Father Christmas and Faggots.

Hi Friends from around the world.

Yep you already guessed it, we had another very cold night. It was down to below -8c, so yes we are frozen in hard again. It all looks very festive and I am so hoping we get some snow to top it all off for Christmas.
Because it has been a busy time making sure our customers have fuel, we have not had much time for ourselves, but that all changed today, because we took a day off.
We took off for Leicester this morning. We wanted to go and see the christmas lights and to soak up the festive mood, so we were up and waiting for the bus at 9.45am. The journey into Leicester was about 55 minutes and what was noticeable to us, was the further we got away from Market Harborough the whiter it got. The landscape was white all over as we got closer to Leicester. As we approached the centre of town the temperature was -6c, so we were in for a chilly day. Thankfully we were both wrapped up against the cold. I had on base layers under my jeans and shirt and with my NorthFace jacket, hat and gloves on I was toastie warm. Keith even had two pairs of trousers on. It did pay off to wear a lot of layers. Leicester did look very festive. In the Haymarket Shopping Centre, Father Christmas was in his sleigh high above the shoppers. The sleigh, reindeer and of course Father Christmas really did look life like and put me in the festive mood. Even the tree next to the Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower looked very festive.
We both wanted a new garment to go out in on Christmas Day, so I bought a new blouse and Keith got a new shirt. I know the last of the big spenders. The problem is we do not have a lot of room on the boat, so no point having to many clothes. But it will be nice to go out looking our best on Christmas Day.
Lunch was at a Chinese Buffet. We have been to it before and as before we enjoyed our lunch very much. The only downside was the place was not particularly warm, even the staff were standing in front of a heater from time to time to get warm. Thankfully the food was hot.
Our day in Leicester drew to a close and it was time for the journey home. we made our way to the bus station and were pleased to see our bus was waiting for us. I picked the seats at the front of the bus and I was so pleased I did, because a gentleman got on the bus and coughed all the way to his destination. The coughing would not have been so annoying had he put his hand or a hanky in front of his mouth, but he just caughed his germs over everyone. So if I come down with the dreaded lurgy, I will blame him. Every time he coughed I covered my mouth and nose with my scarf, hoping it was enough to stop the germs getting through. I could of said something to the gentleman, but he probably would not have understood me because he was foreign and knew very little English.
We walked back to the basin and there was a hosepipe thrown across the ice. With all the taps frozen around the basin. The only tap working is in a cupboard on the Sanitary station, so extreme measures were being taken to get water to the boats. The boating community knows how to pull together at times like this. Everyone will hopefully get their water tanks filled before darkness fall. We are now back onboard our cosy boat, and settling in for the evening.
I hope your day has been as nice as ours xx.

The indoor market is huge and is on different floors. You can buy everything you want from the market. I was looking for Faggots, so we made a b-line for the meat level. At first we could not find the Faggots. Infact we found everything but. There was of course Turkey's, Pheasants, Venison, Beef etc etc. After looking once, Keith suggested we should go round again just in we had missed them. Low and behold we had missed them, they were didden in a small corner of a meat display. A dozen Faggots for £3.40 is a bargain. I will make three nice meals out of a dozen Faggots. A nice warming food for these wintery days.