In abundance.

Hi Friends.

Have you ever slept so deeply that when you wake up you find you ache?

That was me this morning. I must have slept like a log, because the only thing that woke me was the sound of a Buzzard overhead at 5.30am. The one thing though I could have done without was the aches and pains in my neck and shoulders. I felt like a creeky old woman (oi I heard you say, "You are a creeky old woman"), as I got up at 7am to make a cup of tea, which we enjoyed in bed. Marmite came and joined us in bed. She loves to push her way under the duvet, especially if it is a little chilly. It did have that damp Autimn feel about it this morning.

Once up and about, Paddy and I stepped off the boat for his walk in beautiful sunshine. The House Martins were darting along the canal surface catching flies to feed their families and I saw the Buzzard fly over the lock. There must be a family of them close by.

The title of my posting today is abundance, because at the moment we have the highs and lows of abundance at the moment on the system.British Waterway's has notices on the locks asking people to save water, which is what all boaters should do anyway, by sharing locks etc. The pounds on the cruise this morning to Leighton Buzzard were low in places. If it is possible to share locks, then it is up to us all to do so. Sadly we were not able to share with anyone today, because there was nothing about. The five boats we saw, were coming from the other direction. But we always share when we can, even if it means waiting for a boat to come a long. So this is the low in the abundance stakes. The highs in abundance are with the fruit on the trees and bushes. Crab Apples, Damsons and Blackberries are in huge abundance. The trees and bushes are heavily laden with fruit for the Autumn larder. So I may just have to try making some Crab Apple Jelly. Keith rather fancies a Blackberry and Apple Crumble. I like Blackberries off the bush, but not cooked. The one downfall with Damson's is the pip inside them. They are all pip and not much fruit, but they do make nice Jam. I am also keeping my eye on the Hazelnuts as well, because there are loads of them, but you have to pick them before the Squirrels get them all.

We had a lovely cruise, with fantastic views over the Chilterns and although most of the seven locks were against us, it was still very pleasureable. We met a couple of the Wyvern Hire Boats and it was nice to hear that they had both enjoyed their holidays afloat. I get great enjoyment talking to the hirers. It is lovely hear what they have to say. The best sight of the day was the Red Kite, I watched coming towards me as I walked to the first lock. They are so distinctive with their Chevron tail. I felt very honoured to have seen one and hope that I can get a decent photograph of one someday soon.

We are now at Leighton Buzzard and after lunch we walked into the town to get some bits and bobs for the boat. No sooner I had put the kettle on, there was a cheery hello coming from the towpath. It was Carrie off of NB Blackbird, she had walked down to find us, having seen on the blog that we were going to be in Leighton Buzzard. I welcomed her onboard and we settled down with our coffee's for a good old chinwag. It is always so nice to catch up with friends old and new. We first met Carrie some three and a half years ago, when she was moored at Roger Fuller's. Living and moving around on a boat, can sometimes mean you do not see people for a year or more, but when you do get to see them, you have a lot of catching up to do.

Tonights dinner was Sweet and Sour Chicken with Basmati Rice and we are now settled in for the evening and watching the TV. We only have channels BBC 1 and 2 plus channel 4, so we may end up watching a DVD. At the moment we are being buffeted about by the Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club, who are racing up and down the canal. Just as well we do not get sea sick LOL.

Steps walked today 9371 ( almost 10,000)

Wildlife seen.

Buzzard.

Red Kite.

Kestrel,

Kingfisher.

House Martins, Swallows and Swifts.

Heron.

Mallards,

Coots and Moorhens.