Category Archives: The Garden

Short Of Nothing We’ve Got. 20th April

Nantwich Embankment

As we’re near a water point the washing machine was put to work whilst we had breakfast, another load would be needed before the drawer was empty again.

Mick headed off to Sainsburys with a bike and lots of shopping bags leaving me to walk in on my own for a few bits. The Alms Houses on Welsh Row are even prettier than before, their gardens growing greener every day. Forget-me-nots and bluebells contrasting with the red paintwork. I think they are my favourite buildings in Nantwich. They just need a visit from Frank Matthews to replace the spikes on their roofs.

In town I first visited Holland and Barrett being asked to wait outside until someone left. A chap on a bike joined the queue behind me saying he’d had short shrift from a lady in a different queue earlier today. She’d bitten his head off rather than give him a polite answer and a smile to his question. He preferred our queue.

Tulips and Wallflowers, they remind me of Rowntrees in York

Holland and Barrett was the first shop I came across to bring in measures to protect everyone, and with each visit they add more. Today I was invited to use some hand sanitiser as I walked in, both members of staff wearing masks. They had brown rice flour but no gluten free plain flour. Two bags bought and I was quickly out of the shop, I can now see if I can persuade my sourdough starter to come back to life with the aid of a cabbage leaf.

Next the bakers. Mick is very partial to cheese twists from Sainsburys, sadly they hadn’t been available when our shopping was picked this morning. There also hadn’t been time to pre-order a pork pie from Clewlows, so a cheese and onion pasty and a medium pie would have to do instead.

Boots to stock up on eye drops, at the till they had some hand sanitizer so that was added to my basket. Then round the bend to Home Bargains where I joined the orderly queue down the side of the building. As I neared the front door Mick came past pushing our click and collect order. A quick once around the shop and I’d found hand wash and some new clothes pegs, we could now hang the washing out with confidence.

Back at Oleanna, Tilly was closed in the bedroom whilst all Micks shopping came in, disinfected and stowed. Then she was locked out of the bedroom as I brought my shopping in, then back in the bedroom as the final items were disinfected.

Sadly for Tilly we’ve decided to stay in Nantwich another night so for some of the afternoon we had to cope with her protestations at the back doors. Once she’d visited her pooh box she calmed down a touch.

Tomorrow she will get a fresh box, she’s really done her best to use shore based facilities and this lot of litter still has life in it even after three weeks! As a treat her escape pod came out, I was told off for not getting the roof on it quick enough though! This can only mean one thing, a river cruise. Hooray!!!

The whirligig was put up with washing on it, but during the afternoon the wind got up, making sound effect noises at our windows. Despite having new clothes pegs Mick decided to put the washing on hangers in the pram cover, safer than having to fish it out from the cut!

Some more work on my illustrations this afternoon. One I was very pleased with, another not so. Faces either work really well for me or take several attempts. On the virtual poses I’ve been using, the head of one of the characters seems to be a touch too big for her body so I’m having to adjust it as I go. Still plenty more to do.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 bike of shopping, 1 pleasant queue, 1 pasty, 1 pie, 1 lot of eye drops, 2 bags flour, 0 plain flour, 1 big pork joint, 1 red cabbage, 1 leaf, 2 loads washing, 1 escape pod, 1 happy cat, 3 illustrations, 2 episodes of The Nest.

The Aroma Of Camembert. 18th April

Lockdown Mooring 4

Checking into our weekly Geraghty Zoom slightly late this morning we had to quickly join in with singing Happy Birthday to Tilly (Mick’s great niece) who was turning five today, we also got chance to wish Kath (Mick’s little sister) a belated Happy Birthday for yesterday. Everyone was in high spirits as we got to see all of Tilly’s unicorns in turn, our Tilly returned in time to wave a muddy paw to everyone too.

Discussions on the latest two National Theatre productions were held. We’d not watched Jane Eyre which others had but we’d seen Treasure Island last night. A lot of money had been spent on that set. When I was at college 30 years ago my final project (only designed and never realised) was Sweeney Todd set on the Olivier Stage. A visiting Production Manager told me that the budgets for such a show at that time were around £100,000 and I’d spent all that on my set only! We all suspect that when the National Theatre reopens the budgets will be far smaller for some time.

A grey day with showers. Mick decided to get a bike out and head to the garage for a newspaper as we’d missed out last weekend. He donned waterproofs as it was a touch wet and set off only to return a few minutes later once he’d noticed a puncture!

As he set to mending it the heavens opened, he sought refuge under the pram cover and continued mending the hole. The position must have been easy to find as no bowl of water was required. Then he was off down the towpath.

I continued with virtual poses for my illustrations. Then moved onto sizing them ready to be used as guides for my drawings. By the end of the day I was happy with how the second drawing was turning out with the addition of an oak tree into what would have been my set design. The opening drawing can wait as it should be quick to do with nobody in it.

Mick returned with our Saturday newspaper and left it for tomorrow. As we sat and half listened to the news conference from Downing Street an aroma of Camembert wafted through the boat!? Strange as we don’t have soft smelly cheese on board at the moment!

It reminded me of when I went on an exchange trip to Dijon in my early teens. My host family kept a very ripe Camembert in a cupboard in the kitchen, whenever the cupboard door was opened you fought to stay upright. The poor York lad who had ended up in the same house as me really couldn’t cope with it and Monsieur Boulot made the most of the situation.

At least the aroma on Oleanna meant one thing, neither of us had lost our sense of smell, a new symptom of Covid -19. But just where had this aroma come from?!!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 toasted cheese scones, 2 birthdays, 10 hours shore leave, 9 pheasants, 6 more poses, 1 new neighbour, 1st sketch, 1 puncture, 1 wet day, 1 soggy cat, 1 oak tree, 0 yellow ribbons, 0 veg boxes available this month, 1 cheesy smell, 1 look to my left … Mick!!!

Poses. 17th April

Lockdown Mooring 4

This outside is almost completely worn out! It is exhausted and so am I. She says it’s because of Lockdown. But we used to do that all the time (apart from when we did Lockup) and that was how they moved the outside up. I know because I used to sit in the window to see them raise it. I may be given 9 10 hours, but I’m starting to not be able to use all those hours. Please will someone come and move the outside for me! I’ve run out of friends!!

Time to start my illustrations for The Garden. Amy the director had filmed rehearsals, and has pin pointed certain moments that would be good for my pictures. This morning I started the process by working my way through the footage and taking snap shots to work from. The angle of the film isn’t that great and it being a physical theatre piece with all the actors wearing black it is hard to make out forms, but it’s a start.

It’s a long time since I did any life drawing, I get away with basic human beings in my costume designs. These are always standing figures, looking this way or that. What they are wearing is the main interest. But with the illustrations I need to be able to have people seated, dancing and look reasonably human, rather than disjointed. How to draw someone sitting cross legged?!

I had a hunt around on the internet for a program the other day that might help. I’d found a couple of programmes, but today I came up trumps.

JustSketchMe is an on line program where you can choose one of several figures. Male adult, Female adult, children, teens, dogs and cats (if you pay for it). Each figure is jointed, so you can manipulate their limbs in three directions to whatever position you like. It takes a little bit of getting used to, which arrow works which direction of movement, especially when you are at an odd angle. You can move around the figure to see it from different angles, this helps to make sure they are sitting comfortably.

Each dot is a joint that you can move in three directions

As I worked on set ups, I started to add a second figure, a web grid helps you to ground them and then move them round to face each other. A form of perspective. I got quite into it all and worked my way through nine of the fifteen set ups before my shoulder was aching and I needed to go outside and have a game of stone with Tilly. A good start though.

Whilst checking on delivery slots this morning Mick had spotted another one. He jumped in and secured it with some wine. Marvelous, three deliveries around a week apart. Except the first one, next week had vanished! Try as we did there was no sign of it anywhere. Mick tried cancelling the last slot to see if it would come back. We got an email through saying that one had been cancelled, but we heard nothing about the first one. All we can think is that the website decided to amend our first order and move it. So we now need to think about shopping for next week again!

One thought is to try having a second account, so as to keep orders separate. When we can get another slot we’ll give that a go.

As I worked Mick spent much of the day accompanying Michael Palin around the world in far less than 80 days and Tilly came in for a long afternoon snooze. Out on the canal there seemed to be far more movement than we’ve had for days. Some familiar boats heading into Nantwich for shopping and water, others new to us, some heading up the Hurleston flight. Are the extra movements due to the lockdown being extended? People finding excuses to move?

Thank you for all your messages of support. It’s very lovely to hear from you. Life has it’s problems, twists and turns, we’ll get through ours, but sadly we’ll have to make changes. Anyhow, we’ve three months at least to think them through.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 lost slot, 1 new programme, 9 poses, 4 hours not 80 days, 1 bored cat, 7 boats, 1 stove, 1st none chicken meal for almost a week, 273 stones moved to the stern.

Winding for Water. 14th April

Lockdown Mooring 4 to Calveley to Lockdown Mooring 4

Whilst Mick waits for the kettle to boil in the mornings he works his way through the supermarket websites to see if any delivery slots are available. There’s usually nothing, but every now and then something pops up which makes it worth the effort. Today a Click and Collect at Sainsburys popped up for tomorrow!

Mick quickly secured it with a couple of boxes of wine and some blueberries. Marvelous a top up shop to keep us going till we get a delivery next week. Would this be the highlight of our day?

At 10am I signed into Zoom for my first meeting of the morning with the Director for The Garden. The show has now been re-imagined and I will be doing illustrations to go with the recording. Last week it was thought that I’d be doing about eight illustrations, but over the weekend this has expanded to 13, by the end of our meeting it was up to 15 and then the credits. I’m going to be busy!

Rehearsals had been filmed so there are moments that I can take from the footage to work from, but the filmed angle isn’t so good. I’ve been hunting around for sites on the internet that will give me poses that I can draw from. Better to use a real form than just make them up, my life drawing wasn’t that good with a model in front of me, so take the reference away and I’d be scuppered.

Then there was enough time for a quick break before my next meeting. Blimey it felt like I was back in full time work! This meeting was with Lynda the lady with the money for Dark Horse. My contract for the show needs altering and we discussed my fee. This will stay as was and I will also be given generous expenses to cover any other costs.

With all this now settled it was now time to head off to fill with water.

There was a choice, which water point to go to? Calveley won this as it would mean we got a tank of hot water on the way there as well as on the way back, it would also give the batteries a good charge, along with the dishwasher and washing machine being put to use.

We reversed through the bridge to the bottom of the Hurleston flight where we winded to point north. The three boats moored here all came out to see what was happening, moving boats now a rarity. One chap said they walk up to the water point at the top of the locks with a container to fill their tank. Others waved us goodbye, knowing we’d return in a few hours.

Just as we were turning the first bend I could see a boat had appeared at the junction behind us, they were winding. Would our space still be there when we got back? We’d just have to wait and see.

Moving again, a slight chill in the air, but the sun was out shining way above us. Oh it felt good! Over the years we have slowed down our cruising somewhat, no longer in a rush to get places unless we really have to. Now we move once a week for essential things, water and shopping, a little bit too slow. But that is just the way it is for now.

This summers original cruise to Leeds from Autherely junction had all been worked out on Canal Plan. Starting on 6th March we had 114 days to travel there via the River Weaver and the Macclesfield Canal then over the Leeds and Liverpool. This averaged out at 1 hour 21 minutes a day. The shortest day would have be 23 minutes, the longest 2 hours 20 minutes. However these would have been nudged about to give us free days here and there and scoot through areas we didn’t want to stop in etc.

So where should we have been today. It would have been our 40th full day and our schedule suggests we should have been mooring tonight at Annes’ Bridge 157 on the Trent and Mersey. We’d possibly have stopped at the mooring before or carried on to Wheelock ready to start on the Cheshire Locks in the morning.

Instead today we winded twice, filled the water tank, disposed of rubbish and cruised the stretch of canal from Hurleston to Bunbury. The washing machine did a load, I made use of a tank of hot water by having a shower as the water tank filled and then we headed back again.

The boat we’d seen earlier had continued back towards Nantwich, leaving the space we’d left vacant for us. The same two rings were tied to and Tilly was allowed out to enjoy an hour before curfew.

A game of towpath stone was had, good job the towpath is suitable. If we run out of small stones to chase from the stern of Oleanna I’ll just stand at the bow and throw the stones back!

Tilly took some finding this evening, I think she was busy keeping an eye on the Pheasants who seem to have moved in for a feed on the newly sprouting fields. She was about half way down the field where there is some good looking friendly cover.

0 locks, 7.18 miles, 2 winds, 2 meetings, 16 drawings, 1 fee agreed, 1 full dropbox, 1 phone call, 1 verdict waited for, 40th day, 2 fishermen, 2 outsides the same, 1 load washing, 1 shower, 1 full tank water, 1 postal solution, 6 girls to 1 boy, 2nd leftover chicken dish.

Mud Weight. 7th April

Lockdown Mooring 3

Mick put the oven on first thing with our cast iron pot inside to warm up good and hot to bake the loaf. I didn’t hold out much hope when I unveiled it. When everything was heated up I lowered it into the pot on some greaseproof paper, put the lid on and slide it into the oven. Twenty five minutes later the lid came off, not the best view, but another twenty five minutes before it could sit on the shelf to finish cooking. I already knew it wouldn’t be the most appetising loaf I’ve ever made! Oh well I knew it was an experiment.

Mick spent some of the morning linking my phone to Zoom so that I could use it as a hand held camera to show my model better at my production meeting today. A cuppa was made and I sat down to see what changes to The Garden were going to happen.

Dark Horse Theatre Company work with learning disabled actors, they have an Ensemble of qualified actors and students. The Garden was to be this years graduation show, sadly Lynda and Amy had made the decision to cancel all live performances last week. Rescheduling the show was getting more and more complicated, affecting their next production which is a big tour for them. However they had come up with an idea which would mean the play could still be heard and still involve everyone who’d been contracted.

Five of us discussed the possibilities of the play becoming a radio play. How could the actors record themselves? How different would the recordings sound as they got edited together? Posting out a recording device wouldn’t be possible as the actors are not that tech savvy and not everyone has help from family members where they live. So the play would need to be recorded onto phones, sound effects and atmosphere added. We actually decided that the quality of the recording would reflect the times we’re living in rather than sound as if it was done in a recording studio.

But what of my part? I know how the show was going to look, how would it look now. The play will be illustrated by me, eight or so drawings depicting moments from the play, then portraits of the actors for the credits (my own idea!). The hope is that we’ll produce something that can go onto YouTube, therefore reaching a larger audience and be accessible for all. So I’ve not as much work to do, no sewing, but a lot of drawing and painting, all of which can be done on the boat. The hope is that when people can be together again Dark Horse will put together an immersive exhibition of The Garden, we may even realise part of the design, so my model needs to be kept.

A smaller meeting followed between myself and Amy (the Director) regarding the show that will tour next year. They currently have a computer games animator working on the show and it’s getting to the point where he will need to know what people will look like, what costumes they will wear etc.

We chatted through the show in detail, a play about Adulting, set in a 1984 type world where you have to pass tasks to be allowed into the adult world. It is a highly technical show and I will need to seek advice from those more ofay with serious digital projection.

Mick and Tilly kept quiet whilst my two hour meeting was happening. Mick had headed out to find milk whilst Tilly search for friends.

Late afternoon I headed out on my own again for a walk. This time I took the OS map with me and I headed out to walk in the opposite direction to yesterday. First walking along the canal to Bunbury. I passed a few boats moored along the cut, a tent in amongst the trees where a chap was collecting fire wood and a whirligig drying a bit of washing nowhere near a boat!

Bunbury staircase had both chambers empty, nobody had gone through, the walls were dry. Well we’d been the only boat along here to move yesterday so that wasn’t a surprise. In the window of the AngloWelsh office there were signs up trying to discourage people from walking the towpath. Below the lock the towpath is narrower than above so boaters who live there are getting twitchy.

Here I followed the road to the South. Lock Farm was readying itself for the cattle to cross the road for milking, the farm house a very fine looking building set back a touch from the road, all immaculate.

I continued onwards to where Bird’s Lane headed off to the left. Here hedges have been carved into long wide triangular divides between road and fields.

At the righthand bend I came across a couple of ladies out for their daily walk. They moved with precision keeping at least two meters apart from each other and did a red arrows manoeuvre when I came into view to give me space too. Thank you ladies.

Then across the fields, over stiles and little bridges to where I’d gone wrong yesterday. I’d turned left instead of keeping going straight, the kissing gate in a little dip so it had been out of view. Over the last bridge into the field below Oleanna and the canal. A black shape was just visible above the friendly cover, Tilly.

Well, there I was minding my own friends when a She appeared in MY field! How dare She!! I’d just detected a friend and then got distracted. She seemed to know me, She called my name. Hang on how come She was in my field!? Hello!!! My friend could wait.

When Tilly became convinced it was me her tail lifted above the grass and she trotted her way over to say hello. That tail is such a welcoming sight.

This evening I sliced into the loaf. Heavy, thick, zero crumb, just as I thought. We tried a little taste each, very sour from having been left overnight. I finely cut some up to sprinkle on top of my Shepherdness pie. Too heavy to feed to the ducks, but not quite heavy enough to become a mud weight, it went in the bin.

April is full of anniversaries for us. Today three years ago we hired a van, loaded it with essential possessions and bundled Tilly into her escape pod to drive to Sheffield. That day we moved onto Oleanna and Tilly claimed the bottom shelf of the bookcase as hers. Since then Oleanna has served us well, travelling over 3500 miles of canals and rivers and ascending and descending around 2300 locks. This year our travels will be much reduced, but one day we will be able to cruise again.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 towpath trimmed, 2 hours talking to Yorkshire, 2 shows, 8 illustrations, 1 box set, 1 animator chomping at the bit, 9th April milk, 0 water, 9 hours, 2.3 miles walked, 2 boats, 1 failed loaf, 3 years of Oleanna life.

A Faltering Starter. 6th April

Lockdown Mooring 3

Trying to give my sourdough starter a boost means that I’ve been creating quite a bit of discard. You need to empty out some of the starter before you feed it again, so that the ratios remain good and the existing starter is getting enough food. So I’ve been storing the discard in a jar in the fridge. Today the jar was getting quite full so it was time to use some, we also have quite a bit of milk for which the use by date is bordering on terminal. Time to make pancakes!

Sourdough pancakes are not as quick to make as normal, mostly because I need to make oat flour, for this I use my stick blender which has a very sharp blade. I also add some ground almonds to make then a touch finer, but this makes it quite sticky, so you have to scrape it off the blades. Maybe I should just make my whole bag of oats into flour and save it for recipes.

Once mixed and left to rest for a short while they were cooked in batches of three and added to a plate in the oven to keep warm. Then enjoyed with various toppings. One nice breakfast.

Another load of washing was put through the machine making us very low on water again. So once Tilly had returned from her morning check of the estate we pushed off and headed backwards for water. The wind pushed us away from the side, then we reversed back through the bridge behind us and past all the moored boats.

Outside the service block were three C&RT vans, a meeting or tea break going on inside. We disinfected the water point and attached our hose. The three chaps came out in turn from the building, they may have a van each, but one chap had no idea what 2 meters looked like with his colleagues. We kept our distance anyway.

Back at our mooring we settled back in. The view to our off side clearer now as I’d managed to remove Tilly’s artwork at last. Tilly headed off to find friends and I caught up with some work emails whilst Mick tried unsuccessfully to find the handle from the riddler on the stove that had fallen off the other day.

The Garden is changing due to the current state of the nations health. Live shows sadly will no longer be happening in July. But the play will go on, just in a different form. I’ll find out more tomorrow about my new involvement. I’ll still have work to do, but no need to go shopping or paint the set and everything will be done from home on Oleanna.

Reading up about my failing sourdough starter I decided that I needed to do something other than just feeding it. One person suggested that at the next feed I should have one third starter, one third flour and the third third water. So I would need to reduce the amount of starter I already had. It was a bit bubbly so I decided to risk making a loaf of bread.

A Buckwheat loaf was mixed and put on the shelf to rise and what bottled water I had left was mixed in with the remaining starter and fresh flour. With no more water I would have to put the starter in the fridge until I can replenish my stocks.

An explore was needed to stretch my legs. A kissing gate from the towpath seems to be a popular route across the nearby fields. A quick look at the OS map and I set off to see what I could see.

Three kissing gates and a bridge later I had no idea which way the path went. We’ve never got round to downloading them onto my phone so Google earth was all I had. Sadly it wasn’t that much use. I knew which way I was supposed to be heading, but just couldn’t find a way there. I walked perimeters of fields looking for gates or stiles, but none showed themselves. In the end I gave up and retraced my steps over the dry ploughed fields, back around the kissing gates to the boat.

After two hours, the oddly short time my recipe suggested, my loaf of bread looked no different. I left it high up on the proving shelf to see if things would improve after a few more hours. After seven hours up there there was some rising happening, but it was now too late to get the oven and cast iron pot up to temperature and bake it. So I risked leaving it overnight, it was just an experiment anyway.

0 locks, 0.38 miles, half backwards, 7 pancakes each, 1 full water tank, 5 clean windows, 2 meters please! 3 shows cancelled, 1 change of tack, 1 show that will go on, 3 woodpeckers, 1 failing starter, 1 lumbering loaf, 2 friends, 1 failed walk, 1 PM in intensive care.

Self Catering. 3rd April

Lockdown Mooring 2

Time to wake my sourdough starter up this morning. I let it warm up when out of the fridge and then gave it a feed popping it on the proving shelf, high up to do it’s stuff. It bubbled up, but not as far as it has done in the past, so I may need to keep feeding it for a couple of days before it’s really good for baking again. A shame really as I was keen to get a loaf baked so that a hefty hint could be put in for a cooked breakfast one morning soon, poached eggs so need to be on a slice of toast! At least it will give me time to work out which recipe to try next as I now have no sorghum flour.

Mid morning an email I’d been hoping for popped into my Inbox. Will, the producer at Chipping Norton was getting in touch regarding this years panto, Rapunzel. If the health of the world improves over the next few months they will be forging ahead with panto. Would I be interested in designing it? A different contract to normal due to the virus and uncertainty as to whether the show will be able to go ahead which is totally understandable. They are hoping that by August they will be able to make a decision, if they give it a green light then it will be full steam ahead.

I have said that as soon as a script is ready I’d like to make a start, even if it doesn’t go ahead. Something creative to keep my mind busy would be appreciated. Anyway I’d only be able to get so far with it before needing model making materials, cereal boxes are just a bit too flimsy.

Mid afternoon it was time for Mick to head off and pick up our shopping, blimey I’d forgotten how bright his cycling coat was! Off he headed down the towpath to join the A51 towards Sainsburys. I took advantage of having an empty table and stuck the model for The Garden together and took photos.

It looked like we’d got the amount of shopping just about right for the Brompton bag and a rucksack. All our shopping had been put in plastic bags, I think this is standard practice at the moment due to coronavirus. A shame that whilst other pollutants decrease in use that plastic bags are making a come back.

I was ready to disinfect things that needed to come inside. Other items were left in a bag on the stern under the pram cover, they’ll stay there for three days before being brought in. Having the pram cover is great at the moment, we can leave anything out there for long enough should anything have been picked up on coats or shopping.

My sister-in-law Jac called and we had a long catch up about her escape from Australia last weekend. Getting a flight home had been one problem, but because she has an Australian passport she also needed a form to be filled in by the equivalent of our Home Office for her to be allowed to board the plane to come back to England. This took quite a bit of doing and it was just as well it arrived back just in time as her passport was double checked at the airport.

She’s settled back at home now. There were no guidelines for quarantine from the government on her return, so she’s not being kept in the garden room for two weeks. Instead she’s been thrown into the mass of extra accountancy needed by the company she works for to claim things from the government. She’s not sure how long her work will continue for but at the moment there is plenty to keep her busy.

The London Leckenbys were looking forward to an Indian take away this evening. That is the downside of being out in the sticks on a boat, no take aways and no chips. This of course is good for us, but boy would I like some nice chips! Tilly on the other hand doesn’t need to have her food delivered, as she’s moved into catering for herself. Today I have witnessed the devouring of two small friends who’d been invited home for dingding! They were just an appetiser as she still insisted on us feeding her!

This evening after we’d eaten, we headed to the National Theatre to enjoy One Man Two Guvnors via YouTube. A very funny adaptation by Richard Bean of The Servant of Two Masters by Goldoni, set in the 60’s. James Corden certainly earns his keep. It is still available to view until next Thursday. The only down side was an interval of only 30 seconds, far too short to get a glass of wine and some chilled medication, never mind a dash to the loo! However there is always the pause button.

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 miles by bike, 4 plastic bags, 0 boxes of wine this time, 1 model totally finished, 6 moving boats, 1 returning boat, 1 new panto, 4 fingers crossed, 0 chicken left, 2 self catered meals, 1 play, 2 sides split.

Lap Wing. 1st April

Lockdown Mooring 2

She would like me to thank you all for suggestions on the mystery birdie. Jennie came in first, followed by Anne, then Sue. The sausage roll really goes to Jennie’s son, but apparently if we keep quiet about it we’ll be able to eat it ourselves, so Shhh!

The birdie in question was apparently a Lap Wing. A strange name. A Lap is where I lie on an evening in front of the warm stove, then a Wing is what I leave, far too feathery for my liking! Although they are quite good for flossing between your teeth.

Life has suddenly become very busy for me and not so busy for others. There is so much exploring to do, trees to climb, digging, woofer avoidance, I’ve even sorted out my own shore based facilities.

My day starts off with extra snoozing, as I need to conserve my energy for the rest of the day. She and Tom sit in bed that bit longer than normal so I do my best to keep toes warm. But should a boat come by they both crane their necks round to see who it might be. This morning it was a boat that has come all the way from furthest Wales in the last few days, our friend Geoff Tom saw him and now we have, he’s not tied up the outside like everyone else has!

Then there is the game of pen. It is such a good way to wake up, the sound of a pen lid being clicked back into position ready for me to pounce. Some days this goes on for a while, but others She cries out in pain so the game is stopped. She seems to think I don’t clean my nails enough anymore. But it’s their fault for not moving the outside as much as they used to.

Lockdown Mooring 1 was great. A couple of trees, friends, side ways trees, a bank to watch from and a field to run around in. It was sunny and warm, lovely.

Then last Friday they let it go, untied it and let it drift away. She said I needed a break so to put my paws up and let them be busy instead. I kept an eye on them though, they weren’t that busy. I’d have been busier!!

The outside was then moved to Lockdown Mooring 2. Lockdown Mooring 2 had potential, blue skies, trees but not enough time to check it out fully before it was Dingding time.

Newspaper day came. They let Lockdown Mooring 2 outside go and headed to Nantwich outside. It’s not so good there so I wasn’t too disappointed not to be let out. She said I wouldn’t be going out there anymore, too many people who might have the lurgy durgy. So I sat in my window on the other side of the glass from the lurgy durgy people, they could admire me, but not touch, I was safe.

She and Tom went off to do the shopping. I normally get closed into the bedroom for a few minutes when they come back, but that day I was in there for ages and ages and then another age. When She let me out again everything smelt funny, a bit like when she cleans out my pooh box. Luckily it didn’t smell for too long.

This outside was cast aside wizzed round, briefly tied up again so they could top up on water. I got a clean pooh box too. Back we went out of Nantwich outside, wizzed round again, only to tie up Lockdown Mooring 2 outside again. Well what was that all about? They wasted a hole day just because it was newspaper day. I could have kept myself busy all day and when they tied this outside up again I’d have still been in it! They are so selfish at times.

You said to the bench, we’ve not got there yet!

Lockdown Mooring 2 outside is okay. It’s not as sunny as Lockdown Mooring 1 outside was, it’s colder too. There are fewer woofers and walkers, most probably due to the lower temperature. But the farmer has been preparing a great big pooh field for me, lots of fresh earth to dig up and use as cover, so I’ve only once had to step foot in my pooh box.

Some days, like today She does some work. I couldn’t help today as it was all tiny writing and then lots of numbers, I’m not so good at writing freepaw. But then she came for a walk with me along the towpath. We’d nearly got back when a man appeared with a woofer. The woofer didn’t see me but the man did. He made his woofer wait whilst I went down the bank into some friendly cover, no way was I going back onto the boat yet, there was still another two hours of shore leave left!

I’ve been told that I shouldn’t use the outside up too quickly as we might be here sometime. Tom wouldn’t let me out after dingding time, even though I can see in the dark! I’m pacing myself though and reckon I’ve about another twenty hours before it will all be used up, that’ll be fine won’t it?!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 outside walks, 1 pooh field, 1 diddy poem, 2 outsides, 7 identifiable woofers, 2 Lap Wings, 2 tractors, 9 hours a day, 1 oak, 1 daily pen game, 2 stone games, 19 friends, 3 boats, 1 Tench, 1 busy cat, 1 very tired falling asleep sitting up cat.

The Stuff Of Life. 26th March

Lockdown Mooring 1

My Dad, Fatso (as I used to call him), had a saying as he cut a slice of bread and passed it across the dining table speared on the end of the bread knife, The stuff of life at the point of death. Well we’ve not reached that point yet, but today I had a request to make some bread. Some full fat, glutenous bread. Luckily for Mick the baking drawer had a bag of flour for such emergencies, the use by date the end of the month.

So we might have stocked up on gf black pudding!

Whilst I was at it I woke my sour dough starter up and gave it a feed. My sorghum flour stash was nearly out, so I’m trying to ween it onto brown rice flour, with the hope that it will still be happy. A warm up, feed and it was left to start bubbling and expanding.

Micks loaf was mixed and kneaded then left to rise on the proving shelf, where it did it’s thing in an hour was knocked back put in a tin and left to rise again. Then into the oven, followed by five minutes out of it’s tin upside down.

My friend Graham sent through a quote to build the elements of the set for The Garden. This got me back looking at my budget and getting myself totally confused for a while. I’ll have another look in a few days once the model is finished.

Mick hunted round for some boat insurance quotes, our premium seems to go up every year despite Oleanna no doubt loosing value. Specific questions regarding policies need to be answered before we commit to a company.

My attention turned to the little project I’d started yesterday. I now needed a cast for my little show. The last two years panto photographs were gone through and actors auditioned. Those selected were all made the same size, printed out and then cut round. Placards were updated and everyone fixed in position, so nobody could upstage the others.

Now was the time to film some footage. But where? For it to work I built a little stage out of books on top of the thin cupboard between the galley and dinette. This meant I could raise and lower things. Camera position was next. My sewing box and the shoe box I keep model bits in were just about the right height.

Filming began. I hadn’t remembered my lines, I only had two!

The boat rocked as Mick stepped on and off the bow.

Tilly decided to come home and see what was happening.

The timer on the oven kept binging.

But in the end after numerous takes I got a couple that were good.

The evening was spent editing. I’d hoped I could crop the sides of the footage, but this simply wasn’t within my skill set so I would have to cope with lots of people seeing our mountain of washing up in the background, along with the oven fan and Tilly ringing her bell!

Christmas tree, ash can and bucket positioned to help with social distancing

Ten boats have come past today, two winding and returning. One pulled in nearer the bridge behind us. A few boats that have been moored here have moved off, presumably heading to do some shopping. We’ll need to move tomorrow for water and then shopping too. Hopefully we’ll find another mooring that is deemed good for Tilly, although I think a day inside catching up on her sleep is called for.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 cooked breakfast, 65 C&RT notices regarding only essential movement being allowed, 10 boats, 2 kayaks, 1 loaf bread, 1 pizza dough fermenting, 1 fridge nearly bare, 22 takes, 1 edited, 1 whatsap’d for tomorrow, 3 Insurance quotes, 0 news on Jac, bakers dozen cast, 1 cat upstaging, 15 minutes at home, 1 plus friends consumed.

Drifting On By. 25th Marc

Lockdown Mooring 1

The mornings are filled with sunlight at the moment and sleeping past 7am is getting hard, this will help next week not to feel too lazy when the clocks have jumped forward. Our mooring is close ish to the railway but with the reduced time table we rarely hear them, instead the world is filled with bird song. That is until a boat comes past, I can hear them from quite a distance at the moment.

This morning we were expecting at least one boat, NB Briar Rose. Adam and Adrian had set off almost three weeks ago from their marina on the Grand Union and had headed for the North. Sadly most of the north is still closed due to storm damage. Now Corona-19 has stopped all but essential navigation of the network, they’d been feeling the lock down approaching in the water too, so had turned round a few days ago. NB Briar Rose is being left at a marina and they will be returning home, four weeks early.

They were the first boat to come past this morning and we managed to have a chat with them as they drifted past at a safe distance. Tilly was a touch disappointed not to see Adam as last summer he visited us in Guildford and brought her lots of treats. But she was far too busy in the sideways trees to even pop her head out to acknowledge them. We wished them a safe journey home.

Tilly spent much of the day outside. Luckily there seems to be a lot to keep her occupied and today she managed to keep to the newest rule of using shore based facilities. She’s a touch exhausted so you may not hear from her for a while.

I continued painting my model and then in the afternoon moved onto a new project that needs to be done for Friday. My stocks of card are kept low on the boat due to lack of storage, but an old pad of tracing paper provided me with enough card for my model. Tomorrow I’ll finish it and be able to post some footage on line.

Mick started on his list of jobs. Today to grease the hatch doors and locker lids. As the weather gets warmer a lot of our hinges (Oleanna’s not ours) start to creak and we always intend to give things a good grease. Well today the side hatch doors were take off and some stern gland grease applied. The two bow locker lids also had the same treatment.

These took a bit of removing so Mick dug the Hebble Spike out from a locker and used it to cushion the hammer blows to nudge the lids along their hinges. Sadly the locker lids are in need of some attention from me as they are not quite central to the opening. So as they get opened and closed any grit down the side has worked the paint off and now rust is working it’s way along. These have been on my list of jobs to do for a while.

A walk to the chandlers on the off chance of some milk. The café window was open but nobody was around to serve. The lady at the chandlers hadn’t been able to get any milk for the last few days and any bread she’d got had been snapped up first thing. Rumours were that the shops were chaos in Nantwich with long queues still.

Walking back the two chaps moored near the lock asked if we had everything we needed and were we alright for shopping? A better community spirit than on other stretches of the towpath around the country.

During the day we counted eighteen boats go past. The first being NB Briar Rose and the last NB Halsall in the dark.

0 locks, 0 miles, 9.5 hours, 18 boats, 1:55 ish model, A4 sea, 1lump hammer, 1 Hebble spike, 2 hatch doors, 2 locker lids, 1 gas locker hinge greased, 1 heel stitch dropped, 70% spent pouncing not sleeping, 2 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna