False alarm and stormy skies

Dark skies, spectacular thunderstorm and rainbows made our afternoon a bit more interesting.

This morning our phone rang at 8.45. Great excitement, finally our grandson was on its way. Or so I thought. It was our son Colin letting us know that Iwona will be seeing the doctor at 9.30am with the possibility of being induced.  Okay that was good. He told us to expect a phone call sometime that morning and for us then to make our way to Milton Keynes. Our grandson Oscar had been dropped of at Nursery and didn't need to be picked up until 3.30pm, so there was no great rush to get to their house. So we gathered all our bags together again, left them on the bed, phoned BW to let them know we should be able to leave by the weekend and switched off the gas.  Ian then went to empty the loo only to discover the elsan completely blocked and filled to the brim with unmentionables. Quick phone call to BW to report the situation and then a rushed drive with the loo to Sawley to empty it there. I raced through the boat with brush and duster ( I do like to come back to a clean and tidy boat ) and then we both sat waiting for the call. Eventually the phone rang just before 10.30am . I answered and almost shouted at him to say we were on our way. There was a very long pause. "Hello hello" I said thinking I had been cut off. Then the words I didn't want to hear. "Mum,"" Iwona is not going to be induced today and we've been sent home with instructions not to return until labour is underway" I couldn't believe it. All that preparation for nothing. So here we are again still twiddling our thumbs and wondering if the baby will ever put in an appearance.. .

There is a plus side to our prolonged stay. This afternoon who should walk by with the two whippets Jim and Jess? Terry Darlington. His boat Phylis May II is moored on the visitor mooring below Trent Lock We had a lovely long chat and I discovered that his third book Narrow dog to Wigan Pier http://www.narrowdog.com/new_book.htm will be published next year.