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| Stunning Skies |
Morning Jotters,
Can I interest anyone in a Dick pear? Apparently this old variety has all but died out but has been chosen by the Canal and River Trust as one of the many varieties of fruit trees they will be planting to create a record breaking orchard, stretching 50 miles along the canal, from Wolverhampton to Worcester. The community orchard will be maintained by volunteers and anyone will be able to help themselves to the fruit, although I think they're being a bit optimistic planting peach, apricot and figs even with the prospect of global warming raising temperatures. Hopefully, there will be plenty of damson and plum – I do look forward to the lock-wheelers privilege of picking the ripe fruit straight from the tree and eating it, without benefit of even a rub on my trousers. When I've gathered the persimmon, loquats and pomegranates what shall I do with them? Will I need a master class with Nigella and a Mikrowarvay? (Sly wink emoji.)
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| Looking back from Duck Corner |
Our mooring today has the What3Words location of bolt.bats.tricky - very appropriate don’t you think? Our very own Tricky is snoozing by the stove and sniffing the air every few minutes as the scent of chicken chasseur wafts from the casserole dish on the stove. We have kept the fire in today, in spite of the warm sunshine, as it keeps the cabin warm enough to air the washing that is draped over an indoor line. I hate to live in a laundry but needs must when the sheets need washing. We’re eking out the coal with branches that we collected along the Ashby after Thursday’s Great Wind, which kept us moored up for a whole day. We weren’t idle though and had a ‘Housekeeping Day’ sweeping and washing the floors (where does all the grit come from!) I cleaned the brass curtain rods while Carl varnished the window surrounds and then I cobbled a make shift meal together from some old potatoes, a wizened carrot and the last few Alrewas sausages that I had squirrelled away in the freezer box for just such an emergency. I have my list ready for a ‘Big Shop’ and when we reached Rugby this morning I was into Marks and Spencer's Food Hall like a rat up a drainpipe. At last, some nice fresh fish and the makings of several of our favourite meals. Back to the boat and then I set off with the big trolley for the madness that is Tescos on a sunny Sunday. It was heaving and no-one was wearing a mask, I felt like an alien in mine. I got everything from my list and quite a lot that wasn’t on the list (as usual) I noticed more empty spaces on the shelves than usual and the fresh veg was almost sold out. The prices have soared in just a few short weeks since I did the last big shop. Times are definitely changing, thanks Bob Dylan for that great song, it seems so appropriate at the moment.
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Spring blossom
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What a fabulous week it’s been on the delightful Ashby Canal. We skipped past Market Bosworth on the way down and arrived at Snarestone Wharf mid week. The visitors centre has had a very swish makeover and the old portakabin is hidden by a clever canopy, built to look like an old railway station and it transforms the utilitarian building into something worthy of the surroundings. The inside is still a charity shop with a help-your-self coffee machine and some outside seating for the ramblers who might pass this way. A delightful spot for the nosy boater, and I combed through the mismatched china and pub themed glasses looking for treasures that might be worth a trip to ‘Antiques Roadshow’. Carl bought two bags of coal and the very nice man on duty chucked in a book Carl wanted for free - mainly because we were scrabbling in our pockets for 25p to pay for it and I think he took pity on us.
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| Snarestone Wharf Visitors Centre |
The Boat (I had to look twice but yes, it was called ‘The Boat’) was moored behind us in Snarestone and, noting the array of cameras and gear on the roof, I asked if they were Vloggers - not doggers dear, that’s something entirely different. Vloggers are people who make films about their life afloat and post them on YouTube and very interesting they are too. If you want to follow their boating adventures then look them up on a site called ‘Making New Memories’. I was inspired to try a bit of Vlogging myself but quickly found that, remarkably, I don’t have anything interesting to say once I switch on the camera (silly billy face emoji)
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| Selfie against a Blue Sky |
Shall we talk about the weather again? It’s been very Aprilish, showers and sunshine for most of the week. We had the brolly up as we approached Market Bosworth on the return trip, in spite of the gusty winds. We were lucky to be chugging through a sheltered, woody bit for the worst of the showers. Carl closed the back doors behind us and slid the hatch almost closed so that we were standing in the narrowest possible opening, sheltering us and Tricky from the worst of the driving rain. By the time we moored up, it had stopped and the sun came out. Then we spotted the fuel boat coming along and we hailed him to come alongside to fill us up with diesel. By the time he had roped us up and got his diesel pump to our filler cap (I swear it’s as complicated as a mid-air fighter refuel!) it was pouring again. We stumped up the cash and thanked him for the privilege of paying £1.47 a litre - we were expecting it to be more. Last year we were paying half that. Still, mustn’t grumble - at least we have some and must now ration it out so that we can continue cruising for a while longer.
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| Fuel Boat Callisto |
The last 3 days have been perfect cruising days so we have made the most of them, managing to miss the showers and we've enjoyed blue skies and sunshine. We saw the first ducklings on Friday while still on the Ashby and minutes later, a water vole swam busily across the canal and along the bank beside us, we had a great view of him but I forgot to take a photo.(Embarrassed face emoji). Carl spotted a big old fox trotting through the fields later that evening, I was just in time to spot him too - a good day for the ‘I Spy in the Countryside’ Ladybird Book
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| Market Bosworth - Such a pretty cottage |
That’s mostly it from the floating launderette for this week, next week I will be back on the locks as we travel from Hillmorton, through Braunston and the dreaded tunnel towards Watford Locks again - we do seem to go round the Leicester ring rather often. I hope you’re not bored!
Love from
The Floating Chandlers
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It made me smile
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PS Chugging along the canal by Duck Corner (can you guess why it's called that?) a fellow boater called out ‘ Nice Tickover’. We smiled and waved, as we thought he was complimenting us on slowing down as we passed his boat, but afterwards I said to Carl’ Do you think he was being sarcastic?’ We’ll never know.Pps I signed up for Spotify again - I found a 3 month free trial. So far I’ve only listened to stuff I already have on my iPod so I think I need a bit of a shake up. Anyone got any recommendations? |
| Rain in Market Bosworth |
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