I can not believe the mentality of some people!!!!

Sometimes I despair at the stupidity of so called responsible adults! I came across this just after 8 am so it was obvious that the boat had been there all night. Its a wonder a serious accident hadn't occurred. Who do you think would have been responsible if somrthing had happened? The hirer's or the hire company. Having hired boats regularly for 30 years I know we were never told not stretch the rope across the towpath but we did have enough common sense not to do it.  Maybe the hire companies should start to put this down in their itinerary

It was lovely to meet up with Michell again. We first met her through Dennis and Margaret on Nb Icing. She did a portrait for them of their dog and cat (it's the pencil drawing of the dog and the tabby cat) and it is still displayed on the side of her boat.

                                                                                  

Seems like someone forgot to collect their washing. No sign of a boat or person! On the opposite bank was the small cruiser belonging to the chap who asked us to charge his phone battery.  It most probably belongs to him.
We are no back at Colins looking after the grandkids. I have decided that I'm getting to old for crawling around the floor and even Ian is complaining of sore knees!!!

Shropshire lass comes by

Twas early this morning when out of the corner of my eye I spied 3 women walking along the towpath with a bucket in their hand. I guessed they were collecting for a charity and I did no more then stick my head out of the side hatch and enquire as to whom the collection was for. Turns out it was for Help for Hero's and, as this was also the charity my dad supported and who we gave donations to at dads funeral, I readily put my hand in my pocket to support them. Then they informed me that Shropshire Lass II a boat run by the Lyneal  Trust for Disabled was also heading in our direction and it was to join the Queens Jubilee flotilla on the Thames on June 3rd. One of the ladies took my picture so I wonder if I'll be on their website.

Also had some sad news today from my daughter-in-law Iwona. Her Grandmother died yesterday peacefully in her sleep. We only met her a few times but at 90 + she still did her own cooking, cleaning and kept chickens.

Grandma Mynarek house

Iwona has already booked her flight to be with her mum and the funeral should take place early next week. The children are staying with Colin and as we are in the vicinity we have offered to take both grandchildren to Nursery every morning as he leaves for work at 6.30 am . It does mean we will have to stay with Colin only returning to the boat in the day to run the engine. So, no leaving here yet then. Good job BW are aware of us over staying these moorings but hopefully by next Thursday when Iwona returns we will again be on our way.



Isn't it nice to see both parents with the one remaining duckling left out of the 6 she had. I do hope she doesn't loose this one.










The crew on board are only delivering the boat. There will be other members of the trust to take their place in the flotilla



Peek a Bo with a Kestrel




Roof top entrance

 



Must be great having ones own window. Didn't get the focus quite right but you can still see that it's a Kestrel.


I cant believe how quick time goes. It only seems like yesterday when we landed back in the UK. Arriving last Monday very late, and then having to take a taxi from Stanstead airport (cost £95 ) to Milton Keynes meant we didn't get to bed much before 2 am. We managed 5 hours sleep before we were up again trying to sort out a hire car to take us to Nottingham Queens Hospital for Ian to see the consultant. Why hire a car? Because our clutch went a day before flying out to Poland and we had no time to have it repaired. Anyway it was a complete waste of time at the hospital. The appointment was with a Neurosurgeon and both Ian and I had wondered what on earth his brain or spine had to do with his tumour on his back! The consultant also said the exact same thing and had no idea why Ian was sent to him. We spent £36 to hire the car plus petrol and all for nothing! So we now have another appointment for next Wednesday but this time at Nottingham City Hospital and it is to see the general surgeon. Hopefully this time we'll know a little more as to what the outcome will be!

Yesterday Ian managed to get the car fixed and there goes another £250 down the drain. I can see this year turning out to be very expensive for us. I need a new laptop, mine having wibbly wobbly keys, and my touch pad gave up the ghost ages ago. I hate using a mouse. If it was wireless all well and good but for some reason my USB port wont except the dongle. Colin is trying to persuade me to go for an I Pad but I really don't think it will be any use to me because I wont be able to load any photos. Colin has promised to take me to PC World on Sunday just to see whats out there. I certainly don't want to spend a fortune especially as all I do is e mail's, blog, facebook and the occasional net surfing. We also left our mooring to head up to Pear Tree Marina and water up. After several wash loads and a shower each, we knew the water tanks would be pretty low. Didnt realise how low until I ran the tap to fill the kettle and all I got was a drip! The pump wouldn't stop running so Ian closed the switch in the hopes that we hadn't b....rd it up running it dry. The tap at Pear Tree was painfully slow! A good hour later we finally had the tanks overflowing. First thing I did was to switch the pump back on and keep fingers crossed. All was good as it worked fine but, when I ran the water through the tap, it was brown!!! How can that be when the tank is aluminium so no rust and we always run water through the hose to flush out anything nasty. We also treat the tank twice a year so both of us is at a lose as to why we had brown water. Any idea's?

Today I have been fishing. Only the second time this year. Normally I'm out with my rod every moment I can so It was great buying bait and feeling the maggots wriggling in between my fingers once more. I caught loads, mainly tiddlers, exception being this Bream.

Ian went off to Colin's again to finish all the electrics on the garden lights, and for me it meant a day of pleasing myself. I took a few more photos on my walk with Jade and on one of them I noticed that Gary had turned up with his coal/diesel boat Ascot and Beverley and he's moored not far from us.

I initially took this photo to show you the dreaded yellow sign. When Colin first moved into his house at Shenley Chrch End there was a lovely walk to Shenley Woods with open views across the countryside. Then the 'dreaded yellow signs' appeared and within 2 years houses and shops had been built on the land. As these signs have now appeared all around Campbell park I have a horrible feeling that the same thing might happen here.


 

Green Woodpecker





I hate Daddy long legs. It's something to do with the way they seem to make a bee line for me and fly right into my face. Seems a bit early for them as they normally appear around August /September.

Tomorrow were off to Bletchley to see about booking a cruise to the Baltic next year. I would love to see and experience the Northern Lights so we are hoping a travel agent will be able to tell us the best time to go next year.

Our Polish experience

We're back, and what a great time was had by all. We did everything from sightseeing, eating, drinking, socialising, more eating, drinking, bus trips, train trips, even more eating and drinking (hic hic ) and a trip to the dentist! Off course it would happen that just before we left for Poland Ian broke part of a molar eating a sweet.  Iwona did no more then phone her dentist in Nowy Sazc ( pronounced Nova Saunch ) and she managed to book an appointment to, not only see Ian, but me as well. As you may recall in a previous post my dentist offered no help in the pain I was getting from a 'deep pocket' I had in one of my back molars. The beautiful Polish dentist ( Ian's words not mine but I did agree with him) not only repaired Ian's tooth and filled 4 other holes in 2 hours,  but did my root canal in a hour and a half completely painlessly. For the amount of work involved we expected to pay around £500 ( you would in the UK ) but the total came to just under £200. bargain!!! In fact we are seriously thinking of making it a yearly event. Apparently there are already 'dentist trips' that can be booked from over here and if anyone is needing a huge amount done on their teeth, go to Poland. It's cheap Finally I'm pain free once again and can drink hot tea and eat chocolate. Yippee!!!Why my dentist didn't offer this procedure is beyond me but I will definitely not be going back.

The main part of our trip will be posted on Jameisons Afloat2. We went for Oliver's Christening and his 1st birthday party but we also stayed in Krakow for three days, first meeting up with Christine Kev and young Joshua at Belize airport on the Wednesday and then taking a trip down the Salt Mines and  visiting Auschwitz. All this is on my other blog http://nbfreespirit2.blogspot.com/  Its a humbling experience to visit visit Auschwitz and Birkenau and see just what atrocities Hitlers SS did to the Jews. Its beyond believe and  I hope this will never be allowed to happen again.



Iwona's mum & dads house in Nowy Sazc



The views from our bedroom window.

We're off to Poland

A bit of a rush this morning to get everything ready to take to Poland. As we are travelling 'budget airline' we are only allowed 15kg of luggage and 10kg of hand baggage. How can a girl narrow down the amount of clothes to take. My shoes alone must weigh a couple of kilograms and then there's the jewellery, makeup sun cream (It's over 30 deg in Poland) and all my posh frocks, blouses, T-shirts, trousers, socks tights and of course enough undies to see me through for 9 days (one can never have enough knickers!)  Ian has been ruthless in only allowing me one pair of shoes and 'Why do you want make up when you never wear it here'. Men! They just don't understand. Anyway, we are finally packed and ready. I took Jade to Leicester, yesterday, to go on her holidays to Pat and Keith, (Jade loves it there because she gets spoilt rotten) and our neighbours on Nb Kestrel and Nb Windrifter both have contact numbers "Just in case" Although quite what we could do if anything happens is any ones guess! We stay at Colin's tonight because we fly from Luton in the early hours tomorrow and as it's our 39th Wedding anniversary today he is taking us out for a meal tonight. So no blogging until our return on the 15th May when no doubt I'll bore you all with pictures of our grandsons Christening as well as our Polish adventures.

Batty pair of tits.

Today's post is not about Colin's extension build, I don't think blogging about mundane things like, swept floor, painted skirting's filed holes, cut up wood etc was worth mentioning. That's why showing the wild life round the park is at least something worth looking at. First thing I noticed was  tits going backward and forward (keep it clean!) With all manner of small insects in their mouth. I followed them to see where they were nesting and found they had made their home in a bat box. Hence, the title!




I love this time of year when everything looks fresh and animals and birds are busy procreating. These squirrels were chasing each other up and down the branches, prelude to mating perhaps?

In the distance, a Kestrel continually called. I have yet to find its nest, but I'm assured by Jill on Nb Windrifter that every year they produce two babies, always rearing them successfully. I'm amazed that Norman the mouse has survived this long!

Also, high above me was this trio of Cormorants. Because fishing is my hobby, seeing these birds swimming low in the water and diving for fish makes me mad. I know what you're thinking, they have every right to survive, and I agree, but in rivers and seas, not in canals!


My least favourite bird. The Cormorant.

As you may have gathered, I love Campbell Park. The amount of wildlife to see and photograph is amazing.

Woodpecker holes peppered this tree.

Rabbits playing in the early morning.

Pied wagtail

Chaffinch



Even the snail has its place in my pictures




Only seen the one Jay.




Plenty of Magpies

 









I call these the weird threesome. They are always together. The drake follows the pair round where ever they go.

 


Robin working hard to feed its young. It's beginning to look very scruffy.



Heron preening.

 Now all I need is a herd of deer and fox cubs playing to make my day. I can dream, can't I?

Julie arrives on Nb Towcester

Last night, just as we had settled down to dinner, there was a knocking on the roof. It was Paul on Nb Kestrel to tell us the diesel boat would be arriving by 8 am today. It never hurts to top up when you have the opportunity so Ian made sure the alarm clock was set good an early. 8am came and went. So did 9am! In the end we had just about decided to fill the boat another day, when Paul arrived saying that Julie Cook on working boat Towcester was dieseling up the boats on the other side of the bridge. Ian donned his wellies (the towpath was like a paddling pool after last nights rain) and made his way to have a chat and ask if she could supply us with coal as well. Eventually Julie arrived. Both Ian and I had been most surprised that it was Jules instead of Gary that turned up today. Usually this is Gary's patch but for quite a while ( so Paul informed us) he had been totally unreliable, giving boaters dates and times when he would arrive and then not turning up. Julie happened to be on her way to Leighton Buzzard a few months ago and was stopped by some of the long term moorers. Julie is not one to tread on anyone toes and if she needs to  run through Gary's patch she does so without advertising that she sells diesel and coal, therefore she was very reluctant to help them out. In the end she was persuaded and now does the run regularly. Gary still hasn't showed up although a lady walking the towpath with her dog informed Paul that he would be arriving on Saturday. Paul's comment! 'I don't get let down twice so he can stuff it!

One thing Julie did mention to Ian, and I feel its good to pass this information on, is that all Julies deisel is treated so by preventing the dreaded deisel bug.

Something strange at the window

Enough to give you the shivers.

The neighbourly deed

I don't think I can name any other type of travellers ( after all that is what we are) that are as friendly and helpful as the boater community. The two boats we have nestled between have both offered to look after our boat while we are in Poland for a week. The initial plan to take the boat to a AWC club nearby, had to be abandoned when we found they had no electric hook up on site. My fridge and freezer need to stay on during our stay away as I have to much frozen stuff to use up beforehand. This caused us a bit of a dilemma as to where we would leave the boat. Ian found Pear Tree marina on the website last night which could be an option. Chatting to Paul on Nb Kestrel later in the evening, Ian explained our dilemma. With no hesitation he offered to, not only keep an eye on the boat, but if necessary run the engine for a couple of hours every day. I mean who else would offer to do that. Then along came Jill on Nb Windrifter, moored in front of us, who said exactly the same thing. Both have long term moorings here, agreed by BW, and although both couples seem genuine and very nice, we are reluctant to leave them our boat keys as we have only just met. In the end the decision was made by our son. Why we didn't think of it before is beyond me, but its obvious. Leave all the frozen food stuff with him in his freezer, then we can turn everything off, leave our boater neighbours to keep an eye on the boat, which means no one will need to have the keys. Problem solved..

In front of us is Windriftter and behind is Kestrel

Today we have finally been able to do some work at Colin's. As the rain has continued all day, hoping to start on the garden has been put on hold. Instead loads of bits needed finishing, skirting, wallpapering, painting etc, so for the time being there is plenty to keep both of us occupied. The weather forecast still looks unsettled for this region and as much as Iwona would have loved to come back from Poland with part of the garden finished it's not to be. The shed has gone though revealing all the wood still to be cut up by ourselves and taken back to our bungalow. Another task that will have to wait for drier conditions.