Perfect Or Bad Timing. 27th November

Muddy Slipper to Somerton Meadow

We were up at normal time and wanting to be making a move. Somerton Meadows was only two and a half hours away according to Waterways Routes and that is where we wanted to be able to hunker down for the strong winds and rain that were going to arrive this afternoon. Our aim was to reach there before lunchtime and be all settled before the elements took over.

Coming into Lower Heyford we decided that we’d give over a proportion of our lives and fill with water. Slowing past the moored boats we could see a boat coming through the bridge towards us, an unusual sight at the moment. It soon became obvious that it was NB Dusty the local coal boat, Katy Jock and Billy were all at the back having a chat to someone waiting for us to clear the way ahead for them. It looked like they were stocked up with coal, hopefully diesel too.

Stoppages on the Oxford have meant that they haven’t been able to do their normal runs down to Oxford and up to Fenny Compton for a few weeks. But they had decided to do a mini run to stock up boats in between the stoppages near their home mooring. They were just making their way back from Aynho where they’d stocked up, perfect timing for us. They had diesel and were happy to pull over to fill our tank having a chat as it filled. If we’d have thought about it we’d have pulled up closer to the water point and got the tap dribbling into Oleanna’s tank whilst we did this, but hey.

As they pulled away from us it started to rain, only a drizzly bit, but this wasn’t meant to happen until 2pm! We pulled forward and started the tap, Mick walked up to the recycling bins and then onto the shop at the hire base to see if they had some eggs. We hadn’t calculated how many we’d need for kedgeree and a spot of baking. Luckily Mick returned with some so I can try out a Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil recipe I’ve been wanting to have a go at for sometime, photos tomorrow if it turns out well.

By now the rain had started in earnest, but being very close to the railway we decided to get wet and push on to Somerton. Both a bit soggy around the edges we worked our way through the lift bridge and up two more locks, pausing to close the offside cratch cover in the last one. I then left Mick to battle on whilst I went inside to heat up some soup for lunch. By 13:40 we were pulling in at the meadows, the rain (which started early) now being joined by the gusting wind. Luckily this helped push Oleanna into the side, easing mooring.

The remainder of the day we hunkered down listening to the gales and sideways rain as Tilly made the most of being allowed out, returning to leave her muddy paw prints over everything!

3 locks, 4.77 miles, 1 boat moving, 6 bags excell, 90 litres diesel, 1 full tank, 6 eggs, 2 early to rain, spot on to moor, 1 blustery soggy day, 0 cows that way, 0 cow the other way, 4 muddy paws.

https://goo.gl/maps/1AiDxet7SMs

Are We The Only Ones Moving? 26th November

Shipton bridge to Muddy Slipper

Neither of us slept well last night which of course meant that we both managed to sleep in! A lie in was most probably needed but it hadn’t been the plan. We rarely set an alarm as we both seem to naturally wake at a reasonable time, but today we’d planned to get a good cruising day under our belts before the weather deteriorates. So that extra hour in bed put the scuppers on that, we’d not be able to reach our chosen mooring in day light.

We did manage to push off a little after 11am. The sun was out but it was still really quite chilly, padded trousers needed. As we pulled in at Shipton Weir Lock a walker said we were lucky as they’d only just opened the lock. This slightly confused us as we’d received the notice saying it had opened earlier than planned last week, maybe they had been working on the lock again this morning. But no, the walker was referring to the stoppage that we’d known about.

The netting to one side of the lock was still there, where something underground is having some attention. It was like this when I last came through over a month ago. Maybe this is the part of the works that has been put on the shelf until they have dealt with Dukes Lock, meaning the closure didn’t need to be quite so long. The only evidence in the lock itself that work had been carried out was huge new pieces of timber which help to seal the gates, they certainly sealed better today.

Now on the river section Mick opened up Oleanna’s throttle. Narrowboats chug along canals, but every now and then what they really want is a bit of a zoom, their engines would love to run like this more of the time, but depths, bank erosion and other boats limit the speed you can do on canals (along with the speed limit). Out on the river the depth is greater so a few minutes for Oleanna to blow away her cobwebs as Mick moved the tiller to get her round the bends as they came along far quicker than normal.

Up Bakers Lock we curved round Gibraltar. As we approached Enslow Bridge and Railway Bridge we thought a boat was coming towards us. The two bridges are quite close together and it looked like they were closest, so Mick held back allowing them space to manoeuvre. But they seemed to be doing the same. We waited patiently and still they waited too. My camera came out and zoomed in to see what was happening, maybe they were mooring up? It turned out that they were already moored up and it was just a trick of the light and reflections that made it look like they were away from the bank. We were the only boat moving.

At Pigeon Lock a delivery from a builders merchants arrived for the mill, which is having a fortune spent on it, carefully crossing over the canal bridge it soon stopped. The roadway looked a touch narrow for it to make it to the house, maybe it’s load was going to have to be craned off at the side of the lock and then wheelbarrowed through the gates.

Jane’s Enchanted Tea Gardens looked a touch more sorted today as we passed. Only white doves were at home and all bar one of the Morris Minor cars were out of view. The one we could see was possibly the smallest one on site. Sitting on the roof of NB Flower was a Sylvanian Family of rabbits in their Morris Shooting brake pulling along a caravan, hope they have a roof to pull up tomorrow!

We pootled on along through the woods with the River Cherwell and railway line hugging the canal and then veering away. An oak leaf carpet under my feet at each lock.

It was rather chilly so we decided to pull in at the Muddy Slipper mooring. The branch Mick had planted in the hole no longer visible, so we both carefully waited until we were sure of our footing before stepping off Oleanna. The branch had been chopped back by a passing strimmer, it was still there just far far shorter!

Tilly headed out for a couple of hours to worry the local pheasants. We could tell she liked it here as she was gone for ages before deciding to come home for a snack.

Tomorrow we’ll do our best to be away earlier and be moored up before the forecast rain and wind hits at 2pm, maybe we’ll set an alarm.

4 locks, 5.41 miles, 1 hour too long in bed, 1 snoring cat, 1 zoomy Oleanna, 1 stationary boat, 4 wheels too wide, 1 mini car and caravan, 1 sock completed, 5 stupid birds, 6 holes, 1 tree I like it here.

https://goo.gl/maps/i4GzYJvo4JB2

The Back Steps Have Got A Bit Higher. 25th November

Thrupp to Shipton Bridge 220

I was a very lucky cat today the shopping arrived half an hour early! Well I’d actually arranged this whilst they were out yesterday. However when a big orange van turns up I always get shut in the bedroom. This is so unfair as I could help direct him to us and not get in the way at all! But no I get closed in.

Today it took ages for the man to get to us. He and Tom chatted for ages and ages before he even got hold of any of the big trays. Eventually Tom carried over the first few and I could hear her putting things away. She’d had a good sweep round this morning, getting rid of lots of stuff to make room for all the things they had ordered.

Once the trays were empty and the man had gone I was allowed back out. Running around shouting always works when I want them to do things faster, so they were soon ready to move the outside again.

First I had to inspect where she’d put everything. Apart from my pooh box stuff (they use it now too in their pooh bucket!) it all seemed to have been put under the back steps, I think they are a little bit higher than normal now. She wants me to point out to you all that there are far more things than just wine down there. Infact quite a bit of it looks to be for my dingding.

They were soon wearing their coats and ready to move the outside again. I sat in the window and made sure they untied this outside and let it go, it’s not a very good one and I was hoping another one would come by and be much better. She walked off with the key of power leaving Tom to push the outside away.

The key of power had a problem with the bridge. It only opened it up by three paws worth, nowhere near enough for Oleanna to get through. So she shut it waited a minute and tried again. It worked this time and Tom was soon bringing the outside near again. This one looked quite good, a bench for me to leave my scent on, a wall with sideways trees up it to climb. However they filled up the tank at the front until it boomed, left lots of rubbish and emptied the yellow water too. Oleanna seemed to be a bit more level now, she’d got a bit bottom heavy after the shopping had arrived!

They then moved the outside again, not far, but apparently just far enough. Shore leave! At last!!

Except this outside had a lot of people walking in it. They kept scaring any potential friends away. So in the end I gave up and came back inside to sit by the fire. She’ll join me in a bit with her woolly things that I’m apparently too old to play with now as I’m a grown up cat. Growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

0 locks, 0.49 miles, 1 lift bridge, 3 paws high, 1 Oleanna high, 6 trays, 6 boxes of wine, 2 boxes dingding, 1 bag dingding, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 0 rubbish, 20 minutes instead of 60 taken, 40 on account.

https://goo.gl/maps/E2nAYvzcYLJ2

Here’s one I Poohed In Yesterday. 24th November

Caution This Is A Toilet Post!

Thrupp

Today we have been on a bus trip. The S4 picked us up from Thrupp Turn, a short walk away, winding it’s way around villagers taking us to Banbury. I picked up a parcel from the Post Office, more wool and handed over another with finished woolly things inside. M&S supplied us with lunch before we headed to Tooleys Boatyard.

Kate Saffin and Colin Ives were running a workshop on composting toilets this afternoon. Recently on a facebook group Composting Toilets for Boats and Off-Grid Living Mick had made a comment about the installation of our set up. We have a Separett Villa which doesn’t come with a collection tank for your yellow water, we had one built in under the floor and have a pump to empty it. Kate asked if Mick could write something to add to the files on the groups page and then invited us to join in at the workshop. As it was a free event we decided to go along and see if we could learn anymore about waterless toilets.

Kate Saffin (Alarum Theatre Company and doyen of waterless toilets) talked everyone through the basics of how a composting toilet works. The name ‘Composting Toilet’ is a bit of a misnomer. In the early days of boaters buying into this type of toilet the companies selling them suggested that the contents would compost, some saying within 6 weeks, the contents of the solids buckets could then be used as compost. This was never the case. If you are a vegan your deposits might be composted down after 4-6 months, a meat eater 12 months. No matter what diet you have all the bugs in the solids will have died off within 100 days.

We were talked through the differing types of waterless toilets, how people tend to use them. Kate had brought with her her three buckets. A single lady living on her own she tends to have a bucket in use, one stored away doing its secondary composting and a third either empty waiting to be used or fully composted down ready to be returned to the earth. Today she showed us a new bucket which she was preparing for use (wood cat litter pellets are her preferred base layer), a bucket that had been on her roof doing it’s stuff about eight months old and her third bucket which she had finished using yesterday. My out of focus photo is of her 8 month bucket and the one she’d been using for the last four months. The photo isn’t out of focus due to aroma as there was absolutely none.

Conversations were had about what cover to use in your buckets, whether to leave toilet paper in the mix, any concerns about being on medication, just about every question you could possibly think of was covered by the workshop.

Colin of Kildwick and The Little House Company started about four years ago, building himself and family a composting toilet to use on their boat. A family of four quickly filled up their cassette toilet and walking up a steep hill to the elsan was becoming a very regular thing. Colin designed and built his first toilet and then looked at how to improve it with a better separator etc. Other boaters asked if he’d make them one too. Over the years Kildwick has expanded and now they have difficulty keeping up with the demand. The Little House Company are now the UK stockists for Separett Toilets.

There were several of Colin’s toilets to have a look at, including one with, what has become known as, a glitter shitter. This is a separator that is glittered and has become very popular. I think that if we’d been aware of Kildwick when Oleanna was being built we’d most probably have gone with one of their toilets. Having said that we are very happy with our toilet and would never go back to a pump out. Having been in a house for almost a month doing panto, I was appalled at the amount of water being wasted every time I flushed.

We were already converts and our approach is very standard. However we seem to fill our solids bucket a little bit too quickly. Colin and Kate recon that we might be using a bit too much cover material, so we will try a bit less in future. We’d also been wanting to see options that people use for the secondary composting stage on boats. If we had a home mooring we’d be able to carry on the composting process on land, but we don’t. We came away with a few more ideas which need thinking about a touch more before we go for it. A very interesting afternoon.

By the time we got back to the boat we wanted something to eat so headed over to The Boat. The menu seemed to have changed since we last visited, but the chips were still not as good as they could be and most of our food wasn’t that hot. I say most, as my BBQ chicken bacon and cheese pot was bubbling away, but our peas were decidedly cold. Next time we’re in Thrupp we’ll try the Jolly Boatman instead.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 buses, 2 parcels exchanged, 3 balls of yarn, 2 jacket potatoes, 2 cups of tea, 1st visit to Tooleys, 2 poo experts, 3 toilets, 3 buckets, 8 months old pooh, 4 months old pooh, yesterdays pooh, 1 glitter shitter, 1 gammon, 1 cheese pot, 1 pint, 1 glass wine, 1 very very very very bored cat!

So Close, Yet Miles Away. 23rd November

Kidlington Green Lock to Thrupp

We’d hoped to be able to find a handy sneak through to the main road in Kidlington by the lock. A big Sainsburys sits within half a mile (as the crow flies) from our mooring and we’d hoped to be able to do a big shop as well as have transport links. Mick had a walk around and could only find paths that led to locked gates from the lock. Following the canal northwards you can cross at Yarnton Road Bridge and then wiggle your way around the houses. This route however was more than a mile and a half away, not close enough for a big shop. So we decided to move on.

The two work boats moored in front of us were on the move this morning, heading down to Dukes Lock to start work on Monday. We moved off ourselves after our breakfast and made our way up the lock. Not far to Thrupp today where we hoped there would be space for us between the permanent moorings and the winter moorers.

Up high in a tree sat a bird of prey quite well hidden by it’s nest, it’s squawking gave away it’s location as we passed. Not sure what it was, maybe a Red Kite.

After Roundham Lock we pulled in near the water point at Langford Lane so that I could head up to the handy Co-op for a few bits and bobs. Then we carried onwards to Thrupp. A gap was waiting for us ideally positioned opposite a house for sale. This would mean we could get a delivery and spent much of the rest of the day thinking of things we wanted to buy. Possibly the biggest shop we’ve done, but then prices have gone up since we first started shopping this way and it is very convenient. Over the next week we will only see the occasional place to buy the odd thing, so we needed to stock up.

During the afternoon and evening I spent what felt like a life time weaving in ends and sewing seams on a large order of knitted items destined for foreign climes. I’ve been working on this order for ages but tomorrow we’d be near a post office and it really needed to be on it’s way. Another episode of Inspector Morse helped while away the time.

2 locks, 2.25 miles, 1 noisy bird, 2 bananas, 1 head brocolli, £4.62 spent on Black Friday, 2 ears, 1 ideal mooring, 6 boxes ordered, 6 pairs completed, 132 ends, 1 Morse, 0 shore leave!

https://goo.gl/maps/bMJPhwnshvB2

Through Dukes. 22nd November

Aristotle Bridge to Kidlington Green Lock

Someone last night seemed to have moved a street light! I woke up several times with the chink in the curtains glaring light down on my head. The someone was Tilly, having a good old peer out of the window as the almost full moon came into view and took it’s time to move across the sky. No matter how many times we ask Tilly to close the curtains when she’s finished she just ignores us!

We woke to quite a frost and the first thing to do was to hunt out the padded trousers from under the bed. With extra layers on and a bowl of porridge each in our tummies we were ready to push off. The canal was so clear you could see right to the bottom, all those leaves settling down there amongst the bikes.

Another load of washing was done before we reached the first water point where we stopped and filled the tank, emptied the yellow water tank and disposed of the contents of our bin, box and bucket, all of them. With everything empty or full we were ready again. I decided to walk on ahead, as some thoughtful person hadn’t picked up after their furry friend. This meant I could set the next lock and bridges ahead.

Today it would be two locks and three lift bridges, the locks would be easy, but the bridges?

There is a chap who seems to always be hanging around the first of the bridges. He most probably loiters for some conversation with passing boaters, not many of them around at the moment. Today he watched me unlock the bridge and then haul it up to sit on the beam. On closing it he said it looked like the lock was on it’s way out again, then asked how far we were heading. Our plan was to reach Kidlington Green today, ‘Well you won’t be going much further!’ said the voice of doom. I enquired why. ‘Well Shipton Weir Lock is closed, and will be for a while yet’. We were aware of the closure for works and had been planning our cruising accordingly. However yesterday we had a notice come through from C&RT saying that they were pleased to inform us that the lock had opened two days earlier than planned. Somewhere along the line we’d missed them moving the opening date by a week to accommodate works at Dukes Lock, never mind the two days! So I could inform Mr Doom and Gloom that the way ahead was actually open for us all the way to Banbury. His reply was that they’d be putting the licence fee up now! Jolly soul.

The next bridge was the hard one Wolvercote Lift Bridge. Walking towards it there seemed to be a cyclist loitering, maybe I could enlist his help, but he moved onwards before I got within ear shot. When last I came through here there had been a long chain added to the off side beams, this should help me pull the beam down. Except the chain was no longer there! Would I be able to manage? I was certainly going to give it a go.

I hooked my hands over the furthest part of the beam that I could reach, ‘Give me a leaver and a fulcrum and I’ll move the world’ (F. Matthews), going through my head. The beam started to come down, but I knew I’d have difficulty changing my grip to get my weight above it. So I changed tactic, I walked my hands along the beam to increase my advantage over the weight, as it came lower I moved along and along until I was in a suitable position to change my grip. I quickly sat on the beam, Success!!!

Dukes Lock was full and a boat was sitting in Dukes Cut Lock facing the canal. The chap on board spotted me as I walked past to set the lock for us, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry. Dukes Lock closes on Monday for an emergency closure so we were glad to be through it. The next pound was a touch low, possibly to do with the badly leaking top cill at the lock, but we managed to make our way with one more lift bridge to open before we’d reach our destination for the day.

Up ahead a Kingfisher showed us the way through the mist that now surrounded us. As we approached Kidlington Green lock it look like we’d be joining other moored boats. As we got closer we could see that it was actually two C&RT work boats, most probably heading from Shipton Weir to Dukes Lock. We pulled in, the second attempt getting us close to the side. My fields here have green tufts in them. I’m not sure whether they needed any digging, but I did some just in case the farmer hadn’t done enough. I have to say my towels on the boat are not as white as they once were, must have a word with the crew about that!

2 locks, 3.42 miles, 3 lift bridges, 1 straight, 1 mass of net, 1 Matthews mantra, 1 chilly day, 1 field well and truly tillied, 2 brown towels once white!

https://goo.gl/maps/amtGKdD1uD62

Bugs, Bees and Bones. 21st November

Aristotle Bridge

The weather wasn’t conducive for a return visit to Blenheim today, we’d only be allowed into the park anyway as Christmas displays were being installed. So instead we decided to head back to the Natural History Museum we’d only glanced at yesterday. The walk there was bloomin’ chilly and we were glad of the small amount of heat once inside.

We suspect the museum has been updated from it’s original Victorian self. Here is where in 1860 representatives of both the church and science debated the subject of evolution. Stone carved scientists look down on the exhibits and those viewing them, making sure all is in order.

There are still display cases of insects, birds etc, but the contents have been modernised. The large displays, dinosaur skeletons and other bones sit in the main aisles on the ground floor with stuffed birds and fossils on display around them.

On the first floor there are displays of insects and bugs.

Here a Bacteria exhibition gets you to match the good with the bad and see which ones would win in your gut. An artist took everyday objects and pressed them onto petri dishes to see what bacteria would grow. From these she has then crocheted in minute detail the results. It took a while for me to realise that they were made up of the tiniest of stitches, it’s amazing what a pretty result a plastic unicorn gave.

Also on the first floor is a bee hive. Not your normal type, but one built for display. A large glazed area means that you can see straight into the hive. Today those bees near the top, seemed (we hope) to be asleep. But those nearer the bottom and the outside world were more active, a constant movement from these could be seen, enough to make you back squirm. The display case sits on top of a perspex tunnel that leads to the outside world where they plan to add a roof top garden for the bees. Through the tube you can (on a normal warm day) watch the bees heading off and returning with pollen on their hind legs.

Other living displays sit in glass cases around the gallery. Stick insects and spiders, although one spider did seem very absent. Tilly would have liked this floor, but I suspect these spiders would have fought harder than the normal eight legged friends she finds!

Several things stood out from the collection.

An Argonauta nodosa shell collected in 1786 was stunning. It is the shell of a pelagic octopus and must have been about 10 cm long. Isn’t nature amazing when it produces something so beautiful.

Butterflies with their incredible markings.

Dragonflies that have lost their colouring through the centuries and one for Tilly, Mayflies Yo-yo flies!

We’d maybe seen the more interesting bits yesterday, but the building kept giving more angles to view itself.

The individual pillars of British stone continue upstairs, these originally cost £5 to have made. It was hard to choose which was our favourite and astounding that so many similar stones in name could look so different.

We had arrived later in the day, so as the sun started to set the lights inside brought out new details and emphasised the soaring arches above our heads. The building was upstaging all of the exhibits.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 bridges, 2nd visit, 1 guided tour of Pitt Rivers, 2 many words, 45367 bees, 128 rocks, 192 capitals, £5 each in 1850, 0 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula, 1 freezing day, 3% of Antarctic glacier ice is made from Penguin urine!

Boats For Sale.

Over the last couple of days we’ve heard of two more friends who have made the decision to sell their boats.

NB Valerie is up for sale. Jaq has made the very hard decision to move back to the States after living onboard Valerie for seven years, the last two without her best beloved Les. We finally got to meet Jaq in Nantwich earlier this year as the Beast from the East hit the country. Valerie was built for Les twelve years ago and has been a fulltime live aboard, she is being sold with everything you would need. A lovely very much loved boat.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/215385865269701/permalink/1415264338615175/

Our friends boat NB Blackbird is still up for sale with ABNB. When we had NB Lillyanne (Lillian) we travelled as the Wasp with Blackbird on several occasions. Last year we joined together to cruise the Lancaster Canal. Bridget and Storm lived on board for several years cruising the network. They decided to move back to bricks and mortar earlier this year after finding their forever home back in East Yorkshire.

https://www.abnb.co.uk/boat_pages/3394web/3394abnb.php?BoatID=3394

Tilly’s number one fan, Joa has put her boat up for sale, NB Beatrix. More of a holiday/weekend boat, able to sleep 6. Work is taking up too much time for them to be able to use her enough. A shame that we won’t be able to meet up somewhere on the cut, but I’m sure our paths will cross at some point.

http://www.abcboatsales.com/boat-sales/beatrix/

NB Rock and Roll is also for sale with ABNB. Two careful previous owners. First and Second

https://www.abnb.co.uk/boat_pages/3415web/3415abnb.php?BoatID=3415

Stuff And Stuff, Stuffed Everywhere! 20th November

Jericho Wharf to Aristotle Bridge

Time to move on.

We’ve not got our winter clothes out from under the bed yet, this morning we wished we had. Blimey it was chilly, lined trouser weather!

Squeezing our way past College Cruisers, with all the boats in it’s a tight fit. They seem to be doing weekend breaks, but come next week the distance you’ll be able to travel will be much shorter as Dukes Lock is closing for three weeks. This means that hirers will only be able to cruise up and down through Oxford, or go out onto the Thames for a couple of locks to do a ring. We’re planning on being through Dukes Lock in the next couple of days.

We only cruised on to Aristotle Bridge, passing a stack of bikes that had been pulled out from the cut at one of the bridges. Very glad we’d not got stuck on top of them! These moorings are not that popular. You are asked to keep the running of engines to a minimum and it is only 2 days mooring, All Year. This means you can’t pull up for two weeks in the winter, but it will serve us just fine, the moorings all to ourselves. Well apart from a Fountains team who were cutting back the hedges along the towpath. One chap had laid his long reach trimmer on the towpath, turned round to help clear what he’d just trimmed. As he did this his trimmer rolled into the cut, two of them had to fish it out with a long stick, suspect it’s petrol engine needed a dry out before it would start again.

Once we’d settled and warmed up we decided to head out to visit some museums. Our friend Bridget had suggested we should visit the Pitt Rivers Museum, so that is where we headed off to.

The Natural History Museum stands proud set back from the road and the Pitt Rivers Museum clings on behind. In 1884 General Pitt Rivers, an influential figure in the development of archaeology and evolutionary anthropology, gave his collection to the University of Oxford. The building was designed to hold the collection of some 26,000 objects from around the world. The museum opened it’s doors to the public in 1887 to show part of the collection. Since then more items have been added reaching over half a million in number.

Walking through the rather chilly Natural History Museum I rather wished we’d done a torch lit tour last week. Built between 1855-60 it is a fine (if chilly today) neo-gothic building. A glass roof supported on cast iron pillars covers a square court divided into three aisles.

Cloistered arcades run around the court, each column made from a different British stone. Each pillar and column are decorated with differing natural forms such as leaves and branches mixing Pre-Raphaelite styles with that of science. What a building, filled with skeletons of various animals including dinosaurs. We had a quick look round, but decided to return at a later date to give it more time as we’d been warned of the quantity of stuff in the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Through an archway we descended into the museum, much warmer, maybe to help keep the stuff at a better ambient temperature, bones not needing much warmth in comparison.

Display cabinets filled the floor surrounded by two balconies running round the full building. In most ethnographic and archaeological museums items are arranged according to their country but here they are grouped by type. Musical instruments, masks, boats, lamps, guns, spears, baskets, the list goes on and on and on.

We took our time walking round the display cabinets, the odd item jumping out from the masses. Egypt had followed me here too, a sarcophagus, oil lamps, amulets, a boat similar to that I’d based Aladdin’s canoe on. Models of houses and boats filled cabinets, shrunken heads and skulls others. The amount of stuff was quite overwhelming. Below the cabinets were drawers filled with stuff, perched high above cabinets were more filled with stuff, slotted in between roof joists was even more stuff. So much stuff! I’m surprised that they haven’t started to add galleries crossing from balcony to balcony, but maybe the foundations wouldn’t be able to cope with the extra weight.

Various masks caught my eye and the way spears were displayed was quite an art form in itself. Each item is labelled with its details. A fantastic place for research.

After a good walk round we had had our fill of stuff. So headed to the Natural History Museums cafe for a bite to eat and a rest. Sadly with only one GF choice (a nice looking cake) we decided to return to Oleanna for lunch instead. The afternoon was spent winding up my receipts for Chipping Norton and keeping warm whilst Tilly explored the surrounding park, until the noisy kids headed home from school!

0 locks, 0.63 miles, 1 chilly morning, 2 museums, 519,897 pieces of stuff, 1 museum stuffed to the brim, 1 cake, £20 forgotten about, 27 reciepts, 4 stars, 3 rows off finishing a sock.

https://goo.gl/maps/Emxei8H78Vu

The Last Drop. 19th November

Jericho Wharf to Sheepwash Channel to Jericho Wharf

Sitting in one place for lengths of time means your water tank gets a touch low. Last night the gauge had reached the last dot and the ! was flashing at us. No choice this morning, we had to get water. With the washing drawer full too from my return we also needed to do some washing. Normally this is set going before we reach a tap so that we know we’ll leave with a full to brim tank, but today we didn’t think we’d make it to the tap before the tank was totally dry, we were down to the last drop of water.

Ahead of us the next water point is further than we wanted to go, still having a few things left on our list to do in Oxford. So we’d have to reverse to the nearest tap. With breakfast over we made ready, rolling up the cratch cover. We’d timed this badly as two of the College Cruiser boats were heading our way, backwards. Few narrowboats handle well in reverse, but these seemed to have no means of steerage what-so-ever. Every ten foot or so they seemed to need a good blast of forwards to get them lined up for the next ten foot. If only we’d got ourselves ready ten minutes earlier! Chatting to the chap on the first boat he said that he was heading onto the river to wind, then reverse back to the hire base, the following boat was short enough to wind above the lock, but would be reversing too. No point in waiting and watching, it would only make their journey longer.

After a while the first boat came back backwards and our way was now clear to reverse ourselves. The spring line Mick had put out was the last untied (this holds your boat steadier on a mooring as boats pass, not that there have been many passing boats), we then pushed off, me walking behind/ahead (?) to set the lock.

A foreign couple watched as Mick reversed Oleanna into the lock and I wound the paddle up to empty it. They then watched as we reversed onto the pontoon below. From here our hose would reach the nearest tap. Once the water was flowing the washing machine was set to work on normal clothes, painty clothes can wait a while longer.

Tom has tried this before! He thought he’d fooled me that time, but they certainly weren’t going to manage it again. I so wish they’d let me sample the outside we pause at, but no!

Once the washing machine had finished filling for the last time, Mick topped the tank up again and we were ready to head back up the lock. The foreign couple were just returning from their walk along the towpath, they must have wondered what we were doing as they’d not seen us filling with water.

With the tank empty we could tell the difference, Oleanna rocked more, but the galley drawers didn’t open once. It’s amazing what difference half a tonne of water in the bow makes.

Our 14 days were up and today we really should be moving on, but there were a couple of things we still needed to do before moving out from the centre of Oxford. So we slotted back into the space Oleanna has occupied for the last couple of weeks. I knew it! The same outside again. They’d better pick their socks up and start moving it properly again otherwise there will be mutiny.

A visit to John Lewis. I’d spotted our bedroom curtain fabric had been reduced. Tilly has left her mark on most of the curtains on the boat, ripped lining or claw pulls to open them when shut, so buying enough to remake them made sense as I liked the fabric, I like it even more with 30% off! Next was a visit to the mobile phone department. Recently I converted my account to a Sim only contract, not feeling the need to upgrade my phone. However my phone about ten days ago decided to become an object, since then I’ve been using Micks old phone that we keep as a spare. This was okay, but it’s memory was very quickly filling up and it is better suited to being a spare phone, just in case.

We’d had a look on line before getting to the shop and there were a few Black Friday Deals on. A choice between a Motorola and an Honor phone. The Honor was reduced to the same price but has space for a second Sim card and the camera had a better spec. We hope that when we are away from Oleanna we might be able to use the Sim from her router in my new phone, therefore not having to rely on our data allowances on our phones or Wi-Fi hot spots for internet.

Next we stocked up on a few bits from Sainsburys, they seem to have liked us using them again, we have so many vouchers for triple points. So a couple of boxes of wine fell into our trolley to keep us going.

Back at Oleanna it was starting to get dark, so we decided to stay an extra night here and move off in the morning.

2 locks, 1 twice, 0.27 miles, 0.13 in reverse, 2 boats only going backwards, 1 load washing, 1 full water tank, 2m blue fabric, 2 sim phone, 2 boxes wine (1 each), 1 bag pasta, 300gms Red Leicester, 500gms Apricots, 2 late to move, 0.3 of a sock knitted.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna