Long and busy day's.

Hi Friends.

Sorry I did not post yesterday.

We arrived at Welford and found we had a dreadful signal so there was little point in me posting, so instead we went to The Wharf Inn for dinner after a busy day.

The day began with us working our way up the Foxton Locks after an almost false start, because someone had forgotten to unlock the top paddle, so we had to call out our friendly BW man Mike, who let us through. A BW man had been out to unlock the flight, but only did the gates arghhhhhhh. Anyway we eventually got going and enjoyed a lovely cruise to Welford, where we saw the first ice of the day. We got to see lots of Kingfisher's along the way, so clearly the Winter so far has not been to disasterous for them so far. Once moored up at Welford we met up with Mark on Callisto, who had taken on a coal and diesel delivery, ready for going down on to the River Soar, which is in flood at the moment, we had a natter with Mark and then supplied The Wharf Inn and one of our customers with their coal. It was then time to get out of my working clothes and change into something a little more fitting for dinner at the pub, in my case jeans and a jumper. Despite scrubbing my hands, they were still looking grubby from the coal dust, that is the joy of my job. I would be a manicurists dream at the moment. We walked into the pub to find a packed bar, it turned out there was going to be live music during the evening. Keith and I sat down to dinner and both had the Beef and Ale Pie which was extremely yummy. For a change I did not bother with the chips, I had mashed potato, with seasonal veg and there was not a pea in sight. It was all washed down with a lovely local Cider. We had planned on staying for the love music, but by 9pm as the music had not started and we were both shattered the only place we wanted to be was in our bed, so we headed home. Within Fifiteen minutes we were both tucked up in bed and dead to the world.

This morning began a bit damp and windy, but this did not stop us delivering coal to our remaining Welford customers before setting off for Crick and more waiting customers.
Whilst we cruised Paddy and Marmite curled up in bed together. Usually Marmite knicks Paddy's bed and Paddy sleeps on the floor, but today they decided to be bedfellows.

We are fortunate that Mog and Dog get on so well together. So every now and again they will curl up in Paddy's bed. They really look cute together.

Whilst we made our way to Welford, we unfortunately came across two sheep dead in the canal. They had probably walked on to the ice from an unfenced field and fallen through the ice and then could not get out. It is very sad because not only has the farmer lost two Ewe's he will have probably lost the lambs they were carrying. On a happier note we saw our first lambs of 2011, which is very early. A Ewe was out in the field with her twins, which was very cute and bought forward thoughts of Spring. I did notice that some of the trees are already in bud, so they must be ever hopeful that Spring is coming early.Whilst on route to Crick we stopped off and unloaded coal for a couple of boats and of course we got nattering about the Winter so far and how they had coped with the ice. At least it made a change from chatting about toilets. I made us lots of cups of coffee as it was a little bit parkie with the wind. Lunch was also eaten on the move, as there was no time to stop and eat. We arrived at Crick in the dusk having winded at Kilsby Bridge. The plan is to stay at Crick for the Weekend as we have had a busy couple of days. Not only that it will give any customers here a chance to collect their coal.

Having moored up, it was time to shut the boat up against the cold and dark, as the light was fading fast. Marmite and Paddy were very welcoming as we walked through the door, I think they really just wanted feeding. I then got on with dinner, which consisted of a Chicken and Bacon Pie, which we had with Potatoes, Sprouts and Beans and a healthy Yogurt for pudding. Both the fire's needed attention, so it was a matter of gathering coal and raking out the ash. Oh a woman's work is never done ;0). The most pleasing part of the day had to be getting into a very hot shower and allowing the water to wash away the aches and pains of the day. I really did feel a little more refreshed when I stepped out of the shower. But having said that, I still reckon I will be in bed early again tonight. I am off now to relax before bedtime, so chat soon xx