Great Northern welcomes Oisin

Strange isn't it that as soon as you know a visit is imminent by boaty friends, one goes mad trying to get the boat to look spick and span in readiness for their arrival.  Such was the case this morning. Yesterday Ian had received a text from Roger and Pat, nb The Cat's Whiskers,  to say they would be with us by lunch time today. So I sent Ian off with Jade to keep them both out of the way for an hour while I went round like a women possessed, hoovering, polishing, washing floors etc. With the stove producing volumes of dust every time the ash pan was emptied, trying to keep on top of the mess took some effort. Then there was the muddy footprints of Jade when she returned from her walk (even though we try to towel most of it off before she is allowed on board) and don't even mention  the dog hair lying about getting into every crevice. Anyway once I was happy with my efforts and Jade had been wiped to an inch of her life, I settled down to await their arrival. Ian trundled off to the workshop to continue with making the frame for our solar panels and returned just in time to get a phone call from Roger to say they had just alighted from the bus. After the initial greetings of hugs and kisses we sat down for a good 'ol chinwag before making our way to the Great Northern for a meal.

You may recall my mentioning the amount of landlords the pub has had in the last couple of years well yet another one has arrived to take over the running of the place. A lovely chap who goes by the name Oisin (it's an Irish name ) who assures us that he is in for the long haul and has several ideas on getting the punters to frequent the premises. He seems very enthusiastic and I'm hopeful that this time he will actually stay and make a real go off it. After all we have waited long enough for the right person to take it on. Fingers crossed that Oisin is that person.

After a lovely long lunch, it was back to the boat for a quick coffee before Roger and Pat left to catch the bus for their return trip to Mercia Marina. All in all we had a fabulous few hours and we cant wait for the summer when we hope to meet up with them somewhere 'up north'.