Light Gulls?

 

Bulbs Bulbs

Flying in for the necter

Foggy moorings

Moored on lock landing bottom lock Fradley flight. Visibility was almost nil!

Stenson

Hmmmmm.....which one do we choose, the one without a roof or the one with.

Just hanging around

  With nothing of interest to report at present, I will carry on with my daily photos.

The Mill welcomed us home

 I love the sound of bird song but not at 5 in the morning and right outside the bedroom window. All I could here was an insistent shrill tseep tseep sound. It invaded my mind so I could no longer think straight let alone try to get back to sleep. I could easily have throttled that darned bird. The chirping and trilling seemed to continue for ages and in the end I had to get up and find out what sort of bird it was. This was the culprit. A Dunnock! It stayed long enough for me to take a photo before flying off to harass someone else.

No more sleep for me and with both of us wanting to get away fairly early we felt we might as well get up. By 7. 45am we were ready to leave. The wind had picked up and tried to keep us against the side but we waited for a lull, and with me at the front pushing the boat with a pole, Ian managed to reversed out and we were on our way. The total journey time from Sawley to Langley Mill, 16 locks and 13 miles including a stop at Trent Lock to water up, took 8 1/2 hours. The wind was a big issue at every lock but Pasture lock was by far and away the worse. The top gates were open when we arrived and refused to stay closed. It took both of us, and cracking a paddle, to finally get them to stay shut.

Pasture Lock landing

Once back at Langley the electric cable was plugged in, areial put up and the bird feeder reinstated. It felt almost like we have never been away. Lets hope when Ian has his MRI in May that the outcome is positive and be able to leave Langley for good.

Radcliffe Cooling tower with a plane heading home to East Midland Airport.

Unusual to see two swan nest side by side.

More hanky panky. Coots this time.

Short jaunt to Sawley

Hope these ducks don't poop!

What a glorious start to the day. Just right for a short cruise to Sawley. Ian decided to clean the brasses before we left so it was gone 10am before we got away. Fully expecting some moorings to be free at Sawley, (leaving it later to move hopefully meant boats would have left their moorings) we were flummoxed when not a space was to be had anywhere. Well apart from those boats that insisted on tying to their own rings and wouldn't share. This made for big gaps but not big enough for anything other then a 15 footer. Could this be another bitch coming on!!!! It seems to apply to those that are what we call the 'weekend brass polishers', only out for a few days and insist on having their own space. More often then not it's usually those that hire that are at fault,  I know in our days of hiring no one ever told us not to leave a gap. Anyway enough said on the subject as I could really get on my soap box about this. So to get back to my tale, we slowly made our way along the line of boats and even contemplated going on to Trent Lock. Only reason why we wanted to stay at Sawley today, not just because our car was parked in the marina car park, but we needed to move it up to Langley Mill so both of us could take the boat back instead of only me. For Ian to catch the bus back here was a lot easier then at Trent Lock. We decided to wind and see if any boats looked as if they were ready for departure. As luck would have it one boater told us, after filling with water, he would be leaving. So we went back through Sawley Flood lock and out into the river to wind by the weir. The new propeller gave us the confidence not to be sucked towards the weir barrier and with tiller hard over she turned in one go like a dream. As we went through the flood lock again the chap waved to us to say he was ready for the off and with him on his way we sidled into his space. Result!! Ian then took the car and I had another go at fishing, the last chance until we leave for Pelsall in June. Using my own bread baked by my fair hand I actually caught a carp. The first one on the canal system. I am one very happy girl!

Had no scales to hand but estimate the weight to be between 3 and 4 lb

Oh my god!!!!!!!!  I was just finishing this post when we were hit big time and I mean hard! Drawers flew open and its a wonder my wall plates stayed attached to the wall. A Canaltime hirer trying to moor on the pontoons opposite got it totally wrong and instead of waiting for a member of the hire staff to help, tried to wind and to do it again. Somehow they misjudged the turn and with the power full on, smashed into the front starboard side of our boat. Then still on full power with them trying to get the boat away from our side, scraped their hull all along the length of our boat!  The hinged cupboard door holding the Freeview and DVD box flew open and one of the brackets bent . Goodness knows what they have done to the side of our boat and with us not long blacked adding insult to injury!! Ian is going to have strong words with the manager of the hire company with the possibility of putting in a claim if the hull damage is bad.

Tomorrow we will leave early as it's a good 8 hours from here. Weather forecast is not good, drizzle and high winds, but at least the temperatures seem reasonable

On our way back

I hated having to wind this morning and the thought of heading back to Langley Mill made me feel quite depressed. To top it all it was cold, grey and miserable, just like my mood. Before long we were approaching Weston Lock and two Canaltime were waiting for a boat to ascend. We pulled in behind them fully expecting a bit of a wait but as luck would have it they needed to water up so waved us on. Not only did they let us go first but allowed me to stay on board instead of doing the lock. I told them we only needed one gate open and as Ian approached he hit the side and bounced off onto the closed gate. How embarrassing especially as we told them we lived on board and had done so for 5 years. Just goes to show anyone can make a mistake. After Weston Lock came Aston Lock and that darned  bird scarer was still going off every 10 minutes. Jade stayed well inside the boat but no trembling or dribbling this time thank goodness. Once at Shardlow we moored, the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely afternoon. I fished again and Ian did manly things ie:- tinkered with the electrics and fine tuning the engine. Off for a meal in a bit at the New Inn, plenty of real ale for Ian and a 2 for £10 menu.

Last nights mooring

Extensive damage to bridge 9

Jades favorite place.

At Shardlow

A decent fish at last!

Mr and Mrs Sparrow

Busy day, not much achieved.

Oh why oh why did we wait to paint the gunwale. Yesterday was a great day for painting and if it hadn't been for our wimpy dog a coat of lovely shiny black paint would now be adorning one side of the boat. Jade you have a lot to answer for and there will be no doggie treats for you today! Of course it had to rain this morning so jobs had to be found inside. Ian tinkered about with the engine and finally found the water leak on the engine cooling system. I baked a cake, walked Jade, and then went fishing.

Lovely quite moorings by bridge 9

 On the walk with Jade I came across a sorry sight. This derelict shack used to be occupied by a lovely older gentleman who we first met in 2006. On our very first trip out with Free Spirit we moored within yards of his establishment. He had no electric or running water but he loved his way of life. When we came past in 2010 a notice happened to be on his gate thanking all his friends for helping him throughout all the years he had lived there but he had been forced to leave his way of life and made to live in a home.

This used to be the entrance.

 Woods, canal and river were all his back garden. It take a certain type of person to cope without gas, electric or tap water but I for one can understand why he loved it. I have no idea what became of him. It wouldn't surprise me if he died of a broken heart.

A female Linnet was singing away in his back garden.

The warmer weather has brought the insects and bugs out. Yesterday it was a sort of Weevil (thanks Sue Indigo Dream) and today a moth on the cratch front window.

And finally, my total fish caught today............... 1

My bitch of the day!

Every single boater whether it be newbies or old timers has been told at some time or another that to pass a moored boat on a canal one should do know more then 2 mph. So why is it that some private boat owners think it is there god given right to pass at whatever speed they like!!! We have always complained about the hire boaters charging past but not so anymore as more and more boat owners are flaunting this basic waterway etiquette. We know that on engine tick over we do 2mph. I suggest that every boat owner does the same! 8 boats have come past us today and only one slowed down,  a hire boat, enough not to tip the boat alarmingly. Please please slow down. After all we are all on the water to enjoy a slower pace of life.  If you want to hurry, go back to a car!!!

A very scared doggie

What a lovely day to start our short cruise. Hazy sunshine and for once no winds, the loo cassette was emptied and rubbish disposed of and the start of our journey to Aston Lock had got under way. Ian  decided to repaint the gunwales and at the top of Aston lock, the bank height is perfect for the job.

Waiting at Derwent Mouth Lock

  After a brief stop in Shardlow to water up and visit Millers chandlers, the rest of the journey only took about 1 hour. On the canal the new prop had reduced our engine speed by 100 rpm from the equivalent speed we had had previously, and on tick over we averaged about 2mph. This should, hopefully, save us some money in diesel. One slight problem was trying to slow down enough when entering locks but no doubt that is something we will have to get used to. She also reverses like a dream so both of us are extremely happy with her performance. On arrival at Aston some of the moorings had been taken but the one right at the end was free. We pulled in, moored up, got Jade off for a quick walk and then.........BANG!!!!......... What on earth!! The dog, Ian and I about jumped out of our skins. It suddenly dawned on us why this mooring was free.We had moored within 20yds of a bird scarer. Jade shot back on the boat and lay behind the bed shaking. This gave us a bit of a dilemma. Should we move on for Jades sake or stay and hope she gets used to the noise. We lasted 45 minutes. The scarer went off every 10 minutes and by now Jade was hyperventilating, dribbling and trying to hide under a chair. We just couldn't put her through any more stress so the painting would have to wait, so we hastily pulled pins and high tailed it away from there quicker then the blink of an eye.

 Aston Lock. Jade back at the boat starting to shake.

We started to look for a suitable mooring but all the while we were traveling Jade continued to shake and dribble. By the time we reached Weston lock she was beginning to calm down and finally, having found a mooring with the correct bank height above lock for gunwale painting, she was back to her old self again. If the weather holds then tomorrow Ian will start painting and I will have a go fishing. No bait, mores the pity, but I can always dig for worms and most fish will take bread so I'm extremely hopeful of catching something.

Looks like the bird scarer failed in its job!

Can anyone identify this bug? Size about 4mm (1/8th inch)

First bumble bee of the year.