Sunday Roast and Fishing.

Hi Friends.

I can officially say I will not be watching the 3rd Alien film after a restless night. I sat and watched the 2nd Alien Film with Keith last night, and whilst I did not think it was to bad, I could feel my adrenaline level rising. I did not sleep well and Keith said I was moaning a lot in my sleep. I know that I woke up sweating from head to foot, which had nothing to do with the Menopause. I gave it a go and now know it is not for me.

So here we are Sunday has been and is now almost gone. Having done some of the boat jobs yesterday. Today I wanted to get both chimney's cleaned out ready for this Winter's fires. Having taken Paddy out for his morning walk up the towpath. I got back to the boat where Keith was cooking Egg and Bacon on Toast. There is something very nice about the smell of Bacon cooking first thing in the morning. Breakfast over and my dirty clothes on, I was ready to get on with cleaning the chimney's. I opened the back cabin doors and found a fisherman had set up his gear at our stern. I soon realised when I stood on the back counter that we had another fisherman at the bow as well.

We were hemmed in by an open fishing competition, which began at 10.15am and would go on till 3.15pm.

Undeterred by the fishing match, we got on with the job in hand. I found our chimney brush and swept the saloon stoves chimney, which was actually all that bad.

The back cabin stove was a different matter. I had to take the chimney off of the stove and take it on to the bank to clean it out with a crowbar. Keith held the chimney whilst I welded the crowbar. It has to be said that I do not have great aim when doing with hammer's etc, and I missed when I rammed the crowbar down the chimney. I caught Keith on the hand, which made him winch a fair bit. I am amazed he did not say the odd naughty word. Maybe that was happening under his breath. I took over holding the chimney and let him chisel off the tar, which had gathered. We got the chimney as clean as we could and I then put it back on the stove. Keith then pushed new fire rope in around the top of the chimney. It was a job well done and means we can have a fire whenever we want now. I looked like I had been down the Black hole of Calcutta, so had to have a good wash. I bet the fishermen thought we were mad.

I made a coffee and we stood on the back counter watching the fisherman at our stern. It was not long before we got into conversation with Andy. He was taking part in an open fishing competition. I found it very interesting and learnt a lot about fishing in competition and what it takes to be this competitive. The rod he had cost him over £2,000 alone and then he had all his other gear. It is an expensive hobby. Last week he was taking part in the National Fishing Championships on the Trent at Nottingham. We were chatting away and he then got a bite. Straight away he knew it was something big. With lots of care and concentration, he landed this 14lb 8oz Carp. Along with the Carp he caught some Bream as well, but it was only enough to give him 2nd place, as they downed their rods at 3.15pm, a man came along and weighed each catch. No win today for Andy,never mind.

By watching Andy fish, it gave me a greater appreciation about how difficult it can be when boats are coming past and how rude some people can be on boats towards fishermen. Andy asked a couple of boaters if they would stay in the centre channel, and they were both pretty rude to his polite request. They did not seem to know why he needed them to stay away from the offside. It was because he did not want the mud churned up to much, but they both took offence without any reason. I know there are issues between fishermen and boaters. I have posted a couple of times about disrespectful fishermen, fishing in places they should not be. But competition fishing is different. These people pay to fish in the competition their peg cost them money, today it was £20 a peg. So they have as much right to be on the canal as us boaters do. Not only are they very polite, they also take great care to look after the fish and the surroundings. We always slow down for fishermen and are polite to them as well. I remember a few years ago when we were cruising, a fisherman asked us to speed up, because the water was to clear and he had not seen another boat all day. We duly obliged and I hope he caught his fish. I treat people, like I wish to be treated myself. The boaters who were miserable today should be ashamed of themselves. With the competition over with Andy packed away his gear and thanked us for our hospitality. I have sent the photo's I took of the Carp to him, as he said "No one will believe he caught it".

Did you see the news about the Carp which died on the 18th August. A mirror Carp weighing 32kg passed away at the age of 45. The fish, named Two Tone for its unusual colouring, was caught around once or twice a year by anglers and less than 50 times in its lifetime. Two Tone was due to be buried alongside the lake today.

During the fishing competition, Keith and I decided to have lunch at The Globe Inn. We both fancied a roast dinner for a change and we were not disappointed. I had roast Turkey with all the trimmings, and Keith had the roast Beef also with all the trimmings. it was like a Christmas dinner. There was four veg and three lots of potatoes, plus a Yorkshire Pudding. It was an extremely good lunch, washed down by a pint of in house Cider and a point Old Speckled Hen. It certainly set me up for the afternoon of fish watching and dish cloth knitting. We are going to have a nice night in, probably watching a DVD again, but NOT Alien 3.

Short and Sweet.

Hi Friends.

Having had a rock and roll evening, in the boating sense due to the Canoes going past at speed until 8pm. We had a good nights sleep and were awake at 6.30am. When I wake up early, I tend to lay awake and end up with lots of things running through my mind. This morning it was the thought of jobs that need to be done over the weekend. But first of all we needed to get up and dressed. I got up first as usual and put the kettle on for a morning cuppa and I laid up breakfast, which was nothing special, just cereal. Paddy then got his walk up a lovely piece of towpath, which has not been done that long. There was not a another living soul around and the only things I could hear was the sound of the train and birds singing.

Having got back to the boat, Paddy and Marmite got their breakfast and we then got the boat ready to set off for Tesco, which was only a 10 minute jaunt. Luckily the 2 hour shopping moorings were empty, so we moored up, donned our backpacks and headed into the store to do a food shop.

Is it just me or has your food shop gone up over the past few weeks?

Our's has certainly gone up in price and yet we are not buying anything any different. There was a piece on the news saying that food prices are going to go up due to problems with harvests etc. So we will all have less money in our wallets.

I put away the food we had bought and made us both a coffee, before we set off from the Tesco mooring. You are only allowed to stay on the mooring for 2 hours, which is plenty for a food shop. If you wanted to go around the town, which is close by you would need to moor up on the 14 day moorings around the corner.

We set off for our weekend mooring near The Globe Inn. The whole jaunt took 1hr 35mins, having done 1.27 miles, and worked 1 lock. Not the longest day ever done ha ha ha. But this was planned by us.

We have few jobs to do over the weekend on the boat. Keith has to replace the broken circulation pump for the back boiler, grease the UV joints and rear bearing, check oil level in the gearbox, and polish the engine. We will both start to clean out the bilge under the boatman's cabin floor, which over the winter gets water in it due to condensation. yesterday we bought some Puppy Pads to lay in the bilge to soak up the water. If your not sure what Puppy Pads are, they are used when your toilet training your Puppy. Mind you when I have toilet trained my puppies I have always used newspaper, but newspaper will not do the job in the blige. My other jobs include cleaning the chimney's ready for the Winter. I also have the Brass to clean if it does not rain. No point in wasting Brasso if it is going to chuck it down. I also want to give the boat a general clean through and then any other job that comes to mind. It is true to say that there is always something to do on a boat.

Lunch time arrived and I made us some Chicken and Salad wraps, which we enjoyed with a cup of coffee. I then came up with the bright idea that we should go for a walk across the Ouzel Meadow and see where it would take us. It actually took us on the Greensand Ridge, which was really pretty. I was surprized how sandy the soil is here and how red it is. Along the Ridge are some very elderly Oak trees. Apparently Greensand Ridge was formed about 125 million years ago by layers of sand, clay and chalk being deposited in a shallow sea. I bet if the old Oaks could talk they would have told us some tales. The Greensand Ridge Walk is Bedfordshire’s premier long distance walk passing through Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire. The Greensand Ridge Walk is actually a 40 mile / 64 km walk. It starts in Leighton Buzzard and finishes in Gamlingay. We did not go that far, but enjoyed the part we did. We ended up walking through another part of Ouzel Meadow and back up to Leighton Lock, where we called in on Carrie on her NB Blackbird. Carrie invited us onboard and we sat nattering over a coffee. Blackbird is a lovely homely boat inside. I love some of the touches Carrie has added to her.

Back onboard our boat, another coffee was needed as I prepared dinner. Tonight we are having a Curry Feast. I have made a Mince Beef Curry and with it we will be having Cous Cous (We like it for a change). Whilst in Tesco we bought some Samosa's, Onion Bhaji's and Spring Rolls, which we will have with our Curry. Many have a Fish and Chip Friday, we are having a Curry Friday instead.

Steps done today: 7696.

Fitness level is getting better.

Before I go today, I just want to say my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Geoffery Bacon, after he was attacked on the doorstep of his own home by a mugger who stole just £40 and a bus pass. Mr Bacon was a Second World War veteran, aged 90, he posed no threat to anyone and yet this mugger has taken a hero to soon. It is reported that Mr Bacon was once a driver for General Eisenhower in France during the 2nd World War.

If anyone knows who did this dreadful murder, please contact your local Police Station or contact Crime Stoppers. What makes someone do such a thing?