Christmas dinner….

We arrived at Horninglow wharf in Burton On Trent just before lunchtime on Friday, and, after we had watered and loo’d, we reversed up a bit to moor for a day or two.  Not the loveliest of moorings, but at least safe for Cassie.  We took Cassie to the local vet to have her blood test, to check the levels of her Epilepsy medication, the results of which we will get by phone in a week or so.

Rog was drooling as we came into Burton – past all the breweries – there was a yard just full to bursting with kegs of Marston’s Pedigree, but I was too slow to get a photo before it disappeared behind some trees.

We got the bus into Burton town centre on Saturday morning, as I needed more wool for my marathon baby-knitting spree, and were pleasantly surprised.  It is a nice town, with a full range of shops and three shopping centres, although we only went into two of them.  We found a great knitting and sewing shop where all the assistants knew their stock, and I came out with a pattern for an all-in-one suit which Emma had intimated that she’d like for the new baby.  Just got to fathom the pattern out now, as it looks a bit complicated for my basic knitting skills!!  So far I’ve completed two cardigans – it would have been three, but I made a boo-boo with the amount of wool, and the third is short a sleeve!!! Never mind – I might make it into a sleeveless cardi instead.

We didn’t feel like moving today, so we’ve had a domestic day instead.  I got the vacuum out and we can now see the floor again.

We had some visitors today – we fattened them up for Christmas dinner!

Will move on a bit tomorrow, probably to Willington, will need to water and empty the loo again before we leave, that’s if the Shakespeare Line hire boat has moved off the water point that it’s been on since yesterday afternoon!

Alrewas….

We stayed at Alrewas on Tuesday, and spent the time doing a few jobs, and going for a walk.  It’s a pretty village, and we found a bungalow that we’d like to buy for when we are too decrepit to go boating any more.  Unfortunately, the £599,999 price tag might as well be 5 million as far as we are concerned, it’s so far out of our reach!! It had a huge conservatory overlooking the canal, which we fell in love with, and also a little summer house.  Oh well, dream on!!!

Bridge leading to the village

River Trent

Alrewas Lock

Cassie trying to make a new friend, but he wouldn’t play!

Two benches with pretty carved backs

We left yesterday morning, and travelled about 5 miles to Branston

Lovely morning, shame about the traffic on the A 38

We pulled into Barton Turns Marina to fuel-up and empty the loo – it’s all very posh, with a new development of designer shops.

We are now moored at Branston, just beside the Water Park, another nice place to walk Cassie.  We will move on tomorrow as far as Horninglow as she has an appointment with the vet there for another blood test to check the levels of medication are correct.

A very social Saturday at Fradley…..

We moved from Rugeley to Handsacre  on Thursday, and continued on to Fradley Junction on Friday, arriving just in time for a cheeky cider in The Swan at lunchtime.

Autumn at Fradley

Karen and Ian on nb Serenity, who moor permanently at Kegworth, said that they would drive over to see us and have lunch in the pub on Saturday.  I was just having a tidy up when a horn sounded outside – it was Ann and Chas on nb Moore 2 Life.  They were stopping for water, so came  aboard for a coffee – we had a lovely chat and caught up with each others’ doings since we had last met.  Just as they were leaving, Karen and Ian arrived, so it was off to the Swan for lunch.  Afterwards they came back to the boat for coffee, and then left round about 3.30 to drive back to Kegworth – they had a Halloween party to get ready for.  We were just walking back from seeing them off from the car park, when we spotted fellow-bloggers Derek and Dot on nb Gypsy Rover mooring up just ahead of us.

It is the first time we’ve met them, although we’ve been reading their blog for ages.  We stood and nattered for about an hour.

Yesterday morning the weather was foul, so apart from taking Cassie for a quick wee, we buttoned ourselves up in the boat with the fire on until lunch-time, when it started to brighten up.  We went and partook of the Swan’s excellent Sunday Carvery ( I love having Sunday lunch out, more than any other meal, as I hate cooking on a Sunday – don’t know why it should be any different than any other day, but it is!)  Afterwards, it was still dry so we took Cassie for  a longer walk – we needed to walk off lunch as we were stuffed!

We moved a whole 0.9  of a mile, doing 4 locks, this morning and are now moored at Alrewas – will probably stay here at least tomorrow, maybe longer.

Back on the move again….

I haven’t blogged for a while as the connection in Great Hayward Marina is lousy.  However, after over a week, we are back on the move again.

We went into the Marina on Monday 19th as the weather forecast was for gales and heavy rain, and we thought that it would be easier for Tim and Lisa from Staffordshire canopies to fit the pram hood as there might be a bit of shelter.  As it happened, it had to be cancelled totally for Tuesday 20th as the weather was appalling, and it was put back to Wednesday, weather permitting.

Wednesday dawned cloudy if breezy, and the fitting went ahead.

 

Fitting commenced

The finished article

It makes a huge difference to the temperature in the boat, and is somewhere to take of wet coats and shoes in bad weather.  Of course, we travel with it folded down.

On Thursday we hired a car and went to Northampton to spend a few days with Mum, and to get Cassie to a vet.  A few  weeks ago Cassie had a seizure.  It was very scary at the time, as we had never seen a dog have a fit before.  We were hoping that it was a one -off, but 10 days later she had another, so it was time to visit the vet.  We went on Friday morning, and she had some blood tests.  One had to be repeated the following day as the result of the liver function one was a bit high, but it turned out that it was just because she had had breakfast, the second one was normal.  The vet diagnosed ‘Idiopathic Epilepsy’ – meaning they haven’t a clue what causes it.  She has some medication that she will have to take for the rest of her life, but it should keep the fits to a minimum – thank goodness for PetPlan!!  It’s a bit worrying, and we find ourselves treating her with kid gloves so as not to stress her out more than she is anyway, but I’m sure that as the time increases between fits, we will go back to treating her as normal.

We came back to the boat on Monday, and planned to leave the marina yesterday morning, but we awoke to pouring rain so we stayed put for another day, and set off this morning instead.  We only cruised for about an hour and a half, and are now moored just short of Rugeley – we plan to do some shopping in the town tomorrow morning, and maybe to visit the market.  We will then head off tomorrow afternoon and plan to get to Fradley Junction for the weekend.  We have a lot of time to waste over the next month or so, as we are heading towards Pillings Lock marina to have the dinette altered, and don’t want to arrive before the beginning of December, so we will be progressing along the Trent and Mersey very slowly indeed!

Just a quick update….

We are at Penkridge again – this time for my haircut appointment yesterday, and to visit the market this morning.  Not much bought, just a few pairs of thermal in-soles, some bed-socks for Rog, who is suffering from cold feet in bed, and a new bed for Cassie – the old one was mingin’!

Tomorrow we will head on further towards Tixall Wide where we will probably spend the weekend, to await the fitting of our pram-hood cover, which should be ready on Monday or Tuesday.

For about a week now we have been meeting and passing Jim and Sheena on nb Arlanza, and have become quite friendly, but no photos, I’m afraid (I forgot, yet again!).  We have exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and will try to meet up with them again sometime – keep reading the blog, both, and it will keep you up to date with where we are. Lovely to meet you both.

A weekend with friends…

We arrived at back at Gailey on Friday, to await the arrival of friends Sally and Lisa.

                                                             We love the Round-house at Gailey – here’s yet another photo

Sal and Lisa arrived about 10 o’clock on Saturday morning, we had a coffee and then set off for Penkridge, where we planned to eat out and spend the night.

Sally working her first ever lock

Some instruction from the ‘master’!

Both working hard

Taking a break and inspecting the water

Leaving Lisa and I to guard the lock at Penkridge, Sal went with Rog to turn the boat.

We moored up above the first of the Penkridge locks and went to check out the Crossed Keys for a meal – it was fine.

Lisa and I then walked into Penkridge so I could make an appointment to have my hair cut on Tuesday, leaving Sally and Rog on the boat.

We had a good meal in the pub, then adjourned back to the boat to watch X Factor which we had recorded.  We returned to Gailey on Sunday morning, arriving at lunch-time, as Sally had to get back for some baby-sitting duties later that afternoon.

We had a lovely weekend, just a pity it was so short.

Tomorrow, we will head back to Penkridge and my hairdresser’s appointment, and go to the market on Wednesday.  Hopefully, by that time we will have heard when our pram-hood will be ready for fitting, and make our way back to Great Hayward.

Ok, it’s done…..

Having met quite a few bloggers recently, one or two (you know who you are!!) have asked if they now qualify for the ‘Bloggers We have Met’ section – well, it’s done now – lets just hope I’ve done it right and the links work.