A Hop.... 31st January 2020

Friday 31st January 2020
Droitwich Spa Marina to Hanbury Junction
0.4 miles, 3 locks

We are taking things very slowly!  First stop this morning was by car to Droitwich to walk Monty round the park (tarmac paths and a lot less mud than the towpath!) and to pop into Waitrose for our 'Friday fish' and the paper.

The boat engine was a little reluctant to start, but once it had caught, all was well and we were off

out of the marina, turn left and there in front of us was the bottom lock at Hanbury with a bottom gate open.  It was our lucky day as there was one bottom gate open on all three locks.  They were not blown open - the top one needs a wooden wedge to keep it open and that was in place.  Whilst doing ranger duties at Tardebigge recently we came across a lot of locks with one bottom gate open - we reckon someone has been down and just shut one gate to save walking round!

The side ponds were all empty, so we were draining the pounds which were looking rather low by the time we had been through.

Either one of the lock keepers nips up to the top lock regularly or maybe someone who does a ranger patrol tops up the bird feeders.  Either way I am sure the birds are very grateful.

The Severn is shown as water falling, proceed with caution - thankfully we are not going that way.

 After our mammoth journey (all 45 minutes of it!) we moored up with two other boats.  They are both Star Line hire boats from Stourport that are unoccupied  - our guess is that the last hirers got caught out by rising water on the Salwarpe and the Severn and had to be rescued by road.  We guess they will be here until the hire company need them again in the Spring.

Just as we got inside it started to rain - not much, but we certainly timed it right.

Does this bode well? 30th January 2020

Thursday 30th January 2020
Droitwich Spa Marina

If I had taken my camera out when Monty and I went for a walk I would have got some much better photos of the sunset.  It was getting a bit dark by the time we got home. 

I am hoping the red sky might mean a dry day to start our trip back to Crafted Boats (the home of Tentatrice's birth).  We are booked in for a few jobs to be done.

The weather forecast seems to agree with the sky, so we may be in luck.

A Blogger Snapped! 18th January 2020

Saturday 18th January 2020
Birmingham

I was up in Birmingham yesterday evening on a very special mission, but before that got started look who I spotted.

Sadly I did not have time to go and say hello as I was on a mission with our youngest granddaughter.

Back in October our son in law bought tickets for the Strictly Tour as a birthday present for our daughter.  Sadly he had not checked the calendar before he did so - it was probably the only weekend that was booked up with something impossible to change - a house had been booked for a Uni get together along with children.  I think there was around 17 of them going.  I took the tickets off them which is why E an I ended up in Birmingham last night - with just my phone camera which I am not as proficient with as I am with the real thing, so please excuse the quality.

After dinner at Wagamamma's we headed to the NIA to see

It is a venue I have never been to before - it is huge.  Although we were high up and at one end we had a good view.

The far end is prime position as most dances were done facing that way.

Despite the venue's size I never felt crowded, there were many staff in attendance to ensure all went smoothly.  The dancing and the music were great, Craig (a judge for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about!) did not disappoint and generated as many boos as usual.  It was great family entertainment which we both enjoyed.

I had pre booked and pre paid for a taxi to take us home as the last train home on a Saturday is 22:20. Utter madness in my book.  It meant we would have no hope of catching it. The taxi was a  very cold 25 minutes late. One of the contestants (a CBBC presenter and a very good dancer) walked past whilst we were waiting.  E said hello and he made her evening as he stopped to ask if she had enjoyed the show.  All in all a very successful evening.