Hedgerow Jottings: Hello Ratty!

Braunston Mooring

Morning Jotters

Happy Easter from us both on our delightful mooring in sunny Braunston - yes, against all the odds, the sun keeps peeking out from behind the clouds and poking thin, yellow fingers into the cabin. I'm settled by the stove with a cup of coffee and a Rich Tea, Tricky is slumbering in her bed and Carl is on the roof, doing some urgent adjustments to the solar panels. This year's panel arrangement involves a table top and some rather plain B&Q rollers. The quest to find the perfect set up has been long and arduous and I'm not convinced that this one will work any better but anyone who spends time 'off grid' will agree that battery life is everything and our two panels do make a big difference. I am assured that, once this adjustment has been completed, the design will require no further tinkering. I am hoping, rather selfishly, that the Captain can then turn his attention to the bathroom tiles before the exterior paintwork once more requires his undivided attention. He's up there as I write this, drilling and hammering and I suspect that there will be additional holes in the roof. That's always a worry given the deluge that's coming our way tomorrow – snow, rain and hurricane winds, typical Easter weather!

We're always battling the wet stuff in one form or another, either it's tipping down from the sky and trying to find gaps around the window to sneak in through or it's gathering around the window frames in large drops of condensation, which need mopping up every morning. The cabin is festooned with damp coats, which doesn't help the condensation problem and my walking boots are permanently drying on newspaper by the fire. Walking Tricky along the towpath becomes a daily mudlark and every mat in the boat is covered in muddy pawprints. I sometimes wonder if we should have stayed at home for another month, is it worth battling our way through the freezing rain and the bitter winds? I was thinking this as Carl and I stood on the back deck under the umbrella on Thursday afternoon - we'd long ago given up on the idea that we might make it to Hawksbury Junction that evening and were looking for the first available mooring spot. The Ashby is a very picturesque canal, although it's difficult to appreciate the beauty of the scenery whilst dressed in 5 layers and hanging onto the big umbrella which keeps trying to make off across the fields without us. It was just then we saw a Water Vole, swimming across the canal in front of the boat and then, what a delight! It swam towards the stern, where we got a really good look at him. It made the whole afternoon worth it - if we'd not been boating in the rain, we wouldn't have seen him. When Carl finally tied us up for the night, we glowed in the warmth from the stove and listened to the rain hammering on the roof whilst we were snug inside - what bliss!

Mr Ratty - not my photo I'm sorry to say

After that soaking on the Ashby, we've been getting up early and boating before the rain wakes up. Some days we have been chugging by 7.30 and done enough miles to charge the batteries before the heavy rain sets in. There's been lots of time for reading and playing with my new phone - yes,that's another new phone - the second one in two weeks! I'm getting quite adept with widgets and the play store and I even managed to make a phone call or two. Answering it is still a bit of a mystery though and the young man on the till in Wilko's had to answer it for me as I got in a fluster. Firstly, I didn't recognise the ringtone, then when I finally cottoned on and fished the phone out of my bag, I stood there looking at the screen wondering what to do, vaguely poking at the green phone symbol instead of dragging it across the screen. Luckily, the caller was my daughter Claire who thought it was very amusing!

The week started out well and we worked our way up the Atherstone flight on Monday morning in good time and in good spirits. I was looking forward to a good browse in the town and a 'Big Shop' in Aldi to restock the fridge but when we got to the top of the locks there wasn't a mooring spot to be had. It put a bit of a crimp in my day when we had to chug past a long line of smugly moored boats to find a spot far from the footpath to town. It's very annoying that some people are leaving a large 'privacy gap' instead of snuggling up to the boat in front. We had the same problem on Friday, when we were hoping to get to Rugby but were caught out by the weather once more. As we swung the little footbridge at Stretton Stop we noticed the black clouds coming our way and thought we might make it to Brinklow before the rain started. We chugged off at top speed (4mph!!) but we couldn't squeeze in anywhere, although there was plenty of room if only everyone would hutch up a bit. I looked beseechingly at the owner of the boat taking up two spaces but he turned his back and ignored me. We pulled in at the next reasonable stretch of bank and Carl hammered in the pins just in time before the cats and dogs descended once more. What a week it's been!

The canals are very busy with Easter holidaymakers and we got up early this morning to get through Hillmorton Locks before the holiday boaters had stirred from their bunks. Even though it was so early, the locks were manned and the gates swung open as we approached - how very unusual. The Volunteer on duty was Bob, who informed me this was his first day and we were his first boat. He raced off ahead and set the next two locks for us and even closed up for me, so I could walk on ahead with Tricky. What a delightful chap and so helpful. I fear he'll soon be too busy to treat everyone to the same five star service. Thanks Bob, nice to meet you.

Volunteer Bob - he's a star!

I hope you've all managed to have a Happy Easter, in spite of the weather and had some Easter Treats. I'll write again next week with more Mooring Moans and Whinges – I bet you can't wait!

Love from

The Floating Chandlers

PS We picked up something on the prop as we came out of the Sutton Stop Lock at Hawksbury. It was so bad that Carl put on thick gloves as he plunged his bare arms into the freezing water. I can't tell you what it was, it's too awful to think about.

PPS Special thanks to our friends Keith and Jan for the lovely fruit cake – it was lush.

PPS It's just started raining again