Hillmorton.

A Tesco van stopped briefly while the two chaps had a walk round on the grass verge. The sheep thought they had brought their hay delivery and flocked over there baaing loudly. During my walk around I did my towpath tidy collecting about a dozen beer cans en-route.

       

After depositing the rubbish I walked over the bridge and it seems that the old house is undergoing renovation and the garden has also been tidied up.

      

Next I strolled around the churchyard of St John the Baptist parts of which date back to the 13 Century. The lovely old red sandstone tower has a peel of six bells that are still in working order. I got chatting to a gardener there who told me his wife was soon to take over as vicar. The graveyard has been stripped of all it’s gravestones and they have been re-sited around the circular perimeter fence. There are several old Yew trees interspersed with Crocuses, Snowdrops and these yellow flowers just emerging from their winter rest.

Badsey’s Bistro is closed for January and February as the owners are carrying out renovations. We look forward to them re-opening as their food is fabulous.

Afternoon-amble.

During our afternoon stroll Saffi and Crystal greeted the friendly ponies over the fence.

Further down at Hilmorton middle lock BW had pumped the water from above the top gates to work on the ground paddles.

Baking.

I’ve made Boat Cakes, Ginger Cakes and Cheese Scones, but the quickest thing I have ever made are Palmiers from a recipe that Betty had given me. It is just puff pastry bought ready made rolled out fairly thinly, spread with Pesto and sprinkled with a layer of finely grated cheese. Then it is rolled up, either as a whole to make rounds, or sides to middle which make ‘Elephants Ears’. I did both. Cut into thin slices about a quarter of an inch thick and cooked on a baking tray for about 10 mins at 200C. They would make an ideal party food snack that would only take about half an hour to complete! You can also make sweet versions too, have a look on Wikipedia.

Walkabout.

    

While at Rugby I had a pleasant walk up the disused arm of the canal starting near The Bell and Barge Inn opposite the water tap. The area between Masters Bridge and the footbridge is marked in our Nicholson's Guide as a winding hole, but we wouldn’t attempt to turn Oakfield there. The water was crystal clear just after the surface ice on the canal melted revealing many dumped trolleys squashed and embedded into the mud beneath. I crossed the footbridge and meandered along the muddy towpath. There was a slight flow on the water towards the canal and watercress was growing there just out of reach. Turning left before I reached the end I saw the entrance into the Swift Valley Country Park. Someone had used the old tree stump to very good effect by carving a Green Man into it.

Gosty Hill came by and topped up our diesel and coal supplies while I was cooking the Ginger Cakes. Iain began to drool as he could smell them, so we gave him and Alison one for their tea, which apparently only lasted them two days!

Frosty window.

    

There had been heavy frosts for days and the canal had frozen over during the nights, but on Wednesday the ice had melted away a little. We had a quick dash down to Tesco with the trolley for a few missing items of food. Then we pulled onto the opposite bank to attend to the loo and rubbish before leaving Rugby for a quieter mooring place. You may have guessed that the noisy building work beside the canal is still going on. As there is some space left they will eventually cover that with flats or houses too. Lynne and I had had a brisk walk into Rugby to meet with Betty for a nice long chat over coffee midweek.

Through the cold spell, with the ground being frozen solid for days, Oakfield is keeping cosy and inside. Bottle started a loaf off in the bread maker to cook en-route. Also, while we travelled along slowly through the floating sheets of ice I did some cleaning and hung the washing up to dry. It’s amazing how the trusty Squirrel dries the washing hanging in the saloon overnight.

The sun is beaming through the portholes and it is now time for morning coffee whilst doing the crossword, so bye for now.