal we enjoyed the view even more. A couple of horse riders hacked through the field below and Tilly was allowed to stay out until we finished. It just started to rain as we were finishing off. No sign of Tilly until I started to call for her, a good distance away her tail shot up into the air. After a whole day of exploration she was exhausted, stumbling as she trotted back to me. In the end I helped her out and gave her a lift back to the boat. A few mouthfuls of food a quick bath and then she was out for the count with in five minutes.

0 locks, 0 miles, 7 boats, 9 vegan buns, 1 loaf, 0.5 clean boat, 3 scratches covered, 2 substandard cobs, 4 veg kebabs, 4 burgers, 2 glasses of wine, 1 lovely day in our No 1 Mooring, 1 exhausted cat, 2 Mrs Tilly Stamps of Approval.

Six Years. 23rd July

Greenberfield Bottom Lock to Keld Well Bend, the Curly Wurlys.

A damp day sadly but we hadn’t planned to go far and it was all on the flat. We pushed off just gone 10 with our post breakfast cuppas in insulated mugs, meaning we’d get going sooner.

The farmers were still out turning the grass and raking it up ready for collection. NB Whistle Down The Wind showed off its steam chimney and water gushed into the canal on a bend, obviously being pumped from somewhere.

After a couple of miles we reached East Marton and the Double Arched Bridge. This is where we moored on our second night whilst on our first hire boat together, not quite managing to reach a mooring where we could walk across the fields to Thornton-in-Craven to a friends house for a meal. A lift had to be provided and we were glad of it after 12 locks and 5 swing bridges that day.

The Cross Keys pub at East Marton also has memories for me. This is where my best friends Grandad, Grandpa Lee used to bring us to celebrate his birthdays. A long table would be laid out for his 15 to 20 guests for Sunday lunch all ending with Grandpa Lee telling us a shaggy dog story and nearly always getting the punch line wrong having to be corrected by his grandchildren who’d heard it numerous times before. I always give a wave to him as we pass.

We pulled in at the water point just a little further on to top up the tank. I had a walk back to take some more photos of the bridge. I’m considering turning my illustration/painting skills to capturing scenes from our canal journeys to add to my Etsy shop which could do with a bit of a boost. Hopefully if popular this would give us a touch of pocket money whilst income from theatre is none existent.

With the tank full we pushed onwards, not much further, with our fingers crossed. We hoped that we could find space at our favourite mooring on the curly wurlys.

The canal sticks to it’s contour and winds round Langber TV mast, first it’s on that side then ahead then the other side, but soon you forget it is even there as the views open up around you.

We could see that there were boats. One along the last straight before the canal ties itself in knots. A cruiser on the end of the bend. A grey boat sat where we thought we’d like to be, we pulled just past it, maybe a touch too close to the bend. I walked round to see what space there might be on the other side. Two boats but a length just in front of them which seemed to be just a touch further from the bend than where we’d pulled up. We pulled round and moored up, hoping we were leaving enough space in front of the first boat so they still had a view from their cratch.

When asked by people which is our favourite canal we say the Leeds Liverpool. When asked which is our favourite bit, we say the curly wurlys. Last time we came through we didn’t manage to climb the locks early enough in the day to reach here as it was dark.

Time to see what Tilly made of it. Well she had a good sniff around and then jumped on the wall. Yep not bad. NOt bad!!! She just wanted to get her head down and find friends.

The afternoon stayed damp. My starter stayed flat. I’m running out of brown rice flour and am getting a touch disillusioned with it. I fed it one last time and decided to use the discard to make some crackers. A good amount of fresh rosemary and thyme went into the mix along with a scattering of sea salt. The result was really quite tasty and certainly crunchy. I may be making more of these!

I’d found a pack of gluten free pizza dough in the drawer the other day, so that was used instead of a sourdough base. It was okay, but lacked much taste and was only a vehicle for the ham, caramelised red onion and goats cheese topping.

We also finished watching the second half of Amadeus from the National Theatre. Salieri and Mozart were great performances. It was enjoyable but I really wished I’d been sat in the theatre as there were obviously things happening just out of shot that I’d like to have seen.

Three boats came past. Two hire boats who we thought had managed the bend well, so we looked away. Then a big bang followed by a 58ft 6inch scraping noise all the way along our rubbing strakes. The boat in front of us was a touch more peeved than we were, shouting out their hatch as the scraping noise continued for another 50 odd foot before the tiller was pushed over, as the hire boat ended up facing into the off side bank. They were being followed by another boat who had been managing to hold their course well until they had to slow down. Mick offered tiller advise which helped. They were both just heading to wind, but luckily they returned with out making contact.

Today there has been a flurry of emails regarding Chippy Panto. So far there is no news. The government have only given the entertainment industry aspirational dates for reopening to full houses. Under current guidance Chippy would only be able to have 40 to 75 in the audience, not enough to cover the cost of opening the building for the day and all the additional cleaning required between performances. Along with audience safety there is also the safety of the acting company and creative staff both on stage and off in such a building. It may be that all entrances have to be from SL and all exits SR and no audience participation! Not quite panto.

The doors currently remain firmly closed to help preserve the theatres future for years to come. The Governments rescue package still has no guidelines as to how it will be distributed and whether it could be used to guarantee the show. We all carry on waiting.

On a much lighter note, the title of todays blog. Six Years ago today we climbed into our Peugeot 207SW dropped keys off to our house with the rental agency in Scarborough and headed to Sowerby Bridge where NB Lillyanne (Lillian) our bright yellow boat had been waiting for us. Houdini our second mate did not know what was happening and found a shelf in the wardrobe very comforting for the first few days. So six years ago we set out for a year afloat and we’re still here, on our favourite mooring. Not a bad way to celebrate, well we’ll postpone the celebrations till tomorrow when hopefully the weather will have improved.

Our mooring here on the 3rd September 2014

0 locks, 3.78 miles, 1 double bridge, 1 full water tank, 1 wave, 1 damp day, 0 sourdough pizza, 1 boring doves pizza, 32 tasty crackers, 0 news about 0 news, 1 woofer stand off, 360 degree views, 6 years.

https://goo.gl/maps/PRCaTijmr3YLtCKt8

Waiting For Tarzan. 13th July

Gerrards Bridge to Scotman’s Flash

With drizzle in the air we took our time before moving this morning and with hindsight we should have let Tilly dictate what time we left, but it’s rare we let her out on mornings we want to move.

Things dried up a touch so we pushed off around 11:30 with the intention of reaching Scotman’s Flash, leaving the two Poolstock Locks for Tuesday morning as we’d rather not moor overnight below lock 85.

The canal is a bit samey samey. Wide with concrete edges that seem to have moved through the years, some downwards and some inwards due to mining subsidence. All the route is green, very green, so green that there are very few views to be had through the trees, just the odd glimpse of water.

There were a couple of boats at Dover Locks where two locks have been removed, the gate recesses still visible where the cut narrows.

A toppled branch now seems quite settled halfway across the canal, I think we chopped a chunk out of this when we were on our way to Liverpool a few years ago.

Now the banks are high and so over grown. Fat greenery at the narrows where bridges once used to be make the canal look like it is a narrow waterway. Ferns, brambles all sorts, we were just waiting for a yodel and then for Tarzan to swing into view.

Through Moss Bridge we could see the large flash of water stretching out towards Wigan, sailing boats lined up on the shore. There was a gap in the over growth so we pulled in, then adjusted ourselves so that the galley window would have a better view, all the time avoiding the mountains of goose pooh.

A gaggle of Canadian and Greylag Geese suddenly made a dash for it as a lady walked up to them. They were heading in her direction despite the two dogs on leads, they knew what she had in her blue plastic bag was going to be tasty.

The towpath is quite wide, we both took it in turns to have a look over the other side. We’d expected there to be a bank of some sort which trees grew out of before the waters edge. But no it was a sheer drop. A conferring H&S huddle was had, verdict sadly for Tilly that it was an incident just waiting to happen and with the water maybe 10 ft below the top of the wall, we’d not be able to assist should some footing on the trees go wrong, No shore leave today!

Too high should any tree climbing go wrong!

During the afternoon I scanned the sketches I’d done yesterday and wrote a lengthy email to Vanessa with my suggestions. I also had queries for The Garden regarding what materials I’d used for my illustrations, so that this could be added to the audio description.

Then a spot of baking, a sugar rush might be needed tomorrow on the locks, so I made a half batch of blueberry muffins.

Access to notes from the Wigan Flight Crew were read and a link sent to my phone. One of the crew has complied handy notes for ascent and descent of the locks, so I should know which locks on the flight have troublesome gates and when to use all the paddles and where not to. Apparently above the top lock there is lots of weed at the moment, so it’s best not to use the gate paddles as the weed would be sucked through and clog the grills, luckily this lock has newer gates so holds it’s water well.

As the evening progressed numerous groups of teenagers walked by all heading in the same direction. None of them came back, maybe there was a big party happening somewhere, at least we couldn’t hear it if there was.

0 locks, 3.78 miles, 1 grey day, 1 green cruise, 0 Tarzan, 10ft wall of death, 1 bored cat again, 6 muffins, 5 sketches, 1 day until The Garden goes live, 5 years an amputee.

https://goo.gl/maps/ezFZ1PDz9pvFHAxz8

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again. 11th July

Half a mile west of the M60

The upgraded Bridgewater towpath along with lockdown has attracted the masses out to use it, understandable this close to Manchester. People walking dogs, running, scooting, bikes of all shapes and sizes most with very fat tyres, because you need them on the nice smooth surface.

Today being Saturday meant it would be even busier than yesterday . Tilly needed to brush up on her towpath code if she was to reach the trees today.

Look left,

look right,

check your nails,

go!

We chatted away to the Geraghty’s for an hour as usual. Todays topics included Baby cam privacy, Bacup, cricket bubbles and clingfilm unravelling. Handy tips were shared on the latter matter.

Mick headed off on a bike for our Saturday newspaper and returned with a little bit more. At last he has found a Sainsbury’s who are stocking Cheese Twists, he has been without these since our delivery to Wheaton Aston back on the 10th of March. Apparently there was only one in the shop this morning and I suspect it was the first thing he looked for, woe betide anyone who got to the one solitary twist before he did!

Just re-reading the blog at Wheaton Aston, I noted that I’d had a phone call that day regarding my hospital appointment. Well my appointment was made, then altered within a week. Since then it was cancelled the day before, a few days later a letter arrived at my brothers with a date in September and yesterday another letter arrived changing it to December, ten months after I’d been referred by the optician.

Please don’t get me wrong, there are far more important things that need to be happening in hospitals at the moment and other people requiring tests or treatment who are not receiving it at the moment. This latest letter though gave a few more reasons for the delay. The Trust are redirecting staff, freeing them up for refresher training and to carry out works necessary so they are ‘able to maximise capacity for patients for when the number of infections peak’. This all referring to Covid-19. I’m hoping this was a template that was being used a couple of months ago and has been used by mistake to postpone my appointment due to a backlog of patients. Or it means York Hospital is preparing itself for a second wave!

I did a spot of work this afternoon. Vanessa from Separate Doors has asked me to do a cover illustration for a pamphlet she is writing regarding the pandemic and the learning disabled in theatre. I spent a couple of hours looking at Spanish Flu images, masks, posters, communist images, all sorts for a bit of added inspiration. People back in 1918 were finding different ways to cover their faces just as we are now.

A walk to mull over ideas followed. Along the smart towpath I walked towards Boothstown, dodging my way between other users, many too busy chatting to one another to take a wide berth, so I did my best to make up for it.

A flat backed widebeam was zigzagging its way towards Oleanna so I stopped to check it would pass without incident. A lady was being taught how to steer the boat. As she dropped the revs her concentration slipped and they started heading alarmingly towards the bank, the wheel was turned frantically left and then frantically right. The chap quickly took over, more frantic wheel turning and blast of engine corrected their line just before they passed Oleanna. Phew!

Boothstown Marina came into view, several boats that had passed us this morning were moored up opposite and a new big sign #FLOATIEST sat above a boat.

This sign is made up of knitted squares which took 150 hours to be sewn together. It is faded now as it was erected at Tatton Flower Show in 2017. The group of knitters have worked for the last few years in supporting the restoration and care of the Bridgewater Canal. You can read more about them here. This is what it looked like a few years ago.

Along the towpath are benches each with information plaques about the area. Boothstown Basin was once a busy coal dock, when it was cleared to create the marina in the 1990’s, 37 barges were found, stacked four deep. Coal was brought to the basin by rail from the local coal mines, here it was tipped into the barges causing clouds of coal dust which turned nearby washing black.

There was an underground canal which joined Chaddock Colliery to the basin. Much of the area has suffered from mining subsidence which isn’t so good for canals. Further along at Dover Locks, the locks were removed due to the earth moving so much and the fairly flat towpath occasionally does a bit of a wobble up and down too.

The Moorings Pub has a large stack of picnic benches by it’s car park, tables that have been removed to enable social distancing. The pub seemed to be doing a roaring trade with every table occupied outside and more people in doors.

Back at the boat I put together a smoked salmon and Camembert quiche with a quinoa and Parmesan crust and steamed the very last of the Cheshire new potatoes from our Nantwich veg box. This has been made up from two recipes, a favourite quiche from pre gluten free days and a gluten free crust. The custard for this quiche works a lot better than the one that was suggested for the crust, but then what do I expect when it’s full of cream!

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 miles walked, 511 walkers, 462 dog walkers, 4562 cyclists, 10 boats, 2 hours work, 1 big quiche, 1 rest day full of cricket commentary, 9 hours shore leave, 0 last night at York Theatre Royal, 0 get together with school friends.

Washing Washing Washing. 8th July

Droylsden Marina

Yesterday they moved the outside up, lots. Today what do they do, nothing. Nothing but bloomin washing! There is more to life than bloomin washing!!!

They washed so much that even the outside didn’t have enough room for it all. Then She said they had to wash the bedding too! More rumbling from the cupboard and Grrring from under my booster block to see out the front window.

Whilst the poor machine was over working they weren’t idle. There was that bacon to eat up, so they took their time over that. Extra time needed because the gas ran out just as Tom was about to start cooking, it was going to happen soon as we’d just seen Alton at the weekend. She had a quick look on face book to see if Brian Tom, the bearded chap who moves everybodys outside, might be delivering in Manchester in the next few days. Over their dingding there was lots of tapping and it turned out that Brian Tom would be delivering to this outside today! Good timing or what!

She got an email with a brief in it, then got paid for half of it even though She hadn’t done anything yet. Then She started to take down the mushrooms. Well she called them mushrooms but they didn’t look much like mushrooms to me. They were in fact the under mushrooms.

Four little screws were taken out of the top and put in a small box for safe keeping. I offered on several occasions to help keep them safe, but She wasn’t too keen on the idea, so all I could do was sit and watch. The silver ring got polished and the meshy bit had a bath in the sink and a very very good scrub. Previous methods of cleaning the under mushrooms hadn’t been quite as successful, so today She was pleased with the result, just not so happy putting the four little screws back into the top to hold them back up there.

She then got carried away and wiped all the walls down in the kitchen. Then She cleaned away the evidence of numerous murders she’s carried out from the comfort of her own bed with her puzzle book. Once this was done She decided that She’d had had enough of this, her arms couldn’t take any more and anyway they needed to be ready for more locks not worn out.

Tom has also been busy. He first cleaned his glasses and tried his mask on. Apparently soap is meant to stop you making your own little clouds in your glasses, but this didn’t work for Tom. She suggested trying wearing his glasses over his mask, all of a sudden no little clouds! She is clever like that, She is a Theatre Designer you know, they tend to be quite clever, so She says.

So Tom went to Tescimouse for a few bits which isn’t far away. He enjoyed this as he got to see trams. I didn’t get to see any trams as I wasn’t allowed out, all day!

Then Tom started to work on the new fender, taking the old one off first of course. This all took quite a long time as the Tom from next door really liked to chat, I think he’d put his blue gloves on just to chat as they weren’t keeping his hands clean as he wasn’t doing anything to get them dirty!

Tom tried the new shackles and ended up using a mixture of shackles and cable ties to hold the new fender onto the front, this helps to protect Oleanna’s nose when we’re in locks and we’ve quite a few of those to do soon.

A She from down the way came and fed the electric for us, a couple more pounds would do. She was very nice and they didn’t mind talking to her. Tom gave her some money as they have decided that we’ll be moving in the morning, they hope the weather might be dry long enough to move the outside up some more without getting wet again. I suppose I’ll just be sat inside for another day. Where did she put those cotton buds?

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 top up, 1 gas bottle, 4 rashers of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 eggs, 1 brief (not knickers), 5 loads of washing, 0 shore leave, 16 boring hours, 56 cotton buds on the floor, 5 under mushrooms, 20 screws, 1 new fender, 5:45 dingding.

Armed With Masks. 23rd June

Stanier First Bridge 62 to Congleton Bridge 61

Three quarters of an hour was what Mick was told when he got up and gave Enterprise a call first thing this morning. Phone signal can vary a lot around the system and living inside a metal tube doesn’t help. Quite often we need to go outside to get enough signal as leaving your phone propped in a window doesn’t always work when waiting for a call.

Enterprise were picking another car up this morning so once that was collect the two cars would meet Mick in the layby by the bridge, hand over the keys and leave in the other car. All sorted.

Whilst he walked up to the bridge I started to sort breakfast as my phone decided to have just a little bit of signal and bing at me. Answerphone. An hour earlier a message had been left from York Hospital cancelling my appointment tomorrow morning, they would write to me with another appointment. B**ger! The only reason we had a hire car was to drive to York!! Oh well can’t be helped. I tried calling Mick but by the time I got through to him he was walking back along the towpath with keys to the car.

We had other things planned for today as we had a car. A Click and Collect from Sainsburys in Stoke and a trip to Trentham Shopping Village! We know how to live!!

The drive from Congleton along the side of the hills has spectacular views, but very few places to stop and admire them. Soon we were on our way to Kidsgrove passing over the bridge alongside Red Bull Services, the cruiser, I can report has moved on. Then we were soon zooming along the A500 keeping a steady distance from the Trent and Mersey through Stoke. Familiar landmarks jumped out to let us know where abouts we were compared to our usual route.

At Trentham Gardens/Shopping Village we were surprised at the number of cars! Blimey, would we survive this little shopping trip for essential supplies! We successfully found a parking space in the shade and ventured out to find the shops we wanted.

Every morning I have a cup of Whittards Afternoon Tea, it is my favourite and life simply wouldn’t be the same without it. We’d last stocked up in Oxford at the end of last year and about two weeks ago Mick announced that we were very nearly out! A check as to see if they would be reopening their shops gave me hope, some but not all. Sadly none were on our planned route. I checked on deliveries and their method of shipment is by Yodel, not guaranteed to be taken at a Post Office via Post Restante. Only one way to get tea was to drive to one of their open shops.

I enquired if they still do refills, hoping to save myself a few pennies on my favourite brew which isn’t cheap. The lady said yes, we’d see how much she’d be able to get in my pouch. 200 grams followed by another 200 just squeezing in. That will keep me going for sometime. Sadly it seems that the 50p off has vanished, but then I now have a six months supply again.

The assistant donned a mask and gloves to weigh out my tea and hand sanitiser was there to use as you walked into the shop. It all felt relatively safe. Mick stood outside and had decided to put his mask on, I followed suit. People milled about, most without masks, most keeping their distance, it just felt safer wearing a mask.

Holland and Barrett next, but they had no gluten free flour. Then Grape Tree, they had no flour but did have a pack of Psyllium Husk which I haven’t seen since we were in Doncaster! Then a birthday card for my brother. Hallmark was a touch busier and even though they had a one way route marked on the floor it was hard to keep away from other shoppers whilst trying to find the right card.

Procook was our last port of call for a new quiche tin, quinoa crust seems to like pulling the non-stick coating off the one I have! Here we were two of four people in the shop and despite there being several routes for a chap to get to his wife he insisted on walking right by us, Twonk! Sadly they didn’t have what we were after, so a hunt on line will have to do. Time to make our exit, it’s not nice being near so many people.

Next was Sainsburys to pick up our order, we were early but that was fine as our supplies were in the van already. No substitutes and everything with good use by dates, well it had to be as we’d just driven past one of their vast distribution centres.

Then it was back to Oleanna, the sat nav taking us on a cross country route with more great views. We decided to nudge Oleanna along through the next couple of bridges to where a tree might just give us some shade.

It doesn’t mention anything about cats though!

It also meant Tilly might just have a better afternoon climbing trees. She did need reminding that she shouldn’t be going on other boats!

The final regular news conference was this afternoon with Mr Johnson announcing further lifting of restrictions on July 4th. Hire boats and holiday homes can now be used and leisure boaters will be allowed to stay overnight on their boats at last. Very good news for many. Just a big shame that on the social media boating groups there seems to be a big US and THEM divide between liveaboards and leisure boaters developing. Hopefully everyone will be so pleased to be able to pootle about again once they’re back on the water.

Mick managed to get through to Enterprise to see if we could return the car tomorrow , meaning we’d be able to join the queue for the locks earlier than planned. They were fine about it and have applied for a refund for us, so not such an expensive click and collect as we thought it might be.

Another go at some sourdough pizzas tonight. I’d made the dough this morning and shaped it out before going shopping, leaving it in the cold oven to rise all day. Sadly the bases weren’t quite as good as last time, but still very tasty with caramelised red onion and goats cheese topping.

0 locks, 1000 ft, 1 hire car, 0 hospital appointment, 2 masks, 400 grams tea, 1 card, 100 grams husks, 1 refund applied for, 1 spot on order, 1 very expensive shopping trip, 1 cooler mooring, £20! 4th July, Hooray!!

https://goo.gl/maps/YdcYermYsVVYMzRk9

Home Baking. 9th June

Lockdown ‘Home’

She needed some quiet this morning for her important phone call, with an important man (who has a woofer apparently), so I obliged and made myself scarce for much of the day. Whilst we’ve been tied to other outsides, ‘Home’ outside has got fatter and greener. New friends have moved in so I’ve kept myself busy introducing myself to as many of them as possible today. There were far too many to bring home, after all we’re only allowed to meet up in sixes at the moment!

My meeting with David was good. He’d sent through a few photos of what he’d been thinking and I replied with over 200 I’d found. If you didn’t know Rapunzel is another name for Lamb’s Lettuce, Valerianella locusta. So I’ve been thinking maybe we might need a world based on giant leaves, the structure of which mirrors fan vaulted ceilings. Tall trees stretching into the sky, like ships rigging. Lots to think about and formulate. Questions like where to put the Musical Director? How to change the world into England on the Wold? How to make the wold more than just green grass and rolling hills? Can we fill the auditorium with Kabuki drop banners, or would that be a touch too much to re-rig for the stage management?

The Tradeing boats were on the move, some coming and winding, others pulling up in front of us, hatching plans for a weekend trading here. My dungarees came out and the starboard side got a coat of black. It’s so nice to have both sides of Oleanna matching, just before we start doing locks again!

Mick headed into Nantwich for some bread, sneaking in a visit to the butchers for a pie. My sour dough starter had done it’s thing overnight and preparations for some pizza dough were needed. A mix of flour, water and starter was set aside for a while whilst I ground up some chai seeds, added psyllium husk and some water to make a gel. This all seemed a touch odd to me. Adding more flour and some water gave me a very gelatinous blob that needed to rest for a while. I wasn’t holding out much hope for how it would turn out.

Mick spent some of the afternoon prising the second punctureless tyre onto the Brompton, we’d had it forwarded to Scarborough last week. I could hear the odd bit of swearing coming from the stern. The front tyre had gone on far too easily, but then it had had several hours sitting in the sun, today the sun hid behind clouds for much of the day.

It fought back, but Mick got there in the end

Whilst I waited for the pizza blob to prove I set about making a batch of cheese scones, a proper days baking, should have made a cake too, but didn’t! The oven being on helped keep the kitchen warm for the pizza dough and then provided us with a treat to have with a cuppa as we listened to the days news conference from Downing Street.

What toppings to have on our pizza? There was the last of the chicken to use up and a bunch of asparagus. The bases were stretched out into a suitable shape and then put on hot trays in a very hot oven for a few minutes before coming out to have the toppings added. They looked a little less gelatinous now thank goodness.

Garlicky tomato, some red onion, strips of chicken, then spears of asparagus with a scattering of mozzarella cheese and back in the oven they went. I hoped I’d moved them around enough to compensate for our zoned oven, but mine needed to go back in for a few more minutes. Verdict tasty, very tasty. A better base than the one I’ve made in the past and asparagus goes well on pizza. We accompanied our food with a glass of wine, or two, as this would be our last night at ‘Home’, our 48hrs will be up tomorrow and it will be time for us to start to head away from the area.

Today there have been two anniversaries. A boating one and a theatre one.

Today, fifteen years ago was the press night in New York of Alan Ayckbourn’s Private Fears In Public Places. The play was part of the Brits Off Broadway season at 59E59, the first time a production from the SJT had taken part. The show in England hadn’t made much of a mark, but it was a different case across the pond.

This was all just before I left the SJT as Resident Designer and Alan and Heather had invited Mick and myself out for a meal before I left. That evening coincided with the reviews coming out in New York, our hosts were late to the restaurant and came in with huge beaming smiles across their faces, clutching copies of the reviews. The show had gone down a storm, it had been a huge financial risk taking a show to New York but it paid off. Within hours tickets had sold out, a list of famous people were being turned away and our little show from Scarborough was THE show to see in New York.

Six years ago today, we pulled out of Crick Marina on Lillian to start our journey northwards for the Tour de France, our yellow boat had to be in Hebden Bridge for the race to pass through! We pulled out of the marina, beeped the horn and joined our friends Bridget and Storm on NB Blackbird, becoming a cruising duo, The Wasp. That is more or less the day we started out on our journey.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd tyre, 1 hour talking panto, 2 smart gunnels, 1 boat surrounded, 10 hours! 9 friends maybe more, 1 aborted nosy, 1 last Thursday photo (on a Tuesday), 10 scones, 2 pizzas, 11 spears of asparagus, 4 glasses on wine, 1 last night at Home.

PS. The dates went to Lee on NB Halsall, sorry!

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna