The main reason for not hanging about on the River Nene has been the need to return northwards. Peterborough is the ideal place to do this from as the East Coast Main line trains mostly stop here and at York. When the Rail Sale was on we managed to book tickets for a fraction of the prices normally charged, but only on off peak trains.
That kept me going on my journey north
My first train wasn’t until midday, so there was time for a lie in and a proper breakfast. Tilly was allowed some shore leave, but when she returned the doors were firmly closed, I really didn’t want her following me to the station. You’ll notice some extras on the breakfast plate, white and black pudding, the advantage of shopping at Morrisions, they do gluten free versions!
The station is a twenty minute walk from our mooring which looked a similar distance to the moorings on the embankment in town. Most of the walk can be done through park land rather than along a busy main road. My train stopped at every station north. No boats on the Trent at Newark that I could see, but the pontoon in Doncaster looked really quite full. A fifty minute wait for the train to Scarborough and I was soon walking to Sainsburys to stock up on cleaning items that had been used up and not replaced by lour last lodgers.
Alan and Betty waiting or their Ding Ding
Mick hadn’t had enough time to do much at the house last week on his failed visit to collect our postal votes, which still haven’t arrived (but thankfully the candidate we’d have voted for got elected). This visit was to change the beds, do the washing and clean the house as much as time would allow before I was due in York for a hospital appointment.
The washing machine and tumble drier were worked hard, the last load left to finish washing overnight. Ironing until almost 10pm and all the beds made up ready. Our last lodgers along with using things up and not replacing them had done little in the way of cleaning. This meant no undercoat on the windows this visit!
Tilly added her own thoughts to the list too!
Meanwhile back on Oleanna, Mick had a little list of jobs to work through whilst I was gone. Today he took the kitchen tap to bits to replace a cassette to stop the hot water tap dripping. This is the second time he’s had to do this in five years. Maybe the tap wasn’t such a good find even if its shape mirrors the angle of the tumble home!
Well the lodgers had left it!
The cold water side of the tap didn’t want to come off and now when you turn the tap on on that side it leaks at the base of the unit. More investigation required and YouTube watching.
The dishwasher and shower filters were cleaned out too all whilst Tilly explored the environs.
Lapworth Lock 6 to Rowington Hill Bridge 62, Grand Union Canal
Signing in to the Geraghty Zoom this morning was successful, last week we’d had serious problems and had to go around the houses to be able to join and even then we were silent. Today we seemed to be silent again! We signed out and tried again! Mick went into the laptop settings and found that the microphone was off, turned it back on and hey presto we had voices again! The laptop keeps having moments and needs to be put in recovery mode, we suspect this turns the microphone off. At least we know now.
We were beaten to the locks by a boat with many many hands, soon after a boat came from the locks, maybe one lock would be in our favour.
May hands
I went ahead to Lock 7 once Oleanna was in Lock 6 above. I checked round the bend there was a boat coming up a couple of locks away, so I filled lock 7. Soon afterwards a volunteer lockie arrived on his bike. The next pound is on a bend and quite short, so it can be hard for two boats to pass there, the same with the one below. I asked should I empty the lock in favour of the ascending boat, no we’d get past each other.
Such a pretty lock
We were soon joined by the crew from the up coming hire boat, Oleanna descended, their boat waiting in the lock below. Mick brought Oleanna out and pointed her nose towards the side pound and bywash, now the hire boat could cross to the lock above, biffing the sides as it entered. Mick reversed, straightened up and brought her in. We now had the flight to ourselves with the aid of three volunteers.
One chap set ahead, another accompanied us down the flight with his bike, lifting paddles and opening gates, a slick operation.
I went ahead to close a gate behind Oleanna when there was a loud bang/pop noise. The volunteer had just climbed onto his bike to ride down to join us, had he got a puncture? We both turned to see what had happened. It wasn’t a tyre at all. The chap was now sporting a large yellow inflated life jacket around his neck. The self inflate toggle had been caught as he’d set off!
Packing away his life jacket
When this happened to me a few years ago I actually found it quite hard to breath with the inflated jacket around my neck. I shouted to the chap, ‘Can you breath?’ He didn’t reply, he obviously couldn’t hear! Gradually he deflated his jacket and tucked it back into the outer, the gas canister would now need replacing and there were none on hand at Lapworth. Towards the bottom of the first thick of locks he mentioned about the cafe and what lovely cakes they do. We were wanting to keep going so did so as the volunteers headed off for a cuppa and a slice of cake.
Cake shop just below the lock
The next thick of locks we were by ourselves, we dropped straight into the routine. I don’t mind volunteers, I’ll be glad of them (hopefully) at Hatton, but working locks is why I boat and at times I’m starting to feel a touch left out. I may have to become a volunteer myself. Maybe I just need a C&RT sweatshirt, my life jacket is the right sort, so I could pose as a volunteer!
We made our way down to the water point which was free and hooked up the hose. I popped to the Village Shop for a newspaper and returned with a couple of cream eggs too as the minimum spend on a card was £5! Oh dear, never mind!
One coming up Lock 21
As we finished a boat was heading up who wanted to use the water point, so the two boats did a do-ci-do. We then branched off to use Lock 20 pointing us in the direction of Kingswood Junction. We pulled in, made use of the elsan and had lunch before pushing off again and turning right towards Hatton.
We’ll go that way please
The wind was now picking up as forecast. Should we pull in or battle on to where we’d like to moor? We carried on another mile or so taken off tomorrows cruise. The embankment above Rowington was most certainly windy. It helped us moor without much effort!
Tilly set off to explore whilst Mick and I put back the covers. Now our mend to the zip on the cratch had sadly failed the other day. Mick had tried to give the pull another squash to get it to work better, but it looked like it was now too tight to do the job properly. With the open side facing the wind we needed to do something about it before we had a sleepless night and the cover ended up getting more damage.
Tilly clinging on so she doesn’t get blown away
He tried prising the pull out a touch. That didn’t go according to plan! He tried putting back in a press stud to hold the bottom of the doorway closed, but that press stud had always been in the wrong place when entering locks so instead of being sacrificial I’d filled its hole and we’d dispensed with it. Next spare magnets from the drawers were tried. These held while Mick watched, but as soon as his back was turned the cover escaped and wafted around in the wind!
Only one thing for it, the zip would need sewing closed. Not the prettiest job, but hopefully it will serve the purpose until a more permanent mend can be done.
Click photo to go to recipe
This evening we’ve enjoyed Sichuan Pork and greens.
15 locks, 2.94 miles, 2 canals, 1 left, 1 right, 3 volunteers, 1 inflating surprise, 1 newspaper without the good bits! 2 cream eggs, 2 outsides, 1 very blowy day.
Cambrian Wharf to Cast Iron Roving Bridge, BCN Main Line
Time to make use of the final hours of having a car. Last night we’d put the finishing touches to a click and collect from Tescos, so Mick headed off to do that first thing. I on the other hand headed off to the Dentist for a check up, the main reason for coming into Birmingham. Thankfully I got another pat on the back from Colin and he managed to move my hygiene appointment to tomorrow which will save us loitering for a few days.
The walk to the dentist and later our mooring
Meanwhile Mick had chatted to the plumbers in Scarborough and arranged to meet them tomorrow morning, he’d be going by train this time. Our lodgers were informed and hopefully everything can be sorted whilst they are out at rehearsals.
Over the last few days we’ve had one of our CO alarms go faulty on us, replacing the batteries hadn’t done the job, so that needed replacing. Then last night the heat sensor in the main cabin had started beeping, this one you can’t change the batteries so it would also need to be replaced. Although after testing it the beeping stopped, we’d still rather have a new one.
Neither of these had been available to add to our click and collect order so we headed out in the car to Selly Oak where we’d have a choice of shops. We also needed to hunt for wooden cat litter.
The cat litter is as important for Tilly as it is for us. We use it in our composting toilet, both as a base layer and as cover (slightly fluffed up with water). Recently we’ve not found any in supermarkets, maybe all supplies have been diverted into generating electricity at Drax. Mick the other day managed to find somewhere we’d be able to buy a tonne of it, but that would be a touch excessive and we’d need to adjust Oleanna’s ballast.
30 Litres is less than a tonne!
There was none in Tesco’s Sainsburys, Wilkos. But we did manage to get replacement detectors. The search continued at the next retail park where there was a Pets at Home. They obviously knew we were hunting for wood pellets as there was a big pile of 30L bags right by the front door. We normally get 10L bags which tuck away easily. We looked round 15L was the smallest they did, Hmmm? If the shortage continues we’d be daft not to have stocked up. So we panic bought 30L’s of cat litter. All we had to do now was get it back to the boat and find somewhere to stow it where it wouldn’t get damp and expand!
Lego giraffe
Mick returned the car to the airport. I had a good catch up chat with David, he is sleeping better and eating, all progress in the right direction, still a way to go. Then after lunch we moved over to the water point. Here a load of washing was put on, rubbish disposed of and the hose connected to replenish our water supplies.
Only needing to be in Birmingham for a couple more nights we moved over to opposite the Arena and pulled in where we knew Tilly would appreciate the friendly cover. Almost on straight lines Mick added a spring line so we’d not get pushed and pulled around with the trip boats so much.
An original bridge
Just as I was putting down the cratch cover a group of ladies shouted across from the other bank. ‘Where can we buy tickets?’ Sorry, tickets?! ‘For a boat trip. How did we get over to you?’ It took a little bit to explain that this was my home, but I thought they might be able to get a trip if they headed back towards Gas Street.
Much more interesting than a lock
As Mick spent hours booking train tickets to get to Scarborough (4 returns costing about half the price of a ticket for the whole journey), Tilly explored the friendly cover and I got out my knitting needles for the first time this month. There are pairs of baby socks to knit.
Baby sock
Today Versus Arthritis announced the final figure that they raised during the March Challenge which was £138,676.84. I personally raised £320, knitting 9 pairs of adult socks for donations. Now over the next week or so when we’re not boating I’ll be knitting at least 9 pairs of premature baby socks, one for each person who sponsored me. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me and also a big thank you to Lisa who donated some wonderful yarns. I’ll be changing the Redlockmakes page to show the finished socks on the feet they were knitted for soon.
Ali’s socks and feet!
I really enjoyed the challenge and it gave me something to do whilst we weren’t busy boating, sorting the house or working. I’m considering maybe doing it again next year, but for a different charity. I wonder if there are any other Indie Dyers who’d like to donate a skein or two of yarn to the cause?
A sockathon, but for which charity? Alzheimer’s Society. Down Syndrome Association. Mind. British Heart Foundation. Cinnamon Trust. Or maybe to a charity who offer disabled people trips away on a boat. So many to choose from, any suggestions please.
0 locks, 0.22 miles, 1 hire car back, 4 return tickets, 2 detectors, 6 monthly check-up, 30L cat litter, £320, 1 full water tank, 1 spring, 1 full day, 2 hours towpath exploration.
Curdworth Visitor Moorings to Star City, Grand Union: Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal
Heading up to the Birmingham plateau usually means long hard days of locks, no matter which direction you come from. However today was going to be a short one for us as we were heading for new waters!
Daffodils and chickens
The boats around us had already moved off before us, the Anglo Welsh boat starting it’s engine bang on 8am. We’d noticed a slight list to Oleanna, I pushed out the bow, but the stern was being obstinate. Mick popped her in reverse, then pushed, then reverse again. Eventually we were off the bottom just as a boat was coming through the bridge behind us. Sorry we pulled out, we’d reached the point where we just had to carry on.
Minworth Bottom Lock
Minworth Bottom Lock was very full, in fact the top gate was open. A chap was busy picking litter from quite a mound of duck weed on the off side. He asked if we could wait whilst he removed the worst of the weed and rubbish from the lock before I emptied it. Mick hung around below and I chatted with the chap. He does this off his own back, with rakes, landing nets, a bucket (now broken) and a high sided wheelbarrow.
Handy bus stop
By the time I emptied the lock and opened the bottom gate (only one as we’re on the BCN) Mick had managed to pick up something on the prop. A blast of reverse disposed of it, but now he was very very close to the arch of the bridge below. Thankfully he managed to manoeuvre away before any damage happened to the grab rail or pram hood.
Pale patches of grass suggests this lock had work done recently
You could tell the chap had started at the bottom of the locks as the next two got progressively worse, more duck weed and more and more rubbish collecting above the top gates.
Noisy motorbikes on the towpath
With todays fuel prices you would think that would put off the towpath motorbikes, but no. Two kept passing us, up and down the way almost to our planned destination. They paused at the drive through KFC then were heading back of into the distance again
.
Tiger, zebra, giraffe and a crocodile!
A hire boat came past, or was it an Ark? Only one of each animal on board though.
The canal now gets more and more urban. The M6 getting closer and closer all the time, HS2 will join in with this in years to come.
Natural light changing ugly into attractive
Over head a factory was built spanning the canal. Concrete pillars holding the weight beyond the towpath. Today we’d timed our cruise to perfection, the sun streaming in between the pillars. The colours of the (none too artistic) graffiti catching the light and creating an effect similar to that of stained glass. Wow! What a treat.
We were facing Spaghetti Junction, old bridges and new all starting to cross cross at speed above the slow moving canal below. Peeking through under the M6 we could see where we’d be stopping today, Star City.
Left left please
At Salford Junction I gave directions. Not straight on or just left but, ‘Left Left Please!’ Mick slowed Oleanna down and pushed the tiller over, several points to the turn and we were round and onto new water for all of us.
The River Tame below M6 above
Now on the Grand Union, we crossed over the River Tame which quietly trickles it’s way underneath transport old and new. Nechelles or Salford Bridge Stop Lock now has no gates but the canal narrows and a cottage sits behind big fences for it’s own protection. A cheery chap called out to us from the garden.
Ahead was our mooring for the night, Star City pontoon, a secure mooring behind a locked gate, or so we thought. On closer inspection someone has cut away the C&RT padlock. This may have been because the padlock broke. We pulled up at the near end, furthest away from the busy road bridge ahead.
What a long pontoon!
Star City has a huge cinema, bowling alley, restaurants etc. We’d not be visiting and neither would Tilly. This took a bit of explaining as to begin with the trees, cowslips and sideways trees looked appealing. But behind them was a service road then the carpark. The Cat Health and Safety Committee convened and decided it was too risky.
Chopping
After a late lunch Mick chopped up a log that had been fished out of the Aire and Calder by Al weeks ago in Goole. I started on a batch of Hot Paw Buns, mixing together the dough and leaving it to rise before adding the fruit and spices.
Only half of the rip!
Next on the jobs list was the port side cratch cover. Yes we’ve only just had the zips mended but unfortunately when Mick dropped me off at Nether Lock on the Trent the other day we were too busy protecting the cabin side to notice that the overhang attacked the pram cover! A rip along the skirt and a broken zip!
Mended a couple of times before
I’ve been looking online to see if it would be possible to mend the zip rather than replace it. With a pair of plyers in hand I had a go at following the advice I’d found, the zip head may have opened up and not be pushing the teeth together enough, so hopefully a squeeze back would do the job.
Squeeze
I gave the leading end of the zip a squeeze, a slight improvement, but I couldn’t squeeze anymore. Mick came and helped too. Maybe the back of the zip needed a squeeze too. We nudged the head down a touch opened up the teeth behind and applied pressure. Back up to the top as far as it could go and try again.
It would never be invisible so I don’t mind the brighter blue cotton
Well it looks like the job might be done as the teeth are now aligning and pushing together as they should do. We’ll see if it stays together tomorrow when I roll the covers up.
Mick checked the weed hatch, not much to report on the urban jellyfish front. We’ll see what we manage to catch in the morning!
Hot Paw Buns Click photo for recipe
Hot Paw Buns had their fruit and spices added. Normally I’d leave the the dough to rest again before shaping them, but today I experimented, shaping and adding their centres, leaving them on a tray to rise before going in the oven. It took them quite sometime to show any intention of rising, maybe they weren’t warm enough, maybe the yeast was past it’s best, or maybe I was pushing them too soon. But what really matters was how did they taste.
Going going….
Yummy as ever!
3 locks, 5.8 miles, 1 left left, 1 good soul, 1 dinted dinghy! 12 hot paw buns, 2 inches darned, 1 log kindling, 1 zip mended?
This morning Mick tried to get the blog roll working again. Well this ended up with the blog disappearing and being critical again. It had to be the plugin causing the problem.
The morning view
Extra IT assistance was required from our hosting provider. They backed up the blog and then disabled all the plugins. Back came Oleanna.co.uk. Mick then added back in all the plugins apart from the blog roll. During the day he wondered if there had been an update of the PHP and if that might have been the problem.
Plenty of boats out on the hard
An auto update had given us PHP 8.0 which doesn’t appear to support the blog roll plugin. Mick has raised a support ticket with the creator but so far he’s not heard back. Later on in the day Mick downgraded the blog to PHP 7.4 which means we have the blog roll back. Further investigation is required and maybe some assistance from someone who understands coding.
Not a very exciting day on Oleanna, even Tilly wasn’t that bothered about going out. The temperature has dropped, we expect it to go even further.
Oil rig escape pod
We had a walk over to the chandlers at Staniland Marina the main doors firmly locked, but we got waved round to a different door, staff only. No Marine 16 today but an order is expected tomorrow, so we’ll check back then.
Numerous boats sit out on the hard around the marina. Plenty in need of a lot of work. An oil rig escape pod has had the seats removed at some point and sits glowing orange from underneath the developing green patina. Just how do they fit so many people into these things that get launched off of the oil rigs? No wonder the seats look so robust.
I had a walk around the Community Woods. Tracks zigzag their way along with footpaths through the trees. It’s a huge area of straight lined trees and a good place to collect kindling without affecting the natural decaying process too much. I walked almost back to the M18 and then back along the towpath. A new app on my phone helping me to identify plants along the way. Plantnet Thank you Kath from Herbie.
Two boats going down
Mick spent a bit of time in the engine bay, changing the fuel filters. A smelly job but one best to be done before we head out onto the river in a few days.
It’s been a busy day at the lock with boats moving themselves to get through before next Monday. Still no news regarding our cratch cover though.
You may have noticed (unless the problem has been solved when you read this) that there is no blog roll on the right hand side.
This evening Mick came to the blog to have a catch up on fellow bloggers posts only to find the blog was missing, a ‘critical’ error had occured! Oh blimey, what had Tilly been upto whilst we were out earlier?
That sinking feeling
WordPress sent an email to our IT department (Mick) regarding the critical error.
Since WordPress 5.2 there is a built-in feature that detects when a plugin or theme causes a fatal error on your site, and notifies you with this automated email.
In this case, WordPress caught an error with one of your plugins, RSS Feed Checker.
Critical had turned into Fatal in one email!
Not being able to access the ‘dashboard’ to look into the problem Mick was given the option of going into a special ‘recovery mode’. He did this and was able to remove the blog roll plugin. The blog is now visible again. More investigation is required tomorrow.
This fly is far more interesting than the wet outside
They sad it was a Sausage Day, but it turned into a bit of a Frankfurter! She said I had nine hours. Then it rained! Tom said I could still go out. Until he closed the back doors and said he and She were going out instead!
A loaf of bread was required along with a stretch of our legs. So we headed into town to Sainsburys.
Ready and waiting for next Monday
Below Thorne Lock two C&RT boats are sitting waiting for next week, they have small diggers on them, the sort that are used for dredging only a bit cleaner! These will be joined at some point by a big crane boat which was being used at Newark Town Lock until recently.
Thorne Boating Services
With our shopping done we headed to Thorne Boat Services to see if they had any Marine 16, an additive Mick likes to put in the diesel tank to stop diesel bug. We looked round the chandlery, but they had none. Today their diesel was £1.45 a litre.
Closed to pedestrians
To cross over the canal we headed for the troublesome footbridge just as someone was opening it to get their boat through. Good job it wasn’t a windy day as when the chap had taken his boat through he stepped off without a rope. Pedestrians including ourselves were on hand to open the barriers, if we hadn’t been we suspect his boat would have drifted away just that bit too much to be able to jump back on. One of those instances where you just have to wait till it drifts back towards a bank.
Dolly Earl always has washing hanging out
We tried the Chandlery at Staniland Marina too, but the doors were firmly locked. Maybe we’ll try again tomorrow.
Mick called the chap who has our cratch cover, it is ready and he’ll bring it with him one day this week when he’s back in Thorne to do other work, he’s not sure when yet.
Pollington Visitor Moorings to Goole, opposite the concrete works, again!
I know I need to wash the windows, but…!
Who stole the outside!?! It had been an alright outside in the end, but now someone had stolen it! Thankfully by the time we wanted to be on the move the sun had started to burn it’s way through the fog, however a layer of merk lingered all day.
There were rendezvous to be met back in Goole, we just hoped that there would be space for us where cars can pull up close.
Imperceptible Norf
Through the haze we could only just make out Drax Power Station.
A Kingfisher sat singing as we passed.
A deer sprang it’s way across the fields stopping to check on us before heading into the woods.
Someone was moving house on the M18.
Back in Goole there was actually a choice of spaces where we wanted to be. We pulled up in the first one. A van was pulled alongside one of the boats. Mick chatted to the chap who was from a covers company from Hull. Did they do repairs? Yes, they could resew the zips into the cratch cover for us, £25, but they’d have to take it away for a few days. Fortunately they will be working on a couple of boats in Thorne next week, so we will coincide with them there.
Frank arrived an hour or so later, just as a batch of chocolate chip cookies came out of the oven! Then he set to on the freezer drawer.
With three layers of ply beneath the drawer Frank used his router to cut out a large rectangle, this would allow more air to circulate around the bottom of the drawer, there were already three holes to help air come up from the bilges.
A couple of ply runners were added to the floor to lift the drawer up slightly. These had a layer of candle grease liberally applied to them. Then the front edge of the drawer had some gliss domes screwed on. This is so that when you pull the drawer out there is a frictionless surface that will slide across the floor rather than a hard edge of wood. Small recesses for the gliss domes were chiselled out of the bottom of the dinette so that everything slid back into place. All we needed now were longer screws to reattach the drawer handle.
Outside knitting, until it got too cold.
Inside a narrowboat isn’t such a good place for gongoozling someone at work. Mick followed Frank around with the vacuum cleaner, Tilly busied herself in the trees and friendly cover and I got a chair out and sat in the sunshine knitting.
An Indian Takeaway from Leaf Tandoori was picked up and enjoyed with a glass of wine and plenty of conversation. I held of on my second glass until after I’d had a telephone conversation with a Director about a possible show, it went well, hopefully tomorrow I’ll find out for sure if it went well enough.
Mick decided to turn Oleanna around first thing, so as to make the most of todays sunshine on the solar. This would mean no shadow cast across the panels from our chimney. The big wide Aire and Calder is handy for such manoeuvres, no need to cruise to the next winding hole here, just untie and turn round.
Supervising the pram hood coming down
Once we were moored back up Tilly sniffed the air. A new outside!It smelt similar to the last one they’d tied up. When the back doors were opened up she skipped up the stern steps and then realised, Tom only span it round!!!!
Two phone calls this morning. The first one from the Keadby Lock Keeper Mark. At one time there were three Marks who worked there. He apologised that nobody had called back sooner, but he’d been off with Covid and today was his first day back. Mick checked tide times with him for the days we were considering. Spring tides early in the day, so if we wanted to we could do Keadby to Cromwell in one go. We’ll make our minds up about that nearer the time, possibly on the day. I popped a notice on the Trent-link group offering to be a ‘Buddy’ boat as we’ve done the trip several times before.
Next came a phone call from the opticians. My glasses had arrived! Hooray!! An appointment was made to have them fitted in a couple of days time, I’ll go to Doncaster on the train.
Time to make use of our location and the sun. The washing machine was put to work, three loads in total. The whirligig was popped up and filled, then the airer was popped out on the towpath for our socks.
The pram cover was unpoppered and laid out on the picnic bench by the water point. Mick attached the spray to the end of the hose and I filled a bucket with soapy water. The covers were going to get a good scrub.
In the first lockdown we gave the covers a spray of Wet and Forget which with the assistance of sunshine and rain gradually cleans your covers, or helps to keep them clean. We found it to be quite good and still have at least another two sprays worth left. Our covers though after two winters being stationary had gone very green especially where they are horizontal and meet the the cabin roof, so I’d decided that we’d give them a scrub first before a spray was applied.
Got to make sure he does it right!
The picnic bench here is handy to be able to work at a good height and before lunchtime the pram hood and sides had all been scrubbed both inside and out and given a good rinsing. I got to the scrubbing, Mick the rinsing and Tilly the supervision, when not looking for friends.
The cratch cover followed in the afternoon. As soon as they were just about dry they went back on the boat. Much better than they were and now we just need to find a suitable spray bottle, to avoid RSI, a couple of days of sunshine and they will get a spray of Wet and Forget to improve them more.
Clean new ropes
Mick then set about swapping Oleanna’s ropes for new ones. The ones being replaced we bought when Oleanna was new, the ropes she came with were too thin for the reduced grip on my right hand, so thicker 16mm ones were needed. They have served us well being used for over 5000 miles, but they were looking a touch tatty.
Old centre lines, worn soft shackle and a nice new one
We’ve had the new ropes for maybe a couple of years, just never felt the need to swap them over until now. A new soft shackle replaced the old one on the roof for the centre lines too. The old ropes will be kept and possibly used should we end up mooring up for winter again.
A spin round in the tumble dryer for our socks and pants meant that Tilly ended up with a nice cosy bag to snooze away the evening in. She’d had a very busy day despite there being few trees to climb within paws reach.
Next pair
By the end of the evening the next sock had had it’s heel turned, what a productive day.
Bramwith Junction to only just on the New junction Canal
A very sunny day, but the wind where we were moored seemed relentless. Looking up and down the canal we could see that it was a lot calmer just across the way at the beginning of the New Junction so before we did anything else we released ropes, let the wind push the bow round (well we had no choice in this) whilst the stern was still tied and then finished our turn, just as a cruiser was heading our way. Luckily the South Yorkshire Navigations are very wide. There was a little bit of confusion as to which side we were heading for due to the wind and our wind, but we both passed with ease.
Wind pushing us round to the junction
This was to be the only boat we saw for quite sometime today.
We pootled a short way up the New Junction to where there was a horizontal bar to put chains round, the bank here a touch lower than elsewhere. Tilly was given eight hours shore leave, she headed straight off into the friendly cover and started eying up the local trees. Despite her presence the Chiff Chaffs sang their hearts out for us.
A cooked breakfast, another round of when and which way should we go. Still no decision, it would help if my glasses arrived!
Time for some boat jobs. Mick climbed into the engine bay and set about doing a gearbox oil change. Fuel filters will follow another day and the reason for an engine oil change (leave it with nice fresh oil whilst idle over the winter) has passed, so that can wait until the engine hours reach the next 250 hours.
I got out the wood polish. Time to give the interior wood a touch of tlc. I don’t polish the wood that often, in fact it is quite a rarity, possibly only the third time since Oleanna was new. Life has far too many interesting things to do which doesn’t include polishing wood or boats in general. But occasionally I just feel the need and have to act very quickly before the feeling passes.
My dodgy right hand isn’t too keen on certain jobs and a dodgy left shoulder now too, meant I did a very good job of our bedroom but then stopped for the day. Maybe next weekend I’ll tackle half of the living area, leaving the galley for the following weekend.
Happy tail in the sunshine
Over the last week Mick and I have been trying to wean ourselves off closing drawers as we enter backwards down the stern steps. Ever since Frank added the magnets to the ring leader drawer we have had no problems with it at all. After four nearly five years of always having to close drawers as you enter it is now hard to get out of the habit.
The freezer seems to be cooler too now in it’s perforated drawer. We just need it to go back on drawer runners, have an area underneath cut out for extra ventilation and maybe it needs a new handle as the old one fell off the day after Frank had put it back on for us, I think the thread has gone.
Look at that wake!
Considering it was a calmer sunnier day than yesterday we were surprised at how few boats came past. One rib zoomed up the cut creating a similar wash to Exol Pride. Then mid afternoon a narrowboat appeared, followed by three more boats. They’d all fit in Sykehouse Lock together and be able to leapfrog each other through the bridges.
You wait for ages, then three/four come at once
I normally avoid mentioning politics and world events here, but today I need to record news regarding my cousin Tim. Today we received news that he and his wife are in Ukraine. The fact that he has a new wife was news in itself! News on the social media grapevine, at least fourth hand, is that they moved out from their home in Chernihiv (north east of Kyiv) due to the fighting and were now in the countryside about 2 hours away with no electricity and an earth toilet. This was three to four days ago. I so hope they have made it to somewhere safer and that better news filters through the grapevine soon.
0 locks, 0.18 miles, 1 windy wind, 8 hours, 2 many woofers for a Mrs Tilly stamp, 1 polished bedroom, 1.5 litres oil, 1 inch short of a sock, 1 missing cousin.
Exactly as the title suggests today was far too windy to go anywhere, even Tilly wasn’t too enamoured with the constant blowiness. Yet other people were on the move. Adams Ark a local widebeam was busy taking groups of cubs from Barnby Dun up to Bramwith Lock and then along the New Junction for a short distance. There was usually a very short person stood at the helm guessing which way to point the bow, they were accompanied by two adults who could see over the roof. Other boats came past struggling in the wind, one getting stuck on the bank opposite us as they hadn’t had enough umph to keep going.
A lonely daffodil
After the Saturday morning Geraghty Zoom (amongst the topics, missing glasses, avoiding Labour and Swedes) we headed out to walk back to Barnby Dun to post off my socks and find a newspaper.
The ladies at the Post Office/Spar shop were very busy chatting away. The lady at the Post Office counter did interact with me briefly, but the lady I bought our newspaper from didn’t even look in my direction. Everything was purchased using contactless and nobody even mentioned how much things were. I checked my receipt a few hundred yards away, well it seems that I got some postage for free because they were all too busy gassing!
The Church of St Peter and St Paul
We walked through the village, which has been subject to new house building through the ages. Originally the village was an agricultural one, when the canal was built in 1732 produce was moved from Hull to Doncaster and Sheffield. In 1860 George Frederick Milnthorpe brought prosperity to the area by opening a malt kiln, this meant those who worked in the fields could now work through the winter. History Link. Land was sold off to Pilkingtons. Stainforth and Bentley pits were sunk at the beginning of the 20thC pulling people into the area. In 1959 Thorpe Marsh Power Station was built bringing more jobs to the area. The power station still appears on quite a few satellite images of the area even though the last two cooling towers were demolished in 2014 using no explosives, just a wire! They also appear in our Nicholsons guide in the Aire and Calder Section. A Gas fired power station was planned for the site, but has never been built.
We headed for the Farm Shop that I visited a few years ago. Set back from the road there is plenty of parking and a couple of picnic tables to enjoy a slice of cake and a coffee outside.
When last I visited there didn’t seem to be much fresh produce, although I think I’d only come for a carrot and a cooking apple which I managed to get. Today the place has changed.
A full rack of fruit and veg, fresh eggs, a butchers counter, plenty of the posh preserves and some frozen items. Little was priced! This always puts us off.
We picked up some spring cabbage and a leek for next week. Ogled at the 31 day dry aged beef in it’s climate controlled fridge, blimey those ribs looked good! At £31 a kg they weren’t the most expensive item, fillet steak was at least another £10. With no price on the boxes of eggs we refrained from buying any.
The people in front spent over £75, the chap behind had a shoulder of lamb and some pork fillet along with a box of eggs, his bill would be big too. In between them we stood with our cabbage and leek, £1.96! Well we are on an economy drive.
On our walk back be passed the Co-op, Mick popped in and bought the last dozen free range eggs. I wonder how long it will be before you can buy free range eggs again, or are hens destined to be barn dwellers forever due to avian flu?
Good, but not as good as mine
Lunch today consisted of sad git’s Hot Cross Buns (M&S gluten free, very tasty) followed by our treat cheese. Ribblesdale Blue Goats and some Wookey Hole Cheddar, plenty left for another day.
Cheeeeese!
Mick considered doing an engine service, the one he’s been meaning to do since November! But with the wind blowing straight across the canal he was worried he’d loose things like funnels, so this was put off again.
I got on with a new tension square with Lisa’s yarn on slightly bigger needles. This had meant pulling out the pouffe and revealing the secret passageway to Tilly, she’d so easily amused! I discussed sock knitting with lots of ladies on the March Knitting Challenge Group. I’d always been put off of knitting socks, never being able to get my head round four or five needles. But when I came across circular needles designed for socks and I gave it a go. I now love sock knitting and have my own pattern.
Cauliflower Cheese with extras, click on the photo for recipe
This evening I cut up the cauliflower we’d bought at Doncaster market. Blimey it was huge! I got half way through and decided I’d keep the other half for Monday evening, possibly a roast cauliflower korma that we’ve not tried before. Have to say size isn’t everything, we’ve been spoilt with our organic veg in Scarborough, Tree Top Press‘s caulis have so much more flavour.
0 locks, 0 miles, 6500 steps, 5 pairs posted, 1 newspaper, 2 chatty, 1 PO balance that won’t balance, £1.96, 12 eggs, 1/3rd of a sock, 0 service, 1 very blowy mooring.
