Category Archives: Knitting

Panto Postcard 3, 2025

68 hours

**Finn, the old silver back cat of Hackney**

A bit of a lie in compared to recent times. A cuppa in bed and then it was time to firstly say goodbye to Mick who was on a booked train back to Scarborough, although a broken track north of Peterborough meant an alternative route and being over an hour late back. My morning was slightly more leisurely before catching a bus back to Stratford, then an Elizabeth line train to Paddington. Here I had quite a wait for my booked train, so I popped round to have a walk around Paddington Basin to get a boat fix.

Not one boat was moored in the basin, in fact I had to walk up towards Rembrandt Gardens before I got to see a boat other than the restaurant boats or those that are used commercially. I checked to see if there was anything suitable in M&S sad gits section, but there was nothing, I ended up treating myself to a festive sandwich and a salted caramel shortbread which is a serious treat nowadays.

My hosts Rachel and Geoff back in Chippy had insisted they would pick me up from the train at Kingham Station, the closest to Chippy. I’ve not done this route before, but it was very handy and with Rachel stood waiting for me meant I didn’t have to get soggy in the rain. A ten minute drive back to Chippy and I was headed for the theatre again.

**The illuminated Snowman means Gemma is in office**

Gemma was back with us for the week, my floor had dried well and despite it being the easiest floor I’ve ever painted at Chippy it got lots of lovely comments. A production meeting to welcome the new week was held, followed by a props meeting. A long list of makes, purchases went on the back of a door in the foyer, jobs allocated out to different people. Large proppy bits of dressing still missing from the list, it’s more important to get the props people use made and sorted first, we already had things to stand in for the dressing, hopefully these will get added later on, Hopefully!

Pond fogger experiments, food colouring, and lots of areldite filled much of the day, followed by panto equations. A swift glass of wine in the pub before returning to my digs to try to get the songsheet designed. My old laptop still in use for this as the new one doesn’t have the programs on it yet required. This made for quite a late night, the lack of programs has also made the delay to this Panto Postcard.

Tuesday, sadly I’d used an old version of the script to do the songsheet. Corrections were sent to me from John. Today we started the technical rehearsals. Yesterday lots of sound had been sorted, but more needed to be done so that the keyboard player (Musical Director) could hear and speak to the drummer, also so the actors could hear themselves sing, levels and extraneous noises needed to be worked on. This all took lots of time meaning there was lots of standing around for the actors and plenty of time for me to make more roses which will have built in lights. Notes were taken and passed on to those who would be doing the work. Paul busied himself on making items with electrics inside them, cogs and LED light bulbs, the bench in the technicians office was very full.

Wednesday, day two of the tech. More roses made and passed behind me for Gemma to add the lights into them. Min and Helen carried on busying themselves with the props, some items now starting to come through to the technical in all their finished glory. We got into the slosh scene without the Pippins, sadly not as far as John had hoped, problems with sound slowing down the technical rehearsal still. I headed home at the end of the day to rework the songsheet, coming up with two different versions, this meant I had an extra hours work at home despite an earlier finish to the day.

Thursday. 2D Chandeliers were finished being painted. It was only when one of them sat on the floor waiting to be hung that I could see that my trompe l’oil painting had worked. They got flown out to await their appearance later in the show. During lunch breaks I’ve been working on the band surrounds to tie them in with the backdrop. White, yellow, then orange, a bit more orange before I could start to paint in the roses. Not quite the same technique as with boat roses, but they came out quite a good match to those that are printed elsewhere on the set. More technical rehearsals, we got to the end of Act 1, returned to the start of the show when the Pippins arrived to tech them into the show too.

I had a list of jobs to do in the evening, but instead we spent an age getting everything on the laboratory bench working. John and Amy chipping in new ideas when we could see everything working. A few new items needing to be purchased and more things requiring arelditing down.

Friday. Oh, Panto technicals go on and on! Today most of the food was added into the show. The table we’d had made last week now filled with a feast of culinary delights. Polystyrene balls were threaded onto wire, hoping to add an extra something to the set for a scene, all whilst the technical continued on stage.

Saturday. What should have been the last day of the technical rehearsals, but putting the feast into the show with large costumes for the Pippins took an age, it’s really rather complicated. The day was then spent jumping ahead big chunks so that all the scenes with the Pippins in could be teched, we managed this apart from the finale! I spent much of the morning painting a part painted painting, hope I left enough unpainted.

**Time and distance calculations required**

By 2pm the actors were broken, but the technical team kept on working. Adjustments to the chandeliers were needed, some tidying of the portals up ladders. John did some speed and distance tests with two of the quieter characters. Then as people started to head home I managed to put the finishing touches to the floor with some gold lines and a coat of glaze to protect the final swirls. I still have a few bits I’d like to do to the set, but it’s now at a point where it looks finished, well apart from adding a LOT of roses everywhere!

Sadly by 6pm nowhere in Chippy would sell me less than 500 grams of mince, I’d fancied cooking up a bolognese sauce, but I really don’t want to be eating the same thing every day for the next week. So I opted for a pizza with extra toppings and actually managed to get a second sock cast on whilst watching the first episode of Game Of Wool, not too sure what I’d have come up with in 12 hours trying to knit a tank top.

Meanwhile in Scarborough, life for Tilly hasn’t been quite so boring. Somewhere in the house she found a mouse and took it to play with in our bedroom in the middle of the night. It has since been seen in the living room, but that was a few days ago and Tilly seems to have forgotten about it. Maybe it’s had enough of being a playmate and found a way out of the house!

During the week I’ve had some sock shots sent to me. Thank you for sharing your feet, it must be the cooling weather than has encouraged people to pop their socks on for a photo.

**Aristotle Bridge moorings almost empty**

Sunday. A much needed day off. I joined the Geraghty zoom, started to type up this postcard, then headed for the S3 bus to Oxford. Should I head into Oxford or alight in Woodstock to have an explore and something for lunch. Mick and I visited Blenheim Palace after the first year of working on Chippy Panto, but I’ve not looked round Woodstock. I decided that what I actually needed today was a boat fix, so I stayed on the bus and hopped off early at the stop closest to Aristotle Bridge. Only two boats moored up at the far end of the moorings. Since we were last here there are electric posts, it would have been a good place for Oleanna to loiter whilst I was working, however I think (I didn’t check the signage) the moorings are 2 days all year, so Mick wouldn’t have been able to loiter for long.

I walked down towards Jericho, the ditch alongside the towpath full of water, then Sheep Wash channel looked quite full the Thames would almost certainly be on red boards. Every boat I walked past was familiar from our winters on the South Oxford Canal. I nearly felt like tapping on roofs to say hello to them. At Isis Lock a boat was just going down in the lock. The chap picked up a rope and walked along the bank towards the pontoon, they’d be winding and heading back up the lock onto the canal again, the red lights on the board flashing away warning of the level and strong flow on the Thames.

I had a walk up to look round some shops, checked the menu at the Cosy Club. On Broad Street there was a Christmas market, lots of food and things to buy. I then headed to Pitt Rivers Museum that sits at the back of the Natural History Museum. A wander around the main exhibits, then extra time spent admiring a display of quilts from Hawaii. Symmetry, landscape and nature all featured in them.

I headed back through Jericho looking for somewhere to eat, but ended up back at the Cosy Club. I’d had a nice meal there two years ago and hoped for similar. Sadly there wasn’t a table in the restaurant but a high stool in the bar. I ordered a burger as I was bored of chicken and the only fish dish had coconut in it. The novelty of having a bowl of gravy with my burger was interesting until I realised that the burger was rather dry without it. A mediocre meal, that I’d hoped would be a treat. Never mind.

Back to Chippy on the S3 no view this time as it was very dark. Another episode of The Game of Wool was watched. It’s okay, but I doubt I’m going to be chomping at the bit to see who wins. Back to work tomorrow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 delayed train, 1 storm, 435 holes in the theatre, 28 roses, 3 paintings, 3 molluscs, 1 mouse, 2 many days of tech, 1 evening off, 1 pooped designer, 3 versions of the songsheet, 2 buses, 32 familiar boats, 1 favourite museum, 2 Christmas presents bought, 4 added to a list for me, 1 disappointing burger, 0.5 of a sock knitted, 1 major store having stolen my rose idea!

**John Lewis has a far bigger budget than I do!**

Panto Postcard 1, 2025

2 Replies

66 possibly 68 hours

Mick having been given the okay to drive again meant that instead of a seven hour train journey to Chippy we hired a car to get me and all my kit down to Oxfordshire for work. Tilly got really quite worried as I packed my bags, she stayed at arms length hoping that she’d not be bundled up into the cat caravan to move again so soon. She was safe though and was left with the magic food bowl for the night.

I’m staying at the Old Bake House again this year with Rachel and Geoff, I had one night here two years ago and remembered that you have to take care on the wooden steep staircase up to your room. However, this time I’m in the room that Jo (the old props maker) used to stay in which has a bath in the eves of the roof, I’ve had to ask her the best way to get in and out of it as on my first attempt I was worried I’d not be successful in extricating myself and end up being in the bath all week!

The drive down was okay, we dropped bits in at the theatre where the stage had been made ready for the get in and the stage floor was about to have it’s first coat of paint, then we headed for a curry. Two years ago we’d tried one restaurant which wasn’t that great, so we headed to Cafe Raj. We were the only people there, the occasional take away being collected, but they felt the need to put the music on to help create a bit of ambiance, which really wasn’t needed. The food was okay.

Then to the Blue Boar to meet up with Gemma (Production Manager), Chris (Production Carpenter) And Tom the sound designer, this year is Toms first visit to Chippy Theatre. Nice to have a chin wag and catch up with people before the morning.

**Louisa and Paul sorting out the print for the portals**

Monday, first thing was to put the model back together again. It’s been about three months since I last had to show the model so it took some thinking about. Meet and greet with the company and a cuppa, this was to be followed by the read through. I’d hoped to be able to attend this, but I was needed on stage sorting out the printed elements.

Somewhere between me giving the final approval for the print and it arriving at the theatre extra length had been added! Not ideal when things are meant to marry up on joins of existing flats! This was all quite a brain ache for us all. Model was shown to the actors and the costume designs shared too, then it was time to put my dungarees on and see if there was anything I could paint. Not much but I found things to occupy my afternoon.

Around 4pm the built parts of the set arrived in two vans. Jamie the builder had come for a nosy and to talk things through. Everything had a base coat of paint on it, which is fabulous, it saves me several days work and getting in the way. The auditorium very quickly filled up. Time for a drink with the actors then the tradition of fish and chips. Unfortunately the Blue Boar was packed, it was half term, you could only eat if you’d booked, so we all ended up at the burger van instead.

Tuesday, I opted to finish painting the largest pieces of scenery for the castle. This was achieved in the day along with a few other bits and bobs. The portals were hung and Gemma, Chris and Paul did their best to get things aligned with the print. They did as well as they could, I may have to go up a ladder and add a few extra lines if things annoy me and I have enough time to do so.

In the afternoon sliders were taken out into the garden, which then became a paintshop as I sprayed them with a darker blue towards the edges. These will get some gold lines too at a later date when things are more complete.

The traditional fish and chips had to happen today, so Gemma went to see if she could book us a table at the Blue Boar, they were booked up again! Thankfully though Checkers could accommodate us, the fish and chips not quite as good as I remembered them at the Blue Boar, but at least we’d managed to get some.

**Paul, Louisa, Toby, Gemma, Chris and me**

Wednesday, I moved onto working on some of the walls. Min the props maker officially started, although they’d been around for the last two days. I’m very used to Jo turning up with a car load of props already made or partly made on her first day, so I was a little surprised with just a lot of stuff that arrived that still needed to be worked on.

**Spiking the set, putting down marks on the stage**

Places to fly things were put in the rig, large trucks were made for bikes and early afternoon we worked through the show marking on stage where everything should go for each scene and trying to work out where it would all go when not on stage! A larger shoe horn will be required this year.

**Health and safety chat before we showed off the set**

Mid afternoon the Pippins (local children who form the chorus) joined the actors in the auditorium for a health and safety chat and then we ran through the set, showing everyone what each scene will look like. Well nearly as much of it still needs the painting to be finished. Stage Management were mob handed and the scene changes seemed to go really well, here’s hoping it stays that way when they are down to a team of two on a show. Gemma and Chris headed off back to Bristol and Bath at the end of the day now that everything was more or less on site.

**Props labelled, even the ones that didn’t need it**

Thursday. I’ve been trying to walk around the houses to keep up my brisk minutes on the way into work. Today I walked round almost to where my previous digs have been before in Chippy. It was nice to walk down Spring Street again, but I was disappointed that there were very few Halloween decorations outside a house by the theatre, they normally really go to town.

**Wall finished, just waiting for roses**

From now on rehearsals are on stage. I managed to get a second piece of wall finished, just one more to go, but that was buried behind a lot of stuff. Rehearsals require props, many appeared labelled to within an inch of their lives, crates and trays labelled with options, I could relay information to Min who has set themselves up with a workshop in the foyer. Props for a photo call needed to be prioritised. The attic storage was gone through, more items labelled.

Once the actors had finished for the day there were a couple of hours to be able to work on things on stage before finishing at 8:30 to grab something to eat and make it back to my digs, eat and be ready for Traitors by 9. I’m not so sure I’ll manage to get home in time next week though.

Friday I discovered that the Co-op sad gits section can have ribeye steaks in it! I opted for a wild mushroom risotto, which was very nice. I’ll be popping in on my way to work in future to see what I can get cheaply.

The choreographer and I set things out on a lab bench before rehearsals started. I had a go at making the giant rose to hang on the proscenium, but the yoga matt I’d bought turns out to be too thick and it’s turned into a Rugby player kind of rose, I need to rethink it. Props were requested and sent into rehearsals, not many the actuals yet.

**Anna, Louisa, Paul, Jack down the front and Toby who got rather hot in his costume**

It being Halloween, the theatre crew had opted to dress up. We had the Cat in the hat (Paul) and the Kitten in the hat (Jack his son), not sure who the others were meant to be, but that’s because I’ve not watched certain films. We did have a moment when the cat got stuck in a truck, but we managed to get him out again.

Instead of going out trick or treating I ended up spending what was left of the day hunting round the internet for fake food only stopping when I heard the clock downstairs chime midnight. Not what I’d planned on doing with my spare time, but someone had to do it.

**Yep the bucket fits! Amy the Choreographer**

Saturday morning was spent trying to find suitable ingredients for the slop scene. I managed to get lots of brisk minutes in walking from one end of town to the other to buy cocoa.

The actors were in for the morning. The set was wrapped up in plastic to help protect it should the slop in rehearsals get flung a bit too far. Buckets were tried out for size, overalls put on, then all slop was let loose! Quite a mess and quite a spectacular effect was achieved, I won’t tell you about it as I know some of you will be seeing the show, but it had us all in hysterics.

With the stage to ourselves for the rest of the afternoon, roses were flame proofed, I put first coats on the lab bench and table, things were tidied up for photos on Monday. Then I concentrated on getting the band surrounds to match the back cloth. This was all very simple on the model, a bit of paint followed by some water. Now it is all 25 times bigger I needed to use a sponge to try to match them. A good weeks work.

Sunday, a lie in, a bath now I know how to get out of it. A walk down to where I think the old station used to be. The Geraghty zoom included Goldie and the Gingerbreads, the Beckhams and avoiding trick or treaters. Unfortunately last night my laptop hinge gave up the ghost which means my camera doesn’t want to work, so I joined audibly instead.

Then at 12:30 my cousins Ian and Sally arrived to pick me up and drive out to Great Tew to the Falkland Arms, a lovely thatched pub with a lot of beer jugs hanging from the ceiling and an open fire, all very Cotwolds. We were joined by their two daughters Jenny and Sam. A very good Sunday lunch was enjoyed by all, Sam and I making the most of the gluten free extras we could have, all washed down with a couple of glasses of wine. A very lovely afternoon with the family. This is now the third year in a row we’ve managed to get together, we must try to get my brother along next time.

Meanwhile in Scarboreugh, Tilly is having to cuddle up to Mick every night and has spent sometime inspecting our neighbours washing and the inside of our tumble drier. The 50m cable Mick thought he had doesn’t seem to exist anymore, so more has been purchased. Weeds have been chopped up and the brown bin is full for collection. Annie our lodger has moved in, she was nearly joined by another actor at the beginning of the week, but that didn’t need to happen in the end.

Nearer to Chippy the South Oxford Canal opened up to boats on Monday. During the seven days the locks down to Banbury have been open 178 boats passed through the Claydon Flight. We’re very glad we’d not tried to get down to Banbury now, as much as it would have been nice to be home at the weekends we would now be stuck.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 0.75 socks, 1 pair delivered, 1 awkward bath, 1 blue floor, 3mm not 15mm, 1 butch rose, 200 pretty roses, 300 foam roses, 4 rose bushes, 2 vans of set, 3 windows finished, 2 walls finished, 1 visit to the kebab van 1st fish and chips, 1 baby, 164 brisk minutes, 34.84 miles walked, 5 Leckenbys out for lunch.

The Hunt For Oleanna. 21st October

Scarboreugh / Redhill Marina

The last week has whizzed by. It hasn’t taken us long to get back into the swing of house living. The first veg box arrived with giant onions and a whole lot of fresh organic goodness, the cauliflower did us for three tasty meals it was so big! After the first couple of days Tilly has gone into her house hibernation and is asleep most days until 3pm when she deems it is time for her evening dingding!

I’ve packed up a box of painty stuff to head down to Chippy ahead of my arrival. Constant phone calls from the set builder keeps me on my toes, plus messages from the props team and production manager, there are days when I hardly get chance for a peaceful walk around Scarborough.

On Sunday we managed a walk down to the seafront, a charity run taking place. The bridge to the Lighthouse is currently stuck in up mode so right now you can’t do a loop around the harbour. But the donkeys are still on the beach, maybe they’ll get time off when half term has been and gone. By Monday our colds were deemed no longer contagious, so we had a visit from Frank. He was on good form and talked to us for about an hour over a cuppa, we hardy managed to get a word in edgeways!

Today we were on a train at just gone 9am, heading southwards to East Midlands Parkway. Train timetables are such that we’d arrive at York just as the train we want is leaving, if the two trains connected it would save an hour on our journey, but such is. So we at least get a view of the North Sea and the Humber on our way via Hull and Sheffield, a route we are quite familiar with. The train goes through Goole where we’ve moored for the last few winters, it’s just a shame that we still have another two hours to sit on a train to reach Oleanna this winter. Our next trip down may well be by car.

Sat right under the cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, East Midlands Parkway is an odd station, the steps up from the platforms have been there a while, but look like they are washed down everyday. The waiting rooms are large, a cafe, a big car park and then one of those roads off a motorway that seems to go to nowhere, except this one goes to the station and Redhill Marina. We’d both looked on Google to see if there might be a direct footpath, but no, the car park is in the way!

As we walked in we looked round at the boats on hard standing, no sign of Oleanna. Where was she? No sign of her out near what they call the hill where grit blasting is done. But time was ticking on, the marina cafe would be closing soon and it was a long time since breakfast. They had gluten free bread so we both had sandwiches and a large pot of tea to share. Very nice and reasonable. If we end up staying a night I now know I could have a very naughty, but nice, cooked breakfast as their sausages are GF.

Next we headed to see Mandy in the office to do the paperwork. She’d taken our money for lift out and hard standing before she’d headed on holiday. We’d left the form we’d been given on Oleanna and not filled it in in advance, so some of the boxes, like Boat Safety and Insurance couldn’t be filled in as the information wasn’t at our finger tips, so we’ll have to send them via email. I missed all this as Jamie called from Dawlish to check heights of windows and positioning of braces for panto.

So where was Oleanna? A chap driving a JCB was tasked in helping us find her. We’d been warned that the marina is a working environment and you certainly have to keep an eye on where you are walking, the ground is lumpy and not the tidiest of places. The chap pointed to Oleanna’s pram hood, there she was. We now just needed a ladder to be able to climb aboard. A wooden one was found for us.

We’d forgotten to take our sack barrow and the Brompton to the house with us last week, and my painty long handled small roller pole can now go back to being just that rather than a mooring aid for chains round armco.

Whilst Mick checked everything was okay with the solar etc, I got the tape measure out to calculate how long a hook up cable we’d be needing if we want to plug in. The nearest board worked out to be 37m away! Our current hook up cable is 10m. However the board we’d been pointed towards didn’t have a suitable spare outlet for us. A look around gave us another option which was maybe a few more meters away. Is it worth spending the money on an extra long hook up cable? It will mean the router can be put back on and Mick can keep an eye on everything and should it become really cold the electric heating would be able to kick in.

I emptied and filled all the damp traps around the boat. Cushions were lifted and cupboards opened to help with airflow. Mick tidied the roof, bringing in anything that might get blown away.

An inspection of Oleanna’s hull. She was last out of the water in 2021 when she was blacked, she had new anodes added then. The old and new ones, looked to me to be in a similar state to each other. We’ll see what other people think nearer the time to her repaint about them. Back in 2021 large areas of blacking came off with the jet wash, not being able to get her grit blasted back then, the chaps did as best they could grinding off any 2 pack that was loose. Today there were areas that could have been better, but I personally had been expecting worse. We could also spot areas that were missed when the top coat was applied four years ago, the coats underneath go grey after a while. When Oleanna is repainted she will be fully grit blasted, then 2 pack blacking is applied everywhere, not just to the hull and base plate, but also the cabin sides. This time she should have blacking that lasts that bit longer as it won’t be painted onto any mill scale.

**Everything left open for air circulation**

A final check to see if she was happy where she was, she’s still smiling, with her red lipstick! All covers poppered down, I gave her a pat as we walked away. Mick will be down sometime over the coming weeks to check on her, he may well stay over as the journey is quite a long one.

The door to the painters workshop was closed, aromas of paint coming from their extractor. Either they were busy or they had gone home for the day. We opted to send Tom an email and headed back the twenty minute walk to the station.

Free reading matter was picked up at the station, but I only looked at the pictures and hunted through Vogue for the fragrance samples I remembered as a kid, Vogue was the only magazine my mum got. Yes there are still samples, in slightly different format.

Up to Sheffield. We managed to get ourselves seats on the train to Scarborough which was good as there ended up being not much standing room left, but by Hull the train had thinned out, by Scarborough we were the only ones in our carriage. Unfortunately there were trespassers on the line so our train was delayed. Then at Bridlington we were delayed further as ahead there is a stretch of single track and we had to wait for the south bound train to arrive before we could carry on north. We were guaranteed to be shouted at by Tilly when we got home, she did not disappoint, WHERE’S MY DINGDING!!! You said you might be a bit late but it’s over twenty seven cat naps late!!!!

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 1 delay repay applied for, 1 cat home alone, 2 cobs, 1 large pot of tea, 1 form still to be filled in, 1 hunt for Oleanna, 1 wooden ladder, 8 cooling towers, 1 bazar station, 2 hours before return, 2 mini socks, 1 very hungry cat.

Packing Onto The Stern. 13th October

Trent Lock to Redhill Marina

This mooring hasn’t been so enticing to Tilly this time around, maybe there are no friends left from our previous visits recently. She still managed a few minutes out on the towpath before returning to snooze in front of the stove.

**Quite picturesque, just a worry with the proximity of the weir!**

Breakfasted we made ready to push off. Not far today, but a move we couldn’t put off. This morning was a bit misty, but the cooling towers were still in view, just the tall chimney disappeared into the clouds. We turned left towards the River Soar. There has been a small cruiser sat down towards the weir for some time, it looks well settled, engulfed by its own island of pennywort.

**Oleanna’s last lock of the year and in her current livery**

Soon the red hill comes into view, then the houses built on stilts to be above flooding, then a few boats, then Redhill Flood Lock. This, even though we’d only be going straight through it today, would be Oleanna’s last lock for this year.

There was no gap outside the cafe or marina offices, so we breasted up next to a boat and went to see if anyone was in the office. Mandy was away on holiday, we’d paid in advance over the phone last week, but Graham would be about somewhere. Mick rang the number on the door, an old chap answered, asked lots of questions, maybe this was the owner. He’d let Graham know we were about.

By now a boat had pulled off from in front of the cafe, so we nudged along and tied as close to the bank as we could, the bottom being a touch too close to get right in. Graham came over to say hello, asked if before we left if Oleanna could be winded to face the slipway, then she could be bow hauled onto the trolley and pulled out by tractor. Sadly we won’t be around to see that.

**Oleanna is likely to sit in the shadow of these towers for a while**

After a bowl of soup and finishing off some bread from the freezer we walked up to see if we could say hello to Tom who will be giving Oleanna her repaint. Our slot is still some time away, but we thought we’d just let him know we were here now. However Tom had headed off early today, much better than watching paint dry.

**If dog’s are not allowed off lead here, then cats most certainly are not allowed out!**

No shore leave for Tilly and time to start packing things up. It’s always hard to know where to start. Knitting and socks first. I still have so much yarn! Then I moved onto work things, digging out bits that had been stored under the dinette and in cupboards. I don’t think I’ll get the chance to return to Oleanna before I head to Chippy so I need to be thorough.

Usually when we move back to the house Mick heads off to pick up a van from Scarborough, by the time he’s returned I’ve got quite a lot packed that goes straight into the van, then more packing can happen. This time is different.

***I’m going to stay here and guard Oleanna***

We needed to pack as much as possible, the stern under the pram hood was filled with boxes and a few bits ended up in the cratch too trying to equal the weight out, then the dinette started to fill up. We stopped when it was time for some food. More still to be done in the morning.

***There’s stuff down there that needs packing!***

Tilly quite enjoyed it all, getting to places she’s normally not allowed. The SECRET PASSAGEWAY!!! Then she tries to help by checking what is stored under the bed and being in the way of us lifting the lid. There’s nothing in here yet! The holdall soon filled up. Hopefully we’ll have enough Ikea bags, boxes and crates for everything!

During the day I’d had numerous messages about panto frames, a constant stream of whatsapp from the props maker, then more from the production manager, two ideal chairs that were to be picked up this week had been sold to someone else! Grrr!!!!

Chilli from the freezer tonight, it is almost empty, just one crust of bread and one bread roll left.

0 locks, 0.6 miles, 1 left, 1 flood lock, 2 bowls of soup, 6 ikea bags, 1 holdall, 1 empty space beneath the dinette, 1 quizzical cat, 1 hour in the passageway, 1 last night onboard, 2 lemsips before bed, 1 cat caravan hiding in the cratch.

https://what3words.com/birds.comically.sleepers

Kind Tissues. 11th October

Trent Junction

I took over the tea making duties this morning, one mug actually being Lemsip. The fire was stoked up and a shopping list put together. Mick stayed in bed for a snooze, I headed out to stock up on tissues that would be kind to noses and more cold drugs, plus a Saturday newspaper.

A couple of boats had moved off this morning from above Trent Lock, they’d been there on the 2 day mooring with all the other boats for getting on for at least two weeks. Maybe we’d move up ourselves, but with Mick full of cold we opted to stay put. Tilly stayed by the stove all morning but ventured out later on.

**Samuel Clegg’s Arts and Crafts house, click photo for more info**

I’d got boat jobs on my list for today, but with a snoozing Mick I postponed them until he was awake in the afternoon. Yesterday when mooring up I felt like something was missing. Where was the rosemary plant? We’d had it when mooring up at County Hall Steps as it got moved into the cratch to avoid being blown away by Storm Amy. Neither of us remembered moving it to get the hook up cable out from a welldeck locker when in the marina. Where had it gone? Maybe one of us had lifted it out of the cratch for some reason, or maybe an opportunist had picked it up when we’d stopped for soup the other day. That’s two plants down this year, the Thyme hadn’t liked being in Leeds and totally gave up when I re-potted it. Have to put some herbs on my Christmas list!

***I’ve used this outside all up now, can I have a new one?***

More links came through for pieces of furniture for panto, then some light fittings. Some perfect chairs and a choice of tables. Then a very long email from the props maker who has been very quiet since our four hour long meeting a few weeks ago. They’ve not got started yet for one reason or another, which is a touch worrying. But then they are only contracted to do a weeks work prior to rehearsals starting. I’m really hoping props don’t become bum squeakingly worrying!

The latest trailer for panto is out with a nice view of my model in it. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1D8BXXUZQ1

With Mick now up and about, blowing his nose still, I could get on with the autumn job of cleaning the window frames out. Normally this requires a touch of gardening as seeds green things have taken hold, but today there were only a couple of blades of grass. The fluffy strip the glazing sits on normally is quite gunky, however since the summer has been so dry this was not the case.

Each window came out, had a good clean on both sides. The grooves they sit in were hoovered and washed out and then the most important job making sure all the drain holes were clear. Ten year old cotton buds are bent to get through all the holes. It’s amazing just how much York silt we still had on the starboard side. Tilly got a touch confused when one window was lying on the sofa, The view wasn’t as good as I remembered it!

Stir fried chicken with noodles, followed by crumble and custard. The next pair of socks are nearly completed.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 cold Mick, 1 newspaper, 2 boxes tissues, 2 lemsips, 49 brisk minutes, 7 windows cleaned, 2 kitchen still to do, 1 level mooring required, 2 chairs, 1 table, 1 flurry of emails.

Milky Camomile. 9th October

Scarborough / Castle Marina to Beeston Turnover Bridge 19, again!

Breakfasted, a chat with the Liza and Stuart, then it was time to say our goodbyes and pop the cat caravan in a blue Ikea bag and head back to the station. Another four hour journey, work progressing well on sock pair 106. The tide was further in than it had been yesterday as we passed the Humber Bridge.

A change at Sheffield gave me enough time to briskly walk to M&S for a sandwich each whilst Mick changed platforms and got us a cuppa. On closer inspection of the PG tea, we wondered how long it would be before the tea would actually look like tea? On the train the brewing was checked again, still no more colour. A sniff. Hang on this wasn’t decaf! Well it is naturally decaffeinated as it was Camomile tea with milk!

Back in Nottingham we walked back to Oleanna via the canal. I popped into Sainsbury’s to buy some bicarb and vinegar, I’m going to have a go at cleaning the sink traps of gunk.

Tilly was happy to see us both. We kept the caravan out the back so it didn’t spoil our return for her. Dry washing was packed away, a few items like socks still a bit damp were popped in the tumble dryer, the dish washer popped on. Once these had used as much electric as they needed we disconnected from the hook up, untied and pushed off back out onto the cut.

**The birds have taken over the marina**

Slowly we made our way back out towards Beeston. Today there was no warmth from sunshine, today we needed fleeces and fleecy coats. A bit under 3 miles we pulled in where we now seem to moor in Beeston. The spikes went in far easier than they did a couple of months ago when the earth was baked hard.

Needless to say Tilly wasn’t impressed with the new outside. Well it’s just the same as everywhere else in Nottingpants!

Pizza, then it was time to get started on Celebrity Traitors, there’s also Blue Lights and Bake Off to catch up on and that’s before Riot Women starts on Sunday! So a plea to the world, please no spoilers as we’re already a little bit behind, plus when I’m in Chippy I may get even more behind.

0 locks, 2.7 miles, 1 left, 2 trains, 2 bicarbs, 1 litre white vinegar, 2 camomile teas, 50 brisk minutes, 1 empty food bowl, 1 small pile of biscuits, 1 caravan hidden in the bow now, 1 stove lit, 2 pizzas, 1.2 episodes of Traitors watched, oooo!

https://what3words.com/neon.twigs.tricky

Jingle Genocide. 4th October

County Hall Steps

Miraculously we both managed to sleep pretty well last night despite the strong winds. This morning the wind was still about, we expected it to get worse after midday with rain too. So far the only casualty from the winds was a lid from one of our solids containers. When buckets become full they are put outside, either on the roof or the gas locker, with a lid almost closed on them so that the contents can breath as the composting process begins. Maybe in future storms the lids will be firmly pushed on!

After pottering away a few hours, no shore leave granted for Tilly in case she blew away, we both headed out, hoping to beat the rain. Mick headed into town by bus for a flu jab and I walked along the river bank towards the west, heading into the wind. Coo, blimey it was strong! My hood up to keep my cap on my head, and clinging onto my hood whilst my coat filled up with air like a Michelin Man.

Under Wilford Suspension Bridge, the river side path moves away from the bank a little and is boxed in by fencing and a flood protection wall. In amongst the modern glass and concrete buildings stands 26 Wilford Lane, a Victorian house with a tower and many pigeons in residence. The boarded up windows suggested a building awaiting a sad end, the tower suggesting it should be given a new lease of life in my opinion.

Looking round on the internet later I came across numerous articles about the house, a few years old now. The property was first approved for demolition six years ago, a new building encompassing six dwellings was to be built in its place. Two years ago the Nottingham Civic Society was urging that the building should be kept, it’s architecture and historical interest needed to be kept.

The house used to sit next door to the Plaisaunce. The son of John Boot, who founded Boots in 1849, Jesse Boot is known for having transformed the chemists into a national retailer. The businessman commissioned Plaisaunce himself and it was built in 1897 by Charles Glenn, having been designed by the architects Bromley & Watkins. It was Jesse and Florence’s Summer House, with extensive grounds, tennis courts, garden parties and firework displays were held here for their employees. During World War 1 it became a venue for wartime fundraising activities. After Jesse’s death it was sold in 1932 and was demolished in 1961.

I found a date that suggests permission for demolition is due to expire 14th October 2025! Will it still be standing in 10 days time?

**Trams making use of the old river crossing**

I carried on along the walk, passing a couple of schools, and joined the tramway which crosses the River Trent at Wilford Toll Bridge, this according to our maps is the furthest you can get by boat up stream. It opened for traffic in 1870 and is known locally as Halfpenny Bridge. In 1974 it closed to traffic as it’s central span was found to be in poor condition, it was replaced in 1980 by steel girders and concrete. In 2014/15 it was enlarged to accommodate trams.

The rather nice little toll both today was emitting an aroma of toast, it’s now a sandwich bar. Sadly customers stood in the way of the menu and prices. Back along the northern bank under the London Plane trees, I hoped their sturdy trunks would keep them upright in the strong wind.

By Trent Bridge are some old Victorian public toilets, Grade 2 which appear to be to let. Well the sign says they are under offer, but that looks to have been the case for a few years. The toilets were closed 20 years ago and the council were looking for someone to repurpose the building whilst keeping the terrazzo flooring and cubicles. Photos of inside can be found here.

Discussions regarding the next few days, what to do, where to go? A few days ago we’d made a plan, but it didn’t have enough spare days, just in case something went wrong. This along with a comment from Paul Balmer has changed our minds. So long as the river behaves after the storm we’re likely to stay put for a little while and enjoy being in and around Nottingham.

**Might need to wear my sunglasses for this pair!**

The afternoon was spent in front of the stove. Firstly finishing off sock pair 105 of my Sockathon, then winding up some extremely PINK yarn for the next pair. These were cast on whilst watching Alpha Papa 2013, on iPlayer. An Alan Partridge film where Norfolk Radio station is about to be taken over and one of the presenters ends up holding the staff as hostages. Jingle Genocide ensues, an amusing film for a blustery Saturday afternoon with a bored cat on my knee.

Pork stroganoff this evening to help use up some of the roast pork from a few weeks ago.

0 locks, 0 miles, 49 brisk blown minutes, -1 lid, 1 amusing comment, 1 change of plan, 1 bored cat, 1 flu jab, 2 bikes collected, 1 tower, 9 lucky pigeons, 1 toasty bridge, 2 public loos, 1 sock, 2 feathery holes mended, 1 inventive use of gaffa tape.

Amy’s On Her Way. 3rd October

Stoke Lock to Nottingham County Hall Steps

**There seem to be so many Egrets on the Trent this year**

Mick showed me the old drive plate this morning. It’s not meant to turn, well only if something goes wrong and it’s designed to be the thing that breaks protecting the gear box. Turning it over we could see how much it was moving about sideways too.

With the hope of not getting wet we wanted to be off and away in good time, but as we pushed off it started to spit, this gradually increased to light rain as we headed up stream waving goodbye to Stoke Lock. That’s another lock on the River Trent where we’ve had an incident of some sort, we’re up to three now!

At the 5km mark Mick radioed ahead to Holme Lock, the volunteer answered very quickly. He’d have the lock ready and waiting for us, ‘Come in on the green’. Walking through Oleanna I popped my waterproof trousers on, no point in getting soggy whilst penning up in the lock!

**It was good to be back on the move** **even if we got wet!**

Holme Lock is such a slow riser, but then again it is a big lock. Thankfully all the paddles at the top end work, you’d be there half a life time if they didn’t! More scaffolding was going up on the weir. No moving boats in sight, maybe we’d be the volunteer Lock Keepers only boat today.

A sign on a sunken boat made us both smile. I suspect the owner hasn’t found the situation amusing. You Sank My Battleship. Bankriver, Banksea’s lesser known cousin.

Two cranes were around parts of the new bridge, enclosures created up high and some welding going on. Formers were going together on both banks for concrete, the footings of the bridge soon to be poured. The local news suggested the bridge would be going into position next month sometime.

Under Trent Bridge and to County Hall Steps. Here hopefully we’d be far enough away from trees during Storm Amy. There are rings to tie to, which we’d need to keep an eye on if levels rise, these are quite high up on the steps and selecting the right rings for Oleanna’s length proved a little tricksy, but we got there in the end.

***Not if they’ve any sense in this weather!***

It was now raining pretty heavily. I suggested twenty minutes shore leave to Tilly. She managed to get two steps up the bank and endured twenty seconds before returning for some Dreamies. Rubbish, now I’ve got to use the on board facilities!

Yesterday I’d had a lengthy email from Chippy about the roses we’re aiming to make for panto. Four people had made around 20 in three hours, was this a practical idea? I know I can make at least 4 in an hour, if not 5 or 6 if I really got going. I’d made suggestions to lighten the load from volunteers, cutting the estimated number needing to made from 600 to 250, but we’d need to buy roses to fill the gaps. Jo the General Manager at the theatre had made another 10 at home last night, a bright pink star goes to her. It’s now down to those who hold the purse strings, that’s if they ever reply to emails!

The ducks were having difficulty swimming upstream against the waves and wind. Mick headed out to buy a few things and I walked around the block. This involved crossing Wilford Suspension Bridge. The bridge will be closed for a day next week to remove all the love locks, the owners have been asked to come and remove theirs. Walking along the north bank was quite blustery and I was always aware of the big trees.

I checked Meadow Lane Lock, it was still there, then turned to face the wind, blimey!! Crossing Trent Bridge I tried to keep to the outside edge, the wind pushing me towards the cars, then back along the bank to Oleanna. The wind too strong to have a longer walk today.

When we’d moored up today, Mick had used one of the new fender hooks, hoping it’s lower profile would mean that the pram cover could be poppered down all the way along, leaving little chance for the wind to catch a loose section. He’d used a buoy fender to keep us away from the bank more in the wind. However the weight of the buoy and the wind had meant the fender hook slipped off from the grabrail, thankfully the buoy floats and the boat behind had stopped it from being blown too far, so we didn’t loose the eye. We’ll try a more standard fender from it when the wind has calmed down, but so far it seems that they might be kind to paint work, but lack enough gripability.

Jacket potatoes went in the fire box, the coals not up to full winter heat yet so the potatoes cooked but didn’t get crispy skins. With them we had a chicken coleslaw using up the last of the roast chicken (from the freezer) and various bits of veg.

1 lock, 5.5 miles, 1 soggy morning, 1 far more soggy afternoon, 6 Egrets in flight, 1 NHS letter to London, 1 storm Amy not here yet, 1 noisy night ahead, 23 brisk minutes, 20 seconds, 1 slippy fender hook, 3 jackets, pair 105 knitted, pair 106 designed, 1 rose coup hopefully averted.

Ten Going On Fifty Six. 1st October

Stoke Lock

My favourite, Webbox for breakfast!!! It’s rare She gives me Webbox, but today She gave me some whilst She and Tom were still in bed! Result! Apparently it’s because today I am ten. I’ve been warned not to expect Webbox every morning just because I’m ten now. Did I mention that I’m ten, She thinks it’s important, I think I am still a cat.

Have to say the bag She had smelt very good, it smelt very very good indeed, in fact it smelt so good I tried to get into it the wrong way. Inside was a furry, feathery, yummy smelling thing that just had to be licked to death. She said she now regretted getting me something that would be covered in lickingness. But I’m ten today so that doesn’t matter.

After some biscuits I headed out to check on the outside. Yes it was all still there, plenty to climb and scratch around in. She says my nails are filthy, but I don’t care, that’s because I’m ten today.

An email to the Production Manager for panto was needed for a catch up, things were feeling a little bit too quiet in panto world. She didn’t reply but within an hour Jamie, the set builder, got in touch saying they were about to start. He has concerns about one piece of the build and would I consider some adjustments to it. He made a suggestion, hmm. Not ideal. I thought some, asked a question with a suggestion back. This then morphed into a hybrid solution which would require some redrawing.

**1st of the month, time to annoy the spiders**

After lunch with Tilly back on board I’m ten today! it was time to head to the water point. This morning RCR had called saying an engineer would be with us tomorrow morning. If we end up without a working engine at the end of tomorrow we want to be prepared, batteries topped up and a full water tank. However this would mean having to move with part of the engine soon to fail, add into the mix that we are on a river and fairly close to a weir!

I insisted that the anchor was laid out ready for deployment, not on it’s prongs, but there on the locker lid ready should it be needed. Things were moved out of the way. We discussed the plan of action. We untied. Mick pulled us backwards away from the trees at the bow, then gently nudged us away from the mooring, winding to head down stream. All went well and we were soon alongside the high wall of the lock cut. The stern needed aligning with a ladder, which Mick climbed, bow and centre line were tied. Hose passed up, a small adapter required for the tap, then we could fill the water tank. The pressure wasn’t too great so we were there for a while.

Next was the slightly more risky manoeuvre of returning to the mooring. The lock cut wasn’t wide enough for us to wind in, so we needed to reverse out of it. The grinding noise was worse in reverse, but Mick took it gently, then with help from the bow thruster we turned to head up stream and pushed on back to the mooring. No need for the anchor thankfully. Just as well as all day we’d only seen a couple of boats come past who’d have been able to give us a tow back to land.

Sock pair 104 were packed up and then walked to the post box I’d spotted the other day in the village. I’d considered walking further today, but I needed to try to get the adjustment to panto sorted.

The other day I invested in the program I’d used to clean up the print for panto. A one off payment rather than a monthly subscription. I scanned in my drawing and was able quite quickly to adjust the width of the gate curly bits. This printed out at the correct size so I could amend my drawing quickly. Brilliant. I’ll still need the drawing board out to finish things off, but far quicker than doing it all by hand. I just need to keep finding reasons to use the package and learn new uses for it.

Kedgeree this evening, well we had to have something fishy to celebrate Tilly’s 10th birthday, she’s nearly caught me up now as in cat years she’s most probably about 56. Tilly had salmon in gravy! I had requested, frogs legs, clams, tuna steak with a bit of cod’s roe on the side and a fricassee of shrew. She said that with our current engine problems they’d not been able to get to specialist fishy froggy shops and maybe I was better off self catering.

0 locks, 0.1 miles, 0.05 there, 0.05 back, 2 winds, 1 full water tank, 10th Birthday, 56! 1 catnip kicker, 3 shrews, 1 mouse, 1 attempt at a squirrel, 1 boat back on it’s mooring, 1 engineer in the morning, 1 more thing to okay for printers, 200mm lost from gates, 2nd day of waiting.

A Bag Of Surprises. 30th September

Stoke Lock

Tofu had been omitted from our shopping list on Saturday, no rush to buy it, but I decided to see how far it was to the nearest shops. Yesterdays find of paths along the drainage ditches across the fields, meant there might be two routes to the retail park. I headed across the fields to the good track that skirted round more fields. After a while the tarmac vanished, but well worn tracks took over. I’d studied Google maps and not been able to find a definite way into the retail park, so when I heard voices up on the embankment by the lagoons I headed that way to see if someone could help. With directions I could now carry on, arriving at the delivery side of the shops, but from here I could easily get onto the main road and gain access to the front side of the shops. Around 2 miles walk.

First stop M&S Food Hall. I was after tofu and a cooking apple. They had apples but not tofu. I scanned the shelves for yellow stickers, best done in the mornings at M&S, but very little took my fancy, so I left empty handed there were other supermarkets to try.

Next, Pets at Home. It’s a certain cat’s birthday tomorrow and some treats may be required. I considered boring presents. A new bowl, no point she has bowls in both house and boat. A new collar, that wouldn’t go down at all well. A rainbow bow, or glittery one, they wouldn’t last even a matter of minutes. I scanned the shelves for her favourite treats and picked up a new toy.

**A strong Halloween vibe in Morrisons**

Across the way to Morrisons for tofu, success and an apple, I had to buy 5! I only wanted one. Oh well there are some blackberries in the freezer, we’ll just HAVE to have a crumble! Never mind!

I found the other route back to the river that the Lock Keeper had mentioned to Mick yesterday. Not a route I’d choose to do near dark, a well worn path, but carved through dense undergrowth. Back at Oleanna a little later than planned I tucked surprises away in a cupboard and had lunch.

Mick called in to see the Lock Keeper to let them know we’d be here for a few more days. A note was made in the book for when the number checker comes round, they are apparently quite hot round here, shame they’re not so effective around Nottingham at the moment.

A bit of hunting around for panto again, another blog post caught up on then it was time to finish weaving ends in on a pair of socks. Who decided to use so many colours?! It took forever to weave all the ends in, but at least they are done now and once packaged up they can be on their way.

A request for a hair cut was granted. Stool placed out on the bank and a grade 2 trim was produced without either of us falling in. Mick now looks a lot neater. Lemon Chicken stir fry tonight.

After a quick shower each this evening our water tank is now down to a quarter. Tomorrow we’ll maybe bite the bullet and head for a top up, hoping to make it back to our mooring with a full tank to await RCR’s return.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 sausage day for Tilly, 79 brisk minutes, 5 miles walked, 1 bag of surprises, 1 block of tofu, 5 apples, 4 boats, pair 104 finished, 2 clean boaters (we couldn’t wait any longer), grade 2 hair cut, Day 1 of waiting.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna