moving on out on Wed 12 October

Still at Trent Lock but plan to start moving again on Wed 12 October  (watch the Trent will be flooded then!!).    Amy flies out to start her new job in Thailand on the 11th and I’ll be seeing her off from Heathrow.


Hasn’t the weather been glorious these last few days ?!   Wow!!    Dai done some fishing and I’ve been sunning on the bankside.    The stuff I thought was duckweed is actually water fern and it is still here - seems to gather round the boat - like a thick green/brown carpet - evening time and when the pump comes on in the water by Trent Lock, it disperses it.


We’ve been getting up super early this last week or so to catch the Rugby World Cup - supporting Wales of course!!!  ---- and they’re doing well so far ……………

Since last blog we have done …  0 miles and  0 locks
Total since Setting Off ….. 1425 miles and  1165 locks 

biggest tench in the world

and --- biggest perch ever 

Frills and Furrie Downbelows

Ha ha --- did 2 miles cruising this morning - from Trent Lock up to first winding hole and back again to get a new gas bottle from a garage there.    The platform Dai built for me does mean I can now see over the boat roof so maybe, just maybe, I might just steer her sometimes!!


So, what have we done this week?    Not  a lot !!   It was our 5th wedding anniversary last Friday so after champagne on Jandai we went for a meal at The Trent Lock which was very nice.    Only a few steps away - it used to be The Navigation but has been totally refurbished and is now selling itself as a gastro-pub.   Quite plush inside and the food very good albeit pricey (and the portions are not really “boat person” size!) but for a special occasion, well worth it.


Saturday we got the train (well, 2 trains!) to visit my brother and family for dinner - couldn’t have a barby as too chilly but a good meal nonetheless with plenty of stuff to wash it all down!  Dai had a bit of a challenge Monday night when Amy came to dinner with two of her friends as Andy is vegetarian - but very acceptable meal of Indian bits with spicy potatoes and rice, everyone enjoyed it.    And my mum came Tuesday and we took a meandering walk up to Sawley marina and back.


Erewash Canal here is still covered in duckweed - it disappeared in the recent winds but is back with a vengeance now.    Harmless I know but doesn’t look very scenic !


Who knows what “frills and furrie downbelows” means??    My mum came out with it on her last visit - was a saying of her grandmother!    I love it -  I guess we would say “she looks like a right floozie” - will have to remember that one!


Since last blog we have done …  2 miles and  0 locks
Total since Setting Off ….. 1425 miles and  1165 locks  

last picnic of 2011 ?

Still at Trent Lock !   Two weeks ago I wrote “We think we will probably go week after next when the children are back at school as we might go down the Soar and through Leicester.”    Well, change of plan.  Dai has agreed that we can stay here until Amy flies off to Thailand sometime early October.    She is moving out there to work - teaching English.    So, not sure what our plans are after that ….. Watch this space as they say - and I’ve just seen an email from BW saying the Winter Stoppages programme is now out and final so will need to study that.


Didn’t post last Wednesday ---- we went back into the dry dock as we needed some back boards just inside the back doors replacing which had got weathered a bit last winter and as it was forecast to rain, then in we went so I spent the day transferring Dai’s Cds to his ipod and by the time I had done this for several hours, totally forgot about the blog!     Only 2 more folders x 98 discs to do!


Still, not a lot of “boatie” things to tell you - it’s gone very quiet here with hardly any boat movement.  Mind you, probably due to the fact that its been so windy last few days!    Dai has been busy every weekday go-for-ing for Mick and John as they work on their latest boat which he's really enjoying.


Since last blog we have done …  0 miles and  0 locks
Total since Setting Off ….. 1421 miles and  1165 locks  

even with homemade fishing rods, Sam got a "nibble"
and everyone of the fish Millie caught "fell off"

Dai having to re-attach the hook to Millie's line
after it ended up embedded in her finger - ouch!

expect that's the last picnic of 2011
with Amy, my mum and Amy's friend Rob