It was time to pack our bags this morning and hope we’d enough room for all the presents and post. Everything had fitted into our wheelie bag on the way to London, but going back we needed an extra bag, good job we’d brought one with us. It’s a nice problem to have returning with more than you arrived with, this of course is helped by my birthday falling on the 25th December.
Fatty Finn refusing to leave his box unless there is food about
An early farewell to Josh as he headed to school before 8am. At 10:30 it was time to wake Finn up from his box, Ziggy only slightly jealous of her brothers reign of the cardboard. Then goodbye and thank you to Andrew and Jac for their hospitality once again.
The No 30 bus moved faster on a Monday morning so we’d left ourselves plenty of time to sit at Marylebone Station listening to the foreign announcements about Bicester Village, now a destination for tourists to do duty free shopping.
Knitting and adapted pattern
On the train my knitting came back out and grew nicely, up to the point where the thumb was ready to be knitted using the ‘magic loop’ technique. We were soon back in Banbury and in a taxi back to the marina.
Tilly when we ‘d left
When we’d left on Saturday Tilly had been sat in our bedroom window, there she was still, just facing the opposite direction. Big cuddles and head nudges. Her magic food bowl had worked and opened, every morsel consumed, the large mountain of biscuits also had had a good chunk taken out of them. The heating was raised and we settled down to lunch.
Tilly when we stepped out of the cab today
With the stove out, Mick gave the chimney a good sweep, then hoovered the stove out and put the brand new glass in the door, an early Christmas present for Oleanna. The old glass has been wrapped up and stored under the stove should we need a spare in the future.
Chimney Sweep
Clean clear new glass, lovely
Unpacking and more washing took up the rest of the day with Tilly coming and going.
In the post I’d received a copy of The Separate Doors 3 Report that I was involved with earlier this year. Have to say my sketches and illustrations have come out very well and I am particularly proud of the front cover. Thank you Vanessa for asking me to be part of it.
The front cover
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 train, 1 taxi, 3 cats in one day, 1 very pleased to see us, 1 load washing, 1 load dried, 1 chimney swept, 1 boat hoovered, 1 corner missed, 0.5 inches too big? 1 very big bag of presents ready to sit under the tree, when we bring it in.
The last push this morning as we wanted to be pushing off. About time too !!!
There is a lack of post offices where we’re heading so last night I’d packaged up presents that needed to go in the post, printed off a few cards all that was left this morning was to find addresses and take them to the post office in Castle Quay.
Time to move onwards
Whilst I was busy Mick cycled down to Morrisons for some of their peanut butter. Three jars were purchased (it’s the best in our opinion, only made with peanuts and nothing else), sadly their gluten free aisle isn’t what it was last year and there was no gf black pudding!
Once the post had been posted and a couple of things picked up from other shops there was one thing left to do. I took a deep breath and walked into The Cutting Bar for my annual haircut. I’d considered going elsewhere after last year, but here I could just walk in without an appointment. Only wanting a straight line cutting it should be cheap and I was determined to not let them put loads of gunk on my head..
Waiting
There was a short queue, but after about ten minutes I was directed towards the sink. Here the lady who’d been sat on the desk gently washed my hair, she took so long I’d have been able to do it twice and have a shower at the same time.
Before
Then another lady took over. I felt like I should say, ‘Bless me, for it has been twelve months since my last hair cut’. But instead I just asked for it to be cut as short as possible but still able to go back into pig tails. My lovely hair dresser in Scarborough knows what this means, this lady though added a couple of inches on, most probably hoping it would encourage me back sooner, little does she know!
Not quite a years worth on the floor
I was very quick off the mark when she reached for the blow drier and a hair brush. I’d noticed this year there were signs saying you could have a rough blow dry for £2 extra. This would be enough to get rid of the damp before going out into the cold again, but hopefully not involve all the brushing and curling under to give me a lions main. I had made the right decision, thankfully.
After. It can be Christmas now.
No products, no curling, no extra body. Phew! My ordeal was over for another year. At my reckoning it was going to cost me just over £20, so imagine my surprise when she said £15.95 please! Who was I to argue? This was £3 less than I thought it would be before the blow drying. Then the penny dropped as I walked out the door, I’d been charged the Senior rate! Excuse me, I’m not even 55 yet!! Blimey has my face become that haggard!?!
As I got back to the boat, Mick had just started to reverse back to the water point. I was picked up and handed a windlass to lift the bridge. We filled the tank and put on winter cruising clothes, time to make a move.
Dink and Malc’s
Last year as we left Banbury we came across ice outside Dink and Malc’s house, today it was clear. As ever a friendly wave from inside the conservatory and a big thumbs up from Malc as we passed. I wonder how many times he has to wave a day in the summer months to passing boaters.
Rising away from Banbury
Up Hardwick Lock, under the M40 and on to Bourton Lock. Here the lock cottage looks much the same as ever. All the windows shuttered up, wonder what it’s like inside.
We’ll try
We decided to pull up before Slat Mill Lock in an Herbie Award winning mooring. But before we reached there we crunched through our first bit of ice this winter. No body had been this way for a while we thought as we broke the cat ice ahead of Oleanna.
The award winning mooring
Up ahead on the end of the straight was a moored boat, we wouldn’t be on our own, but there was still plenty of space. We tied up and opened the doors for Tilly.At last! A new outside!!
A muddy moo
The evening was taken over by a phone call (whilst stood on one leg outside on the towpath freezing) to a new director for A Regular Little Houdini. Josh who offered me the job has sadly had to stand down as he has not been allowed to take time off Emmerdale to get the show up and running in Vienna. So this evening I had a lengthy chat with Tim the new director who will also be lighting the show. He is very much playing catch up.
Floating 1
Have to say it’s nice to have someone taking the lead. Communications between one member of the team have been somewhat lacking. I got a response to an email three weeks after I’d sent it. Constant badgering for information isn’t what I’d signed up for, so I have to admit I’d slightly given up. Hopefully now Tim is in the picture things will start happening, they’d better as the set goes into the theatre in a months time!
2 locks, 3.38 miles, 0.21 backwards, 1 lift bridge lifted twice, 3 parcels, 3 jars peanut butter, 6 inches shorter (bet you can see the difference this time Tom), 1 boater feeling older than she is, £5 saved, 1 confirmed, 1 turned down, 2 waves, 1 patch of ice, 1 new director, 16 emails, 2 fingers crossed things start to happen now.
Over the last few days I’ve been working my way through the thousands of photos I’ve taken this year, auditioning them for our Christmas card. Short listed photos are copied into a new folder. This year we’ve had no snowy photos and very few misty atmospheric ones, so the short list contained quite a few sunsets and sunny days.
A close contender
Down to 29 Mick and I weedled them down to five last night. Sleeping on it we were now down to just two. The winning photo is one that I’ll never be able to take again. So this morning I set about laying it out into a format to print. This takes a little while, but each year gets a touch easier. I’d just got it sorted when it was time to head out.
To Chippy
The 488 bus to Chippy pulled in at the bus station, much to our relief as it was so chilly out this morning. After 45 minutes of winding through the countryside, pulling over on the narrow roads and climbing steep hills we arrived in Chipping Norton with enough time for some lunch, The Old Mill cafe provided us with a sandwich and jacket potato.
Back on Spring Street
We were a touch early at the theatre, but we certainly weren’t the first to arrive. The place was filled with school kids and quite a few general audience too. Our seats were upstairs away from a large school party who’d taken over downstairs. Upstairs we sat behind a group of grey haired recycled teenagers all with their Santa hats and Christmas jumpers on ready to have a good time at the panto.
Before the Santa hats and flashing lights arrived
Mick had missed out three weeks ago and we’d been trying to work out a time to come on an evening performance. But these only happen at weekends until the schools brake up and would necessitate the hiring of a car as the last bus back is at 6:50pm. So we go to see a school performance which is a slightly edited show to keep the running time down so it fits in with the school day better.
The local electric shop festive window
Mick seemed to be the only one in the audience getting the more adult jokes, but that didn’t matter as the fast pace cracked along on stage. Plenty of shouting, booing and the lady in front of us had a very audible laugh that turned the actors heads at times.
In the interval Will, the producer, came through to say hello whilst we enjoyed some half time chilled medication. I passed on my one note which was already in hand. The show was in good shape, the Smash hit it’s mark, the chocolate mice were thrown, we laughed, joined in and had a good time.
The bus journey back was freezing with the heaters kicking out cold air and the bus driver far too keen on his brake pedal. But we got home in one piece to Tilly sat in the window wondering when we’d be home,Well my evening Ding Ding hadn’t been served had it!
Tilly’s fee for helping on panto
It was worth the wait though as She had finally brought home my Feline Assistant fee. Five foil wrapped mice. They deserved to go on the floor, so that’s just where I put them.
0 locks, 0 miles, 24,970 photos down to 29, 29 photos down to 2, 488 twice, 7 mice, 2 chilled salted caramel medications, 1 panto, 1 hungry cat, 1 Christmasy day out.
This is now the longest we’ve ever been somewhere other than when we chose to moor up in Newark four years ago and that was mostly for medical reasons. Tilly is so bored! Even when I put her collar and cat tags back on this morning she only had half an hour outside before coming back in yawning at the lack of excitement.
First boat to go past this morning, backwards
In the last five weeks I’ve only been to Isis Lock and back, hardly a cruise. The prospect of getting moving again is quite an exciting one. Last night we had our first sign that things along the canal were improving. A couple of hours after dark we could hear the sound of a boat engine. As the stern came alongside we could hear ‘Hi Oleanna, we’ll see you in the morning’. NB Dusty had arrived. They headed to the lock, winded and came back past us to College Cruisers for the night.
Here she comes!
This morning it was obvious that Dusty was being restocked. We could hear the clanging of gas bottles, then a coal delivery followed by diesel. Mid morning they reversed their way back towards us. Katy, Jock and Billy their dog on the roof. We were remembered from last year and I was asked how panto had gone. There was plenty of time to have a chat and catch up.
NB Dusty arriving from the north
Mick undid an empty gas bottle, Jock replaced it for us lowering a new heavy bottle into the gap in the gas locker to save Mick’s back. Bags of coal were loaded onto the roof. The boat in front of us had a delivery of something too before they reversed back to fill our diesel tank. Glad we’d waited until today as the price had dropped by 1p a litre with the new delivery, and it was far far cheaper than from College Cruisers.
Heading to the next customer behind us
TV monitor dimensions
Feeling better today I got on with a bit of work. Dimensions of a TV monitor had come through so plans needed amending for A Regular Little Houdini along with letting the production manager know which fabric I would like for some curtains. I’d received samples whilst I was in Chippy, so now I needed to dig out the card I’d used in the model to compare colours. In the afternoon there was a phone call from Vienna to choose paint colours! Not an easy thing over the phone translating them into paints available in Austria, but we got enough sorted for the base coats to be laid in before I arrive in January. The set is starting to be built.
Mick headed off with a bike to collect a new printer from Argos, our old one having got cartridge confusion and now can’t print in black. The hunt for a suitably sized printer had taken a little while as the cupboard our office lives in is only a certain size. The box it came in though was ridiculous. Yes the printer is white, but is all the packaging really needed? Every surface was covered with a protective layer of plastic, instruction books had their own cardboard protection and plastic bag.
Thoughts turning to transporter bridges again
We now need to dispose of our old printer and all this packaging, most of which will be able to go in a bin up the way, but the cardboard will wait until we reach Lower Heyford to go in the recycling bins there. At least once the polystyrene has gone Tilly will make use of the box for a while.
The box is twice the size of the printer
NB Dusty had come down the River Cherwell section on Wednesday to Shipton Weir Lock, it was still in the red, but they had managed it without too much problem. We’d be going against the flow so it should be easier heading upstream. When they came through Thrupp there was some space to moor. So this evening we have been making plans for our escape, including a supermarket delivery. Fingers crossed that space is still there.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 better digestive system, 1 light head, 546 x 956, 3 moving boats, $100, 1 cat with cat tags, 28 minutes shore leave, 125kg coal, 36 litres diesel, 1 gas bottle, 83p, 1 giant box, 1 small printer, JS016, 4 yellow reaches, possibly 8th brick, 2 boaters and 1 cat making plans.
On Saturday night before going to bed I decided that I should check the ropes. Mick normally says he’s doing this, but both Tilly and I know what he is doing! However, Oleanna seemed to be listing a touch, and the spirit level we have on board confirmed this. She normally has a slight list and after not spending much time on board recently, what I was experiencing may have just been normal, but I wanted to be safe so popped outside to check there was slack on the ropes. Luckily there was, so Tilly and I could sleep soundly.
No Mick to cook breakfast on Sunday morning, but he had left a couple of packs of bacon in the fridge. A bacon butty was in order, a deluxe bacon butty. Mushrooms were added to the pan and some thin slices of cheese placed on the bread before the hot bacon. Yummy!!
Whilst Tilly explored outside I caught up on my paperwork for Panto and when she returned I headed into town to pick up some supplies for Sunday dinner. A new pair of jeans made their way into my bag along with a chicken and some suitable veg. Mick arrived home earlier than he’d originally planned which meant I didn’t get chance to breakout the yarn I’d just received until much later in the day.
Crocheted poppies everywhere
Monday morning and I was back on a bus out to Chippy where the town was waiting for 11am to strike for the two minutes silence. Today there was lots to do before the first dress rehearsal, everyone was kept busy. The actors were on stage and everyone from back stage worked around them and through their breaks, which was to be the case for much of the week.
Ready for the dress
The first dress rehearsal went fairly well, although the curse of last years Axe Man struck again, with several flown pieces missing their deads (position in view and out of view) or not appearing at all. We’d been expecting a reasonably early finish to the day but this wasn’t to happen. My evening meal ended up being a packet of crisps, but I was able to imagine sitting in The Anchor on the Staffs and Worcester Canal as I enjoyed a bottle of gluten free 6X.
6X
Tuesday morning I plucked up the courage to climb to the top of my set and repaint the higher panels. I don’t like heights and being stood near the top of a set of Zarges ladders makes me nervous, especially whilst holding onto a pot of paint instead of the ladder. Thankfully the ladder was footed and I was warned of any loud sound effects before they happened. As the day went on my list of jobs got shorter and shorter. I was even starting to work through the notes that would normally fall off the end of the list.
John sorting the curtain call
In the evening we had a second Dress Rehearsal. This went much smoother and I was able to sit in the front of the balcony and take photos. But the show was running too long, by about twenty minutes. A few cuts were talked about and the interval change discussed at length to see if this could be made shorter. After painting the floor into the wings black I’d managed to finish early enough to enjoy a curry with the Sound and Lighting Designers and the Production Manager.
Two pickle trays!
Wednesday. Preview day, an early start to do a few jobs whilst the cast were informed of some cuts to the script. Paint tins were sorted, labelled and put away for any touch ups that might be needed during the run. Then at 1:45 the lights came up on the first performance. The audience were up for a good time, a sixth form college filled the stalls and they had a ball. They should be rented out as a first audience.
All sorted and labelled, whether they ever get used is a different matter!
At 6pm the second show played to a very mixed house who were much quieter but still enjoyed it. The cuts that had been made earlier in the day had improved the running time, but more was needed. Long discussions followed, doubles of everything for the slosh scene would help with laundry between shows. Would just nips and tucks bring down the time enough or would whole routines need to go?
Oops, my third fish and chips!
Thursday morning, I had a lie in, followed by my annual bath. My landlady had left for work early so I could take my time turning pink in the hot water. Living on a boat you miss baths. When you stay at friends they always offer you a bath, but it’s not quite the same. Here in Chippy it’s almost like being back in our house, it was lovely.
I packed all my belongings and popped the key through the door to my digs. Sadly I’d not had chance to say goodbye to Suzanne in person and the card I’d bought her I’d left at the theatre, so i had to say farewell by text.
There were just a couple of little jobs to do at the theatre and then wait to see if the cuts to the show would need anything from me. All that was needed was some props being put into the store as routines had been trimmed.
Boozer
My floor needed a good wash and scrub in places, the crew having been a bit too careful for the last week, so Gemma and I got on our hands and knees making a big difference, still not as lovely as when it was first painted but it would do.
Boo!
Earlier in the day I’d had messages from Mick about the water levels in Oxford. The canal was flowing over the top of Isis Lock and the river was up to the highest we’ve seen it, Isis lock being only 6 to 8 inches deep instead of 2ft 8″. He was nervous of leaving Oleanna for the evening, so I donned my glad rags and enjoyed Press Night on my own.
Just a little bit funny
The evening went very well, lots of booing, clapping, singing and dancing, sweet catching, Oh No! ing and Oh Yes! ing. After the show there were drinks and a very good spread of cheese for us all to enjoy. A photo call on stage for all concerned before people started to make their way home.
Scooters
Without Mick to help me home I got a lift with John the director and Anna who plays Jack the Cat, back to Jericho where Mick loitered to give me a hand with all my bags. After big hugs all round I waved them goodbye, my second Chippy Panto finished. A lot of hard work, a touch easier than last year, with a very good company, may they have a great run.
Panto company, courtesy of Chippy Theatre
0 Locks, 0 miles, 1 bus, 2 dress rehearsals, 2 previews, 3rd portion of gf fish and chips, 1 curry, 1 very tall ladder, 1 very long email from Vienna, 1 long reply, 1 shed full of paint, 1 wooden leg emergency repair, 2 bottle brewdog, 1 panto finished, 1 big sleep needed, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.
Sunday was meant to be a day off to try to recharge the batteries. It started with forwarding lots of reference to Phil who was working at the theatre painting all the 2D dressing for the Boozer. This I didn’t mind as it was a two minute job whilst enjoying a cuppa in bed with Tilly keeping my toes warm. Then the emails started with questions and requests, easier to do straight away than thinking about them all day. Have to say I did get a touch hacked off when asked a question I’d already answered four days earlier!
Yummy!
But there was still time to enjoy a cooked breakfast and a home cooked Sunday roast of Lamb.
Isis Lock looking autumnal
With the sun out we walked down to Isis Lock, the level below quite a bit higher than normal. At the junction with the Thames the flow was a lot stronger than the day before, Mick said if it had been like this then he wouldn’t have tried to move the boat. We walked up to Port Meadow along the narrow path and crossed over the foot bridge, a lovely stroll for a Sunday afternoon.
Port Meadow
Monday came round a touch too quickly and I was back on the S3 to Chipping Norton, this had to stop and be rebooted as the driver was getting error codes flashing at him. Luckily a five minute break did the trick and we were back on our way.
Rebooting
A new props maker was starting today, Emma, so a hand over was required. Phil was still about for the day finishing off bits which we put in position to see how they looked, which was very good. I did feel my age when I had to explain about pre-decimalisation and £ s d. Poor Phil ended up having to repaint the prices in the boozer twice, the last time with d and not p.
Prices being amended again
Kitchen dressing attached
Tuesday saw the return of Chris the carpenter and Gemma, Production Manager. Chris worked his way through a list of jobs that had been kept for him, someone who could cut a straight line in one go is an asset. The evening sessions had meant to have been for the Lighting Designer Mark to plot the lights, but he’d been held up on a show in London, this meant we could get on with jobs in full light and sound levels could be set.
Chris, Gemma and me with some of the LED woking
Wednesday and it was time for everything to be put together, actors, costumes, lights, set, props, sound, scene changes. The advantage of the actors rehearsing on stage with the set is that most problems had already been ironed out. There were still notes to take, being able to see the set and props under stage lighting meant there were things to add or alter.
Lighting a scene
Two long days sitting in the dark, taking notes and then taking advantage of the actors breaks to get on with jobs. I had become known as Pippippinpippippin, as I was a stand in for Pippins in the scene changes. But on Thursday afternoon we were joined by them. This meant going back to the start of the show and teching each team of four into the show in turn. This does become somewhat tedious, but it’s important that each of the three teams knows what they are doing.
Some of the footage taken last week now added into the show
On Friday we finished teching the show with the main cast and spent the evening with the Pippins again. They are involved in the show much more than last year and have quite a few complicated songs and dances, so it was decided to postpone the dress rehearsal that normally happens on a Saturday morning and use the time cleaning up dances and scene changes instead.
Mark and Jon getting into the feline vibe
Interviews for the local radio were recorded, I may get on air you never know.
A second portrait needed
My lists of jobs are getting shorter. The last couple of evenings I’ve spent trying to sort out the back cloth and portals that suffered so badly with damp in the workshop. Flameproofed sheets of timber are used in the construction of theatre sets, this got damp after I’d finished painting causing the salts to leach through onto the surface, fading colours and leaving a residue. Nothing for it but to repaint large chunks of the main set.
Puss’s boots
The other job that is taking it’s tole on everyone’s patience is installing LED tape around the portals. This takes time, let’s just say that some people are better at this than others. Staring at a lumpy mess you’ve created behind the tape, then disappearing into the toilet for half an hour doesn’t get the job done, but it does mean someone else ends up doing it!
A special brew for Panto
Yesterday afternoon it looked like the lights were nearly there, the final strip just needed connecting before we left for the weekend. But three LED’s decided that they no longer wanted to play the game and stayed pink whilst those around them changed colour. Nothing for it but to start again on that half of the portal.
Glad I got the bus and didn’t catch a ride in the Dames car!
I managed to catch a bus back to Oxford at a reasonable time, the bus having to wade through water. My walk along the towpath back to Oleanna felt very narrow with the water on the mill stream higher than it had been last weekend. I was glad of a touch more land between the canal and the flowing water when I reached the boat.
Someone was hungry!
Tilly was very happy to see me, Mick having left first thing to head up to Liverpool for the weekend. Of course she missed me. But I also missed having my morning Ding Ding that Tom had forgotten!
I encouraged the stove to flame back into life, fed Tilly and then myself. Chicken pasta with a few glasses of wine. Mick had been to London this week to pick up post. So now I have my new passport several months after it was applied for (it arrived three days after I applied for it), a new credit card, new E111 card, a waitrose card we’ve been waiting for since we moored in Newark a few years ago. We also have a new pair of boating shoes each and Mick has a second replacement pair of sheepskin slippers. What a lot of post!
Lots of post, including a shiny new red passport
Tilly chose what we were going to watch, somehow I don’t think she expected The Rock to be about chemical warheads on Alcatraz, a touch disappointing as there was little climbing involved,but I didn’t mind as it had Sean Connery in it. Not quite the girls night in I thought we’d have.
2 buses, 1 chippy, 1 painter, 1 new props maker, 0.5 backdrop repainted, 3 dogless collars, 3rd attempt with the LEDs, 12 Pippins, 2 pairs ears, 1 very dark room, 1 girls night in, 1st pasta in three weeks.
Hertford College Boat Club to College Cruisers, Oxford Canal
A very long week in Panto land, but a productive one.
Lily working with the Pippins
Two buses got me back to Chippy by 11am on Monday. The cast take over the stage now for much of the day, but lunchtimes and the evenings it is free.
Josh taking set ups
Monday we had a photo shoot for publicity photos for the show. We set up the Square setting as that was the most complete, actors donned their costumes and ‘set up’ photos were taken by Josh Tomalin.
Cutting in the woodwork on the boozer
The set being mainly sliders means that I can pull bits out to paint and then slot them back in whilst another scene is being rehearsed to dry without the possibility of actors getting covered in paint.
All wrapped up, ready to go
On Tuesday I took advantage of not being able to get to much on stage and sorted sending my model box out to Vienna. This took so long to fill out the forms on line. I could quite easily measure the box but weighing it was more problematical. The Front of House money scales came to my rescue, the box weighing 2kg which is £220 in £1 coins!
That’s me driving for the first time in three years!
In the evening Jo (the props maker) and I tried out the Dames car on the front of the stage whilst the technicians and Mark (Lighting Designer) hung lanterns around us. By the end of the day there were working headlights and I’d managed to paint my panto anaglypta in the boozer.
Highlights
Shadows
Wednesday was a filming day. The panto has some sections which are shown on a projection screen. So these were filmed in front of green fabric so that suitable backgrounds can be added. Then footage for the car chase was looked at with the actors in the car. Lots of fun.
Green screen filming
On Thursday I spent quite a bit of time getting dotty in the Bank of England Vault. I ended up getting carried away with the dots so had to paint every third one of them out. It being Halloween the actors had decided to spend the day in fancy dress. We had a strawberry, mustard, The Joker amongst other things.
Dotty vault
Friday was a very messy day. A panto isn’t a panto without a slosh scene. Last year this was tame compared to this year.
Susie mixing the smash
Actors getting covered
A huge bowl of Smash was required, costumes are made with ease of cleaning in mind and a large tarpaulin covered the stage floor. Various consistencies of smash were tried out, thinner worked better and tended not to clog nostrils up quite so much. On the set side of things I am going to need to glaze a lot of it as there is no knowing where the smash will land.
Pepper keeping me company back at my digs
In the evening I worked on the front edge of the stage, one last curve needed marking out. I was back to measuring and scaling up from my model, then joining the dots, followed by painting as good a curve as I could over mouldings. This involved adding a bit, loosing a bit, adding a bit etc whilst Mark and the chaps focused the lights on stage.
Ready to start the stagger through
Saturday morning, time for a stagger through of the whole show for the actors and a chance for everyone else to watch and see what is missing and needed for the technical rehearsals next week.
The boozer, just needing it’s dressing adding
This went well, a couple of scenes scripts were still in hands and we had to stop and start for scene changes, these will be worked out next week.
About to start at 3pm
Once the actors and props were clear of the stage it was time to get to work. Mark had done his best to get most of the lights focused, but still needed a bit of dark time. Jon (Sound Designer) was also around positioning speakers and microphones, a lot of people when you need a clear stage to start painting the floor. But everyone was understanding and accommodating.
Phil finishing the second coat of the base colour
The cavalry arrived in the shape of Phil, a scenic artist from Bristol. She has come to help out for a few days and was thrown in at the deep end helping me with the floor. We soon discovered what a small world it was from Skye to Hull to Bristol.
Base coat on by 4:20
Blues drying waiting for second coats at 5:10
The heating was on full blast to help the paint dry. We gave first, second and to one particularly annoying shade of blue a forth coat of paint before we broke for something to eat at 9:15 leaving the paint to dry on it’s own. Half an hour later we were good to go with a coat of glaze. This was on and drying with twenty minutes to go before the last bus left Chipping Norton for Oxford. Much better than last year when I finished at 2am and couldn’t escape to the boat until 6am.
Glazed by 22:35
Meanwhile
This morning, Saturday, when I’d turned my phone on I received a message from Mick. Yesterday he’d been up to Osney Lock to check on the flow above the lock, any possible moorings and if it would be possible to turn into Sheepwash Channel and then up onto the canal. More rain and strong winds were forecast for this morning, should he push on or stay put. The message said, ‘Just setting off now to beat the wind and rain.’
More Panto
By the time I’d had a shower he’d negotiated his way past numerous rowers on the Thames to Osney Lock. Finishing breakfast he’d single handed Osney Lock. This involves a lot of walking round as the lock landings are on the offside and control panels on the towpath side.
The next stretch would be the hardest. The narrow channel meaning the flow would be strongest. Osney Bridge to negotiate and then the turn onto Sheepwash. Changing from going upstream to downstream with a right hand bend the currents couldn’t be predicted, there was even an Eddie there to confuse matters. Mick made the turn, passed the disused swing railway bridge and then turned onto the lock landing below Isis Lock. This was conveyed just as I reached the front doors of the theatre.
Panto
In the now pouring down rain he worked Oleanna up the narrow lock and at last he’d escaped the Thames. Two weeks later than originally planned, but safe back on the cut. No photos of this expedition as Mick was quite busy and it was raining somewhat.
2 locks, 2.31 miles, 1 right, 1 left, 1 red board, 3 buses, 1 car, almost 2 weeks in 1, 1 scenic cavalry, 1st glaze, 2nd tomorrow, 1 day off, 3 2 1mph, 1 boat escaped, 1 designer escaped, 1 lazy day planned, 1 escape pod to be put away!
Early trains, two of them to get me to Banbury. Then the 488 bus to Chipping Norton, which arrived so I had a good half hour before the meet and greet with the acting company. The van was already being unloaded with the set pieces that had been built in Cornwall.
Pieces coming in through the front doors
There was time to make sure all was well before I’d be needed elsewhere. Unfortunately there were two pieces that wouldn’t fit through the front doors! I had given Ade and Lou what are known as the ‘Get in’ dimensions. The two offending pieces had a very quick straight cut put through them which will be disguised with a lick of paint when I get round to it.
Portals going in
The first day of rehearsals starts with meeting all the actors and other creatives, this is followed by a read through. This was very funny indeed, plenty of jokes for both old and young. Then it was time for Helen (the costume designer) and myself to be centre stage and show off our designs to the company.
Positions on stage
Over lunch time there was a production meeting with Lighting Designer, Sound Designer, Props Maker, everyone involved apart from the actors. My world that normally revolves at about 3mph was suddenly accelerated to ten times that speed and that is the way it has stayed for the rest of the week.
Starting the phone box
Monday saw the portals being put together and fixed in position on stage. By the afternoon a second van arrived with barrows, hanging baskets and the start of a telephone box. Plenty for me to paint.
Pepper being grumpy with me
Late afternoon I walked round the corner to pick up the key for my digs and drop my bags off. I’m staying in the same digs as last year, so no need to be shown round, just a quick hello to Suzanne and Pepper the cat and I was back at work within fifteen minutes.
Yummy!
Late evening we all retired to the pub where on the menu there was gluten free cider battered fish and chips, I obviously had no choice. The portion was huge and I did consider keeping half for the following day, but I did my best and polished it off.
Tuesday more set pieces went up, sliders were suspended. This all took time as the floor of the stage is by no means flat, in fact it dips by getting on for two inches towards centre stage!
Hanging baskets all blobbed and splodged
I took over the front foyer, painting smaller bits of set. Hanging baskets, kitchen counters, the telephone box. By late afternoon it was time to say goodbye to Ade and Lou. They very nicely gave me two bottles of this years apple juice that they’d just pressed.
Glitter tastic scooter
Wednesday was props meetings with John the Director and Jo the Props maker. The scooters Jo has made are wonderful. The huge vault door wasn’t opening quite far enough, so some major chamfering back of the built hinge was needed and I then had to promise not to put too much paint on it all.
Big hinge about 12 inches long
With the crew putting first and second coats of paint on things for me I could concentrate on doing the arty painting. Late on in the day more people headed home, leaving me with Gavin and Ash to carry on.
My pretty walk to work
Thursday the actors started to rehearse on stage. By 4pm the Pippins had joined them. These are local kids who get chance to be in the panto. There are three teams of four, songs are learnt on mass, but stage directions and dance routines all have to be done three times. I’m just about word perfect on some of the songs already!
K6 finished
This also meant that Gavin gave his health and safety chat to the kids. When I realised he’d started I made sure I went into the auditorium to listen. Sadly this year he’s changed the wording somewhat, Death wasn’t mentioned once!
Missed bits
During the evenings the stage is available for painting at the moment, so I’ve made use of Ash and Gavin to get more pleb painting done. This does mean that even though I’m last in the building I also tend to be the first, touching in the bits they’d missed before the actors start rehearsals.
Still things to fly
By the end of Friday night there were just signs and barrow dressing left to do for the market square scene. This scenery possibly has the most work, so on Saturday I treated myself to a sit down in a dressing room doing all the signage. The complicated floor has also been marked out, I just hope it’s still there after all the dancing next week.
Road sign finished
Once these were completed and a few jobs finished on stage I headed to get a Saturday newspaper and a few bits and bobs that Mick had planned to buy when he reached Oxford, but that just hadn’t happened. Leaving the theatre in daylight was a first this week, as I waited for the bus to arrive it went dark. Only the twinkling lights in Woodstock illuminated the journey back to Oxford.
Pub sign completed
I considered on popping in to say hello to our friends, Andy and Irene, who were moored at the end of the canal, but by now I was weary and wanting to get home, still with another bus journey to do. Mick met me from the bus and we walked back to the boat by Sandford Lock. After sausage and mash with a glass or two of wine I had returned to 3mph, Tilly doing her best to keep my lap warm in front of the stove.
Cat cuddles, only because I was nearest to the stove!
2 trains, 3 buses, 1 read through, 7 potatoes more,2 big flats, 3 lots hanging baskets, 1 street sign, 1 nick, 1 kitchen unit, 1 ancient Pepper, 4 free bottles Crabbies, 2 bottles apple juice, 1 wet day, 1 newspaper, 1 purring Tilly, 1 cosy boat, 1 day off.
This morning I noticed that our window frames need a good clean out. We seem to have a crop growing in the fluffy surround. Maybe it’ll be something tasty!
Cress or something more substantial?
As we finished off breakfast yesterdays locking partners came past us, then as we were rolling back the covers they came past again, heading in the same direction as us. How nice of them to call for us to do Woolhampton Lock together.
The river joins from the right
They of course were experienced at this lock and the swing bridge that closely follows it, having been through it yesterday. Below the lock the River Kennet joins again at 90 degrees, this is soon followed by the swing bridge. The flow on the river can mean that heading downstream you won’t be able to stop to operate the bridge, so it is recommended to open the bridge before leaving the lock.
Power on
Both safe through the bridge
Crew went ahead to open up, from my side of the lock I couldn’t see that it was opened but the chap on the other side said it was as Mick left the lock. A bit of power was needed to get past the initial force of the current, then enough to keep steerage through the bridge where shortly afterwards the boats pulled in to pick us all up. We’d both safely made the transit.
The culvert work we passed has progressed into a lot of mud
At Aldermaston Lock we waited and helped bring a wide beam up before we both could descend. An off duty volunteer appeared and as there were a few boats he went off to get his windlass and life jacket from the car, a handy extra pair of hands.
That’s what they look like
NB Seraph went on ahead through the lift bridge whilst we turned to the services to fill with water, this will be the last opportunity before going onto the Thames. This meant I got to see what the underside of a lift bridge looks like from the road. At the services we disposed of all our waste and then reversed out winded and waited for the road to be clear to lift the bridge again. I was glad we’d waited as I got 27 cars compared to NB Seraph’s 19.
Hips
As Mick brought Oleanna into Padworth Lock I heard two Kingfishers, soon followed by the two of them darting past in electric blue unison, both banking at the same time to give a flash of orange as they turned just behind Mick’s head and vanished into the trees. It was like the Red Arrows, they just needed a few more mates to make a proper display team. Sadly no photos were possible.
Sticky sticky things
We carried on working our way down through the locks and swinging the bridges now on our own, each chamber needing to be filled. Every now and then the river would join again, one stretch taking us by surprise and speeding our way downstream.
Sulhampstead Swing Bridge and lock were to be my last on the Kennet and Avon. A shame the sun hadn’t been out for my last day of freedom before Panto starts. We pulled in at Theale Visitor Moorings, hoping that the Thames will have dropped enough for Mick to make progress upstream towards Oxford this coming week. Today more yellow boards, stream decreasing are showing, they are almost half way to Oxford now, just a few more needed.
Tilly had a good explore this afternoon as I packed, baked and booked train tickets. Mick spent much of the time searching the internet for a new shower thermostatic mixer bar. Ours has decided to keep a constant temperature, just about too hot! So tomorrow he’ll help me with my bags and then go and see if he can get a new one from Reading Screwfix to plumb in.
My bags are now packed and in the morning I’ll be heading off to Panto. Hopefully when you are reading this Mick will be closer to moving onto the Thames, my navigational and windlass duties will be passed over to Paul from Waterway Routes https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk to help Mick get off the K&A.
So until I get chance to post a postcard here, this will be the last post for a while. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Thames and other boaters blogs as I eat my cereal each morning before painting my arms off on Puss in Boots. See you all soon.
6 locks, 5.99 miles, 1 wind, 5 swing bridges, 1 lift bridge, 41 held up, 1 boat let through, 1 full water tank, 20 biscuits, 1 oat and chestnut loaf, 1 big bag packed, 1 rucksack, 1 bag of templates, 2 kingfishers, 1 boater signing off for a while.
Hunting round for a printers to do copies of my plans I noticed a group of possibles behind the marina opposite. I chose one to aim for and set off with my tracing paper roll under my arm. After I’d crossed the canal the roll had to be tucked inside my fleece as it had started to rain. They were wrapped in a plastic bag, but all the same I didn’t want to end up with a wrinkly set.
Newbury Salmon ladder
In what seemed to be someones garage I opened the door and enquired if they did A2 copies. No came the answer from a chap hidden behind numerous toner cartridges, but there was a place in Aldermaston. That was no good to me, they’d be closed on Sunday when we might just pass through. They could however do me a couple of copies that covered the whole drawing, that would do me.
Modern printers are like old TV sets they take forever to warm up and get going. A test copy was done, which took forever to appear at the far end of the garage. This was fine and he set about doing my copies for me. once this machine got going it didn’t hang around! They charged a minimum of £7.50, was that okay? Just over 30p a sheet that was great, an A2 would have been around £2 a go!
Ambient! My lasagne the other day was ambient too
Now with a bigger roll I looked like I was hiding a shot gun under my fleece. I met Mick at Sainsburys where we stocked up on perishables. Back at the boat we had lunch and then pushed off.
Dante modelling a new woofer life jacket
Okay so we didn’t go far, just around the corner to wait for the marina service mooring to become free. Then we pushed over doing ‘an Andy’ to get the stern in against the strong wind. Newbury has no C&RT water points, but here you can top up your tank for £2, if you spend enough on other things it’s free. We managed 50 litres diesel and a bag of coal, so we got the H2O for free. I put a load of washing on to make the most of it.
When the new rulings come in for Diesel the chap said they wouldn’t sell to passing boats anymore. How many other places will go the same way?
Impatient locals
This all took time and it was nearly four by the time our tank gave it’s boom to tell us it was full. So we pushed back over, mooring just before Greenham Lock. All was good, with empty and full tanks as required and a clean pooh bucket, happy boaters.
Whilst Tilly explored this stretch of narrow land between canal and river I drew up a template for the pattern in the Boozer for Panto. This recurs on several bits of set, so being able to draw it out quickly will be a great help. With this then cut out I could start putting things away.
Work corner
For months now the corner of our dinette has had a model sitting in it along with boxes of paints and my model making box. It is normally tied away better than in this photo. I’d hoped that the Production Manager for Vienna might manage to pick the model up this weekend, but we are too far off his route, so it will be sent by courier instead, we’ll have to put up with it for a while longer. Everything else though could be packed away again and stowed under the seating until next year.
Mine!
It’s all mine!
Tilly woke up just as I was putting the cushions back and made sure that she claimed them by rolling all over the place and running along the dinette sideways, those poor cushions!
Our forth and final meal from the left over pork this evening. Left over stew, just about anything that I could find went into this in my cast iron pot which was left to bubble for a couple of hours. With a large jacket potato each it was very tasty. The joint may have been large, but it did us five main meals so that’s just over £1 a go. Not bad.
A photo for Frank
Earlier than advertised the Michaelmas Fair firework display started. We tried looking out of the hatch but we were too far away with too many trees in the way to see anything. Oh well, we just listened instead.
0 locks, 0.24 miles, 52.4 litres, 1 bag Glow, 1 full tank water, 1 empty wee tank, 1 clean pooh bucket, 24 copies, 1 chicken, A1 template, 1 corner reclaimed, 1 set loaded ready for Monday, 3 yellow boards, the rest still red, 2 free days hooray!
