Autumns splender draws to a close.

Hi Folks.

We had another rock and roll night on the boat, which very strong winds blowing a hooley. I took Paddy for his evening walk, because Keith was struggling with his back. Whilst walking up the towpath Working Boat Callisto was coming a long the cut as the light was fading in to evening. Mark was looking for a mooring for the night. He did manage to get in near Gumley Bridge.

Friday came early once more, 5.30 am to be exact, which seems to be the norm these days. Keith needed the smallest room on the boat, which ment he had to climb over me. With his back playing up, he creaks and groans when moving, so the only way to do it safely is to put the cabin light on, which means I am then completely awake. Whilst he got back into bed, I climbed out and made us a cuppa. I was about to get back into bed, but Marmite had other ideas, because she had taken up residence on my pillow and was determined to stay put. Having made it quite clear that it was my pillow, she moved off meowing in disgust. As I sat drinking my cuppa, a Tawney Owl could be heard in the distance calling out and in return a female called back. It was soon 7 am, there was no chance that I would go back to sleep, so I decided to get up and make a start on the usual boat chores. Paddy was walked first and then I made up the saloon stove, which is keeping the saloon very cosy and the water nice and hot. With the bed put away and Keith up, we had breakfast before I relit the back cabin stove. With the air being so damp at the moment, the back cabin can feel damp as well, so with the stove lit, it airs the cabin and allows me to keep a kettle boiling when we are on the move.
Whilst we prepared for the off, we got chatting to Kaz off of Archangel and Mark from Callisto. Before we knew it, it was 8.35 am and it was time set off on the days adventure. We had a couple of customers waiting for us to deliver their coal, which was duly done and of course we had a good old natter, whilst putting the world to right. The trees are in the last throws of Autumn, with many of the leaves being blown off of their branches over the past couple of days. But there is still plenty of Autumn colour to see, which really did brighten what was a dull morning. Heading into Husbands Bosworth Tunnel, the leaves lay on the surface of the water.With the leaves laying so thick on the surface of the canal, they tended to clog up the propeller, which Keith unclogged by putting the boat into reverse and then back into forward, this cleared the blockage and we were off on our merry way through the tunnel and on to Welford Junction and our over night mooring. Jane and Tom came and met us at the junction to collect their coal and by this time it was raining as forecast, which meant making sure I was sure footed on the plastic coal bags in the hold. It would be so easy to slip and fall, this would then mean I would also be out of action. Keith did help with the unloading, but I tried to do most of the work in order to save him bending to much. Jane was amazed that I can carry the 25kg coal bags on my shoulder, she reckoned I must be strong. Like I said to her "It is not about strength, it is about technique. Having come from a farming back ground I am used to lifting heavy items. But I do realise it is not for everyone and I would not advise everyone to throw coal bags over their shoulder.
So deliveries done for the day, we can now relax.

I was pleased to read online that this year has been a Bumper year for Kingfishers. I can vouch for the fact that there seems to be many more of the darling little birds on the canal, because we see them everyday.

Hopefully it should be a quiet November 5th for us here, if not we should have an excellent view across the valley towards Welford and any fireworks which may be in that vacinity. Neither Paddy mor Marmite, are firework fans, so we would prefer it to be quiet.