Bank Holiday Weekend.

Hello Friends.

Another Bank Holiday Weekend is on our doorstep or in our case knocking on our back cabin door and we always like to find somewhere to moor, where we can just sit and watch the world go by. Boating over a Bank Holiday Weekend is usually a bit of a nightmare, with boats everywhere.

We had another night of heavy rain, so it felt a little damp again as we sat in bed drinking our first cuppa of the day. Most morning's Marmite gets out of her bed and comes into our's, but this morning she had snubbed us, so Paddy thought he would take advantage of this opportunity. He started by putting his head on the bed and then crept his front end on to my lap. All's he ever wants is a cuddle. I drew the line at allowing him to get up on the bed completely, because I know he will not lie still. This was the moment when I decided to get up. It was refreshing to see that the overnight heavy rain was now just drips and drops, when I took Paddy out for his morning stroll along the canal. There are some lovely walks at Cosgrove, but they would have to wait for another day, because we decided that we would set off for somewhere out in the countryside. We managed to share Cosgrove Lock with NB Free Spirit, who was going off to be painted. Our first port of call was to be the sanitary station to empty the toilet cassette. We pulled into the station which was surrounded by metal fencing and there were men working at the block. Thankfully we were able to empty the cassette straight into a pipe and for anyone wanting water, they had put a tap on hand, so you can still use the station. We said cheerio to Free Spirit and headed off.

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We headed off under Soloman's Bridge, which I think is such a pretty bridge. It is one of the most unusual on the canal network. The gothic style bridge over the Grand Union Canal was built in 1800 at the insistence of a local landowner.

We found a nice mooring out in the countryside between bridge 62 & 63, between Cosgrove and Yardley Gobion, having cruised just 2.7 miles, worked 1 lock in 1 hr 15 mins. I have a view from my galley window across the field which is lovely. Marmite and Paddy will be able to play out on the towpath as well, if there are not to many walkers and cyclists. Having moored up, I made us coffee and then set about tidying the inside of the boat, because there was dog hair balls blowing around in the saloon. Once that was all done I had a mind to get out my baking dishes to make a Lemon Drizzle Cake.

I love making cakes and this is one of my favourites. I have also made Lemon Chicken for tonight's dinner, which we will have with rice.

With the Bank Holiday Weekend almost here, there are a lot of boats moving to and fro, so we may just decide to stay here for the long weekend. We almost decided to have lunch then move to Stoke Bruerne, but the worry is that when we get there, we will not be able to moor up, because it gets very busy. We are fortunate that this mooring seems to be deep, which is great for us. This is the first time we have ever stopped here, so we will make sure we make a note of this mooring for future reference.

With boats coming and going past us, I am beginning to notice that some of the boaters have no concept about the idea of slowing down past moored boats. So this could be a rock and roll weekend, if this carries on. I do get quite cross when boaters do not slow down to tick over when passing moored boats, because what they do not realise is I could be carrying a pan of something hot and this could go over me should I lose my balance due to them going to fast. I wonder how long it will be before a major accident like this will happen.

Talking about accidents. I was chatting to someone this morning and they told me that one of the Wyvern Shipping Company hire boats partially sank in Lock 10 on the Buckby Flight on the 24th August. Thankfully everyone on board was unhurt and the boat was refloated and towed back to the hire company. it just shows that great must be taken and you have to concentrate on what your doing at all times.

Latest news from Narrowboat World. Thieves broke into 12 boat at the Ash Tree Moorings at Rugeley on the Trent and Mersey Canal. It is worth remembering if you are on a mooring and leave your boat for long periods of time. Take anything of value off of the boat, because sadly there are people out there who have no respect for others people's property.