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In 1977 we hired our first narrowboat from Anglo Welsh at Market Harborough.From that moment our destiny was set. In 2006 we finally purchased our own brand new 57' narrowboat which we named 'Free Spirit'. Our aim is to travel the length and breadth of all the navigable rivers and canals of the UK. This will be our story as it unfolds.

Friday 28 September 2012

Further news of the Erewash pollution & a poorly Jade

Jade, our woofit, has gone and done her back in! She woke on Wednesday in great pain and trying to get her on and off the boat was a nightmare. Shades of what our old Judy went through came to mind and so as soon as we could, we took her for  a trip to our nearest vets in Eastwood. She confirmed that all her pain came from her lower back and was pretty convinced she had prolapsed part of her disc. Then she mentioned xrays, MRI etc but first wanted to try her on strong pain killers and complete rest for two weeks. In other words no jumping on or off the boat!!!. How on earth was we going to achieve that!!! Thankfully our daughter Christine stepped in and said she could stay with her until Ian could make some ramps for Jade to use. So now I come to my post heading. On our way back to our garage in Sandiacre to get the wood needed to make the ramp, we noticed clouds of smoke again billowing across the M1 at Stanton. The fire at the recycling plant had once again reignited and the fireman were back to square one. This time though they were able to divert the water run off from their hoses to a culvert leading to the sewage plant. Good job too as yesterday the Erewash was declared open.  There had been a advisory on waterscape about a clean up operation between Pasture and Sandiacre lock, which I assumed to be the environment  pulling out all the dead fish. On arriving at our bungalow the first thing to greet us was the smell. Hundreds of rotting fish lay along side the moored boats on the Derby arm. The environment agency obviously hadn't been to this part of the canal to clean it up. Both Ian and me were so glad we could leave the area instead of living back at our bungalow. I feel very sorry for our tenants. I just hope the environment agency eventually get round to doing a proper job because the smell will only get 10 times worse.

Sunset at Langley Mill

3 comments:

KevinTOO said...

Never a dull moment in your boat is there?
Sorry to hear that Jade is suffering a bad back. If ever you need another B&B residence at any time for her please don't hesitate to give us a call. One of us is 'at home' 24/7 so she'd never be left alone, OK?
Kevin & Harry

nb Chance said...

Hi Irene and Ian, so sorry to hear about poor Jade, hope she makes a quick recovery and isn't in so much pain... Nice to be able to read about you all again, we miss you blogging. Hope Ian's treatment is going OK still, and you are both keeping well. Look forward to seeing you back on the cut next year. Doug and James x

Ian and Irene Jameison said...

Hi Kevin, Harry, Doug & James,
Thanks again for you lovely comments. I'm hoping the steps Ian is making to get Jade off the boat, will do the trick. A ramp wasn't practical for the inside of the boat and we still have our doggy ramp for the outside which we used when Judy
was alive. Its great to know that there is always someone to help in a crisis.
Love to you all and enjoy the rest of the cruising season.
Xxxx

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