Spring Sunshine

Tattenhill Lock

Morning Jotters

What a glorious week of sunshine we’ve had. The hawthorn has greened up and the blackthorn blossom is startlingly white against a backdrop of bare branches and briars. A mallard pops out of the reeds, his brilliant male plumage shimmering blue and green in the sunlight and a pair of swans are billing and cooing in the reed bed, patting the strands into place ready for precious eggs to be nurtured. The robin, wren and blackbird accompany us along the way, singing their spring songs, so I join in and add my voice to the chorus, singing along to the radio and a man walking by called out ‘Nice voice’. I was mightily pleased with that compliment and so I’ve continued warbling all week. Carl says he likes to hear me ‘twittering’ - not sure how to take that!

Daffodils at Wychnor

Since we left the marina last Friday, we’ve been hanging around all our usual haunts, waiting for a visit from the Inspector to grant us a new Boat Safety Certificate. Iain came along on Friday morning and after a quick cup of tea, disappeared into various cupboards and delved down into the engine room to make sure we were ship shape and seaworthy. It’s always a relief to pass the inspection and after another cup of tea and a good bit of boaty yarning, we set off back the way we had come and moored in solitary splendour on the river at Wychnor. I looked back through my photos and, almost without exception, we have moored in this spot, at this time of the year, in bright sunshine. We mourn the loss of our favourite mooring spots as houses are built where there were once only fields and factory units spring up to fill in the spaces between canal and road, so we treasure the spots that remain unspoilt. The little church at Wychnor winks down at us from the top of the hill and the daffodils nod as we pass by and squeeze through the narrow bridge on our way to Alrewas. We come up the lock and Carl gets on the water point while I walk along the towpath to find us a mooring for the day. The towpath is thronging with walkers and cyclists and I chat away to an old chap and his ageing Labrador , both of whom are crippled with age and they stop every few yards to rest. Everyone is cheerful in the warm sunshine, smiling and passing the time of day and, once we are moored up, I start the onerous task of scrubbing the cratch cover again. It is looking slightly more respectable now and I have a firm commitment from a manufacturer in Kinver to make us a new cover, if we take our boat to him, rather than him coming out to measure us up. That isn’t at all what we were planning for this year - we had several thoughts, Leicester Ring first then maybe down to the Thames and finally a trip up the Witham. I wonder where we’ll end up - sometimes its nice just to set out and see where you get to.

Magnolia in Alrewas

My daughter had planned a Mother’s Day surprise visit - the whole clan were coming over from Shropshire to spend the day with us but Claire was struck down with a bug on Friday and couldn’t come, so we had all the fun of a day with the grandchildren while Claire had a lonely day at home in bed. Missed you Claire - come and find us as soon as you’re better. They(the grandchildren) arrived in skimpy summer clothes and sandals only to find that the sun had deserted us and the day was overcast with stubborn clouds. Undeterred, we set out from Alrewas and chugged up the locks to Fradley. I had threatened them with egg sandwiches but was over ruled and we trooped off to find food in The Swan pub. Of course, it was heaving! What did we expect on Mothers Day! We found sanctuary in the cafe on the holiday park and wolfed down burgers and paninis and massive slices of cake to celebrate the day. Carl and I haven’t been able to face anything else since then although I’ve been drinking gallons of tea from my new Mothers Day mug, which could double as a paddling pool if the weather turns hot again!

Crowded Boat

We waved the grandchildren off down the towpath in the late afternoon and immediately cast off and chugged up to the Junction Lock, as the sun, at last, came out. We turned onto the Coventry Canal and had an evening cruise and moored as dusk was falling. I’ve been looking for my slippers all evening, where can they be? Once you’ve looked under the chairs and in the steps, there’s really no place for them to hide. I suspect a practical joke by those pesky grandkids!! Will I find them in the oven or under the duvet? I’ll let you know where they eventually turn up.

Alrewas House decoration

Carl is putting Tricky out for her final sniff along the towpath before bed, while I finish this week’s missive. We have all been sleeping really well since we got back to the boat. This morning it was 9.30 before I surfaced. I threw back the covers and leapt out of bed thinking I had so much to do before the visitors arrived and then Carl reminded me that the clocks went forward and it was really 8.30, no rush then! It’s the same every year, I spend the first week translating the time back and saying to Carl ‘but it’s really only 9pm’ when he starts shutting down the fire ready for bed at 10pm. Is it just me?

Sunnies and Sandals in March!

I hope you’ve all had a good week and enjoyed the sunshine. I’m afraid that the coming week is looking less inviting and my big coat is still hanging ready in the wardrobe rather than banished under the bed till next year. I’ll get off to bed now although its really only just 10 pm, I have a good book and the double duvet is till on. Night Night everyone

Love from
The Floating Chandlers

ps Not many photos again, I'll try to do better this week (embarrassed face emoji)

pps We seem to be eating in most of the photos - I must find more interesting subjects to photograph!

Brunch at the Marina

Swans enjoying the sunshine

Tea in Burton

Tricky hugging the stove

New Boat by Kent Bridge

Grandchildren

Double Duvet Deployed!

Tricky is pleased to be back.

Hello again

Phew! A heatwave in March! What a terrific start to the boating year. After a whirlwind of packing, we set off well before coffee time and by mid afternoon we had unloaded the car, watered up (filled the boat tank with water) and without a care in the world, we reversed out of our mooring to begin our spring cruise around the Leicester Ring. Well, that was the plan – more of that later. The Lady Aberlour looks well after her long winter sleep although Carl is already itching to start the long list of painting jobs that are necessary to keep our Lady looking regal. The cratch cover has had a battering and looked very sorry for itself and it's gone crinkly which is a very bad sign for a vinyl cover. It should be black but the green algae has spread along the gunwhales and the side panels have shrunk even more so that the zip won’t close. The rain has driven in through the gap and poured into the coal box making a revolting black soup. Carl grimaced when he saw it and said he would deal with it later. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around to witness Carl wiping the coal and replacing it in the dried out coal box. Inevitably, someone would have asked him why he was washing the coal!

First lock of the year

So there we were chugging along in the sunshine, Carl on the tiller, me in my usual spot, leaning on the hatch and Tricky peering out through the back doors. It feels good to be back afloat! We made a brew and I just had time to drink it before we reached Wood End, the first of the Fradley Locks. Someone has made a great effort to welcome boaters to this very picturesque lock - teapots decorate the lock bridge wall and planters filled with daffodils line up along the lock side. It’s a nice easy, narrow lock and we are soon chugging along towards Fradley Junction and the Swan pub. The canals are still fairly quiet but the tow path was busy with walkers and runners. The tables outside the pub in Fradley were full and there was the usual audience watching us locking down and I was embarrassed to realise that I had forgotten to pick up the locking leg when I tried to open the gate. After several attempts to move the stubborn gate, it dawned on me and I tried not to catch anyone’s eye as I quickly slotted the leg into the retaining hooks and the gate swung open by itself - just to make it really obvious.

We had planned to moor in Alrewas on Friday night but we abandon that idea when we are held up by a ‘Skipper in Training’ who just couldn’t get her boat into the next lock. I tried willing her in but it took an age before, finally, the bows lined up and the boat slipped through the narrow entrance. Anyone who has tried steering a narrowboat will remember the frustration of trying to get to grips(literally) with a tiller- even after all these years we still can’t always get through a lock without scraping against something. That’s why there is always painting to be done.( Downcast emoji with sweat) We followed on slowly through another lock before giving up hope of reaching Alrewas before dark. We pulled over and Carl bashed in some mooring pins. We put the kettle on and called it a day.

Frog by moonlight

That evening there was a full (Worm) moon, tinted rose as it hung low in the darkening sky. The tow path was alive with amphibians (I couldn’t decide if they were frogs or toads) and we shut the doors against the chill creeping in with the dusk and retired to the warmth of the cosy cabin, where the stove was already glowing. We cleared a space so we could get to the bed and made it up ready to crawl into later on. Moving day is always the same, cram all the bags and boxes in anywhere and sort it out as we go along. I did wonder if we needed a thicker quilt but I was too tired to look for it. I regretted that decision when we woke at 6am feeling decidedly chilly. The stove had gone out and Tricky came to tell us what she thought about that by trying to jump up on our bed. Carl to the rescue, my hero! He soon had the stove going and both kettles steaming on the hob.

We set off after breakfast to complete our journey into Alrewas. It was another brilliant morning, breezy and sharp with a hint of warmth to come later. We chugged up to the next lock and once we got through, I closed the gates and walked along the tow path with Tricky, following Carl towards the church. Our favourite spot by the churchyard was free and here we still are, enjoying the beautiful blossoms in the gardens around us especially the magnolia and camellia. The Co-op is just a short walk away and our cool box is still delivering up the last of the freezer meals from home, spag bol, beef casserole and chinese chicken curry. By the time they are gone I'll have replenished our stores and got back into the swing of making something that resembles food from 2 withered carrots and an out of date tin of spam. I’m just joking folks - we do have a fridge and tomorrow I will be stocking up with sausages from the famous Coates Butchers.

Last night was another cold night so I made up the bed with both duvets and revelled in the luxury of a double duvet – we won't be cold under that lot although I could hardly move with a ton of duvet on top of me. Just to be absolutely sure of keeping warm, I’ve been in the ‘big drawer’ under the bed and found my warmest PJ’s and searched high and low for the hot water bottles, which I found eventually tucked away in a box under the sink.

It does take a while to remember where things are after so long away - I found my friend, the collapsible bucket- so useful when you need a bucket that folds flat. I refilled the chubby chrome sugar bowl and popped the salt pot on the trivet to dry out. The butter melted to oil on the stove before I could rescue it but Carl must have bread and butter with his Sunday egg so he didn’t complain. We forgot a few important things, in spite of my excel spreadsheet entitled ‘Going Boating’ which has a matching one called ‘Going Home’ which is equally comprehensive but you cannot completely rule out the need to actually remember to look at it - which I didn’t because Carl packed the laptop! Best laid plans etc... I shall write a song about it called ‘Isn’t it Ironic’ - a dozen tea towels when all you need is a comb. I doubt it will get much airtime.

Speaking of plans - we have already had to change ours as there is a stoppage preventing us from reaching the River Soar and Leicester so we have invoked Plan B - a trip up the Ashby to Hinckley so I can catch a train to Leicester for yet more dental work. It’s not a hardship - we love the Ashby and its a while since we last went that way.

I only meant to write a short note to say ‘Hello’ after all what is there to say when we’ve only just set out?(cheeky wink emoji)

I'll write more next week. Take care everyone

Love from

The Floating Chandlers

ps Not many photos yet - not had time to take any.

pps please send me a hug, I've missed you all