Didn't we have a lovely day.

Hi Folks.

Yesterday ended with Keith washing up after dinner, a shower and then us sitting in front of the TV until bed time. The back cabin where we sleep smelt fantastic, because all day I had, had a gammon joint cooking in the stove for Christmas. Before we crawled into bed I checked to see if it was actually cooked, which it was and for that I was thankful because otherwise we would have been smelling it all night and little sleep would have been had. So with the Gammon joint left in the galley over night to cool, I got a wonderful nights sleep. Keith reckoned he tossed and turned all night because he was to warm. I did let the stove go out over night, because I knew we would be out all day today.

Awake early and a cup of tea drunk, we were up getting the morning chores done, because we were off into Daventry. I know we must have been mad with it being so close to Christmas, but as we had no Christmas shopping to do as such, we wanted a day out and a little bit of retail therapy, so we caught the 10.35am bus, which was a little late, but that was probably because the roads were busy. It cost us £4.70 for the both of us return, which is not bad. The weather was supposed to be wet, wet, wet, but there was just a slight drizzle when we left Braunston.

 

We arrived in Daventry and our first stop was to find somewhere for a cup of Coffee. Having enjoyed a nice coffee at the Milk Bar, we then set off with one of our objectives to find a Freezer thermometer. We tried Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi which we thought would be good places to find such a thing, seeing as they sell frozen foods. Bit we were wrong there. Still the visit to all 3 made us glad we had done all our food shopping already for Christmas, because they were all heaving with impatient shoppers. We then found a little electrical shop which had exactly what we were looking for. As so often when we go out we spent some of  our day browsing around the charity shops, and the market stalls. I got myself a nice skirt to wear over Christmas. Yes the legs are coming out over Christmas, so it is bound to snow (Of course I know it won't, the weather people have said so). Lunch was hadat The Saracen’s Head. Keith and I both had the Chicken Tikka which we always enjoy at any of the Wetherspoon's pubs, with half a Ruddles Best each. That set me up for the rest of the day. I told Keith this was the one and only curry dish he would be having over Christmas, because our Pheasant would only probably do one meal, two if I use the left overs in a casserole.

Because we know our TV signal here in Braunston is dodgy, we went in search of some more new DVD's to watch over Christmas, Blockbusters did us proud, with 3 we wanted to see at reduced prices and what was even better was when Keith went to pay for them he was told The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Blu-Ray was actually £7 and not the marked £10, which was even better, we do love a bargain. Also we bought Angels & Demons from a charity shop for £2.99, which is the film after The Da Vinci Code. 

The weather on the whole had not been to bad, but it did decide to chuck it down just after we got to the bus shelter to wait for the bus back to Braunston. People were running for cover as the wind blew the rain horizontal. The bus was running last as it had been earlier but unlike some people moaning, we were happy to wait. Our journey back to Braunston was wet, Keith pushed the stop button so we could get off at The Boat House Pub, but the bus went up into Braunston village, so we whilst we were there we walked to the butchers to see what  meat he had that we could put into the new freezer.

Whilst we were there browsing the meat people were coming in to pick up their turkeys and trimming for Christmas Day, I am so thankful it is only us two for Christmas lunch. I was hoping to buy their delicious lemon chicken pieces we bought from them last time we were here, but sadly they did not have any which was a shame because they were really yummy. I did purchase some sausages, pork and lamb chops which all looked nice and will make a welcome addition to the new freezer. We walked back to the boat in heavy rain, so we were a little soggy by the time I unlocked the boat. I got changed and hung my soggy trousers up to dry. I then cleaned the back cabin stove chimney and grate before relighting the fire. I also had to get some coal out of the hold, so got wet yet again, but hey ho.

The back cabin stove is now nice and warm, as is the cabin. I have dinner to think about which won't be much because we ate out. We will then settle in for an evening in front of the TV I think, after our great day out in Daventry.

Chat soon xxx