Time to move on.

Hi Friends.

We have left the Boathouse, Harefield after a fantastic weekend. I headed to bed last night at 10.30pm and did not wake up until 6am. I only woke up at 6am because of someone was outside making a racket. I then dozed on and off for another couple of hours and it was then 8am and time to get up. Because Dave and the gang had boats going out this morning, we needed to move, so they could get their boats ready. So I was up and dressed and lifting Pad off of the boat to walk him up the lane. When I got back I then did us toast and a cuppa for breakfast, before we said cheerio to everyone and set off down Coppermill Lock. As we arrived at Black Jack's Lock a boat was coming towards us, having come up through the lock, so we thought brilliant, it is set for us. But oh no, as we approached someone was turning the lock on us arghhhh. Keith let me off and I said "Good morning".

The woman said "Sorry I did not see you coming".

My reply to her was "The sound of our engine was a give away that we were coming".

This seemed to go over her head, so I left her to it I was not gonna waste my time saying anymore.

We left them to go on their way and we were soon down through Black Jack's leaving Black Jack's Mill behind. Black Jack's Mill is a Victorian property. There has been a mill on site since being recorded in the Domesday Book. For many years there was a well-regarded restaurant in the adjacent building, but this had closed by June 2006 and is now a private house, Mill Cottage. The main house itself is a luxury bed and breakfast. We cruised onward to Widewater Lock and through the Colne Valley, which is absolutely beautiful. NB Apollo was just about to come off of their overnight mooring and so we shared the lock with Sue and her lovely family, who are out for 10 days. We went on ahead to Denham Deep Lock, which is one of the deepest locks in the country, where another boat was waiting to go into the lock, so we waved NB Apollo on so they could share the lock with the gentleman single handing, as we were going to be stopping after Denham Deep. Whilst at Denham Deep Lock, the drizzle began to fall, but it was not enough to get you really wet, it was really quite refreshing. We are now moored above Uxbridge Lock having done 4.1miles, 4 locks, in 2hrs 25mins this morning . We are looking forward to spending a couple of days here to go shopping and I hope to get my hair cut, if the price is right. Keith also wants to go down to the Chandlery to buy some oil, so we can give Hadar an oil change. The weather seems to have taken a downward turn as it has been raining on and off. So we may not go to far this afternoon.

Having been moored up for over and hour, it is clear this is the M25 here, with boats speeding past. This could be interesting with the pins in. Will keep you posted.

One thing I immediately noticed when we had moored up was the distinctive sound of the wild Parrots. Not only is their sound distinctive, so is their lime green colour. It is reported that there are over 10,000 of these beautiful green birds in and around London. I think they are fantastic.

After some lunch, we walked down to the Uxbridge Boat Centre to get some oil for the engine, but were disappointed to see it was closed. So on the way back, we managed to get the bits and pieces he wanted from Denham Yacht Station, just below Uxbridge Lock. It was their gain and the Uxbridge Boat Centre's loss.