doggie rescue by.......... canoe!!

Is this an Orchid?

We went for a lovely walk with the woofits this morning. I was amazed at Judy because she acted just like a 2 year old. Must be the Metacam combined with the Turmeric she has every day or maybe it was  running through woods and meadows made her  puppyish again. I suppose it beats walking along the towpath all the time. After all I get the urge to do something different every once in a while. As we stepped of the beaten track the first thing I saw was this flower. I think its an orchid, probably not a rare one or the place would now be cordoned off. Its very pretty none the less.





This was the only one.




Another rare sight. A Jay. This one appeared very tame and seemed to pose for me while I took the photo.



More of the boats at Pelsall

                                         

The Mayor arrived to open the Rally.  He's just waving at us from the side hatch.

The battleship arrives!

I know its a boat rally but that's ridiculous.

Bunting up and a very embarrassing moment!

The majority of the display tents went up today and we also received our rally packs. Loads of boats arriving have been slotted in, all credit to the mooring officer.  Our Erewash mob turned up lunch time with the same story about weed and low water, but all are under the same impression that it was worth the effort as this is a really lovely place.  We have put our bunting up ( all made by my fair hand ) and found our green party flag which has a glass and pint of beer painted on it. We get so many comments on the name of the boat and the usual retort is  " Make mine a whiskey"  My  sister in law gave us the flag so we thought we might as well display it.

So now to my cringe moment. The dogs wanted to go out and as I was going to visit the main site I decided to take them both on the lead. On went their collars and I opened the hatch to allow them off the boat. Jade went first, closely followed by Judy.  I was getting a couple of dogie bags from the cupboard and when I looked up I saw this guy walking past the boat and then noticed his dog 'doing its business' on the grass in front of me. I called after him to say he needed to clear it up when he turned to me and said " That's not my dog luv" When I looked again it suddenly hit me that it was Judy doing her dogie doo's and  not the fellows dog. I'm not used to seeing her with a collar on so that's why I didn't recognise her. Talk about wishing the ground would swallow me up. There was a crowd of onlookers which made it worse so I just walked up to it saying " someones got to clear it up"!!! I then walked off with Judy in hot pursuit so everyone must have known she belonged to me. Its laughable now but I had a very red face I can tell you!!!
The beer tent is open tonight and some of the boaters are going to get out their instruments ( no rude comments please!!) so it could be a very good night.

Is this a record?

 nb Marquis arrived last night and I was intrigued when he started removing all this rubbish from his front deck. I was amazed when he told me that it had come from his stern gear. He has left the pile in the hedge with a note explaining what it is. He will remove the rubbish to a bin at the end of the rally, but he is hoping to make people aware that what is thrown into the canal causes no end of problems for boaters as well as the wild life. Good on him I say!

Pelsall at last

Finally the last leg of our journey was in sight. Just Rushall locks to do ( 9 in the flight ) and 10 miles left to get to the rally. Again we set of fairly early, although if the last few days have anything to do with it, 8.15 am was late for us. We turned right from the Tame Valley canal and entered the Rushall Canal and then onwards toward the locks.


Rushall Junction



 When we arrived one boat was locking up in front and they kindly lifted a paddle to empty every lock for us on there way up. With another boat following behind we did the same for them and they did the same for the next boat following etc. Soon every lock was occupied and none of us had to wait around which I call great teamwork. More boats started arriving and it wasn't until we got to the top of the flight that some of the rally organisers told us 23 boats which had been on the BCN explorer cruise were all due to arrive at Longwood junction today. I was very glad we had set of early and was in front of them. Our fellow cruiser, 'Icing', 'Electra', 'Polly' and Bracken were not so lucky. They ended up at the back of the pack and consequently wont make Pelsall tonight. After watering up and emptying loo at the last facilities before the rally we made very very slow progress. The weed and lily pads were prolific and long strands of blanket weed kept clogging up our rudder. I don't remember how many times we had to put the boat in reverse, but it didn't seem to make a lot of difference. In the end we came to the conclusion it was more the lack of water that was the main problem. Chasewater reservoir is nearly empty so BW has had to pump water from old mine workings to maintain a water supply. Of course with the amount of boats coming to the rally and locking up, there's bound to be less water for us on the top levels. We arrived at Pelsall at about 3.30pm and although we are a bit away from the sight, at least we have our towpath mooring for the Woofits.

You may notice that most of the boats appear to be at all different angles. The reason......Impossible to get into the side! Planks were defiantly needed here!



The Pelsall rally has booked in 130 boats. There is a lot more to come tomorrow. I wonder where they'll put them all?



Spaghetti Junction from below.

Another early start this morning. At 6.45am we snuck away from our moorings trying not to wake our fellow boaters. We had the rest of Curdworth flight, Minworth and all of Perry Barr locks to do. A total of 11 miles and 23 locks. Its years since we have travelled under Spaghetti Junction. Seems to be more graffiti then ever sprayed all over the concrete. It felt really surreal travelling under all the motorways. Workman were working on the columns reinforcing some of them while most of the drivers speeding above were totally oblivious that narrowboats were meandering slowly below.

  Perry Barr flight was almost deserted. Just us and two other boats locking up. We seemed to make good time until about midway up when the heavens opened. Ian was trying to empty the lock while I was hovering in the pound and with nowhere to hide from the rain and hail, got completely drenched. Ian managed to shelter under a tree, but I had to sit it out suffer the water trickling down my neck!! I was ever so glad when I eventually got into the lock and could grab a towel to dry myself off. We still took just under an hour to do 7 locks ( turning round every one ) so felt very proud of ourselves.

Lock 3 in the flight was a disgrace. This should never have been allowed to stay as it was. Ian got straight on to BW telling them that this was an accident waiting to happen!

The Heron and the Pussycat

Not something you see very often!

Mooring problems!

Last night a Excellent Afloat hire boat turned up. We watched as they tried several times to get into the side. I took pity on the couple and went over to lend a hand. After a brief conversation the bloke told me he could manage so I left them to it.

I went back to preparing dinner and when I looked out of the window again he was still across the cut. So Ian then went to see if he could be of assistance and was welcomed with open arms saying " help at last"! Was he a complete chauvinist not to allow me to help? Do I appear as a helpless female? It actually got me quite cross to think there are still men out there who think us females should be tied to the kitchen sink!!! Anyway Ian got them moored up and even had an offer of a pint at the pub to which I am very glad to say he declined. I should also say the lady with him didn't lift a finger to help confirming my theory that the kitchen is the best place for us women!

Alrewas on the T & M to Curdworth on the B & F

As the day seemed to go on for ever yesterday we decided that a 7 am start might be beneficial. We had 3 locks at Fradley to do and we didn't want a repeat of the queues from the day before. Absolutely no worries this time as the locks were set for us by Dave and Heather on Bracken as they went through. We turned left onto the Coventry and was set to enjoy 11 miles of lock free cruising. Well every man and his dog was out to get us. Two boaters wouldn't stop at bridge ole's even though it was our bridge. Rapid reversing was in order, One private boater that I had waved through at another bridge did no more then head straight for the bank instead of the hole and with a mighty crash that must have rattled his pots and pans, veered off onto the other side He then beckoned  me through so I gingerly made my way toward him only for him to veer of again and head straight for me and only  by a nifty bit of  maneuvering by yours truly, managed to miss him altogether. Then to top it all I was passing a moored boat when yet another  boater came toward me and instead of hanging back because we were on a very narrow stretch, decided he didn't want to wait and forced me into the thickets where not only did he hit me but scrapped all along the side of the moored boat as well! So after picking up my jangled nerves, we finally turned right onto the Birmingham and Fazley canal and have now moored at the Dog and Doublet by Curdworth Lock 9.


Aston Villa Ground




I noticed on the Curdworth locks that the bottom gates are not the usual doubles. The seal was very good with no water leaking through the wood. Maybe all single locks should have gates of this design as the saving of water would be tremendous.



Cliff wood Br 11 on the T & M to Alrewas

What a day yesterday. 19 miles and 8 locks. We thought if we set of early enough ( 8 am ) we would be moored at a reasonable time in the afternoon. We couldn't have been more wrong. Swarkstone and Stenson locks no problem, but when we got to Dallows we couldn't believe our eyes. 10 boats waiting to go up and none coming down. Just over an hour later we eventually locked up. With some trepidation we realised that this could be the start of a very long day. I suppose we could thank our lucky stars that some of the boats in front stopped for various reasons and thinned the pack down, but by the time we arrived at Alrewas it was getting on for 6 pm. Then we had to find a mooring, not just for us , but for the other 5 boats in our party. It was no mean feat to achieve this but literally with not even an inch to spare for most of the boats and with some 'words' to other boaters who had left huge gaps either side, ( just enough that no other boats could get in) we managed it.

Golden Wedding Anniversary

What a great weekend. The 'Do' on Saturday at the lock cottage was a great success. The weather was kind to us and apart from one very small shower, stayed dry and warm. The basin was full of boats again which the locals find fascinating as so few boats make it up the Erewash.

Jade waiting by 'Icing' ( Dennis & Margaret's boat ) hoping for the odd scrap of food.



Steve ( Dennis and Margaret's son ) and Ian cooking a mountain of food.





Margaret and Dennis. 50 wonderful years together.

 So yesterday we left Sandiacre with a convoy of 6 boats. We are all heading for the rally at Pelsall. We're hoping to arrive by Thursday or Friday but with the holiday season well and truly on the way, we may have some very long queues at some of the locks. Early starts are called for but to try and get 6 boats moored up together might be a struggle. Last night we stopped between Western and Swarskstone lock and out came the BBQ again. Well we just had to finish what meat was left on the BBQ on Saturday and any excuse for a good old chinwag will do

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RSPCA to the rescue

All day yesterday we worried about the injured signet. Both swans had been good parents but later in the day I watched as one of the swans started pecking at it and chasing it away. The signet kept quite a bit of distance between its parents and itself for fear, no doubt, of being attacked again. It did eventually manage to get back onto the nest with its siblings but when both parents swam away taking the healthy signets with them, the youngster was left all alone. When the swans didn't return we thought the worse would happen. A fox was seen two nights ago hanging round the nest so we were convinced that a sad end would befall the signet. Then along comes two community officers on their rounds. They took one look at the baby and decided that they would phone the RSPCA and save its life. I'll give them their due. They stayed from 5.30pm until 7pm guarding the poor little mite until eventually the man from the RSPCA turned up and rescued the signet. He said that it stood a good chance of recovery so ,as one would say, all's well that ends well.