In between the storms we are getting some chilly, but dry sunny days which makes it all worthwhile. On these days many boats have been cruising past after sitting tight during the gales We have been feeding and watching the birds hereabouts.There are still quite a few large puddles around in the fields, including this one with cars stuck in the middle of it. You never know, perhaps it could be an art installation!
The skies were blue and the sun was out, it was a beautiful day for cruising. We set off very early passing Barby waving to David who was busy down in his garden.
This old Ambulance still stands all forlorn on a mooring plot along Barby straight, we thought it would make a good project for Paul to restore! After mooring by a dry-ish bit,of towpath we hopped on the bus to Rugby, walked down the alleyway past the tiniest pub called The Squirrel.to meet Del and Al at Wetherspoon. Brunch with drink £20 for the four of us, fantastic value! As Guinness was £2.15 a pint on Mondays the boys had a couple each. There was lots to talk about too, so after around three very enjoyable hours we emerged out into the cold rainy streets going our separate ways to peruse the shops.
It is a shame that Maffi on the Milly M has decided to stop blogging. I looked forward to reading his input on such a wide variety of subjects every day. I am sure there are others who will miss his internet presence too.
The morning started off in bright sunshine, then the wind began to strengthen. The sheep didn’t like it much and tended to bunch together, rushing from one field into another. By the afternoon we had some sizeable waves on the canal. However several boats have passed by en-route towards Hillmorton. Well, what have we been doing, not a lot really apart from the usual cleaning and making meals and reading! Luckily enough the wind is gusting directly from behind us, so we aren’t rocking about too much. On Sue.s blog she says that they have had to negotiate flooded locks on their way up north from Banbury aboard their boat No Problem. Looks like there’s plenty of gushing water down there from the pic’s she has posted!
Mark came late afternoon on wb Callisto with diesel and coal for us and he had something restricting his propeller. As it was getting dark and raining we said he could stay breasted up to Oakfield overnight. Well, it rained non stop all night making the canal rise about ten inches! It was a bit of a jump down onto the towpath for me when I got off to take some photos. Khali came back from her walk and was warming herself up by leaning against the warm chimney. As you can see our tyre fenders had come up above the Armcoe and the fields and towpath were swamped with water. It’s a good job that we had left our ropes slack-ish, otherwise we may have been tipped sideways. early morning Mark cleared some weeds from his prop and after chatting awhile he was on his way heading north. I spoke to Arthur aboard nb Tui while his dog Benson took himself for a walk. I asked him if there was any news of ‘Twinkle’ and he said he was doing well after his op. He still had his boat, but that he and his wife had now moved onto a bungalow.
Our new mooring was next to other live-aboard boaters which was nice because we had someone to chat to. All the buildings, car parks and private mooring opposite here have now been renovated and smartened up..An Ash tree had been heavily pruned here and the woodchips piled up underneath it. When I collected buckets of this to fill the puddles on the towpath alongside our boat I discovered wood hiding underneath. I put a couple of bits on the roof before it rained again, then everyone began to help themselves to the wood!
As our fourteen days in Braunston were up on Wednesday and the forecast for then was not good, we decided to move off early. There was some nice lettering on the boat opposite us when we stopped at the services. We cruised along under deep blue skies with white fluffy clouds, but there was a cold wind blowing. If I was a sheep I would like a cosy little house like this to shelter in, perfick!
Walking up to through the field was like squelching over a wet saturated sponge! I popped into the church and warmed myself up on their old fashioned radiators. On looking around I spotted some nicely coloured stained glass windows,
The hairdressers was busy and I think someone was living in part of the old renovated Chapel. The tiny cottage opposite has been beautifully restored and has a sold sign displayed on it. Enamel sign by the boat shop, tool display on someone's garden shed and a nice cock.
As the weatherman had forecast a rain free morning off I went to meander around. I found Alsager breasted up with Zulu ascending the locks so I helped him with the lock gates.
The sheep were tucking into their brunch. Zulu’s boating dog just couldn’t wait to get on the move again I turned around to head back to our boat as the Cabin Boy had put my jacket potato in the stove for my lunch, mmm delicious. As I sat down to enjoy it the rain started pelting down and the cold wind is whistling all around like the sound effects on Weathering Heights. good job we are protected from it somewhat by a high hedge-bank,.
