Nuclear Sheep

Moonlight at the Shroppie Fly

Salutations, dear reader, this is Captain Carl of the narrowboat Lady Aberlour. I’ve thrown together another jumble of random odds and ends for your perusal. The general boaty theme is not so much reservoir dogs, but more puddle possums. The finished tome will, of course, become part of the Hedgerow Jottings.

Sunshine After The Rain

We left Market Drayton last Monday under thick, lowering clouds and moored below Adderley locks. We timed it just right, as the heavens opened and tipped out all their excess biblical water from 12.30 to 3.30 in the afternoon. The towpath suffered greatly and became a Jurassic swamp. We were glad to leave the next day for firmer ground and finally moored in Audlem, Linda having tirelessly operated twelve of the fifteen locks of that flight. We decided to have fish and chips from the local chippy for tea that evening; such luxury! While I’m on the subject of food I must admit that it is very nice to be able to walk to nearby villages once more and have coffee and cake in the local teashops. The food and beverages are usually excellent and we’re rarely disappointed. Having said that, there was a place we went to years ago that made me wonder what the cook did for a living. Linda made some rock cakes a few days ago. They were so delicious! I hope that she’ll bake some more soon or, if not, some of her legendary scones.

Morning Coffee in Nantwich

Casting off the next day we followed the canal to one of our favourite moorings at Cool Pilates. It had been chilly and windy all morning, so I was glad to close the hatch and go below to get warm by the fire. Changing the subject, we saw an empty snail shell on the towpath recently. Perhaps a bird ate the snail. Or maybe the occupant left home to live life as a slug. Slugs are Gastropod molluscs you know and are related to squid and octopus. They are usually solitary creatures. However, if introduced to a country they’re not native to they can become gregarious. Yes, I was excited to learn this too. Now, only having one foot, they’re exempt from military service. They can’t march, you see. Some slugs are masters of camouflage. There’s a rumour that a grey field slug once disguised itself as a BBC mini-series.

Mollusc 

You know dear reader, we used to enjoy listening to Radio 2. But that was years ago. Since it was changed from Radio 2 to Radio Mostly Tat we hardly ever bother with it (with a few exceptions). Alternatives are difficult to find. There are commercial stations, but that means listening to the adverts. I don’t know which is worse; the adverts themselves, or the speeded-up talking that concludes them. You know, the calm voice that vomits forth ten words a second about terms, conditions and exclusions.

Secret Bunker

Before we knew it, it was Thursday morning. We were up early with the dog - again!  The weather was warm and sunny, so we decided to have an early morning cruise. It wasn’t long before we passed the sign for the secret nuclear bunker. We visited this place once, and highly recommend it. This vast, underground complex was declassified in 1993. Entering the place through massive blast doors, you’re immediately taken back to the ominous days of the Cold War.

Towpath Warriors!

From here we descended the two locks at Hack Green. A short way from the locks were some sheep on the towpath. They’d obviously escaped and must have tunnelled their way out in a bid for freedom. Three of them, Tom, Dick and Harry, were clearly the ring leaders and no doubt were carrying forged papers. You could tell they were giving orders by the “we’re in charge” vibes they gave off.

Stained Glass in St Mary's, Nantwich

A couple of miles or so from Hack Green lies Nantwich, which is where we moored up. We like visiting this picturesque town which offers a good variety of shops and many listed buildings. St Mary’s Church is particularly impressive. Another building I couldn’t help noticing was the old police station. This was also a magistrate’s court with associated cells. It’s now flats/apartments. Closing down police stations and reducing police numbers is an astonishingly gormless policy. Why are so many top decision makers such clueless dunderheads?

Police House, Nantwich

We left Nantwich early on Saturday morning and a short while later turned hard left at Hurlestone Junction, immediately tying up ready to ascend the four locks onto the Llangollen canal. There was already a narrowboat in the first lock; its crew had raised the top paddles to fill it, but unfortunately they’d left a paddle open in one of the bottom gates, partially draining the pound above. Consequently they became grounded. The crew were novices, but Linda came to their rescue and gave some much needed guidance on correct lock procedure, then went on to the next lock to let some more water down. The grounded vessel was eventually refloated and they continued on their way up the flight. By this time another boat had tied up behind us and the “first mate” kindly helped Linda run enough water down so that we could all pass through the four locks.

Llangollen Canal - waiting for the sun to shine!

At the top lock something got caught up in our propeller, badly affecting steerage and forward motion. I tried a quick burst of reverse (this sometimes clears the prop of rubbish) but this didn’t work. I managed to get the boat into the lock and turned off the engine. While Linda slowly filled the chamber I removed the weed hatch and put my hand down into the murky depths. I found a combination of carrier bag, brambles, two ropes and some thin sticks hopelessly tangled round the prop. Even using a knife it was a battle to remove said items, but eventually I was able to lift the tangled mess clear.

By early afternoon we were moored in a quiet spot near the village of Wrenbury and that’s about the size of it for this week. Bye for now,

The Floating Chandlers

PS We intend to cross the Pontcysyllte aqueduct on this trip. It’s quite an experience, I can tell you, especially if you aren’t overly keen on heights, like what I’m not. It took ten years to plan, build and test this aqueduct you know, and was opened on 26th November 1805. Pontcysllte is really hard to pronounce. According to one version on Google it is vocalised as “Pont-Kus-Sulth_Teh”. Sadly, dear reader, I cannot confirm how accurate this is.

Curious Cow

Moonlit Mill in Audlem

Addlington

Puddles after the heavy rain 

Moody sky at Cool Pilates

Night Night

Hack Green

Rainy Skies and Surfing Beans

 

Sleepy cygnet still in bed

Morning All

What a very wet week it's been.  We used the last of the sunny weather to move from Brewood ready to go shopping in Newport on Tuesday morning.  We caught the bus from outside the Navigation pub in Gnosall, leaving Tricky sleeping in her new favourite place - a blanket outside the bathroom.  We don't know what we have done to offend her, she has a perfectly good bed with us in the saloon (living room) but prefers to sprawl across the width of the corridor, where she is right in the way.  So where was I ... oh yes, waiting for the bus in Gnosall.  There was a 'hold your breath' moment as we flashed our bus passes at the machine.  Mine is well travelled, but Carl was using his for the first time, and we were both relieved when it beeped acceptance and we trundled off to town to find Waitrose and B&M for supplies.  We couldn't resist making the most of the sunny morning and found a table outside Deli 49 for our very first latte of the boating season. Carl was overcome with the success of the bus pass and decided to order the Full English breakfast to celebrate.  Unfortunately for him, just as his breakfast arrived, the heavens opened and it pelted down.  Being English, we put up our rain hoods and ignored the beans trying to swim off Carl's plate.  My handbag filled with water (I'm still drying out a soggy letter, but I fear it is beyond hope) and my best going-out trousers clung soddenly to my thighs while the cushion I was sitting on soaked up the rainwater and transferred itself to my bottom.  The waitress rushed out with a brolly and helped us clear our plates to a table inside, everyone thought it was jolly good fun and no-one minded in the slightest about the puddles that dripped off us.  Five minutes later, the sun was shining again  - don't you just love our English Spring weather!

Before the rain came!

We took an evening stroll along the towpath one evening and rediscovered the Stafford to Newport Greenway.  A very pleasant place to take in the views over the Shropshire fields, green and luscious thanks to the recent rains.  I think we might have walked further but, in the distance, I glimpsed a cow coming round the corner.  Now, I know I'm a country girl but I'm very cautious around cattle.  Who knew how many more of his mates were out for a 'moo'ch into Gnosall for a pie and a pint!  Back at the boat, we watched the sunset and crossed our fingers that the next day would be dry so we could be measured for our new cover.  

Evening Stroll on the Greenway

We arrived in Norbury in bright sunshine and met with Tony from Bethsaida Covers.  It's a very interesting process - first he unrolled a huge sheet of thick tracing paper over the cratch structure and then began to create a paper pattern using tape and a marker pen.  Unfortunately for us, a huge black cloud hove over the horizon before the job was half finished and we watched anxiously, as it edged across the valley towards us.  When the first drops of rain fell, there was no choice but to abandon the measuring and get the old cover back on.  Tony has so much work on that we don't know when or if he will be back.  We have waited here patiently for a suitable gap in the weather, hoping to get the job finished but this is the third day of high winds and rain and we may have to chug on without getting any closer to a new cover.  (very disappointed emoji).

Tricky and Carl braving the rain!

So, here we are, still moored in Norbury with the solar panels laid flat and everything on the roof tied down to prevent it blowing into the next county when we are hit by sudden squalls.  The wind blows hard through the gap in the trees next to our boat.  The gap meant extra power to our panels when the sun was out but now we are being battered as the wind tussles with our ropes and rocks us till the glasses tinkle together in the cupboard.  Tricky usually waits for the worst of the rain to come along before asking to go out and Carl has raked out a particularly fetching pair of 'sawn off' wellies from the bottom of the 'shoe step'   He trudges along the towpath, following Tricky, who is urgently looking for the  'toilet' - why do dogs need to sniff every blade of grass before eventually finding the right spot? Apparently, there is a shortage of wellies so I'm thinking we might put these beauties on Ebay, they might be worth a few bob towards the new cover.

Nightfall at Norbury

On Saturday we awoke to a calm, still and drizzly morning.  Brolly up and we were off just after 8am and hoping to reach Market Drayton in time to bag a mooring somewhere suitable to be collected for a home cooked Sunday lunch with Shropshire family.  The brolly was up and down for the first few hours and then, as we arrived at Tyreley Locks, the sun peeped out and it was briefly hot and steamy.  It didn't last long and we were glad to tie up in Market Drayton and throw a log on the stove to warm us up. 

Surfing down the Tyrley Locks - the run off here is quite fierce

 We're cosy and warm in the cabin tonight, full of roast chicken and apple crumble and tired after a day of love and laughter with our family, who we've missed so much. The rain is beating on the roof, Tricky is snoring loudly from her makeshift bed outside the bathroom and I am racing to finish this before the laptop battery runs out. Such is life on board the Lady Aberlour. I'll be back next week, we're hoping to get to Audlem and maybe, if the sun comes out, we might be able to share the beauty of the Shroppie in spring.

Love as always from

The Floating Chandlers

ps Woodseaves Cutting was even more dank and dismal than usual and we had to tip toe around some serious landslips with our fingers crossed that we didn't meet anything coming the other way.

Landslide!

Pps Met 'Tench' coming out of the top lock at Tyreley – a very beautiful old working boat and I managed a few photos as he chugged off.

Tench

Family Fun

More Prawns?

St James, Acton Trussell

Good Morning from the Sunny Shroppie, 

It's Linda here again - I hope you have been enjoying Carl's jokes while I have been gathering my thoughts for another Jotting.  We’ve been retracing our steps this week, back through Rugeley and Great Haywood and mooring once again on Tixall Wide. The Lady Aberlour has been reclining luxuriously in our new marina for a week while we made a trip home. We had a riotous time planned.  Jab on Sunday, dentist on Tuesday and voting on Thursday. All went well, no adverse reactions to our top up jab and it was heaven to arrive back at the marina (Kings Bromley, if you’re curious) to find our boat afloat (we were often grounded at our previous abode) and a handy car parking space nearby. Tricky’s not too keen on the wooden jetty that we're tied to, she tip toed daintily along it, jumped aboard and took a flying leap into the sanctuary of her bed. Carl and I trudged backwards and forwards with assorted bags, boxes and rucksacks-it's always exciting setting off on a cruise once the car is unpacked.  Finally, we are ready and as we reversed out of our berth, it was a relief to find that the Lady Aberlour behaved perfectly in the deep water and swished her rudder as we moved off through the narrow entrance and out onto the canal. We’re off on our travels again!! There was a small exchange of pleasantries between the Captain and his first mate (me) as we set off - only a few cross words, much to the amusement of our neighbour, on a boat called Marmite.

Our new neighbour

I am usually fairy well organised when it comes to getting the contents of the land based fridge/freezer/veg basket to the less spacious fridge/ice box/larder in our floaty home. For some reason, I failed to deal with the large bag of ‘Christmas’ prawns in the home freezer before we set off last Sunday morning, so they were packed into the electric cool box along with several assorted containers of a tomato based 'something' and a block of frozen pastry. I stowed it in the car knowing full well that our tiny boat fridge couldn’t begin to contain it all. Consequently, for our evening meal that night, Carl and I waded man and womanfully through a whole bag of Best Prawns, without benefit of the usual salad accompaniment. They formed a pale pink lake on my plate, with a side order of radishes and tomatoes and a couple of toasted bagels for Carl while I tried to disguise mine in amongst a generous slathering of cream cheese on wafer thin slices of brown bread. I’m still trying to work out what to do with the pastry!

Unusual wildlife

There was only one boat in front of us at Tixall Lock when we set out early last week - that’s a good start to the day! We met the African Queen coming down the lock and the whole roof was shimmering in the sunlight - it was covered in ornaments made out of old tin cans. I called to Carl to take a photo so I could show you but but he was too busy casting off and getting the boat into the lock, so you’ll have to imagine how they might look.  We were taking on water at Spode when we met up with the Betsy Trotwood and her crew who went by the names of Dozy and Dim (that's the name of their You Tube channel) we shall follow their adventures and you can too if you like - here's the link Dozy and Dim  I managed to get a photo of their boat today but Dozy and Dim were nowhere to be seen.  You do meet some very interesting people living on boats.

Betsy Trotwood - the abode of Dozy and Dim

We turned onto the Shroppie at Autherley Junction and were immediately jammed in the stop lock.  We tugged and heaved on the gate and Carl tried to coax the boat gently through the narrow gap but there was a most dreadful grinding noise as our rubbing strakes came into contact with the gate.  After several attempts and leaving a whole lot of our black paint behind, we managed to squeeze through and chugged off towards Brewood.  I did ring Canal and River Trust to report it but I'm not expecting any immediate action.  

a

Stubborn gate at Autherley Junction - heave ho!

As we came up to the single lock at Wheaten Aston, the lady on the hire boat in front waved at me happily as they chugged off leaving the gates open and the paddles up. I harrumphed quietly and reminded myself of this years boating resolution - to be kind to everyone we meet, no matter what the provocation. It won't be too hard (says she hopefully) as we are so happy to be back on board. It's so good to pick up the old routines of casting off every day in search of a new mooring spot and enjoying the quiet life surrounded by ducks and sheep. We drink scalding hot coffee on the back deck, as we chug along in the early morning chill, waiting for the hawthorn to burst from the hedgerows into its full, frothy glory. We count the ducklings as they paddle along frantically and cheep like wind up bath toys. The moorhens take fright and walk on water to escape into the reeds, the haughty swan glides by us but spoils the effect by suddenly upending and waggling its tail feathers at us. The geese are guarding their young, who sleep in piles at the waters edge and their mothers squawk a soft lullaby to let them know all is well as we pass by. The silly sheep, who gaze gormlessly at us from their green pastures, are often rescued from the water by passing boaters.  What causes them to suddenly hurl themselves into the water is a mystery - Kamikaze sheep! Carl had to go and roll a ‘cast’ sheep back to its feet in the field by Rodbaston Lock, the poor thing couldn’t get up immediately, so I guess it had been looking up at the sky for quite some time. That was our good deed done for the day so we continued on to moor above Boggs Lock, to find that in our absence, a wind turbine has been erected in the field behind the hedge. I fear that the modern world is encroaching ever closer into our ‘Magic Kingdom’, more and more new estates are being built by the canals and the fields are disappearing, to be replaced by houses and road ways. All the more reason to enjoy the waterways while we can. Now that I’ve got a few locks under my belt and I’ve started walking the towpaths with Tricky again, we both seem to have found a new lease of life. The Lady Aberlour is comfy and cosy when the rain is pelting down outside and, in spite of the showers, we have had many hours of blue skies and sunshine.  The gardeners amongst you will have welcomed the rain this week, Carl captured some stunning photos of a storm passing over us at Acton Trussell    

Storm clouds over Acton Trussell

This week we shall be hanging about near Norbury Junction for a while as we are having a new cratch cover made and we missed our appointment to get measured up by a whole year. I phoned the chap at Bethsaida Covers to apologise and he wasn’t in the least bit put out, but he is very busy, so we have to put up with our poor shrunken apology for a cover until he can fit us in. We made some extra long toggles in an effort to keep the rain out of the cratch - believe me, there's nothing worse than damp in your cratch!  

I'll be back again next week with more witterings from our watery world.  

Love as always from

The Floating Chandlers

PS  I'd forgotten how much I like Brewood - it was a delight to rediscover the landmarks, Speedwell Castle is right in the centre and is much photographed.  I couldn't resist taking this shot.

PPS We heard a toot toot from a passing boat and popped up to find Lisa and David on What a Lark pootling past.  Nice to see you again and maybe one day we'll be able to meet up for a proper boating chat.

Acton Trussell

Handsacre Sunset

 

Armitage tunnel

Tamburo - what a beautiful boat

Is it dinner time yet?

Deptmore Lock

Boating in the rain.

Was That A Joke I Just Read?

Great Hayward cobbled bridge - slippery when wet!

Well, hello. Are you able to face yet more incoherent gibberish? Yes? No? Couldn’t care less either way? Whichever it is, settle yourself down with a nice cup of something and prepare for the worst.

Sunny Mooring at Alrewas

This week we have mostly been boating between a place called Handsacre, on the Trent & Mersey canal, and Tixall wide, which is a wide thing near a place called Tixall, on the Staffs & Worcester canal. There are only two locks between these two locations, so it is quite a relaxing area to chug along. Incidentally, and changing the subject in the way that only I can do, I thought I’d end each paragraph with some sort of random joke thing. If these raise the smallest of smiles then that can only be a good thing in these difficult times. Here is an example: Two fortune tellers met on the street. One said “You’re fine, how am I?”. Ha! Ha! or lol as the kids would say.

The 'Dancing Sheep' mooring

The weather has been okay on the whole, very cold nights and sunny days that do a reasonable impression of becoming sort of warm. Thanks to our central heating (radiators) and the multi-fuel stove we’ve been nice and toasty on board though, which is nice. A swan found its way into a canal side pub. The landlord said “Hey, I named my pub after you”. The swan replied “What, you called your pub Ron?”

Fradley

Now, dear reader, you probably know that when I do these jottings I always end up having a good rant or two. So this is a sort of a ranting paragraph. For those of you thinking “Oh my gawd, here we go, the old git is whinging and whining again”, I would have to agree. Can’t help it you see. Right, down to business. Adverts. They will drive me to drink unless I reach for the mute button. Why do they all seem to have rap (silent C) noise or frantic drumming and people whooping all over the place? Also the deceit is criminal. An advert comes on, implying that their product will change your life forever, you’ll be able to read Classical Sanskrit while eating something delivered by “Just Eat” and if you buy a Mokka car, you won’t turn into a nodding pigeon. Then the tiny, tiniest small print flashes onto the lowest edge of the screen. If you are able to read it you realise that what has been advertised doesn’t really exist, it is almost a lie. And another thing. I hate that they flag up a warning on old, classic comedy shows that state 'the content may offend some viewers'. Well, I must say that I find the excessive expletives on many modern so called comedy programs and dramas highly offensive. No warnings on those though. Deep breath, switch to calm down mode. Our friends Pat and Malc saw a strange bird near their boat the other day. They said it was stuck to the fence. Malc managed to free it and it flew onto a nearby branch, and got stuck on that. He rang the RSPCA in the end, who told him it was a Vel Crow.

Love a tribe of lambkins

We had some family visitors last Sunday; Claire, Lauren, Jesse and Oakley met us at Tixall Wide and we spent a nice afternoon in deckchairs, relaxing by the boat. Oakley (who is only two and a half), was fascinated when I adjusted his little bike with an allen key. He helped himself to the biggest allen key in the box and promptly started repairing Tricky, a stick and some grass. It was a joy to watch. How do you make an apple puff? Chase it round the garden.

Family Outing Great Hayward

Our engine mounted generator failed last year. I removed the belt and genny and surmised that the brushes probably needed replacing. We use the generator to operate the washing machine, electric kettle and toaster, obviously when the engine is running, so it was more of an inconvenience than a real problem. Our friends Richard and Mel dropped by recently and Richard kindly offered to take it home and repair it. That man is a star. They came back yesterday and, after a lot of fannying about and a few choice words worthy of a BBC comedy show, the thing was back in place. We started the engine and...nothing. Shazbat! Then Richard mentioned that it may have become demagnetised and that remagnetising was not too difficult, but would require a connection between some terminals with the engine running with me leaning over it. I didn’t like the sound of that, but I trust Richard so I started her up. Still nothing. Then Rich said give her some more revs. And then some more. Up to 2000 revs, then 2,100 revs. Then, as if by magic, a green light suddenly blinked on and the generator “fired up”. I tell you, my mate Richard is a genius! I saw what I thought was a frog, tapping on a stone this morning. Turned out it was a Morse toad. They are definitely getting worse, aren’t they dear reader?

Tea Up Malc!

We use solar panels to help charge the batteries when we’re moored up somewhere. They are brilliant and I’d recommend them to any other boaters. We can tilt and swivel them so they always face the sun; that makes so much difference. This time of year, with a reasonable amount of sun and bright weather (spell checker changed bright to fright, so it read fright weather. What’s that? Particularly scary clouds? Werewind? Baron Frankenstein high pressure systems?) we don’t need to run our engine at all. We can and have moored for days at a time, had the TV and fridge running, lights and pumps operating and the panels do all that and keep the batteries fully charged. We used to have a wind turbine too. It was a recognised brand and was horribly expensive, but it turned out to be absolutely pathetic and almost made things worse, battery-wise. I gave it away in the end. It was either that or use it as an anchor. In order to get it in the car I had to dismantle it. I took off the huge blades, the large heavy flywheel and opened the case. Inside was a weedy little thing about the same size as an old fashioned bicycle dynamo. Hope the wind turbines dotted around the landscape are better than this toy windmill was. There was a report of beavers on a stretch of canal last week. A boater was quite worried, didn’t know if they were a protected species. He rang CRT (Canal & River Trust) to ask if it was ok to move his boat by them. They said he was dammed if he did, dammed if he didn’t. Boom Boom! Do you know, I think my jokes are getting worse. Linda says they were never funny to start with. Still, backwards and downwards as contrary folk would say.

Evening paddle for this family

We see all sorts of things from our boat as we are dithering about on the canals and rivers of this beautiful country of ours. All sorts of wildlife, some of it human, birds etc, fish and stuff in the water. The countryside can be fantastic, too. Then again, some of the gardens we chug by are a sight to behold. We see all sorts; we’ve seen everything from grass to manikins, brambles to summer houses, landscaped works of art to signs telling boaters not to moor opposite. We even saw a garden explode once. That was at Handsacre, but is another story. Crystal ball for sale, £50.00 but you will knock me down to £30.00.

And that, as they say, is it for another week dear reader.

Love from

The Floating Chandlers


PS A rescue cat is a bit like recycled toilet paper: good for the planet but a bit scratchy.


PPS Final thought, it will be Star Wars day next week; May the fourth etc. Come on, think about it. Maybe if I write May the Force be with you?

Solar Panels going up.

Super Trooper

 Morning All

The Chandlers are most definitely afloat again and I’m feeling joyous as I perch in my usual place on the sofa.  I have a mug of coffee and that virtuous feeling that comes with resisting the temptation to have a biscuit with it.  18 months of comfort eating has taken its toll and this week I have felt the effects of lugging around the lockdown baking in the form of an extra roll around my middle.  I had achy joints and a stiff back requiring Ibruprofen for a few days (pained expression emoji) but after a week of moaning and groaning, the joints have eased and the back pain has disappeared.   By the time we got to Alrewas, I'd had a chance to get back up to my previous racing greyhound fitness (you must be kidding emoji) and we are just 6 narrow locks from our mooring at  Egginton - hardly a marathon!  

Peek -a-boo 

The Lady Aberlour was looking very sorry for herself when we arrived back on Tuesday morning.  Sand in the cratch, green algae on the cover, bird poop on the windows, a tear drop black stain of water damage from a leaky window in the cabin and curtains that look like the spiders held their own version of Glastonbury in there and left their ablutions behind.  After several days of elbow grease we are almost ship-shape, the fridge is stocked and I’ve reacquainted myself with the little foibles of boating life.  Foibles - isn’t that a delicious word!  Foibles are remembering to shower in a tea cupful of water, needing to ask Carl to put the invertor on when I use the oven and making your pants go another day till Carl gets the generator fixed (Just joking folks).

Secret door in Alrewas

So, what have we forgotten to pack - this is always good for a conversation that starts with the words ‘Oh No!’  After several days of searching, I had to admit that neither of us had packed the deodorant, so we may well smell like the rhino house at London Zoo (an abiding childhood memory for me). I have a shopping list of things that we thought we packed but didn’t.   Daddies sauce, Weetabix (3 packets of other cereal but forgot the Weetabix), paint brushes and sugar (spare bag on board but it has solidified and will need a hammer to return it to anything resembling granulated).  I’m thankful that the bedding was packed away in vacuum bags and came out as fresh as a daisy.  The first night we snuggled down with a hot water bottle to take the chill off and had the best sleep we’d had for weeks.  The morning brought a very different tale...we didn’t mend up the stove before bed and woke to a freezing cold boat - cabin temperature 6 degrees.  Needless to say, Tricky and I huddled down under the covers and used elbows, knees and feet (Tricky) to remind Carl that it was his duty to get up and light the stove if he wanted to enjoy the rest of his day.  Remember ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’ - the sign is hanging in our cabin, just in case anyone needs reminding (eye roll emoji). The sun was soon streaming in through the windows, the kettles gently singing on the stove and Tricky snoring in her new fluffy bed.  She seems happy to be boating again, although she cannot get on and off the boat without help, like me she is an old lady and is reluctant to tackle the steep steps that we use to get from cabin to bows or stern.  I never noticed before how very steep they are so Tricky and I have that in common, although I draw the line at asking Carl to carry me up over the bows.  

Tricky in her new fluffy bed

I can’t tell you how much we have missed boating - we have only been out for about two weeks in 18 months, our longest break since we became the very proud owners of the lovely Lady Aberlour in 2008.  We haven't made any firm plans as yet but I have a hankering for Wales and the beautiful town of Llangollen.  It has been a while since we did that cruise and although it will be busy, we have the luxury of taking our time and mooring and exploring along the way.  There are so many favourite places that we are looking forward to revisiting and sharing with you.  The beautiful town of Nantwich, the views from the Pontycysyllte Aqueduct, the lock flight at Audlem and the beauty of the countryside around Ellesmere.  We may include a side trip down the Montgomery - a beautiful, if short, canal that leads to nowhere, just our cup of tea. These are just a few of our favourite places and hopefully we'll meet up with friends old and new along the way.  

Green roof begone!

I dug out the winceyette nightie and fluffy bed socks to combat the chilly nights, but even with the wood burner going at night, it still took me several days to get acclimatised and even Tricky thought it was too chilly to venture out for her usual 2am towpath inspection. If the nights were extremely cold then the days have been doing their best to make up for it by giving us extra warmth.  I've been able to discard my two of my five layers and get the recommended dose of Vitamin D on my white, pasty arms, not a pretty sight  but no-one cares on the canals.  Boaty people are generally very friendly and this week has reinforced that opinion, we have been smiling and waving at everyone and it's a tonic to see a whole army of jabbed up pensioners beginning to live again.  

That's all from me for now - here are some urgent repairs that must be done before we can leave the car and chug off.  We can't go too far as we both have to be home for our 2nd jabs at the beginning of May then we'll be off on our travels. 

Love as Always

The Floating Chandlers

ps  Carl fitted a new light in the bathroom and it's so bright that I've nicknamed it 'the Supertrooper' -  I feel like I need to tap dance with jazz hands every time I go in there.

pps I used up half my internet allowance already! in one week!- perhaps I may have to stop zooming

Victor and the Ducks

Sunday 18th April 2021                Alrewas                           

    

Hello again from the warmth of the sunny cabin aboard the Lady Aberlour.  Captain Carl and First Mate Lindy Loo are once more chugging off up the Trent and Mersey, looking for adventure.  It's been so long since we did a Hedgerow Jotting that neither of us can remember how to upload the photos.  I will post this and upload the photos tomorrow, when my lock down brain can fathom out how.  The Captain, usually the quietest out of the two of us, seems to have a lot on his mind, so I have handed over to him to get you in the mood for another season of aimless wittering - here is comes!!

Eggington Beach at our mooring

Captain Carl here - the sun was shining, the sky was blue and , at last, we were chugging along on the stern of the Lady Aberlour.  Just a few hundred yards away from our home mooring is a boat called “Victor’s New Home”. We have seen this boat every time we cruise from Egginton to Willington and vice versa. Always moored in the same place, and always with the same sense of respectful loneliness. For fourteen years or more I have wondered who Victor is and if I’d ever seen him cruising the cut. Well, it turns out that Victor is not a he at all. The boat is the new home of a Coventry Victor engine. Ok, ok, I realise that this is a contender for the greatest anti-climax of the week award, but I thought this would be a way of starting one of our infamous Jottings. Yes, dear reader, we are back on the water and looking forward to floating here, there and everywhere.

Love this little boat

Tuesday was the big day. We arrived at Egginton beach early in the afternoon and decided to load the boat straight away, rather then relax on the sand. By three p.m. we were moored just outside Willington and were getting our craft shipshape. As I was washing down the roof I became aware of a duck. Did you know, you get a better class of duck in this area than you do further south. Up here, ducks tend to be quite friendly and quack politely, asking how you are in the peculiar duck language that you can only understand if you are another duck. Down south, some of them are just plain rude, hurling abuse at you for the slightest thing. I’ve found that the best thing is to not get involved. Just ignore them is my advice. Swans are all the same wherever you are; arrogant, condescending, tending to look down their beak at you as they swim by. Always thinking they are whiter than snow. Anyway, enough said. I’ll leave it there; after all dear reader, I’m sure you already know this.

Duck on a mission

While I’m not on the subject of boating I thought I’d share some trivia with you. Now, most people can name some of the Knights of the round table. Sir Lancelot, Sir Percival and so on. But very few people know of King Arthur’s biggest Knight. He was a fearsome brute who went by the name of Sir Cumferance. Moving on, the world’s population is set to double in forty years. Babies are to blame. Finally, an allegedly true news item from America: a burglar was discovered in a couples’ house when the husband told a joke and they heard someone laugh upstairs.

Back to the original reason for this strange scribble, boating. We were pleased to note that when we returned to the boat after many months the engine started on the first attempt, everything seemed to be in good order inside and we were able to cast off without incident. I usually struggle to get the boat on and off from our home mooring as the canal is so shallow here but this day we cruised away on the first attempt - no pole required. We found signs that one of our windows has been leaking slightly though. I’ll have to get out the “creeping crack” stuff to try and seal wherever the leak is.

Our next stop was Branston. No, I’m sorry all those pickle lovers out there, this particular Branston is a pickle free zone. Actually, it is a nice spot to moor   A short walk into the village takes you to a Co-Op, a Byrd’s bakery, and a charity shop. There are also various take-away type places; Chinese takeaway and so on. Even a fish and chip shop. The one down side is that they are building swathes of new houses adjacent to the canal. What is, at the moment, a fairly quiet and rural spot, will soon be a built up area.

New building work at Branston

Some good friends of ours visited us today, Sunday. We cruised though four locks and moored just above Alrewas lock. They have been stuck in Spain since 2020, so it was extra nice to be able to spend some time with them. Thanks for a great day Richard and Mel.

We had a great day

I’ve been advised that these jottings are normally around one thousand words in length. In order to get the number of words up to the required aggregate I’m going to have to add some fillers. These are some newspaper headlines that made me smile. They may make you smile too. (Or maybe not!).

“A caller reported 30th June that a bird had been stolen from an apartment in the 100 block of Haskell Street East. It later was determined that the bird had not been stolen, but was lying dead at the bottom of its cage”.

“Worker suffers leg pain after crane drops 800 pound ball on his head”.

“Bridge closure date Thursday or October”.

“Woman missing since she got lost”.

That’s all for now dear readers

Love and hugs

The Chandlers Afloat

PS: it was the 50th anniversary of the two Ronnie this week. Linda and I loved their shows.

“A Grandfather has gone missing after eating four cans of baked beans, two cauliflowers and a jar of gherkins. His family has made an emotional appeal for him not to come home for a fortnight”.

“A survey on the decline of morals in Britain reveals that in Liverpool alone last week, an average of 26 women a day had casual sex with a married man who wasn’t their husband. The man is now recovering in hospital.

Classic stuff and its Goodnight from me and its Goodnight from her.