In the Heat.

Hi Folks.

Phewwwwww it is hot out there now, so thought I would come in and try and blog. The signal here is very poor, so I am not able to post photographs at the moment Sorry.

Yesterday having arrived at the top of Braunston Locks, we settled ourselves in and as I said in my previous post we had lunch. We then took a stroll down the locks to see how many historic boats had arrived already and we were not disappointed. There were a few already moored up for the Rally, these included Clover and Fazeley which belongs to Micheal Pinnock Jnr. Micheal Snr and Maureen were moored opposite on Alder and invited us over for a coffee, which was really nice. The last time we saw the two Micheal's was in October, so it was nice to do some catching up. We also met up with the Fudge boat and got to try some of their Rum and Raisin Fudge, which was extremely yummy. I love boat gatherings, because you get to catch up with a lot of people you may not have seen for a while. You also get to meet new people.

This morning we were once again awake way to early and so a cup of tea in bed was called for. I am not one for laying in bed, so having tried to nod off, I decided that it was best to get up and take his Lordship for his walk. I walked him up to and over the tunnel, where he could have a run out over the field. At the tunnel entrance was a BW man waiting for a widebeam to arrive from the other end. Well so he thought. It turned out that the widebeam was actually moored by us and was supposed to be at the tunnel for 8am. The widebeam arrived at 8.45am, so I bet the BW man was not amused. He has to come back tomorrow for the horse boat, which is coming through the tunnel in the morning. Back onboard K had laid up my breakfast, it was only cereal. We then decided that before it got to hot, we would walk up to the Butcher's and the small store in the village, to pick up a few bits. With the weather set to stay hot until at least the weekend, we will be eating salads, because I am not cooking. So we made our way down the locks and across the field, to the village. We love the Butchers there, he does some fabulous meat. I remember we bought some Lemon Chicken from him last time and it was amazing.
On our return stroll we called in at the Braunston Chandlery at the bottom lock and got some paint and a new Towpath Talk, before visiting the Lock Cottage shop, which does large cans of Brasso at a very reasonable price. He only had two cans left, so I bought them both.
Walking back up the locks to the boat, we got chatting to Ann on NB Oakfield. Ann was busy cleaning down the boat, before it got to hot. We learned that they were also friends with Del and Al on NB Derwent6, and that came about because Derwent6 was in the built slot before Oakfield. It is a very small world on the cut. We left Ann to her cleaning and we got back to the boat to put the shopping away.
K decided to rub down the pigeon box and use the Primer, Undercoat he had just bought. I in a moment of madness, thought I should wash the boat down and give her a coat of polish. I must have been barking, because my shoulder was not at all impressed. I managed to do the Starboard side and then I called it a day. Paddy was out on the back counter, staring at a tennis ball floating alongside the boat. I think this may have been the one he was playing with yesterday. I was not going to lean over the edge to get it out of the water, so he would just have to stare at it. Marmite was out on a long lead rolling in the dust. She loves nothing more than a dust bath. She then decided that chasing leaves was a great game. Ann from NB Oakfield walked up to say hello to us and the Mog and Dog. Time always flies when your having fun and it was then time for lunch and a well earned break. I am not doing anything else work wise today.

May I just say that for anyone out there with dogs.........PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, dont walk them in the middle of the day in this heat! heat exhaustion KILLS. how would you like to run around in this, wearing a fur coat unable to even sweat! KEEP THEM COOL! I am saying this after a friend posted this on her Facebook page. Paddy is laying inside the boat in the cool, which is where a dog should be. I know dogs need walking, but leave it until later in the day.