Braunston to the bottom of Hillmorton Locks.

Hi Friends.

We were in no hurry to be under way this morning so for us it was a late start as we waited for Tradline to open at 9.30am, and then Keith had to return in ½ hour to give them time to wind the 60m of line we wanted onto a reel. This line is to replace the tempory lines we made when Hadar was first launched to hold up the side cloths, and some rope to make a pair of answer lines, which we may need later this year. Having taken the rope on board, I made a coffee and we prepared to set off leaving Braunston behind.

Before completely leaving Braunston though we needed to empty the toilet cassette, but could not get into the sanitary point as it was already in use, so we pulled in my the water point and I walked up with the trolley to empty the loo.
No sooner we set off for pastures new for 2011, we saw Working Boat Chertsey moored up, neither Sarah or Jim were about. (CLICK ME) Chertsey is being restored by Sarah and Jim.
No sooner we left Chertsey behind we then ran across Trevor on Working Boat Corona, sporting her new livery, she really did look fantastic.
The canals are for everyone, and this gentleman was clearly enjoying his time out in his canoe.
A fairly uneventful run to Hillmorton locks, I worked the locks, whilst Keith moved the boat. It had been quite some time since I have stepped from gate to gate and found it refreshing to do it again. At least I know I have not lost my touch, not sure Keith's photograph is very flattering, but it made me smile. We got to the bottom lock where we overtook 2 boats going the same direction. Granted one had stopped above the bottom lock to empty their elsan, but the other boat was in one of the bottom locks, the gentleman had tried to use the lock we went in to, but he couldn't open the gate, so they changed over to the other lock. This meant the first lock was full so I asked the gentleman why did he not use the lock as he had filled it, he told me the bottom gates were leaking and he could not open the gate, so I finished filling the lock again and yep you guessed it I opened it up and we went through and left before them. I reckon from the conversation between the 2 men they were trying to do it scientifically. So much for science, knowledge, muscles and technique win the day everytime. I did not find it difficult. I do have to say though, although the gentleman working the locks was a large gentleman he did not look very fit.
Having left the bottom lock, we passed this Swan's nest and her Cygnets, these are the second Cygnets we have seen this year, Keith took a photo of some earlier.Working Boat Badsey moors above the bottom lock in front of the Cafe.
Not wanting to arrive at Rugby to find no moorings we decided to moor up below the bottom lock, and leave arriving at Rugby till tomorrow morning. The sun is shining and we have had a wonderful days cruising.

I have just cooked some mince for a Cottage Pie for dinner tonight and then we may have some Pineapple and Ice Cream.

Marmite and Paddy have been enjoying the sunshine since we have been moored up. Marmite was laid out on the towpath rolling in the dirt so she was in seventh heaven.

Going now to check on dinner, then I am going to relax before dinner. It will then be time for a nice hot shower and an evening in front of the TV.

Chat soon xx

Cher Lloyd sings Stay - The X Factor Live show 4 - itv.com/xfactor

Good morning one and all.

Happy 1st of November.
As a kid I would always do Pinch and a Punch for the 1st day of the month ........................ NO return, and yet as adults people look onit as being childish, well here ya go I am being childish. Pinch me if you can ;0).

We have moved this morning all of 1200 yards to Black Horse Bridge in Foxton Village, as I have a coal delivery to make today and tomorrow we have a food delivery arriving. Life is so tough at times ha ha ha.

Who watched the X-Factor results show last night?
I watched it as usual and once again the two who should have been in the bottom two survived. Yep Wagner and Aiden have survived another week and Belle Amie went home, after a sing off with Katie Waissel.
I cannot for the life of me think why people are wasting their money voting for Wagner, because he is most definitely not a recording artist and never will be. Now I am sure he is a lovely man but come on, please get real he cannot sing. I thought one of the best performances was Cher this week. Her rendition of Stay was absolutely fantastic. It was so nice to hear her just sing without any rapping involved.

If Cher carries on singing like that she is a definite contender to win the show. There are some really fantastic singers in this competition, but whilst Wagner is still in the show they may lose the chance of a singing career.

Ok my Monday morning rant over. I am now off to get a Pumpkin to make some soup. Have a lovely day.

Oh what a day.

Hi Folks.

Oh what a day it has been.
It began for me at 4am. I was up listening to the dawn chorus.
Why?
Because I felt I was carrying around a lump in my stomach. I have absolutely no idea why, because I did not eat anything different last night. So I sat up until 5am and played on my Nintendo, wondering if I was going to throw up. When I did get back to bed, I slept until around 7.30am and was then up and doing the usual morning things.
Bog on NB Glenfield, offered us a lift into Tesco's at Daventry, so we accepted his offer, as it was a chance to stock up the cupboards. With it being so hot, we are living off of salads at the moment, so I got plenty of that in and other bits. We arrived back and Andy and his dog Lyra paid us a visit. So the kettle went on for coffee's all round. I then made us and Bob some lunch, it was the least i could do for Bob, after he took us shopping.
With lunch over, we waled down the locks to see if any more boats had arrived and they certainly had, it was extremely busy.
This photo is from a couple of days ago. The pound is now filling up with boats nicely, making life difficult for any other boats to get through. It is really quite funny to watch as people struggle to get by in spaces which really you could get a couple of double decker busses through.
It was nice to carch up with people we have not seen for a while, like Sarah on Chertsey, who we last saw in 2009 at the Rickmansworth Boat Festival. Since then she and her husband have bought Chertsey and are restoring her. It was nice to see them at Braunston. They had a lovely journey to get to Braunston and if you see Sarah she is wearing a perminant smile. She is so happy with nher boat. We also said hello to Sue from NB Thea, she is on our Facebook page as is Kerry Dainty, who we had never met in person. It is always wonderful to put faces to names. I do however get really annoyed when people choose to ignore me when I speak to them, especially when they know me. I spoke to one person a couple of times and felt like they were just looking straight through me. There is absolutely no need for being ignorant, as I have only ever been polite to them. Still my friendship is their loss. I can certainly live without knowing them, if they want to be that ignorant. I am the sort of person who will chat to anyone. I am a people person, but if i feel I am wasting my time, then I will walk away. Having chatted to loads of people and looked at loads of boats, we walked back up the locks with Bob, who bought us all a Mint Cornetto (My favourite). By the time we got back to the boat we were everso slight worn out, but I had cakes to make as Tom on Ara and Archimedes asked if I would make him a Victoria Sandwich and who am I to refuse such a lovely young man. He also wanted my winter back cabin curtains, because he did not have any for his butty. I was happy to help him out. Only because he reminds me so much of my son. So I made two Victoria Sandwiches. One for Tom and the other for us. I then did our dinner, which was a salad yet again.
With dinner done, I packed the cake and curtains into a bag, put the lead on Paddy and walked back down the locks again to deliver my goodies to Tom. He was chuffed to bits with both the curtains and the cake, so I hope he has a fantastic weekend. Walking back up the locks yet again to the boat Paddy was on his last legs, he was not finding it at all entertaining and by the time we were back onboard, he collapsed in a heap on the cool floor. He is not as fit as he should be due to a breathing problem he has had since birth, so although he came from a working farm, he would have been no good for working with sheep.
So dear friends, my day is now done and I am sitting down with my feet up and a cuppa to hand as I type this, whilst watching the football. Spain are leading Chile 1-0 at the moment.