After a breakfast that involved knowledge of where the nearest defibrillator was located, Frank had brought with him his standard three shredded wheat breakfast with full fat milk and cream, we made ready to head off for the day to Bowness.
A very green drive
The near two hour drive on busy windy roads was glorious for those of us who could admire the scenery, a little harder for Frank having to concentrate so much. Local knowledge of free parking in Bowness in handy along with knowing that you may take hours to find somewhere with space for lunch. Today we headed straight up a hill and found a parking spot, years of bringing shows to Bowness from Scarborough paying off. We’d also planned ahead and booked our matinee tickets at The Old Laundry to include lunch.
First we walked down to see Lake Windermere in it’s near sunny glory. Our reserved table at the theatre/ Beatrix Potter Attraction waited for us. Soup and a sandwich were enjoyed. We were spotted by several people. Bill who was one of our latest lodgers and Sue the Stage Manager for the show we were about to see.
Surrounded by giant mice
Welcome to the Family is Alan Ayckbourn’s 88th play. Josh is wanting to introduce his finance Sara to his parents, the only problem is that they are both dead. As ever Alan has caught a subject in his play that has also risen in real life, capturing moments to keep forever and relive.
From all the production photos I’d been wondering why Tanya (our other lodger) was wearing a school uniform. This very soon was explained in the plot. A very enjoyable show with a few dark plot twists in there as there should be.
Chilled medication
We met up with most of the cast after the show to say hello and had a couple of drinks before they were all heading out for dinner.
The drive back was still lovely in the evening sun. Tilly however wasn’t that impressed as her evening dingding had been delayed. Once she was fed we headed out to Aagrah for some food ourselves, returning for a slice of birthday cake.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 trip to Bowness, 3 soups and sandwiches, many many mice, 88th play, 2 lodgers, 1 Stage Manager, 1 hungry cat, 1 big thank you to Frank for driving.
Change around laundry and ironing completed. The Shed reclaimed as a bedroom with organised storage. Upstairs upstairs tidied. Windows washed. A sister-out-law to visit. Food eaten. Outfits remarked on. Who stole the youngest Prince? Beds made up. Clothes and food all packed. One on loan sewing machine returned and the last pair of socks delivered.
It was time to load a van and return to Oleanna.
Bye bye Scarborough
Tilly’s pooh box and scratch post were the last items to be added to the van. I knew what had been happening, they normally keep me locked inside when they load up everything, but today I was allowed to supervise. I may have been distracted by the elaborate bird feeder though. Maybe I’d be allowed to supervise in the big white box, but no chance of that as I was bundled up into the cat caravan! I know I wouldn’t get under Toms feet, but She says that Tom isn’t so sure. Hopefully the scratches on my chest from the tussle with Tilly will fade without leaving scars. This morning we’d decided not to add any extra stress to her day by trying to give her a travel sickness pill. If only she’d lie down the motion wouldn’t be half as bad!
I’d refrained from saying how well Tilly was doing as we passed our usual stopping place on Staxton Hill, she then showed signs that we’d soon need to stop to refresh the puppy pad in the caravan. Thankfully there were only two stops today then she calmed down, sat with her back to the door of the caravan where I could sort of stroke her.
On our route we somehow got talking about cows. Tilly tried joining in, but her mooing fell short!
On arrival at Viking Marina, Tilly was the first thing off the van and inside. There was time to appreciate the nice clean floor before it was filled with bags and boxes that all needed emptying and places found to stow it all. Tilly checked everywhere over, peeked out the back and then settled down, It’s good to be back home.
Alastair chatted with Mick. Two new engine mounts had been fitted. The stern nav light attached. Leak on the skin tank had required a 46mm spanner to tighten the pipe and all was good.
With everything for the galley, saloon loaded onto Oleanna it was time to make a move. Well just reverse back, wind and come in for the bow to be nearest the bank. This would make filling the water tank easier. The bags of clothes would come straight into the bedroom, plants could go on the bow straight away and Mick would be able to reach to replace a steel cable tie on the bow fender that had broken in Bramwith Lock three months ago.
Whilst knitting socks my back has improved, but sadly moving things around, stoopid stooping has encouraged it to ache again. A few hours sitting down helps. Today though to be able to sit down lots of things needed to be stowed, moved here and there. Yes Mick could have done it all, but it was just easier to get on with it, someone needs to remember where things have been stashed after all! Tilly didn’t help with any of this, she was far more interested in the secret passage and refusing to come back out when I wanted to put the sofa back into sofa mode!
But I like it down here!
Once we’d remembered we’d put the duvet and pillows in vacuum bags Mick made the bed up whilst I adjusted the Sainsburys delivery for the morning. Diner was some left over gammon we’d shared with Kath (Mick’s sister) and Bill one of our lodgers, with some carrot and parsnip hash. Thank you Mick for being on cooking duty.
Ohh Tilly!!!
0 locks, 180ft, 1 wind, 27 cheese scones, 1 painted wall, 1 van full, 2 puppy pads, 1 proud She, 1 last pair of socks delivered, 1 determined Duncan, 1 more painting hung, 1 slot filling booking, 1 chocka boat, 1 empty water tank, 1 full water tank, 2 new engine mounts, 1 stern light, 1 secret passageway, 1 cat on the shelf, 2 happy boaters, 1 happy cat.
Time for the annual round, a long post so sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.
The New Year kicked off with winter maintenance in the house. Having two hallways proved time consuming refreshing the woodwork and patching up the worst of the wallpaper. But this was broken up with weekly walks to see the sea. I resumed work on the development showing of #unit21 for Dark Horse and a Christmas present of a cheese making kit proved very tasty in creating my first ever Yorkshire Curd Cheese Cake from scratch. I plan on having a second go at this soon!
In February work progressed in Huddersfield towards opening night, the floor painted, final costume fittings and then the set and lighting added. All while Mick serviced our life jackets and Tilly grew more and more bored of life in the house.
Once the show was opened we had a trip down to London to catch up with the London Leckenbys for a belated Christmas, on our way back we visited Oleanna. When ever we could we visited Blue Water Marina to do jobs and have a pack up lunch. The stove was reblacked, walls washed down and cupboards sorted through.
Then at the end of February, Mick and I left Tilly in charge of the house, we packed enough clothes and food for a couple of days boating and headed to Thorne to move Oleanna through Thorne Lock before a winter stoppage began. Blimey it was chilly out there, but wonderful to be back afloat and moving Oleanna to Goole. Now we were all set to move back onboard and have a few weeks of pootling about in Yorkshire.
Back at the house we made it ready for the first of this years lodgers. Our boat Christmas tree was retired into the back garden where we hoped it would thrive, this of course was before we knew a drought was on it’s way! Tilly said goodbye to the dragon that lives up the chimney, left Seville and Valencia to look after the house before having to endure the car trip back to boat life.
After a few days sorting ourselves, including having one of Joan’s gluten free Chinese takeaways, we unplugged Oleanna and backed out from our mooring at Goole Marina (Boat House). We spent the next three weeks bobbing about between Pollington Lock, Doncaster and Goole. Maintenance jobs were ticked off the list.
Alistair did engine and weedhatch jobs, Frank joined us a couple of times to do carpentry jobs, our galley drawers no longer have a life of their own, the covers had a good scrub and a spray of Wet and Forget to help them keep clean.
In March I’d set myself a charity challenge, to knit as many pairs of socks in the month as I could. Nine pairs knitted for people in return for sponsorship, I also got a very generous donation of yarn from Lisa on NB Summer Wind.
Our plans had had to change as Thorne Lock still hadn’t closed, but was about to! Plans to visit York and West Yorkshire were abandoned, we’d bought ourselves a Gold Licence for the year so wanted to make the most of it. So on March 24th with all the jobs done we turned our backs on Goole and set off into the sunset to see where 2022 would take us, all three of us grinning from ear to ear.
We made our way to Keadby ready for our booked passage on the tidal River Trent, the fast route south. A phone call from a boating friend in need of support meant we’d be doing our best to make use of the spring tide to reach Cromwell in one go despite the weather forecast. We spent a couple of days doing what we could to help in Newark before we needed to be on the move again.
On upstream to The Trent and Mersey keeping up our cruising hours and Tilly hoping we’d stop with enough time for her to explore each day before cat curfew.
Up to Fradley then onto the Coventry Canal, we played leapfrog with NB Free Spirit for a couple of days.
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, up the Curdworth Flight then a turn left onto a section of the Grand Union we’d not been on before at Star City. Up Garrison Locks, Typhoo Basin and then the Ashted Locks where we now have the measure of that Tunnel! A mooring space at the top of Farmers Bridge had our name on it. This was handy for a road trip to swap lodgers and for visits to the dentist. It also meant we were in shot when a group came to jump the top lock!
Fast forward to 6:15
Our route out of Buminghamsaw us through Edgbaston Tunnel, down Lapworth followed by Hatton. A pause was needed for Tilly’s annual visit to a new vet, the one here the closest to the canal we’ve visited so far, also handy for The Cape of Good Hope!
At Napton we joined the Oxford Canal and headed for Braunston, pausing to stock up on goodies from the butcher. On the Grand Union we made our way up over the hill and started our descent down The Long Buckby flight back towards tidal waters.
On the 1st of May we turned left at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm dropping down the flight to the River Nene. We’d only been this way once before and that was when we’d just bought Lillian (NB Lillyanne) back in 2014. We bought ourselves a second Abloy key, showed our Gold Licence to the chap at Northampton Marina and started our journey down stream, time to explore.
A decision was made to head down to Peterborough taking note of places we’d want to visit on our return journey. We worked our way through the guillotine locks, many button operated and others with the wheel of cardiovascular overload.
Tilly loved many of the moorings apart from those in Peterborough where crowds surrounded the boat and meant returning from shore leave was impossible for several hours.
In two weeks we reached the end of the river at the Dog in a Doublet Lock. Here the river becomes tidal, we’d save that trip for another time and turned back upstream to head for the Middle Level.
Here we wanted to explore all the drainage channels, but decided we’d do that on our return too. So we took the direct route and crossed the low lying waters in three days arriving at Salters Lode on Mick’s birthday. The levels out on the tidal stretch of the Great Ouse needing to be just right to get through the lock, turn and head upstream to Denver Sluice.
A lovely GOBA mooring was found on the River Wissey and eventually the sun came out for a birthday barbeque, we’d made it to the Great Ouse.
The remainder of May was spent exploring the River Wissey, Ely and The Little Ouse. Brandon Lock sits at the most easterly point on the connected navigable network for boats Oleanna’s size. Sadly a build up of silt stopped us from getting her bow into the lock, but we did get her as far east as was possible, ticking off the fourth point of the compass.
There was a trip to Hull Truck to meet old friends at a gala evening followed by a meet up with Micks family back in the Fens. At the end of the month we got to know Neil the seal at Ten Mile Bank moorings as he basked in the sun and took sunset dips in the river.
The Jubilee was seen in at Denver, we lit our guiding lights as a Lancaster Bomber flew overhead heading to see the Queen. The Relief Channel gave us a good mooring to be able to have a trip away to celebrate Dawn and Lee’s 50th Birthdays in Scarborough, we went as Wallace and Gromit and won an Oscar!
Another visit to Ely to see the Cathedral, Farmers market and meet up with Heather from NB Bleasdale, the first of many this summer. The River Lark was explored, the end of navigation reached with a handy mooring outside a pub.
We headed for the Cam, our paths crossing for the first time with Ken and Sue from NB Cleddau. Then onwards in to Cambridge where we visited colleges, ate chilled medication and had a day trip to Duxford so that Mick could sit in the pilots seat of a Trident 2, a seat his Dad had sat in on many a flight.
Oleanna squeezed along each of the three Lodes, Wicken, Burwell and Reach. Wicken Lode a magical place and a day visit to Anglesey Abbey with it’s wonderful gardens.
Then we headed onto the Old West a river with a very different feel than the Ely Ouse. A pause was needed when we reached Earith for us to have a tour of Heathers new to her boat GT. Once off the tidal water we were on a different Great Ouse again. Here St Ives, St Neots and Hemingford gave us sunsets, D shaped locks, huge meadows and wonderful towns and villages to explore.
As the temperatures started to rise I needed to do some work. Cruising happened in the mornings, my Panto script and sketches were done in the shade of what trees we could find. White sheets were bought and we hoped for a mooring with shade for the really hot days that were to come. Tilly took to lying on the floor and we took to wearing wet t-shirts to help us to keep cool. Thankfully the hot blast only lasted a couple of days then the temperature dropped and we could continue to head upstream.
July 21st we reached the navigable limit of the River Great Ouse, having to reverse some distance to be able to turn round and return to Bedford for the River Festival.
Here we met up with Ken and Sue, Jennie and Chris from NB Tentatrice and Heather again. Plenty of things to see, do and hear. The boat parades, raft races, vintage cars, all sorts kept us busy for the two days.
Now at the end of July we alternated the days between cruising and my work. More beautiful days cruising and more wonderful sunsets, one day off to visit Cambridge for some more chilled medication and to see the Hockney exhibition.
August saw more hot days. Trips to London to celebrate birthdays, panto meetings, catch up with best friends and travellers over from Australia.
On the 15th August we crossed back from Denver Sluice to the Middle Level having really enjoyed our three months on the Great Ouse. Now water levels were a worry along with having enough time to reach Oxford for me to go to work in October. We made the decision to come back and explore the Middle Level another year, maybe we’ll cross The Wash to get there!
By the end of August our progress up stream on the River Nene slowed to a halt. First one lock broke then another two ahead of us. We’d recently been accepted to join the Reflections Flotilla on the Thames to mark the Queens Jubilee in a few weeks time, now that time was ticking away.
When we did get moving again we had to make up our cruising hours. With the news of the passing of the Queen we didn’t know if the flotilla would still be going ahead, we carried on at pace waiting for news. Back up the River Nene, turning onto the Grand Union, working our way southwards. The news came through that the flotilla would go ahead, but now in remembrance of the Queen.
With a couple of days to spare we squeezed into the Eco-Moorings by Islington Tunnel. Two days of catching up with family and more friends over from Australia before we joined boats heading along the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin. An afternoon of activity saw numerous narrowboats festooned with white lights.
On the 24th of September the Thames barrier was closed and we all headed out of Limehouse Lock up stream to Chelsea where we clung onto buoys until the early evening when the flotilla started to muster.
Getting on for 150 boats all displaying white lights got into formation and headed down stream. Crowds stood on the illuminated bridges and Tower Bridge opened up in a royal salute as we passed underneath. What a truly amazing day.
Now we had to head towards Banbury, back round the Regents Canal as a leak in the engine bay needed testing on the calm waters of the canal rather than the tideway. By the time we reached Brentford we were confident with Oleanna’s engine again. On the Thames Tilly got a birthday present of a night on a Cliveden Island. Sadly we got an unexpected present on our arrival in Oxford, a second red line on a covid test! Panto painting couldn’t be put off so we made our way gradually up the Oxford Canal keeping our distance from people at locks and taking maximum doses of paracetamol.
A week of painting in Banbury before I moved to Chipping Norton to stack up the hours over the next four weeks getting the 50th anniversary panto ready. Rendez Vousing with Oleanna at weekends in Banbury and Coventry kept me sane. Mick had to single hand across the summit of the Oxford Canal to avoid the first of the winter stoppages.
All three of us were back onboard by mid November, covid free and vaccinated. We took things slowly now, time to rest up, meet friends, gather family and pootle towards Christmas. Our 20th Anniversary was celebrated with a Chinese takeaway at Alvecote Marina, a planned stop which ended up being extended due to plummeting temperatures. The canal froze, there’d be no moving the outside for Tilly!
Temperatures lifted dramatically and the ice just about vanished in a couple of days, we could now be on our way to Christmas. Alrewas was a good place to spend the festive days, a very good butchers and a village with lots of character and humour.
Bookings in the New Year had been made for passage on the tidal River Trent for us to reach Yorkshire, but this would not be. The Trent had risen before Christmas, Cranfleet Flood Gates were shut ahead of us, so no New Year at Hazelford Lock. Instead our alternator played up and we sought out a mooring to hook up to and see in 2023.
This year we’d been wanting to explore again. This year we cruised miles of new water, made new friends, got too hot, got iced in, got stuck, got to be in the first illuminated flotilla on the Thames for 300 years. What a great year it has been.
So our vital statistics for 2022 according to Canalplan are
Total distance is 1249 miles, 6½ furlong and 555 locks . There were 88 moveable bridges of which 29 are usually left open; 156 small aqueducts or underbridges and 18 tunnels, a total of 7 miles 2 ¼ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.
This was made up of 227 miles, 1 1/2furlongs of narrow canals; 363 miles, 2 furlongs of broad canals; 85 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 269 miles, 1 furlong of small rivers; 234 miles, 7 1/4 furlongs of large rivers; 69 miles, 6 furlongs of tidal rivers; 176 narrow locks; 232 broad locks; 54 large locks; 2 locks on major waterways.
731.7 engine hours
1156.1 litres diesel, 5 (although we’ve got 1 empty now) gas bottles (used for central heating as well as cooking), 28.5 litres oil, 3 oil filters, 1 fuel filter, 2 air filters, 1 water pump, 2 new belts, 690kg coal, 1 overnight guest twice, 6 packs Dreamies (not enough!), 56 friends, a record breaking 41 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval (4 in one day!), 15 pairs socks, 2 shows designed, 9 lodgers, 2 lots gluten free puff pastry, 9 supermarket deliveries, 30 boxes of wine delivered, 2 lost unicorns.
Thank you all for joining us on our journey. Wonder where we’ll get to in 2023?
Bridge 68, North Oxford Canal to Coventry Basin, Coventry Canal
Another long week in Panto land and some more cruising for Mick and Tilly.
Monday I arrived in the theatre to find sliders being cut down to size and lots of magnetic catches and door handles having been attached, all good news. But then I soon heard that Abi the Director had tested positive for covid over the weekend whilst at home in London. The cast were given various options, the one they chose was that John the Artistic Director of Chippy Theatre and the writer of panto would stand in for Abi until she returned and Abi would join when she could via zoom. Our Production Manager Gemma was also unwell so she stayed at home an extra day.
Counter getting close to completion
I got on with painting what ever I could without being in the actors way. A list of scenes required for the following days rehearsals is sent out so it takes a little bit of working out what I might be able to paint and when. The wings of the stage were sorted by Stage Management to hopefully help make the technical rehearsals easier.
In the evening we were joined by a couple of chaps to help with setting up the sound equipment and drilling holes in trees for fairy lights. By the end of the evening two out of the four trees had lights and a lot of the sound system was up and running.
The River Avon in Rugby
In Rugby, Mick and Tilly stayed put on the boat. Mick did venture out for his covid booster jab, four weeks after we’d tested positive.
Painting ovens and doors in the wings
Tuesday. More setting up of sound with Matt the Sound Designer about for one day. The aim was for levels to be set for the songs and cues to be programmed into the desk so that only minor adjustments would hopefully be needed. Songs were sung by the company accompanied by the two man band.
Dicks solo being sung in front of the Pippins and Becky the composer
Gemma joined us for a few hours but she was obviously still not well. She did her best to keep her distance, helped get sliders rehung and sorted a few bits out, but mid afternoon she headed to her digs to hopefully get some sleep.
Mark the Lighting Designer had a lighting session in the evening, meaning I was either painting by torch light or had a lot of light. This gave me the chance to get some black lining done to the sliders for Piccadilly Circus. There’s still plenty more to do on them, but at least I made a very good start.
Newbold Tunnel
In Rugby, Mick moved Oleanna up nearer to Tescos, did a good shop. Topped up with water and headed onwards through Newbold Tunnel. Over the weekend we’d discussed where might be easiest for me to get back to the boat next weekend, Rugby was a little bit problematical and quite a bit of a walk to reach the boat. We’d decided that Coventry would be better.
Wednesday. Gemma tested positive for covid this morning. Hopefully she hadn’t passed it on to anyone whilst she’d been in the building, but more importantly she could head home to recover.
Signage
Conversations were had about outstanding jobs. I can lend my hand to quite a few things, but it would all take time. Better to have someone who knew what was needed and free me up to carry on painting and helping where needed.
The Technical rehearsals begin
In the afternoon we started to Tech. This is where all the elements come together on stage. Sound, lighting, costumes, props, actors, musicians and set. Due to many reasons there were gaps in costumes, props and set pieces. Not ideal, but unavoidable. Everyone did as well as they could, one thing became obvious was that we still needed someone to help program the sound.
Loads of room!
Mick carried onwards. In winter months moorings that are normally chocka block can be empty, this was the case at All Oaks Wood. I think we’ve managed to pause there before for lunch once, but today he had a choice of where to pull in. Tilly made the most of a good outside!
Thursday. A long day of technical rehearsals. Days like today I spend mostly sitting in the dark, taking notes, attending to things as they arise. I decided to try to do small jobs whilst sat in the dark like signs, sorting out the new song sheet.
It was not me who emptied the chilled medication fridge leaving only vanilla!
Then when the actors have a break there is some time to get a bit of painting done. Wet things need to be dry before costumes are back on stage, so timing jobs can be a touch tricksy. Following rehearsals there are a couple of hours to get more jobs done. Jo the prop maker was about, so conversations turned to treasure chests and snakes.
Mick carried on moving. The journey from Rugby to Coventry can be done in under eight hours, but with a week to do it in he was pacing himself. Today he moved a touch further than he’d originally planned, through the new swing bridge at Rose Narrowboats, stopping a short distance before Hawksbury Junction, meaning there was space before other boats for Tilly to explore.
The Greyhound busy on a Friday morning
Friday. Mick decided to stay put, having a walk up to the bins at the junction a highlight of the day. The Greyhound was busy even quite early in the morning.
The tight turn at the junction. To head north use the left canal, south the right turning under the bridge.
Another early start to do some jobs before rehearsals started again. My lunch tends to be eaten in the next technical session, making use of as much stage time for jobs as possible. Abi is now very much in the room, joining by zoom, sending messages by Whatsap.
Laptop in the centre of the auditorium so Abi can join us
Today after rehearsals, Dan who’d helped set up the sound equipment and has been helping with programming stayed around to help with various jobs on stage. Some black tabs were not quite in the right place so needed adjusting. A tree needed extending, it’s track moving higher. But the most important job was to get a cloth rigged so that it could be lowered in to view and pulled out of view, it’s been out of view for three weeks.
A Curlywurly in the dark whilst taking notes
Chippy Theatre has a bit of a fly tower, but it is nowhere near tall enough to be able to fly cloths fully in and out. So the cloth has to work like a very big Roman Blind, pulling itself up on itself. We got all the cords in place, but lacked somewhere to tie it off to. So that we don’t now see too much of the cloth it’s been tied off to a cleat for other scenery, a better solution needs to be found.
Nice to see the cloth again after three weeks.
Saturday. A morning of technical rehearsals. There is still more to do on Monday sadly.
Last year I did one of these every day during panto
Also sadly today we were missing Becky, the composer, another case of covid. I am so hoping that I still have some natural immunity left as I spent much of yesterday sat next to Becky. This morning I did a test after spending time with Gemma, I’ll be doing a test before returning to work on Monday.
A nearly finished scene
All the trees were up and fairy lights working giving Mark the opportunity to light the next scene. We mostly worked our way through the scenes that have the Pippins in so as to make the most of their time in the theatre. Having three teams of Pippins means doing everything three times, one team are in costume the others not. We now just have to finish teching the rest of the show on Monday.
Mick moved on again in the morning, turning left at Hawksbury Junction and heading under the bridge decorated with swans. We last came this way about five years ago and today Mick saw a big difference. New houses and just generally better kept, possibly assisted by the City of Culture. Tilly however wasn’t that impressed!
Coventry Basin
After rehearsals I became unpopular asking for the trees that had only just gone up to be taken down. My aim for the day was to get the last two remaining trees painted, having them flat this would take about half the time. It didn’t take too much to get them down thankfully.
Trees finished. Well I might add some glitter if I get chance.
The last couple of hours I was on my own and was glad to not have to climb a ladder. By 18:10 the trees were painted, brushes washed up. By 18:25 the theatre alarm was set and I was heading for the bus stop and Banbury.
Goodbye Chippy, see you Monday
A train then another bus to save me walking across Coventry where Mick met me and we walked up the hill and over the ring road to Oleanna in the basin. Time for head nudges with Tilly, something to eat and slump in front of the tv.
He’s here!
Sunday. A Sainsburys delivery was early, I left Mick to deal with it as it was early early, but it did mean we could have a nice breakfast.
Yumm!
This was followed by the Geraghty zoom where we were all relieved to be joined by Anne who has just had a spell in hospital.
Work in progress
A slow day, much needed, but sadly I still had some work to do. A new song sheet needed designing and the best time to do it was today. Thankfully it didn’t take too long. The day will end with a roast chicken and packing my bags to head back to Chippy tomorrow. Hopefully no more cases of covid this week, fingers crossed.
Thankfully you don’t have to be awake too early at the moment to see the sunrise. The golden sky warming up a chilly morning and what a wonderful morning, not a cloud in the sky.
180 degrees of sky
It would have been nice to stay an extra day, but there are places to be so no choice.
As we pushed away we waved goodbye to the clumps behind us, one day we’ll walk up there. Then further along the big field we realised that we hadn’t been the only boat moored up last night. At least they were some distance away and this morning we’d have had a much better sunrise.
A Kingfisher darted in front of us, stopping in flight and hovered like a Hummingbird or a Kestrel, it did it a second time, I just managed to get a blurry photo before it then settled down on the bank. We’ve never seen one do this before, maybe it was imitating a Tern and had spotted a possible fish.
Clifton Hamden Bridge
We pootled up stream to Clifton Hamden Bridge with it’s red brick arches. Here we met three paddleboarders who were enjoying the sunshine as they headed upstream. At the lock a volunteer opened the gates for us and waved us in. Here numerous plant pots fill the lock area. The Lock Keeper suggested we should wait for the paddleboarders to arrive which was fine with us, he then carried on moving tubas and bulbs around for winter. What a sight it must be when in full blown colourful flower.
The ladies hung onto the chains on the opposite side of the lock, they were from Culham and had done the loop this morning, presumably dropping down onto the river by the weir a little further up stream.
Sunbathing on the bed
Last year as we waited below Culham lock we watched a Mink hunting on the offside bank, two pigeons met their maker with alarming swiftness. Today there was no queue below the lock, we tied up and I walked up to see the Lock Keeper who was surprised he’d not seen us. Culham is a deep lock and assistance in getting your ropes around the bollards is needed. I was glad we’d not be sharing the lock with the paddleboarders as when that little yellow flag on the top gate starts to rise there is quite a flow around the lock.
Mooo!
Now on the Abingdon reach of the river we discussed where to stop today. A full days cruise in our schedule would have us moor a distance on above Abingdon Lock, but we were already a day ahead of ourselves. Should we stop before the bridge, after or just above the lock? First however we needed to avoid the sailors and fisherman. Both in line with each other, we slowed our pace, hoping we’d not all three be trying to be in the same few meters as each other. The fisherman had to move his long pole and the dinghy crossed in front of us enabling us to pass by with plenty of room to spare.
Fishing and sailing
The first stretch of moorings was fairly busy so we carried on through the bridge pulling in at the first mooring. Here we hoped there’d be less footfall along with some friendly cover close by. Tilly was excited running back and forth inside, only to be disappointed when the doors opened to see the number of walkers with woofers!
Abingdon Bridge
A load of washing was put out to dry, Tilly came and went, paddleboarders (all who seemed to be French) paddled by, a stunning afternoon if you were out in the sunshine. Just a shame we were creating our own shade with both front and back doors open so we had a nice cool breeze through Oleanna!
Having spent much of the afternoon having the aroma of steak and chips wafting in through the back door we decided to eat out this evening. A hunt through menus at various establishments for gf options at a price that wouldn’t break the bank came up with Beefeater, The Brewery Tap. Sadly the Brewery Tap was fully booked this evening. Mick had walked past The Broad Face so we booked there.
Antlers or just plumbing?
Odd decor, either based on a Gentleman’s toilet with all the copper plumbing powering the lights or a butchers with pink fake blossom festooned in the corners. The chap serving us was slightly odd too. I asked if the blue cheese sauce contained gluten, he said he’d ask, if it didn’t would I like it adding to my order? This meant I didn’t actually know if I was getting the sauce until we quizzed him when he came to change our cutlery.
A very nice steak with triple cooked chips, I get get a dribble of sauce too
Having said that, my steak was the best one (other than homecooked) I’ve had since we visited The Paper Mill Inn near Bugsworth Basin nearly six years ago. Mick’s burger was also very good and tasty. Just a shame there was only chilled medication on the dessert menu that I could eat, so instead we headed back to Oleanna to finish off a tub of vanilla from the freezer.
2 locks, 7.12 miles, 3 paddleboarders, 3 boats at Jubilee, 1 perfect day for boating, 1 chilly boat, 1 cautious cat, 1 newspaper, 1 glass wine, 1 pint, 1 burger, 1 steak and chips, 2 many geese and woofers!
Another 8am start, no tea in bed since Northampton!
Lock 37 was empty but thankfully Lock 38 was full, the pound between them short and in the past has been quite low. When we came up sharing with NB Tyseley a few years ago it was touch and go if there would be enough water to get her into the second lock. Today our only problem was the amount the bottom gates at Lock 37 were leaking. Mick had started to close the paddles to open the gate, but the amount of water flowing out between the gates was so great the top gate needed opening whilst all the paddles were still up.
Jan’s favourite canal side property
Signs on lock gates yesterday had warned us that the Marsworth flight was locked overnight, Cowroast end of the summit pound was also locked and that moorings in Marsworth might be a touch busy. There were certainly quite a few boats, but we’d have found a space.
As we turned the bend towards the bottom of the flight a C&RT Lock Keeper was stood at the top of the Aylesbury Arm. We waved, maybe the next time we come this way we should take Oleanna down there as she’s not been as yet.
It’s a good view from the high path
The start of Marsworth, 7 locks up to the summit. The first lock is a little away from the others. A Grandad stood with twin girls watching as Oleanna rose up. I took the high path to the next lock, saying hello to Les as I walked. The water levels in the reservoirs low but not alarmingly.
Filling with help
As I set the next lock I could see two volunteers walking towards us. The lady asked if we’d like some assistance, today that would be very welcome. After a while they walked ahead and set the locks for us, another four blue sweatshirts arriving, but walking down the flight.
I love the dates in the structures
We stuck to our routine, ground paddle same side, gate opposite, ground that side followed by the gate paddle on the same side as the boat, slowly.
The lock cottage half way up the flight
A couple of locks from the top a Wyvern boat sat in the pound and waited for us to ascend the lock in our favour. As we ascended the penultimate lock I could see that above there was another boat coming down. A chap could be seen winding paddles. Then he could be seen winding them again. The sound of a paddle being dropped in between times recurring.
As I walked up to join the lock keepers, one whispered in my ear that this was a new boater and he’d requested to do the lock without any assistance. I couldn’t help myself, I suggested putting the catch on the paddle gear was a good thing, the ‘clicking noise is a good noise’, it also saves the paddle gear from being dropped constantly!
No time for the Wendover Arm this time
We all watched as he ran around the lock, opening both gates, dropping paddles, climbing back onto his boat to head down passing Mick where one gate was left open for him. His trip down the flight was going to be a lengthy one without any assistance.
The new houses at the old yard due to be finished September 2022!
Thanking the Lockies we waved them goodbye as they sat on the lock beam waiting for someone else to help. They’d be keeping an eye on their TV on the 24th in case the flotilla made it onto the news.
Freshly baked
A cuppa was very much needed. I remembered that there was still a bit of cookie dough in the freezer, a cookie would be just the right thing whilst crossing the summit. The oven was turned on, frozen dough cut up and popped in the oven and baked for 12 minutes. The hardest bit was leaving them long enough to cool.
Lying down on the job
Once we’d come through the dark cutting and back out into the light we spotted a coal boat, NB Stratford, a new one to us. They seemed to be untying. I spotted their price for diesel £1.30, 10p cheaper than in Uxbridge at the moment. We stopped and breasted up for a fill of the tank, two bags of Excel put on the roof. Mick would have liked to buy more coal, but I was reluctant to fill the roof with bags before the flotilla. What coal we have we’ll wrap in one of our heat wave white sheets so it doesn’t stand out like a soar thumb.
Swans wanting a lift up
NB Stratford trades between Bulbourne and Harefield, we’d not come across them before as they’ve only been trading for about 18 months. They’d seen us coming and were hoping to share the locks with us down the other side. We filled up and both boats headed towards Cowroast. A top up of water and empty of yellow water were done whilst waiting then both boats descended in the lock. A bottle of gas was precariously lifted out from the hold as the boats started to sink, this was for a boat that had arrived on the lock landing below.
We led the way down through the next couple of locks, Emma with windlass in hand very chatty, the chap giving orders, he seemed to like things done his way! We met another boat requiring a bottle of gas at Dunswell Bottom Lock then we were on our way again. NB Stratford pulled over just before Northchurch Lock, tomorrow they were expecting a delivery of coal, so this was as far as they’d be going today.
Feathery friends
Just departing the lock was a single hander, we caught him up at Bushes Lock and shared the remaining three locks into Berko. He was carrying on to just outside town today, we’d had enough and pulled into the first space we found.
New partners
Spikes hammered in, then a quick cat health and safety check revealed a footbridge leading to a road with cars. We decided to move up to past the shopping mooring where the stream would keep Tilly out of Waitrose car park. Only problem was we didn’t seem to have the mallet anymore! Mick walked back to where we’d first pulled in, luckily no one had found it and taken claim.
Going down ready or not!
I wanted to visit the excellent art and craft shop for some card, but checking it’s whereabouts on line discovered that they had closed in July. Brexit then the pandemic had done for them sadly. My purchase will have to wait for London now.
Next to last lock of the day
This evening I finished re-reading the newest version of the panto script. Two things jumped out at me, all the savoury puddings Jo and I have been discussing over the last week have been cut. The other is that a panto sized Christmas Pudding had been added. I sent the director a quick email to double check before stopping Jo in her tracks making up Boiled Egg Ice Cream and Sardine Jelly. The director confirmed the savouries had been cut, but had no idea about the Christmas Pudding, turns out I had a newer version of the script than she did!
Cosy by the stove
Click image for more info
Today we had notification of the changes to the Reflections Flotilla. The organisers have asked us all to dress and behave in a way appropriate for a memorial event, the boats will move down the river in silence. Tower Bridge will open in salute and it is hoped that the event will be seen as a fitting conclusion to the events of the next few days.
16 locks, 7.4 miles, 6 locks shared, 6 Lockies, 1 pair of twins, 70 litres, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 50kgs of coal, 1 stove lit, 1 happy Tilly.
We caught the B bus, one of the Guided buses that connects Huntingdon, St Ives and Cambridge. The Guided Busway is the longest in the world and follows the course of the former Cambridge and Huntingdon Railway, the bus driver doesn’t need to steer whilst on the guided track. However they do need to take over when the bus runs on normal roads! Heather had told us of the wild flowers bordering the track, but these are all now sadly gone.
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Whilst on the bus I booked us tickets to the Fitzwilliam Museum. This meant we could enter by the main door have our tickets zapped and head off to explore the museum, well the upper floor mainly as this is where the Hockney exhibition was to be found.
Hockney’s Eye , The art and technology of depiction, is a very interesting exhibition. It explores the many ways of seeing and depicting in art and how pictures have been created through his eyes.
Hockney has been known for his use of modern technology, using photographs, iphones and ipads. The exhibition draws together the naturalistic techniques used by the old masters, explains them and collects together artworks made using those techniques and pairs them up with works by Hockney where he has manipulated the rules or gone in the opposite direction from them.
Get out of the way! It doesn’t work from that side!!!
The drawing of perspective was explained with the use of the vanishing point. A piece of Perspex stood with lines drawn on it and a cross marked the spot of where to stand, showing how an artist draws. This needed a little explanation to Mick and others as nowhere on the instructions did it mention that you needed not only to be stood on the cross on the floor but also at the right height! This was not helped by two ladies stood in the way of the picture frame you need to line up with at the other end of the gallery!
Model
A wooden box sits in front of Extreme Unction by Poussin. Through a spy hole in the box you can observe the scene seen in the painting. 3D wax figures take up positions around a bed, a strong light coming in from the left. The model in a box is used to help get the lighting right for the painting. At college, one of our first projects was to make a scene in a shoe box and to see how different angles and colours of light affected the mood within. High up on a wall opposite hangs a painting by one of my favourite artists, Caravaggio a master chiaroscuro (the effect of contrasted light and shade in a painting).
Amazing architectural detail
Use of a Camera Obscura is shown exceptionally well in the paintings of Canaletto. His perspective landscapes of Venice so intricate in detail and perspective, the box with mirrors a tool to assist in their creation.
Images reflected down from the roof
Outside the museum is a much larger camera obscura in a hut. The image reflected onto a table of the passing scenes along the road outside. If you had a piece of paper and a pencil these could so easily be traced for the foundation of a picture.
A collection of small drawings by Ingres of travellers amuse and astound with their detail. Hockney after enlarging one of these found evidence that it was possibly traced, marks on the paper suggested the use of a Camera Lucida. Here the apparatus allows the artist to see both subject and paper at the same time. With this points of reference can be marked on the paper, distances between eyes, the relationship to the mouth enabling an accurate dot to dot as it were. Hockney has used the technique himself producing a fantastic portrait of Sir Ian McKellen.
A group of drawings/paintings made using a Camera Lucida and free hand drawing portray a group of gallery staff from the National Gallery who sit and watch the public. They are uniform in both style and clothes, yet unique in the accuracy of their portraiture.
Green a coloured used a lot by Hockney as a base
Hockney would send ipad paintings of bowls of flowers to his friends on a daily basis. Flowers that would last and not wilt in a vase. We saw his filmed footage of landscapes around the Yorkshire Wolds, these used to be painted onto large sections of canvas which were displayed together in a similar way. None of his composite photographs though that show not only a person from one sitting but also everything around them.
Stubbs above, Hockney below
I overheard a young lady looking at a painting of Hockney’s from his college days when abstraction was all the rage. He wanted to go against the formal training he’d received at college depicting a romantic notion from a Blake poem The Tyger, the painting above by Stubbs depicting a similar romantic emotion in a different style. The young lady said ‘that’s rubbish I could do that in ten minutes!’ ‘It’s just all so insulting!’ Art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, whether that be the artists eye or a young lady in a museum, she did not appreciate the strokes of Hockney’s brush and had tainted the whole exhibition as ‘insulting’
What a glum Mary and Christ
At least it provoked emotion from her. I hope that she and her companion had just arrived and that her attitude would be confronted elsewhere in the exhibition. Another lady looked down glumly at the paintings, not impressed either. But then again she does have a very chubby middle aged man for a baby!
A lovely looking sandwich
We broke up our visit with lunch in the cafe, Mick having an egg sandwich with some tasty chutney whilst I had a slightly drab gluten free Mediterranean vegetable wrap without chutney which would have pepped it up a bit.
We maybe should have walked around the other galleries, taken a look at the objects on the lower floors, but the Hockney exhibition was what had brought us here and was well worth the trip out.
On our way back through town we were astounded that there was no queue at Jack’s Gelato, another reason for a day in Cambridge. A study of the menu and we both fancied trying the roasted banana, but sadly so had everyone else and they had just run out! Instead I had strawberries and elderflower with a second scoop of Mango sorbet, Mick Dark Chocolate with sea salt and a second scoop of Honeycomb, well we won’t be back in Cambridge or quite some time!
Double chilled medication
We called into Heffers for another birthday present, sadly the book in question was not on their shelves so we were directed to Waterstones. We were surprised at this until we found out that Waterstones bought Blackwells bookshops a few years ago. They were right to send us to the other shop, where we found one copy of a rather heavy book.
Books books books
Thank you Cambridge for an interesting tasty arty day out.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 guided buses, 1 art exhibition, 1 wrap, 1 sandwich, 2 scoops each, 1 heavy tomb, 1 very good day off, 1 blog post over a week late.
The alarm was set and we were breakfasted, none boating clothes on and walking to the station by 8:20am. Mick had forgotten to bring with him a mask so did a quick dash into Tescos. Then we were on our way to London for the day.
The birthday girl
A tube ride and a short walk brought us to the Walkie Talkie building where we joined the queue to head up to the Sky Garden. After security checks we zipped up to the 35th floor to join Marion, John and most importantly Fran, Mick’s niece who turns 40 tomorrow.
The first section of the viewing gallery really needs a good window wash as dribbles disturb the view across the river. What a view it was! My photos don’t do it justice.
360 degrees of London, all of it.
We paused for a sit down and a young lad was asking his mum what a flower in the garden was, a large yellow lavish affair with bright red stamen. She didn’t know and was suggesting they took a photo and found out later. My app came in handy and we discovered it was a Ginger Lily, the little lad was very pleased.
Fran, Kath and John
Next was a recce of Borough Street Market where we met up with Kath another sibling of Mick’s. A sit down whilst we considered what to have for lunch meant we had to have a drink!
The Wheatsheaf came up trumps with one of Mick’s old favourites, Young’s Original. They also had a couple of gluten free beers to choose from.
Yumm!
Fran and I had our eyes on the paella with giant langoustine, although the chap in front managed to get the last one! Mick and Kath had huge salt beef sandwiches, whilst Marion and John had empanadas.
A saunter along the south bank followed as we’d need to work off lunch. Mick pointed out YET again which buildings he used to work in along the river, along with all the pubs that he used to frequent when he was a yuppy!
Crossing the river
Across the wibbley Millennium Bridge towards St Pauls to catch the tube out to High Street Kensington and The Design Museum.
Lots of things
A cuppa and a sit down before some headed off to look round the Football: Designing the beautiful game exhibition, Kath headed into Holland Park to people watch whilst Mick and I looked round the rest of the displays.
Bethany Williams is a fashion and textile designer. She reuses waste in her work and involves communities. Several items were made from tents that had been abandoned at festivals, others are overprinted with bright bold designs.
Scrubb fabric
She was one of the three designers who in 2020 founded the EDN (Emergency Designer Network). Using their knowledge of textile manufacturing they created a network that galvanised over 200 UK volunteers who made approximately 12,000 scrubs, 100,000 masks and 4,000 gowns for frontline staff. They created their own pattern for ease of manufacture, had factories cut out the fabric and assembled kits for them to be made up.
Designer
The top floor houses an exhibition called Designer Maker User. Here items are displayed to illustrate how important each element of their creation is, whether it be design for a wonderful looking item or a user suggesting an item should be a certain size, each stage is as important as each other. Chairs, Telephones, logos, all sorts of things.
Time for another sit down in another pub The Prince of Wales where we all congregated and refreshed ourselves before crossing the road to eat at Dishoom. Here we were joined by Richard (Fran’s brother), Christine and Paul, leaving only one of Fran’s Aunts missing Anne who is currently with grandchildren in Wales.
Marion, Paul, Richard, Fran, Christine, John
Dishoom is a chain of restaurants based on the old Irani Cafes of Bombay. They serve breakfast, chai, lunch and evening meals. Here the restaurant is based in the old Barkers Department store, 1930’s decor surrounded us. For every meal they serve they donate one to a child who would otherwise go hungry. So far they’ve donated 13 million meals.
The menu took a little bit to understand as the dishes don’t tend to be quite the size of your normal Indian restaurant, so you are encouraged to order a couple each. There was a good gluten free menu, from which Mick and I chose a good selection. At the other end of the table a Lamb Biryani with a pastry crust resembled a cow pie.
Kulfi is always pointy
Paneer Tikka, Chicken Ruby, Bowl of Greens, Steamed rice, a roti for Mick and Kala Chana Salad, all very very tasty. I may have to put the Dishoom cookery book on my Christmas list. Oh and some Indian Chilled Medication of the mango variety.
A very lovely day to celebrate Fran’s 40th birthday, thank you for inviting us.
A little bit of hope on the board
We made our way back to Kings Cross believing there to be a train every half hour back to Ely. But two disruptions had occurred earlier in the day with overhead power lines so the departure board looked a touch discouraging with cancellations and delayed trains. We toyed with going to Liverpool Street Station for a train which would get us to at least Cambridge, but then the board changed showing a slow train to Cambridge. A later train was still showing as heading through Ely an hour later. We boarded the stopping service and hoped the later train would still run so we could change trains at Cambridge. We were fortunate that our plan worked, arriving back in Ely just gone midnight. Tilly was very pleased to see us even though we’d left her with her magic food bowl.
Phew!
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 trains, 3 tubes, 7 miles walked, 3 out of 4 aunts, 1 uncle, 1 nephew, 1 40 year old niece, 1 very lovely day with family, 1 Indian chilled medication.
Our sun cream would be working harder today as the sky was blue and the temperature higher than yesterday.
Today we’d explore a bit more, well quite a bit more, but not all of the festival sight. It really is huge! Before arriving we’d imagined the festival to be big, but in our minds big was actually about a fifth the size it actually is.
That’s what the scaffolding was for!
We ear marked things we wanted to see during the day, the raft race and the Newfoundland Dog Rescue Team. Then we bimbled round the islands between the upper and lower river.
Plenty to keep old and young busy. How many inflatables?
The bandstand area was by far the coolest place to be.
A craft tent, Psychics.
Anglian Waterways tent where we asked about how to sign up for the stoppage notices via email. This was explained and we were handed over a goody bag with an extra mug so that we wouldn’t fight over one. No-one was manning the Waterways Chaplain part of the stand so we didn’t get chance to say hello to Sallyanne who we’d met in Ely weeks ago.
Rice a fairly safe option
Then a hunt round for lunch. One stand looked a possible for me, but when I asked if anything was gluten free, they said no! What did they do to their roast potatoes! Thankfully a little further there was a Paella stand with a big sign saying Gluten Free. We took our foil tins to stand and watch the Newfoundland dogs.
One dog pulling all those people
With a team of five or six dogs various rescues were displayed to us. Basically the dogs love being in the water, in fact they have webbed paws and an extra joint in their legs which allows them to do breast stroke. They saved the best till last, the dog pulling nine people, a boat and engine back to safety.
Yesterday we’d spotted some chilled medication that wasn’t of the Mr Whippy variety, so we called in for some. The flavours gave away the fact that this wouldn’t be fantastic ice cream but still better than what was on offer elsewhere.
A more comprehensive look around the cars today. A lovely Ford Anglia, more mini’s, a Morris 1000 that must have come from the marina, a Tesla car that did a light and window display to music and Prudence a Triumph Herald!
A very good effort
We then found ourselves a space to watch the raft race heats. On our maps this was meant to take place upstream of Town Bridge, all the teams headed down stream to a muster point. There were to be two heats followed by the final which would be against the flow upstream. But hang on they’d all gone through Town Bridge! The course had been altered an hour earlier and we’d not heard the announcements.
The pink handbag not really helping them to make headway
The last raft took it’s time, in the end it had to be towed to the start line, it’s crew really not helping! One with a handbag that was being used to slap the surface of the water. Another lady at the front using her inadequate oar to move water back and forth in front of the raft, maybe this was their steering method, it certainly wasn’t assisting them any down stream!
Spouting whale
Most effort had been put in by one team in creating a Truck, if it hadn’t had the annoying airhorn they’d have got top prize from us. But another team stood on top of their raft with a wavy scene between them, at the top was a whale spouting water, very good.
The start line
We caught up with Sue and Ken again and made use of their very comfy chairs and another glass of cordial. They had plenty of visitors keeping them busy with tours through Cleddau and I suspect the tally of Monkton Moments and Tudor Rose explanations will have shot up, I’ll have to wait for Sue’s next post to see by how much.
Time to head back to Oleanna. Thank you so much Ken and Sue for your hospitality during the festival and it was lovely to get chance to know you both a touch better. We’ll both be heading the same way this week, so we may even get to share a lock or two.
Black cat pontoon
Back at pontoon C a black cat sat right in the middle. I suspect Tilly and this feline will have had words through the windows over the last few days, we’ve certainly had someone scratching around in one of the troughs of wild strawberries!
At around 8:30pm the music from the festival lowered and then stopped. The end of the festivities for another two years. We’ve enjoyed ourselves and have been impressed at the immense organisation of such a huge event.
Tomorrow it will be time to move on and for me to knuckle down to some serious work. I will endeavour to keep posting every day, but the time to write a post will be much reduced whilst I catch up on Panto.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd festival day, 2 paellas, 2 scoops of chilled medication each, 1 handbag, 1 whale, 5 newfies, 2 more loads washing, 1 tank water to top up, 2 boaters ready to move on.
Curtains remained closed this morning. Our port side had shade until about 8am, then the sun started creeping around the trees opposite, thankfully today wouldn’t be too hot.
Tilly headed off to explore, we’d not heard the woofer since last night, so we hoped it had left the island. A small tepee tent had sprung up just along the island from us and there was an aroma of sausages cooking on a wood fire.
Shady hunting
The Geragthy zoom included topics such as honesty, choral societies and how we might reuse the sheets we’d bought. One suggestion being that we might make sails to aid our return to Denver, it would certainly save on diesel. We could even use our new fan should there be no wind to help us move, but that would mean running the engine!
Time to work out how to attach our sheets to the cabin side. All the planks and poles would come in handy, I’d often wondered why we had kept three boat hooks on the roof, but today they’d be useful. The sheets were draped over the cabin side, the top foot put over the roof and into the gutter with a pole to weight it down. This was fine until it came to adding the next length. Tape was deemed to be necessary.
No hospital corners here
I still intend to repaint the grab rail so taping things to it wouldn’t be a problem. The big roll of gaffa I’d liberated from a theatre came in handy for this purpose. The sheets stretched from the front of the cabin to part way along the sign writing at the stern. Thought now is required on how to keep the sheets hanging down when there is a breeze never mind the forecast 14mph winds in a few days.
White side
Mid morning a narrowboat appeared and headed to see if it could get in behind us. Being about 50ft there should have been just about enough space if she could get into the side. The depth turns out to not be that great all the way along the mooring here. The lady managed to get off with ropes and Mick helped get her bow rope. In the end she was moored at a touch of a jaunty angle but the bow close enough to get on and off.
Neighbour
As the morning progressed we kept our eyes open for shady places to sit out, only a small patch that was constantly on the move. Mick trimmed back a few nettles to make a slightly larger area. After lunch the area had expanded enough for two chairs to be in the shade.
Todays office
I set up an outside office and continued to work on my sketches for panto. This year I have yet another boat/ship. One line in the script ‘stoke the boilers’ suggests it’s a steam powered ship. Then there are comments of sails, no problem, plenty of such ships to use as reference, just how to incorporate it into the design?
Maybe something like this
I was very fond of last years ship and I can’t replicate that one. A big steam funnel centre stage will use up too much stage space, but maybe I’ve succeeded in a way round it.
I rather like these
Then there is an island called Petiti which we don’t want to be too much of a colonial island to conquer, after all this is Chippy 2022 panto. At the moment I quite like the look of Singapore’s Supertrees, but Abi the director suggested it might have an edible feel to it all. Maybe I can turn the trees into ice cream cones?! Who knows.
During the day the river has been busy. Plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine and warmth. Our neighbours on the island have been joined by others, they’ve been for a paddle in their canoes and by the sounds of the clinking glass consumed a few bottles of beer between them. The lady on the boat next to us (really wish we’d got her name) headed off to try to find the old lock on the island. Not sure if she was successful, maybe we’ll have a look tomorrow.
Blanket to help keep the bedroom cooler
As the sun moved round our port side went into shade. We popped a cream blanket over the bedroom on the starboard side, hoping that might help to keep it cool for later. The sheets on the port side were lifted onto the roof meaning the windows on that side could then help with ventilation.
This evening I had a go at making Quesadillas. I kind of had the ingredients, but it was a version of a recipe by the gfblogger on instagram. They were nice, but maybe some proper chipotle paste would be better than the chilli dressing I had on board. I’ll be giving them another go at some point as they require very little heat.
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 sheets cut in half, 14m of white cabin side, 1 white blanket for the bedroom, 1 small patch of shade turns into 1 huge area by mid afternoon, 1 wasps nest, 1 weekend long party (must have a boat to access it), 3 canoes, 1 rib, 10 hours shore leave, 1 very pooped cat who really needs to start drinking water!
