Who would have thought ......... 13th May 2020

Wednesday 13th May 2020

If you had said to me a few months ago that I would find something so simple as a walk that was not around our estate so exciting, I would not have believed you!  For the past 8 weeks the car has sat in the drive and we have just walked around our estate.  To say it is unbelievably boring would be an understatement.  We do have grass spaces and have managed most of the time to maintain social distancing.  The trouble is that it gets busier every day.  Our biggest problem is the runners - well not all of them, but there are sufficient that come up from behind with no warning and make no attempt to keep their distance.  We have 8 quiet roads to cross, so it is one long training session for Monty, but he is very good and sits and waits at each one before proceeding.  As you can see from the picture below there are (in most parts) quite wide grass verges to enable us to keep our distance.  

Monty has been 'bomb proof' as far as bikes go since he was small (tow path training!), but he is a timid soul and hates the noise small wheels make and also that of bouncing footballs.  8 weeks of close contact with a lot of those and he is getting more used to them. From today we were allowed to go out in the car to get to somewhere else to exercise, so we decided to go for it!

Chris ran the engine yesterday and checked the tyres, so we were good to go as soon as Tesco had delivered our weekly shop.  We went the long way round both going and coming home to get the engine up to heat and what a treat we had when we arrived at a bit of towpath we know is usually very quiet with no moored boats on the towpath side.  We were prepared to give up if it was busy.  As we arrived two cyclists appeared on the road form the footpath - I enquired if it was busy - they said they had not seen anyone, so off we went.

It was utter bliss.  To see the canal, vegetation, wide open sky and well just anywhere that was not our estate and also very quiet was just amazing.  We did meet one other couple - we found a slightly wider bit, tucked ourselves into the fence with our backs to them as they went past.  Not 2 metres apart, but we reckon safer than the estate which now people can go out for as long as they want and as often as they want will, we think, get busier and busier.  

The camera worked overtime!  It is a stretch we know and love, but I never thought it would mean quite so much to me!

 One happy dog!

  

First bluebells we have seen this year!

 We did resist the temptation to have a go on the swing!  I would love to be have been watching when someone rigged it up there!  It can't have been easy.

 To the top of the path and through the gate

along the footpath

to be rewarded with wide open space -  the first we have seen for 8 weeks

 Almost back where we started - it was good to see a few boats afloat

 Behind the towpath were a lot of very free range chickens

Turn right before the paint shed and you are back onto the road.

It was blissful on so many levels.  I will never take my freedom for granted again.

Having said that we will not be going far for a very long time, but if we can continue to find isolated walks we will both for our sanity, our health and for Monty who was quite surprised when he was told to get in the car this morning!

ps - my enthusiasm and excitement got the better of me!  I must add that the only reason we chose this bit of towpath is purely because we knew it was likely to have very light, if any footfall, and most importantly that there was very little chance of anyone being moored along here.  We are aware that there are many of you who are 'hunkering down' in an effort to keep safe and understandably do not welcome footfall.  Had we come across a moored boat we would have turned around and gone home.  We have been walking this stretch for around 9 years and have never yet seen anyone moored, so it was a safe bet that we would not put anyone at risk.

What should have been - Friday 8th May 2020 VE Day

Friday 8th May 2020


One month on from my last post I just thought I would pop in to let you all know we are alive and kicking and thankfully Covid free.

In our pre lock down days we should have been on day 3 of a Birmingham Canal Navigation Society Explorer Cruise.  Today would have been around a 7 hour cruise from Longwood Boat Club to Walsall Basin.  This evening was planned as 'an independent evening', but allowing for the fact it is VE Day and the weather is so fantastic, I am sure the BBQs would have come out.  That is what should have been and will be again - maybe next year for us.

Chris is one of the vulnerable ones, so we have been nowhere since I last posted.  The daily Monty walks are our only escape, but we are both well and manage to keep busy.  Quizzes seem to come in from all sorts of sources and some have kept us busy for hours.  This week's from 'The Happy Puzzle Company' is particularly hard, but it keeps me quiet!  I have also made quite a number of laundry bags for health care workers.

Family Skype sessions continue twice a week.  We played 'The Logo Game' with them a couple of weeks ago.  I thought we would be rubbish, but we trounced them!  Today we met early (09:00) and Chris' brother and his wife joined us from New Zealand.  I am certainly talking on the phone to people I don't usually call, so something good is coming out of this situation.

We have continued to manage to get Tesco slots and we share some click and collects with our daughter.  There is a local farm shop (we did not know it existed before lock down!) that delivers as does our local butcher/green grocer/deli.  At weekends we treat ourselves to a 'proper pudding'.  Chris did an amazingly good syrup sponge two weeks ago.  Last week's was not a great success and although we ate most of it we won't do it again - the centre was a bit too much like blancmange for me.  That is one of the few things I really dislike.  This weekend I will be making lemon yogurt sponge cake with boozy prunes.  Fingers crossed it is a success.

I continue to make cards and keep busy with my crochet in the evenings.  You would think I had got all our Christmas cards done by now, but sadly no - they have not been started yet.  There are too many tomorrows to do them in!  I am enjoying the streaming of National Theatre productions and tonight we are going to watch the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of 'By Jeeves'.  I have to say that the internet has made this lock down a lot easier to cope with.

We have a lot to be grateful for in our lives.  Everyone in our family is well and those that are working are still in work and being paid.  Our pensions remain the same.  There are so many people in desperate need at present.  I count my blessings every day. 

So stay well and stay safe until the next time I pop in.  I do love my blog catch ups, so please keep them coming!

Today was the day..... and a new Compoosting Toilet

Wednesday 8th April 2020
0 miles, 0 locks!

The plan was to leave Droitwich Spa Marina on 1st April and make our way slowly to The Queen's Head, Stoke Pound where some friends were going to meet us last Sunday to tackle Tardebigge.  Chris had his last pre-cruise appointment due on 7th April (since cancelled of course) and we were going to set off on our summer cruise from Tardebigge today.

The plan was to meet Sue and Ken on nb Cleddau in Lapworth, head to Stratford before joining a BCNS (Birmingham Canal Navigations Society) cruise in early May.  There were to be 15 boats plus a lead boat and we would have spent a week travelling around parts of Birmingham we may not have found on our own.  There would have been meals out, a quiz night and plenty of socialising.  From there we were off to Lincoln, Doncaster and then up to York before heading west along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to Wigan.  A great summer cruise and a lot of new water for us.

However, it was not to be!  I guess it means the planning has been done for next year!

So what are we up to?  Being good and staying at home.  Some jobs have been done, Monty is walked twice a day, although sadly our walking route is extremely limited and rather boring, however most people are keeping their distance and we are managing quite nicely.  I think Monty must be wondering where the rest of the world has gone to.  He does not, however, seem to be too stressed by the situation.

We are both fit and healthy and long may it stay that way.

We are having three way Skype sessions with the family and even managed a game of Trivial Pursuit with them on Sunday.  I have caught up with a lot of people on the phone that I have not spoken to for a while.  Wednesday is our Skype session with Sue and Ken.  I have several girlfriends who are widowed, so I speak to them as often as possible.  Isolation is one thing when you have someone to share it with, but must be much harder when you are alone.  Chris is on the 'most vulnerable' list with instructions not to go anywhere for 12 weeks, which means that, apart from Monty walks, we are both at home all the time.  To date I have managed to get Tesco slots once a week and our daughter is local if we have any other needs - mostly collecting prescription medications.  There was one emergency call to her - I am in the middle of a long dental procedure and am living for a lot longer than expected with a temporary bridge and crown where my front teeth should be (I broke them on 7th April 1963 - yes it was that traumatic!) and the temporary construction came away last week.  A very large gap and a stump is not a good look!  She came to my rescue and sourced some emergency 'cement' from a local chemist.

As most of you know we have had a composting loo on our boat since day one.  Sadly the main bowl, which is the only part of the Airhead that we could not find available to buy as a spare part, developed a couple of hairline cracks.  Chris has repaired it with some 'jollop', but we decided it was too much of a risk to set off and hope for the best.  To be stuck in the middle of nowhere without a loo is not ideal!  Having seen the Foxes Afloat vlog on the Compoosting Toilet, we decided that was the way to go for us.  It looks a lot better than the Airhead, I think it will be easier to clean, the liquid container is bigger and best of all as far as I am concerned - a light shows when the liquid container needs to be emptied.  The gauge on the side of the Airhead liquid pot never worked well.  There were a few occasions when there has been an 'overflow' in the middle of the night!  We collected it from Coventry just before lock down, so it is still in our garage untested!

The button that sets off the solids stirrer and lights up when the wee pot needs emptying

There will be a modesty cover over the solids hole at the back.  

The solids container at the back is smaller than the Airhead, but we don't think that will be an issue - it will be a lot easier to empty.  Just a small bucket to remove, rather than taking the whole thing apart.  

It is an ingenious design which came about because the person who makes them wanted a composting toilet for the boat he is fitting out that looked good.  He makes them in his workshop (he is a professional carpenter).  To date he has made well over 300.  This is the Website if you are interested.  We will report back once it has been installed and put to use!

So this is me signing off for the foreseeable future.  Stay well, stay safe and stay at home whether that is your boat or your house.

Boat Jobs Complete, some VIP guests & a Canal Society Talk - 2nd - 4th March 2020

Monday 2nd March 2020

Sue and Ken (Boatwif and The Captain from nb Cleddau) arrived mid afternoon to find we were 'nursing' a sick grandson.  Thankfully it was something and nothing and he was fit and well enough to go back to school on Tuesday.  The four of us spent a very pleasant evening together with good food and glass or two of wine.  We had a lot to catch up on.

Tuesday 3rd March 2020

We set off for our local NT property (Hanbury Hall) mid morning. 

It was a first visit for Sue and Ken, so they went to explore the house and formal gardens whilst Chris and I took Monty for a walk and admired the views.

After we returned Monty to the car, we had a very quick peek at a small part of the formal gardens before joining Sue and Ken in the cafe for a light lunch.

Whilst waiting to join a tour of the house I was rather taken by this splendid peacock.  Sadly the lady who was due to lead the tour had not arrived, so we will just all have to go back again one day.  We made for the car which turned out to be perfect timing as the rain started when we were just a few feet from the car.

The main reason for Sue and Ken's visit was to attend the Worcester Birmingham and Droitwich Canal Society monthly meeting where the guest speaker was - ME!!

The subject of my talk:

'The Droitwich Fingerpost Challenge";

There is, of course, no such thing as the "Droitwich Challenge", but the superb fingerpost in Vines Park (Droitwich) points to the extremities of the canal and river system navigable from Droitwich and did spur us on to go to all of them.  There was a very tense start to the presentation when my laptop, on being switched on, decided it just had to complete a Windows update and nothing we tried stopped it.  All I could do was be thankful we had arrived early and hope it did not take too long.  It made it just in time, but I was also dealt two further mishaps when the laptop froze twice during the presentation each of which required a re-boot!  The annoying thing was that I had run through the entire presentation on the laptop on Monday without a hitch!  Despite all that it seemed to go down well and I hope was enjoyed by all the society members present. Sue and Ken (on Cleddau) accompanied us on the four journeys, north, east, south and west.

This video of our Wash crossing in 2018 caused a few 'oohs and aahs'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ-0tDQx9P8

Wednesday 4th March 2020
Crafted Boats to Droitwich Spa Marina
3.5 miles, 9 locks

Sue and Ken had very kindly 'volunteered' (or were they press ganged?) to help us return our boat from Crafted Boats at Stoke Prior to the marina at Droitwich now all the jobs had been done.  We were up early and on the road by 08:45.  First stop was to load Chris, Monty, hats, coats, gloves and boots etc onto the boat and then Sue, Ken and I delivered our car to the marina before making our way back to Crafted Boats.

The most important job was investigation and repair (we hope) around the chimney as we had sprung a leak.  Second was the installation of two solar panels.

Our original stern hatch had rotten wood on the inside and the top was badly rusted despite constant treatment and repainting.  The rusting was due mainly to the life ring stowage - four large 'spikes' that held the latter in place.  A great idea (plus a good storage solution for 'Monty bags' until the next dog box is found), but water just kept getting trapped under the ring causing many of the rust issues.

 It was eventually decided we would have a new hatch and inner and very smart it looks too.

A hook has been added to the stern rail to keep the life ring near at hand in case of need.

We also had an engine and Eberspacher service, a cupboard door re-attached (a casualty of the Wash crossing) and couple of other bits and bobs done. 10:10 and it was time to set sail.  A straight run through to the top lock at Astwood.

As you would expect with two extra hands we sped down even though all the locks were "set" against us.

 

 

 I am sure there is a new gnome at the lock cottage at lock 18, or maybe they are just more visible at this time of year.

Signs of spring and I am sure when we go past in a month's time there will be even more colour to admire

The winter pots are still looking lovely.
 
Waiting for the boat to arrive at the bottom lock

There was time for a much needed cuppa to warm ourselves up before we arrived at the three Hanbury locks.  The side ponds were empty and the pounds were low, but we made it down in safety - full waterproofs were out by this time!

First sight of the marina

We were back in the marina and moored up in almost exactly two hours - probably a record for us for this run.  The winter has not dulled our locking skills.

As soon as the boat was secured we headed back to Stoke Prior to collect Sue and Ken's car and head to The Navigation for a well deserved lunch before they headed home.

It was great to see them both again - our first get together since we waved each other farewell at Tixall Wide on 7 August last year.  As you can imagine quite a few 'cruising conversations' took place over the three days.  They hope to head off in the not too distant future and if all goes to plan we should meet up on the North Stratford Canal in mid April - watch this space....

And a Jump - 3rd February 2020

Monday 3rd February 2020
Astwood to Crafted Boats 
1.5 miles, 2 locks

We had done the hop and skip, so today it was the final jump - mind you we have 'skipped' a day in between!  Yesterday we stayed put at Astwood whilst our daughter collected Chris so he could position our car at Stoke Wharf in readiness for us today.  My job for the day was some very very deep cleaning in the galley!  It feels good to have it done ready for the off in April.

Considering the rain we have had of recent months we certainly chose the right few days to do this trip as we certainly saw more sun than we have done in months.  Today was no exception and we had a smooth run to the bottom lock at Stoke Prior which we entered and went up.  The first job was to get rid of the rubbish and empty the wee pots before Chris winded and re-entered the lock.  By now the side hatch was opposite the car, so we were able to unload the boat with ease.

 The last job (or so we thought) was to remove the chimney and put the cap on

I opened the paddles and emptied the lock, and opened the gate on the towpath side.  Round I went to open the other gate, but it was not to be.  This big stick was firmly wedged.  I tried wriggling the gate to see if it would shift, but it wouldn't.

Plan B - Chris nudged the boat forward and came to the bow with his trusty book hook

He managed to move it out the way

 and we escaped taking the stick with us

I then drove to Crafted Boats whilst Chris travelled the couple of hundred yards or so to moor up outside their office.  We are now facing the right way to go back to Droitwich on (we hope) 4th March once the jobs have been done.

A successful few days.