Tilly is now quite bored of being here, she’s used this outside up. Although having said that she seems to have found her own shore based facilities as the litter box has only been used once in the last week.
That’s a big puddle
Rain overnight and this morning. A short shopping list was put together and Mick set out to head to Castle Donnington to the Co-op. As he thought the path he’d followed (which was the road pre-bypass) last week was now under water meaning he had to cycle round big roundabouts with quite a bit of traffic, but thankfully he didn’t get wet.
Not much to report really today. I’ve been working my way through our journeys for 2022. Managed to get to the end of the year. However Canalplan is 300 miles and 100 locks more than Water Explorer suggested that we’d done. Even though I’ve been checking the route Canalplan has taken us between places I seem to have managed to do a large detour somehow! I’ll give it a check through tomorrow.
Cosily simmering
A beef and beetroot curry was put together this afternoon and sat on top of the stove for a couple of hours before it required finishing off in the oven. I just love the smell of this curry. Accompanied by an homemade gluten free nan bread each, it was all very tasty.
Tasty
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 round up to September, 300 miles out, 100 locks out, 3 portions of curry, 2 nans, 2 contented warm boaters, 1 bored of here Tilly!
18cm higher than yesterday, just starting to come down
This morning the river reached a new level 2.42m. Today there has been no rain, just a shame there is more forecast for overnight!
Cranfleet Flood Gates have been closed since the 23rd December, so I wanted to see what the levels were like at the Shardlow gauge then, so we have an idea when the gates might be reopened. Unfortunately the EA Live Floods page won’t let you go back to look at historical data, but Gaugemap does.
On the 18th December the level was 0.57cm, it then rose to 1.4m and by the 23rd had fallen to 1.148m. So our 2.42cm this morning is a long way above that.
Flow rate might also have something to do with when they choose to close the flood gates.
They obviously knew the level and flow would increase in December. Below is todays flow chart, maximum 172.372m. That’s one heck of a load more water zooming down stream!
Think we’re going to be here a while longer!
Derwent Mouth Lock yesterday compared to 9th April 2022. That’s Oleanna sat waiting for the lock to empty.
A day with more numbers. I’ve started to work out last years mileage, locks etc using Canalplan as I’ve done every year. This always takes a long while remembering all the little journeys we did back in March back and forth to Goole. Not having Water Explorer to look at means I’m relying on the blog more, reliving our year.
Noting our journeys
Mick has spent more time trying to get our old trip computer working with Nebo. It has installed a new operating system, it just won’t reboot now! Instead we are considering using an old phone inside the boat. A couple of phones have been found and charged up to see if they might be suitable. One isn’t, the other will be tried out when we eventually get to move again.
Cheese on toast for lunch, yum
Even more numbers. I started to cut out the vinyl numbers for #unit21 today. I have them the correct way round this time! Using a scalpel I cut round the outline. Then I weed out the bits I don’t want, leaving what I do want attached to the clear cover which holds the numbers in place. I had wanted to do a box round them, but that felt like a huge waste of vinyl. I may cut strips to use instead.
Hunting round for some envelopes I bought before Christmas I ventured into one of the front cupboards this morning. Here we store Christmas, the white sheets from the summer, spare covid tests and extra wine glasses. I noticed that a corner of the wine glass box was wet. This was on the bottom shelf.
Had the damp trap in the cupboard filled up and over flowed? I’d refilled it with crystals not very long ago and today it was still empty. As I removed things from the cupboard I found a small puddle that had been sucked under a plastic bag on the middle shelf. At the rear of the cupboard it looked like moisture had been getting in at the corner, the holes for the shelf brackets showed signs of damp too.
Getting a good airing
Everything was removed, including the shelves. Dampness mopped up and then we set the heat wave fan blowing at it to help dry it out. Just where was it coming from, or was it condensation collecting in a far corner from the stove? With the recent downpours it could be rain water that had been driven in by the wind. Mick ventured outside to have a look.
Yes I know the roof needs a good wash!
First possible was the starboard nav light, although this was a touch low on the cabin side. It was however half full of water. Mick emptied it, dried it off then reattached it adding a new layer of black tack to the outer edge to help seal it. After he’d tightened the screws he popped a drop or two of Captain Tully’s Creeping Crack on them. The port side nav light was also emptied of water.
Could it be coming from the poppers from the cratch? Some of these are on the overhang, so unlikely to be them. Another couple are quite high up on the cabin side. They also got a drop of the creeping crack. The cupboard was left airing with the fan on or the rest of the day until we needed the space to go back to bed. The contents were edited and then returned to the cupboard, hopefully there will be more air in there this time.
The Lady in Grey
This afternoon I headed out for a walk down to Derwent Mouth Lock to see what the levels looked like today. I took the route by road to start with and walked past The Lady in Grey.
Back in it’s day
The house was built in the 1770’s for the Soresby family who moved to Shardlow when the canal was proposed. Their land spanned the cut giving them two areas for wharfs and warehouses for their canal carrying business (More info on the Soresby family can be found here on the Shardlow Heritage site, which is filled with information on the area).
When it was the hotel and restaurant
The Lodge was transformed into a Hotel The Lady in Grey with it’s restaurant it was highly regarded. The name came from the ghost of a headless young lady said to be hunting for her mothers lost jewels that her wicked sisters had hidden. Then it was a Thai restaurant which closed in 2008, this sadly was when the decline of the building is thought to have started. In 1967 it was awarded Grade 2 listing. In 2012 it is said that planning was sought for the buildings demolition and the site to be used to build three houses, this was refused. 2015 it received listed buildings consent for change of use back to a single dwelling with 5 bedrooms, things were looking up. However permission was refused to build eight dwellings in the grounds alongside the canal. Most probably the proceeds from these new dwellings would have afforded the restoration of The Lady in Grey.
The building is now in a poor state, the council seeking action from the owners, a s215 notice has been served on them requiring them to deal with the poor quality of the building. Such a shame. Most of the windows are smashed, wooden boards cover many of them. Photos from the local facebook page show the interior in such a dilapidated state. Here’s hoping that this once handsome house can be saved before it falls down.
Photos on the left are from yesterday, right today.
The towpath to Derwent Lock is now very muddy, slippy slidy muddy. The lock remains empty, well empty to the level of the river. I guessed about 14 inches lower than the canal today. The lock landing is now under water the edge of the river only noticeable by the tops of the ladders. The red level markers, one now is no longer visible, the other only a few inches away from being submerged.
Flooded fields
The parallel path that runs a little bit lower than the towpath is now submerged for lengths. I walked along it for a while relieved to be off the muddy towpath, only to find another length submerged and having to back track to the towpath. Two new boats sit above the lock awaiting levels to drop and there is one space available in front of the pubs.
Overnight the levels are forecast to rise more. Will the car park by our mooring get flooded? Will the EA flood gates be closed on the canal, if this happens we’ve been told that Shardlow Lock will be padlocked and it’s bywash blocked off too to protect the properties in between.
One day it will stop raining.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 more leak or is it condensation? 2 drowning nav lights, 1 house with great potential, 1 more lodger booked, 1 hour of numbers for next year, 11 Dreamies, 9 inches, 14 to go, 1 vat of bolognaise.
That’s one heck of a lot of water coming downstream! During the day we had notices regarding flood locks being closed down stream, including Newark. At the moment there are daily updates on the Trent Link group on Facebook. Lots of charts to look at daily, we know we can’t go anywhere, but it’s still interesting.
The rain hammered down for much of the morning.
More numbers to do today, more checking things through before I filled in my balance sheet.
Lots of boxes to ignore
This afternoon it was time to log on to the Government Gateway and fill in my tax return. There is lots to read and check through, would it be best to go the Rent a Room direction or go the income and expenses route with income from our lodgers?
Mick made himself scarce and went for a walk, leaving Tilly and myself. In the end I gave Tilly an extension to her shore leave as she just would not shut up and let me read. That’s when Mick arrived back, at least he doesn’t sit by the back doors getting increasingly noisy!
Over the top
Mick walked down to Derwent Mouth Lock to have a look at the river. Today the water was just about level with the towpath, in places it was over the top. Not much of the red river level marker showing either. On New Years Day the level was 1.76m so today it was another 9 inches higher. The less muddy path back to the village was quite full of water in parts too.
Above one red the other not far to go
Notes read, boxes filled, I was soon submitting my tax return and as very much expected I owe them no tax, just my NI voluntary contributions for the year. You can now see how many years you’ve contributed, a feature I’ve not seen before.
Lodger figures were passed on to Mick who then added them to his tax return. All done and dusted for another year.
Broccoli Bacon Pasta tonight.
0 locks, 0 miles, 48cm in 24hrs, 2 tax returns submitted, 1 meowy cat, 0 tax, Class 2 NI paid, 11 years to go.
Another early morning, well for Mick returning the van and sending off the costume returns. Frustrating that despite the returns going back to the same company, they had to go in three different packages, one to Poland via UPS the other two by Evri. Because of the two different couriers it meant Mick having to visit two different Premier stores in the torrential rain before returning the van.
On his arrival back to the boat he put on his chefs hat and cooked us a breakfast. As he cooked, a stream of water appeared from the window above the cooker. There was so much water coming down the glass outside, the water had filled up the frame and was finding it’s way inside. This year I haven’t got round to taking the windows out and giving the frames a good clean out. The drain holes on this window were almost certainly blocked. So as Mick fried and poached our breakfast I donned my coat and provided myself with some pointy thin sticks.
Co-op bacon not as good as Alrewas bacon
The drain holes were totally blocked. Prodding from above and then below saw rivers of muddyness drain down the cabin side. I managed to do enough of a job to keep the water draining away and not entering the boat. A better more comprehensive clean out is required before too long, but that will require a warmish dry day as each window will need to come out of it’s frame.
Having now got soggy legs and Mick having had the early start we both deserved breakfast, it was very yummy.
Tilly really wanted to be out, but the rain was putting her off. But in the end her need was far greater than staying dry and she sprang off somewhere on the towpath. She soon returned much relieved and came for some Dreamies. The next few hours as I worked my way through the last few items to order for #unit21 she came and went as often as any cat could. The day gradually drying up, but the towpath remaining very wet and extreamly muddy. My list of jobs bore the brunt of Tilly’s muddy stamps.
Good job most jobs were done !
Time to sit down and do figures. Time to finish off last years accounts, add up my design fees and money from lodgers. Downloading bank statements takes some time, then reconciling them. Things are a little more complicated this year as my self employed year doesn’t run the same as the tax year for our lodgers. Maybe I should move my accounting year and maybe I am too diligent with the figures. It all takes time and concentration (well only a couple of afternoons worth), which isn’t helped with Tilly coming and going, demanding Dreamies every five minutes! Mick was understanding and watched some old episodes of All Creatures Great and Small with the subtitles on, after all he needs the figures from the lodgers for his return too.
Still some more to do tomorrow, then the tax return filling in, only to be told I don’t owe any tax just some National Insurance contributions, which I already know.
Numbers and notes
Dinner this evening was jacket potatoes with the remainder of the chicken from our Friday night roast and some homemade coleslaw. One day we will finish the red cabbage bought for Christmas!
0 locks, 0 miles,1 van returned, 3 parcels, 3 refunds, 20 rolls of tape, 1kg green confetti, 2nd payment, 4 hours of numbers, 4 muddy stamping paws! 1 overdue catch up.
Topics in the Geraghty zoom this morning included foxes, calculus, hyacinths and magnolia trees. Good to see everyone again after Christmas and the New Year.
1.55m up 2 inches from yesterday, the River Soar is closed again
I needed to make the most of day light hours so I was soon out on the stern. Wind direction was checked, then Mick helped remove the starboard side of the pram cover, extra ventilation required today.
Milk pods
Rain had been threatening for most of the morning. When it struck it did it in style! We’d chosen the right side of the pram cover to remove, but the rain still came in. Things were moved round, items removed from where rain water gets diverted on the roof. Just about everything important stayed dry and by lunchtime the milk pods were finished. They moved into the cratch to free up space in the stern workshop.
Now the moment of truth. Would my measurements of the stern doors have been correct and had I built the giant mug to those dimensions. Tilly was locked in the bedroom. I lifted the mug out from it’s position on the dinette, over the kitchen units, a few inches to spare there. Then offered it up to the back doors. I could have hooked them out of the way, but that might mean they wouldn’t end up being as open as they could be.
How much space past the doors?
I rested the mug on the top/threshold of the door. Very little light could be seen either side. I then carefully pushed the mug through the opening. PHEW! It fitted. I really had no idea what I would have done if it hadn’t. Phew! Maybe 2mm to spare. Phew.
Thank goodness for that!
The rest of the afternoon I spent sticking yoga mats to the inside of the mug. It sat on off cuts raising it off the wet deck. It pee’d it down again and I risked having the back door open for some fresh air, the sides of the pram cover back on trying to keep everything dry. This did mean the back of the mug got a little bit damp, but it should dry out fairly quickly.
With next to no room to work in and day light fading fast I had to stop. The large pieces to cover the outside of the mug would have to be done elsewhere with more space. The mug was lifted onto the hatch just enough space between it and the pram cover for it hopefully to stay dry overnight.
Sun setting, time to stop work
Items were packed up to take to Huddersfield. Not having the mug in the corner of the dinette made the boat feel so spacious!
Happy bunny
The evening was spent replacing the bunnies ears with longer versions and watching Happy Valley. The Piazza in Huddersfield featured as a location. Tomorrow we’ll be delivering the giant props to a unit that was just out of shot, I’ll have to check if there really is a chemists there.
Despite the bucketing down rain Mick headed off to catch the bus this morning, thankfully not getting too wet. A fourth elbow joint, a mask and masking tape for my work along with a Saturday newspaper and the eternal hunt for pink cat food in gravy.
With the boat to myself I got the sewing machine out from under the dinette, time to make a pregnancy bump from a cheap calico bag and some stuffing. Rebekah, the actress, is very small so I’m hoping the pad will look like she is nine months pregnant and not about to totally pop! I’ll try it on her next week and see if it needs making smaller or not.
Too much Christmas chocolate!
A try out for some competition numbers that will get attached to the actors costumes for one scene. I’ve bought some vinyl that can be cut into shapes and then ironed onto fabric. The instructions on line were for use with high tech cutters and big irons that all cost a fortune. I would be using a scalpel, scissors and the cheap travel iron we have on the boat. I followed instructions, but not correctly, I’ve ended up with numbers back to front! Thankfully this was only a try out and I’ve plenty more materials to get it right next time.
Masked up
Mick returned with the shopping in sunshine. A quick lunch was then followed by a couple of hours cutting, gluing and sticking. Today the milk pods got two thirds covered before I was loosing the light. My new mask seemed to be doing the job, but fumes seemed to be getting inside the boat instead! Here’s hoping it doesn’t rain too much tomorrow so I can take the sides off the pram cover as well as wear my mask as there is still plenty more stinky sticking to do.
Chopped in half ready for chips
Time to get on with more jobs inside. The panto potato was cut into chips and I made up a couple of card trays for them to be fixed into. Some painting will be added at some point.
Handle
Then time to turn attention to the giant mug again. The handle was tried out, then attached inside. The rest of the work now needs to be done either outside or elsewhere. I still haven’t tried it through the back doors! That will all be fun and games tomorrow!
Sticking the bottom bits is easier if you are inside
As Mick came back from Derby there was a boat coming up through Shardlow Lock, they had just come off the river. He chatted to them. They had come from the River Soar along stretches that were mostly amber but some were in the red. The river reopened on the 4th January. Sadly for us our route is still closed at Cranfleet Flood Gates. If our original plan had been possible, today we would have been sitting at Keadby waiting for Vazon Sliding Bridge to reopen following the rail strikes.
Pinky sky
We watch the levels and watch the weather. We could be here for a while yet.
More emails were sent regarding flooring for #unit21 this morning. This ended up with a proforma invoice that required payment before 1pm to enable it to be collected early next week. My credit card ended up being stretched that bit more, but thankfully the price hadn’t gone up over Christmas and it will be sat ready for collection.
Delivery!
Our Sainsburys delivery arrived at the end of the towpath. There’s not much space on the road so a bit of nudging out of the way was needed for someone to get past, Mick was there with bags to decant the shopping as quickly as possible so the van could head back off. Everything was stowed away before I got my work things out for the day.
A box of potential power
Mick had been getting tracking information regarding our alternator this morning. Would this actually arrive as planned? Through the hedge I could see what looked like a DPD van heading towards the farm. Mick popped his shoes on and walked up to collect the alternator.
Hooray! Just when to fit it now? Should it go on straight way, three bolts and a bit of cabling to do. Should it wait for the existing one to stop working completely? Should it wait to be fitted by a mechanic? How much longer should we stay on the mooring? We won’t be going far for a while with the river in flood. Mick is thinking about it.
I got on with making up the forma for the giant mug. The base dimensions should just fit through the back doors on Oleanna, so I won’t be able to get much further than just the basic shape. Also covering it in the yoga mat has to wait as I’ll be using contact adhesive and there is nowhere near enough space onboard to lay things out to glue, let alone dry and all the fumes.
Sheets were cut to length and then scored so that they would follow the curve. Glued and held in position to dry with masking tape. A second layer was added, laminating two layers would make it stronger.
False base on top
The actress will stir a giant spoon in the mug so I worked out the maximum depth needed for this. I then made a false base to slot inside, this will help to keep everything together. It’s now ready to have a handle added, just need to get a plastic pipe back from Derby on the bus!
“It’ll be okay, so long as it’s not here for long!”
Just where to store the mug until it can be taken to Huddersfield? I’d hoped to make this on land where there would be more space than in a 7ft wide narrowboat. Would it sit in the corner of the dinette? Not quite, but taking out the corner cushions gave it just enough space. Phew we won’t have to move it several times a day just to be able to go about our daily lives.
Tilly thought it was very good especially the new route behind it. Mick thought he’d be able to live with lack of elbow room at the table. ‘It’s funny you making BIG things and not models’.
Mick has spent some of today starting to work on our trip computer. As Water Explorer is no longer, we’re hoping to be able to reconfigure the computer to be able to run Nebo. It may take a bit of doing!
If all had gone to plan Oleanna would this evening have been sat above Cromwell Lock waiting for the morning tide to head to Torksey. Working on #unit21 becomes more complicated because we are stuck due to flooding. I need to get the props I’m making to Huddersfield as soon as I can. Finishing their construction would have been so much easier on land rather than on the boat without all my tools. I could really do with a hot air gun to bend some pipe. The pipe could be walked from a shop in Scarborough, but on the boat it requires a bus journey. The pipe is 3m long! Just complicated and more time consuming.
I spent some of the morning sussing out when would be good to head to Huddersfield with the props, this will involve hiring a van and on the same trip we could pick up some new flooring for the show. I also need to do costume fittings with three actors, at the moment they only work three days a week. So logistics, orders and payments. Nearly sorted.
Mick called Beta to order a new alternator. Our engine has a WOC number which means that when ordering anything from Beta they can see how our engine was set up and exactly what part we require. Mick did a slight ouch at the price, he did a bigger one when he realised that hadn’t included vat!
Our alternator has a special pulley on it. To replace the pulley you need a special tool, which we don’t have. The chap on the phone said they would put a special pulley on the new one for us to save moving it from the old alternator to the new one. It should arrive tomorrow, fingers crossed.
Skyline bus
Being in Shardlow means there is a good bus service to Derby and Leicester on the Skylink which runs every twenty minutes ferrying people to East Midlands Airport. The bus stops by The Navigation Inn a five minute walk away. Add to this the government putting a £2 cap on single bus fares. Very easy.
Waiting at the bus stop I got chatting to a local lady about the river being in flood. We compared notes on levels of the River Trent and Ouse. My family home over looked the flood plain in York and Dad would give us reports of how high up the five bar gate the flood water had reached. I think if it got up to the fourth bar then driving around York was very tricksy as there would only be one route into the city not under water. The lady I chatted to recounted the floods of 2000 on the Trent. Sand bags were put over the drains in the road and stood at the bus stop you could just pop your hand over the wall and touch the flood water. Thankfully the water isn’t anywhere near that level …. yet!
Lovely houses click photo to look inside one
The bus sped into Derby. Past the train station where strikers stood with placards. Further on the bus passed the lovely houses on Railway Terrace. These were built to accommodate the senior Midland Railway staff in the 1840’s, the first houses built to house railway workers in the country. Jackson and Thompson built a triangular block of streets, North Street, Midland Place and Railway Terrace, NMR. In the 1970’s there was a campaign to stop the houses from being demolished, they are very fine looking houses. However their sight reminds me of a trip we did to Derby a few years ago. We walked down the same streets to Derby Crown Court to hear the sentencing of our original boat builders.
A Mickleover bus
I swapped buses at the bus station and headed out towards Kingsway Retail Park. Here there was a Homebase, no pipe and fittings suitable for what I wanted. I checked the isles for anything suitable to make a giant mug from. A plastic dustbin? Too much to cut off to stop it looking like a dustbin. Kitchen bins were all too narrow.
Over at Hobbycraft I scoured the isles for something that might be useful too. But they had nothing suitable for a giant mug. A couple of months ago I’d spent ages hunting online for anything that might be useful and come up with very little the right size. So back to the foamcor plan. I picked up 8 sheets and some more tape.
Handy makeshift strap
My dodgy grip doesn’t like carrying thin things, eight sheets of foamcor isn’t that thin, but still. I’d brought with me three carrying straps from the yoga mats I’ve bought. These have elastic looped ends joined by some webbing. I passed two of them over the corners of the sheets, one each side and then joined them together with a third one, creating a handle on the top. Not the perfect handle but a much easier carry back to the bus for my return journey.
Whilst I was away Mick had changed the fuel filters and the gear box oil. We just need the alternator now.
Bunny legs
0 locks, 0 miles, 4 buses, £2 each, 0 pipe, 0 connectors, 0 hot air gun, 8 sheets, 2 pies, 1 sad gits pie, 1 order completed, 1 plan coming together, 1 new filter, 1 cleaned filter, 1.5 litres oil, 2nd bunny leg.
Tilly came and went most of the day. The sun was out and what a lovely day it would have been to cruise. Instead Mick did a couple of loads of washing, introduced himself and Tilly to our bow neighbours. They have quite a few bird feeders and a dog, so it was good to let them know of Tilly’s existance.
Maybe it was the cat nip Dreamies or maybe its the two donkeys in the field next to our moorings, but Tilly rarely ventured further than the gunnel and the hatch. Any suggestion that it might be open was used. Dreamies are rationed now to one each time she comes home! She comes home frequently!!
Mick’s hair was over his ears, time for a trim. A stool was taken outside and the clippers came out. Grade 3 all over and no need to sweep up. Just a shame it’s a little bit early for the birds to collect the hair to line their nests. I always think Mick looks a little younger after a hair cut, even if he turns into a Skin ‘Ed.
Catching up with friends always happens at this time of year. As yesterday had been my college friend Kathy’s birthday it was way past time to have a good chin wag. Good phone signal required being outside so I took my coat with me and stood on the stern. We really did have a lot to catch up on, Kathy has moved back onto her boat on the Thames by Tower Bridge for a while. A shame she hadn’t been there for the flotilla, although I suspect it was a very noisy evening.
View from the stern
I heard about the next Society of British Theatre Designers exhibition, which this year Kathy is curating. There will be 13 regional exhibitions, instead of the usual one, under the collective title ‘Hello Stranger’. The exhibition happens every four years and is normally filled with costumes, model boxes from designers and students. Many of the models are remade specifically to be exhibited costing people a lot of money. This year the designers are being encouraged to only use what already exists for display and there will be more workshops and conversations than before. The work on display will chart what has happened in the performance design world over the last four years, how the pandemic changed the way designers worked and what they produced. Hopefully we’ll be near one of the exhibitions to be able to visit.
After an hour and a half it was time to warm up again in front of the stove. That is when I realised I should have called Kathy via Whatsap. Numpty! But then I’d have missed the mist collecting in the field opposite and Tilly exploring the roof of the boat at our stern!! Rule 4, NO going on other boats! Being flouted in front of my eyes.
My #unit21 knitting came out. Time to stuff the head of the rabbit. Sew on some features and it’s ears. I still need to knit the second leg and both arms. I just hope it’s big enough, otherwise there will be some doubling up of yarn and bigger needles needed.
By the time we went to bed the River Trent had managed to drop by 11cm. There’s still a long way to go and more rain forecast.
0 locks, 0 miles, grade 3, 1st ever Tilly return to the boat using Dreamies packet rustle, 90 minutes catch up, 1 very chilly arm and shoulder, 2 ears, 1 nose, 2 french knot eyes, 1 stuffed head, 11cm.
