Braunston Stay. Wednesday.

There was a feel of Spring in the air, with warmer temperatures and the bitter Easterly wind seemed to have died away, this however means we may be in for some rain if the forecasters are correct, but we cannot have it all our own way and there has been rumblings of the fact we need the rain in some areas, so rain will be welcome, if it could however rain at night when we are all sleeping that would be so much better, but I do not suppose I can arrange that.

At the moment it is a waiting game for our fridge/freezer to come back to us. The repair man said a couple of days and it has been that, but we remain patient and get on with boat jobs. I got on with cleaning some of the brass in the back cabin, I have not bothered with the outside brass with the weather about to get wetter, so little point in wasting Brasso. I shock the rag rugs in the back cabin as well, because they needed it and swept the floor. Ok I know it sounds like I am getting bored and just looking for jobs to do, but all these things have to be done from time to time.

Paddy is in need of a bath, he has that doggy smell about him, but with the weather being so cold, I am loathed to stand him out on the towpath and soak the poor old boy, so the bath will have to wait. When we had our other boat with the three quarter bath (Not our idea), Paddy would be put in there and given a proper bath using the shower to get the soap out of him, but we do not have  such luxury on this boat and the wet room is to small to fit him into it, so it will be a wash on the towpath when it gets warmer, this morning he had to make do with a good old brush. I got several handfuls of hair, which I put in the hedgerow for the  birds to use for nesting. Whilst brushing Paddy, there was a Wren singing sweetly in the hedgerow and watching on as the hair began to come away from Paddy. I did wait to see if it would fly down to collect some of the hair, but it never showed whilst I was there. If the hair disappears I will know it has gone to good homes. With Paddy feeling a lot lighter and probably cooler, I got on with cooking Liver and Onions for dinner, I do love the smell of Liver and Onions cooking (sorry if your a veggie). Keith did very little, he was phone watching in case it rang. The signal is not great at the top of Braunston Locks, but it is a 14 day mooring where we are so we just have to make sure we have a signal in case the repair man rings.

There has been a steady flow of boats up and down the locks, some boaters still on their Easter break and we have been passed by walkers and cyclists, but come 4pm it quietens down and we have peace for the evening. After lunch I went out with my camera for a stroll down the locks, then up the locks to the tunnel, mainly to stretch my legs and to get some fresh air. I had a nice chat with a lady on a moored up boat, she was taking advantage of a bit of sunshine and reading her paper. Then there was the Canal and Rover Trust workers who are repairing a wall on one of the pounds, they are doing a grand job. I would show you a photo if the signal was better, but that will have to wait. Anyway they are doing a great job and hope to have it finished by the end of the week.

It is now 3.45pm and no phone call to say our freezer is coming home, so it looks like we will be here for another night.