Tricky - The Punk Robber!

Tricky before the clippers

Morning Jotters

What a delightful week we've had travelling along with our friends Pat and Malc on the Naga Queen. After so many months of being too far away for us to meet up, it's been a treat to chug with them along the wandering waters of the River Soar between Zouch and Thurmaston. By day we paired up through the broad locks and in the evenings, we took turns to host evenings of wine, wit and wisdom – well, we laugh a lot, but I'm not sure which of the three that's down to! 2018 is turning out to be the most sociable of years so far – Tricky loves it.  As usual, she can't wait to get on Pat's boat for their 'magic' water and a snooze on the snip mat in front of the stove - she doesn't care if it's lit or not, there's always the chance of a snack from those two softies that live aboard. She's not forgiven me for the terrible haircut she had on Friday - I really must get some decent clippers as mine are very old and blunt - if Tricky had a mirror she's scream and shut herself in the bathroom for a few weeks till it grew out. Luckily for us, she's not a bit bothered what she looks like as she is blissfully cool and no longer wakes us up at silly o'clock panting like a train.

Punk Tricky

I waited at Zouch lock on Monday afternoon with my windlass ready, for Pat and Malc to appear.  I sat on a handy bench and talked to the walkers and ramblers who stopped to watch the boats and to chat for a while. Boat after boat came through the lock - Harry in his Pith Helmet (a lovely old chap we have met before),wide beams and cruisers, families out for the half term holidays. A pair of boats came along with one towing the other behind. There was much jollity and laughter as they jostled about in the lock, not letting a little thing like a breakdown spoil their holiday. A nice young man parked his bike by the bench and stopped to take photos. When I saw the size of his lens, I had serious camera envy! We chatted about photography and he helped me fix a problem with my settings which had been bugging me since Carl last used the camera to try and photograph Jupiter - needless to say, that was a long shot (groan emoji)

Love this swan family

The weather forecast for this week was grim and Carl and I were a little reluctant to stay on the Soar in case the deluge arrived and trapped us on the flooded river. Pat and Malc however, are seasoned boaters and they weren't put off by the forecast. Not wanting to appear to be wussies, we dropped the boat down through the lock, turned and moored up ready to accompany them on their expedition to Thurmaston the next morning and I'm so glad we did. The weather has been very kind, cool mornings turning into warm sunny afternoons and long, still evenings - perfect boating weather.

Flags Are Out

The mooring fairy has been with us all the way there and back and we chugged straight into a gap on the pontoons in the Loughborough basin on Tuesday and strolled into town to collected some provisions for the journey - tonic water for the gin, cider and beer for the sunny afternoons and a small bottle of Kraken grog to celebrate our voyage together. We turned the boats without too much trouble, although Carl grumbled when we needed water from the services as its on a high quayside and mooring alongside it involved Carl climbing up a ladder with the rope between his teeth. Luckily for me, he's a nimble chap and managed the mooring and hauled the hoses and the cassette up the runged ladder without my help and we were soon chugging off and making the sharp turn right towards Barrow-upon-Soar and the lovely mooring by bridge 34. The hawthorn blossom that was so beautiful last week is fading to be replaced by yellow flags at the water's edge and the clusters of creamy elder flower in the hedgerows. May is bowing out to welcome June and the longest day is just around the corner now. The warm evenings are filled with the scent of the dog rose and honeysuckle and we listened to a beautiful bird song at dusk one evening and wondered if it might be a nightingale.

Matt Allwright filming 

The next day was overcast and showery and I was glumly looking out of the window hoping for the drizzle to clear up so we could set off again when a boat came chugging along. I scared the heck out of Pat and Carl by suddenly rushing to the hatch, throwing it open and waving and yooohooing to the boaters. 'I know you' I called out to the man sitting on the roof. He frowned and replied 'OK - who am I then'. 'You're Matt Allwright' I crowed triumphantly - and it was him, filming a segment for 'The One Show'. I did get a photo but in my excitement, I had the camera on the wrong setting and you can't actually tell it's him (sad face emoji) It was only afterwards that I realised that the hooded man next to him had a video camera on his shoulder and had captured every second of me shouting and waving like a middle aged groupie. Matt Allwright does Watch Dog and Rogue Traders but he's not exactly George Clooney so maybe I was a little OTT. I hope I don't make it onto the One Show, I hadn't even combed my hair let alone applied a dash of lippie,

Barrow Deep Lock

The rain cleared up and we chugged off under clearing skies to find Pillings Lock closed and the river racing along from Barrow towards the Trent. The water levels were lapping on the line between the red and amber but there were plenty of boats moving in both directions so we carried on up towards Barrow Deep Lock and a safe mooring above the lock there. I had a moment of panic when I heard the sudden loud 'chug chug chug' from the Naga Queen and saw her suddenly veer off towards the wrong side of the river and then swing her stern back again to get into the lock channel. I soon found out why as our bows entered the weir stream by the bridge and we were pulled much too close to the weir barriers for my liking. Carl put on the power and seemed to enjoy fighting the current as we rounded the bend and caught up with Pat and Malc on the lock landings - they weren't even the tiniest bit concerned about the charging waters, they've seen it all before and much worse.

Barrow Bridge

It's been such a lovely week and I've so much more to tell you that I might have to do an extra blog to fit it all in. Please, do tell me if I'm boring you - I'd hate to think that you groan when I pop up in your in box!!

That's all for now my good friends, have a good week and tell me your news if you have a minute

Lots of Love

The Floating Chandlers

PS Tricky stole a sandwich from a man sitting on a bench by our boat, she did it so sneakily that we both had to laugh and luckily for me, he took it in good part. Naughty Tricky!

Bridge in a Field - Why???

Did you see that Punk dog Freda!