Leaving a foggy Swarkstone after wood gathering

Leaving Swarkstone this morning you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Our headlight was on but the three canaltime boats heading toward us didn't seem to bother about not being visible, so twice I nearly ran into them. If they drove without lights on the road they would be asking for trouble!!!


 

The fog seemed to get denser as the morning progressed. BBC weather forecast said it would lift very quickly. Well it certainly didn't here! Halfway to Western lock was another pile of cut branches. Last night Ian moved all the wood that we had collected yesterday to the waterside to even out the list in the boat. This meant we had room for more!!!

We couldn't get another branch on if we tried!!! All the bags are filled with ready cut wood for the fire.

 Today the locks were not in our favour but at Derwent mouth we picked up another boat and that made life a bit easier. At Sawley, Dave the lockkeeper, was nowhere to be seen so it was left to Ian as a DIY job. We let the other boat leave first, as we were going to cut across further down the river and into the Erewash. Lovely surprise greeted us. No Azolla Weed.  After using the facilities at Trent lock we set of for the final leg of our journey.

We are now back at our moorings in Sandiacre. Ian has a few bits and bobs to do round the bungalow and I'm going to chill out and maybe start fishing again.

We meet another blogger.

What a great evening last night turned out to be. Doug and James invited us over for drinks and I must say their hospitality is second to none. The wine flowed, nibbles offered and it was all rounded of nicely with coffee and chocolates later in the evening, and to think all this produced on the spur of the moment. Could this become the new party boat???

No hangovers for us this morning. Drinking copious amounts of water before bed helps. Only downside is the frequent visits to the loo!! As we were up fairly early Ian decided the cabin side ( towpath side ) needed a darn good wash and you cant do one without doing the roof as well. We had planned to leave as soon as we had finished but all good intentions flew out the window when we went to say farewell to the lads. We have found in the past that it doesn't matter who your trying to say goodbye to, goodbyes are never quick. Ian and James started discussing the filth and rubbish in Leicester and it must have been a good 15 minutes later when they finally waved us on our way.

First stop to shop was in Rugby. Moored in front of us was Al and Del Nb Derwent6. No sign of life but as we walked down the path to Tesco, we all but bumped into Al carrying her shopping. Then we had the meet and great moment. I do so love meeting fellow bloggers. You almost feel as if you've known them for years. After a long natter I started to feel sorry for Al. The shopping bags must have started to get heavier and heavier so finally we let her depart so she could get back to the boat. By now time was getting on and we eventually left Rugby a great deal later then we had anticipated. Waved farewell to Derwent6 and headed toward Hawksbury Junction. We saw Nb Piston Broke and  Nb Oakfield on the way. No communication with them but I'm sure we will meet eventually.



Derwent6 at Rugby

 We didn't quite reach Hawskbury. We moored at Sutton Stop instead.

Long Buckby to Hillmorton

Today has been something of an eye opener for me. This is the first time FreeSpirit has descended Braunston locks without anyone on the helm. We had planned to meet Nb Dulwich between Long Buckby and Braunston Tunnel. We saw them at the top of the flight and they mentioned that we could pair up together at Braunston Locks. This morning they were no where to be seen. Felt a bit peeved that they had up and left without waiting as planned but I suppose that is their prerogative. No boats appeared to be on the move so we left by about 8.30 with the hope of meeting another boat on the way. Sure enough by the time we were almost through the tunnel we noticed another boat had entered so we decided to sit at the lock and wait for them. I'm so glad we did. It was Nb Grace with Christine and Terry on board. We met them at the Pelsall rally and then again on the towpath at Stoke Bruerne. After the first lock Terry suggested we tie both boats together and work the pair down the flight. Terry took control of the boats, having done this a few times before, which left three of us to prepare locks and see him through. We descended the top lock by 10 am and exited the bottom lock an hour later. Not bad going. It would have been quicker but we had to wait for a pair of boats ascending to sort themselves out. I think they panicked when they saw Terry with our two boats breasted up.







Jade was a little anxious that the boat was on the move and no owners in sight!






Releasing the pair by the bottom lock

 


Terry and Chris



 They moored up in Braunston while we continued on to Hillmorton. I noticed that Bridge 80 on the Oxford still hasn't been repaired. Must be a few years since this was done.

It took us a couple of hours to reach the top lock at Hillmorton. There were parts of the Oxford where going at cruising speed ( about 3 mph ) just couldn't happen. The opposite banks had been so eroded away that the silt was causing the bottom to be to near the top! Creating a wash is a 'no no' in my book.It just makes everything worse. I feel sorry for the land owners who's banks are being swept away by inconsiderate boaters. We arrived at the flight and found that all the right hand locks at Hillmorton are still under repairs and it gave me a unique opportunity to see the state of culverts.



Not often you see them like this.





These were stuck to the gates. Says it all!



  At the bottom we started to look for a mooring. We hadn't realised that the mooring past the water tap had no rings or piled edges and Ian really doesn't like putting in pins. (It's all about those boaters who tear past and pull the pins out that he doesn't like!! ) We continued and found just what we were looking for. We hadn't been moored long when who should come round the corner, Doug and James on Nb Chance. They were going up the flight this afternoon but as we told them there were limited moorings at the top, they decided to moor with us. Last time we saw Doug and James it was also at Hillmorton and we just a fleeting greeting as we went past, so to be able to get to know them better is a bonus.



Ian, Doug and James. Derwent6 coming up behind



 Then another fellow blogger came past. Del and Al on Nb Derwent6. We have yet to do the meet and greet but we had a cheery wave and smile from them both as they sailed past.

Our last day in Milton Keynes

I cant believe we are finally on the move. We have had 3 weeks of hard slog decorating Colin and Iwonas house and now both of us are ready to get going again. Yesterday Christine, Kev and Josh arrived which gave us extra bods to do the work. ( although Oscar and Josh just wanted to play in the mud!!!)  After the rain first thing we assumed the ground would be like a quagmire.and impossible to work but by the time we all set to with shovels forks etc it had dried up nicely. These are the very last pictures. There is still mountains of work left to do but thankfully we wont be involved. ( No doubt we will be summoned again to help in the near future.)


Colin actually doing something for a change!! Must be hard to do manual labour after sitting behind a desk all day.





Trying to clear the ground. No more clearing roots with the digger after the last mishap!




Pooped out already????





Okay dad, how does this thing work?





Oscar was desperate to have a go.

 

Kev doing all the hard work.




Then it was his turn on the digger.




The foreman, Christine, and her trusty hound, Echo



Iwona in the foreground with Josh wanting to help.

Honest! It was tea break!!. Jade was keeping me company.



Iwona decided to remove all the pebbles on the top garden to use on the path between the house and the garage. Me thinks it will take a considerable length on time with a hand trowel and bucket!!



Oscar and Josh doing what boys love to do. Get dirty!

 We are now moored above Buckby flight. The lock restrictions start tomorrow and at least we have managed to clear one set of locks. Our journey continues toward Braunston in the morning where we will hopefully pair up with another boat.

What a Catastrophic day

OMG!!!!  Little did we know what the day had in store for us!!!. One of those days you wished you had stayed in bed. So.... on with my story.  After running the boat engine for an hour we set off for Colin's a little after 9 am. We had high hopes of the digger having arrived by the time we got there but it was not to be. Instead of hanging around Ian continued to fix the wiring around the garden wall. I started on my usual job of painting doors.




Testing the cables.

  Then by 11 am the digger arrived. The first question we asked ourselves when we saw it was, would it fit past the wall of the house and the garden fence..I think I'm going to let the pictures tell the story.



It will fit. Just





Good job the fence was loose. He manged to just squeeze between that and the conservatory wall.





Finally got it through and into the garden.




The middle bucket was wedged fast and the only way Ian could remove it was to shake it out.




Having a practise run.





Trying to remove a tree root. Then the unimaginable happened!!!!! ( You can see in the picture just the sort of angle Ian had to deal with.)



Thank goodness Ian managed to jump off as it toppled over.




Ian on the phone to the hire company. They were less then helpful. Told Ian to grab a couple of beefy men and between them they should be able to right the digger. Only trouble with that. No beefy men!!!





Ian had the bright idea of adding blocks as he tried to raise it up by using a lever system. The hard bit was to get it high enough to add another block.




With Ian's brawn and a neighbours muscles, the beast was righted once more. No damage to the digger, thank goodness, just a bit of oil leakage from the filler cap. All in all it took the best part of 2 hours hard work. Not something we want to repeat!!

 After leaving it to stand for an hour, to allow the oil to settle down again, Ian turned the key and it fired up first time. He decided to abandon the idea of removing the tree root and concentrate on levelling the mound of soil instead. Cant say I blame him!!
I am sooooo glad today is over. Tomorrow Colin will be driving the thing while Ian shouts instructions. Fingers crossed it all goes okay.

For me, a day of rest.

My work in 'The House' is almost at an end. Most of the rubbing down and  painting is finished so, I can do no more for the time being. Ian on the other hand still has loads to do. Finish the tiling in the on suite, fit the new shower, finish laying the cables outside, level the garden, and then lay the decking. We are leaving for Sandiacre on Sunday and Ian will need some sort of divine intervention to get that lot done!! Iwona is starting to bribe Ian with Morrison's doughnuts ( best doughnuts to be had from any superstore ) just to keep him here a bit longer. Ian is a sucker for them. As much as we would love to stay and continue to help out, we have other commitments waiting for us so we just have to leave.

After a lazy start I ventured out with Jade. I hadn't realised how foggy it was until I stepped out of the boat. One of those,cant see your hand in front of your face, pea soup  moments.



The boat is only just visible.

I decided to have a walk down Stoke Bruerne flight and, on the way, drop the rubbish off at the bin in the car park. I happened to be placing a couple of wine bottles in the bin when I heard a shout from behind asking me to put the bottles in the recycle bin. I told him I would gladly do this if I knew where the recycle bins were!! No sign anywhere telling us that recycling is even available. The chap then pointed to the museum and told me that the three bins over by the disabled door were for cans, plastics and bottles. I thanked him but also pointed out that a sign telling us where they were situated would have been useful. So to all boaters visiting Stoke Bruerne, the recycle bins are by the museum. Just one other observation. How would a disabled person get through the door with the bins in front of it????


Recycle bins

Carrying on down the flight I noticed that one of the pounds was very low. All the rest had plenty of water in them. Could it be a problem of leakage through the walls this time, rather then the gates?


Looks to be a good foot down.

Work was still ongoing near the bottom of the flight.



Replacing the top edging of the wall.




Looks to be a decent job.

Crossing over the footbridge at the bottom, the fog started to lift, and with the sun breaking through,some of the bushes along the bank started to look very spring like.With the buds opening to reveal the bright yellow flower heads, it was enough to lift one's spirit. 

Back at the boat I noticed a great deal of commotion and noise coming from the bushes opposite. There must have been 30 or more birds all trying to perch in this one bush. Not knowing what they were I thought I would take a photo and identify the bird in my Readers Digest Book of Birds. Turned out to be a Greenfinch. This is the first I have ever photographed. Certainly made my day.


My first Greenfinch. Shame its slightly out of focus.

The boat traffic today was virtually none existent but I was made aware of one boat going past, not because it was going to fast, but because of the noise it made. Turns out this narrow boat was being propelled by an outboard motor. Still, If it gets you from A to B what does it matter.