Coldest night of this winter so far.

Hi Folks.

The temperature got down to -4.9c overnight, so we woke up to a very heavy frost and a layer of ice covering the canal. It was very picturesque at 7.30am, when I opened the back cabin door to look out.

Keith and I were in fact awake at 5.50am arghhhhhhh, which was annoying because I purposely stayed up late last night to see if I would sleep in. I went to bed after "Windtalkers" a film with Nicholas Cage, which was on Channel 5. So staying up still meant I woke up early, so won't be doing that again. There was only one thing for it, but to get up and put the kettle up. I also stoked up both of the fires, because there was a chill in the air. The back cabin stove had to have the ash riddled out of it, to get it to roar into life, but in no time at all it was sending out heat, so whilst we watched one of the early "Deal or no deals" on Challenge TV, I made us both some Porridge, which we devoured whilst in bed, how indulgent is that?

8.30am I was up and dressed, because Paddy was stirring in his bed, which meant he wanted to go out and Marmite was on the prowl looking for some breakfast. As Paddy and I stepped off of the boat, the ground was white and crisp under foot, it was stunning.

The ice on the canal was thick enough to leave the ducks standing out in the cold. This is the cold start to the day this winter so far, but according to the weather forecasters it is not going to last, the wind and rain is coming back. So I made the most of my morning walk in the frost. The view across the valley was breath taking in the sunshine. It is a lovely view for those moored on the farm moorings.

One of the farms ponies was tucking into some hay for breakfast, which will help to keep out the cold.

Paddy enjoyed his run up and down the towpath, when it is cold and frosty he has a spring in his step. When we got back to the boat, the generator was on charging the batteries, so I put a load of washing on, which turned out to be a problem, for some reason the inverter took offense and switched itself off. Keith turned off the immersion heater and I switched the washing machine off, so he could reset everything. Inverter back on we left the immersion off and I put the machine back on, but it did not spin the washing, so I had to repeat the process all over again. Finally after an hour it was all done and is now hanging in the back cabin to dry. Just have to hope my washing machine is not going wrong. It is now 10.30am and still frosty outside, but the temperature is climbing. Not got much planned for the day after all it is the weekend.

Chat later maybe xx

Alderman’s Green to Grimes Bridge No.26

Hi Folks.

Alderman's Green to Grimes Bridge No. 26 5 miles travelled in 1 hour 50 minutes.

A very chilly beginning to my day as I stepped off of the boat with Paddy. There was a heavy frost on the ground and a thin layer of ice on the canal, but it was bright and sunny and the wind which was very strong yesterday had died down.

9.10am we were ready for the off, so I cast off the bow rope making sure to be careful on the slippery front deck. At this time of the year, the sun is especially low, so as we are heading south the sun was in our eyes making us both squint.

I do love this time of year for cruising, not only is it very quiet, you also get amazing views, because there are no leaves on the trees and bushes.

I have often posted photographs of picture graffiti, some of which is art. Today I photographed this piece of graffiti because I thought it so apt.

 

Before arriving at Ansty where I wanted to top up with water, I saw this rather beautiful pony.

She was in her full winter coat, so ready for whatever the weather may throw at her.

At Ansty we tried to pull in for water, but we couldn’t get in close enough to get a hose onto the bow, and I was not about to make a leap of faith in slippery conditions, so we will have to top up at Newbold when we get there. As we left the water point we had a geese flowing us.

I was thinking Christmas Dinner mmmmm. Not sure how I would get one in our back cabin stove though.

We arrived at Grimes Bridge No.26 and moored up in a good deep mooring for us, its out in the countryside, so nice and quiet we hope for the weekend. All moored up it was time to close the boat up against the cold. I stoked up the back cabin stove and got on with chopping up the vegetables for our Oxtail Stew. Whilst the vegetables were in the pan with the onions, garlic and gravy, I stripped down the Oxtail bones, the meat will be added later with mushrooms. With the stew now in the stove, it was time to turn my attention to getting a bag of coal out of the hold, Keith came and gave me a hand. I then got on with toasting crumpets for lunch, which we had with mince pies and a coffee. The time is now 1.10pm and we have "Carry On Constable" on Film4. The rest of my day will be spent doing odd jobs, cooking and cleaning, so nothing to exciting.

Chat soon xx

Happy Bonnie Bear.

Having been rescued from the cold dirty water of the Coventry Canal, it was time for a wash and brush up.

Not sure I can squeeze into this sink.

Time for a shampoo and set.

Time to have my feet washed, see how happy I am.

I spent the evening hanging around in the shower, which was not very comfortable, but I have been told I will be spending the rest of my drying time in the back cabin where it is nice and warm. I think I have found myself a very comfortable home, but not sure about the furry animals which inhabit this boat, the dog looks at me as if it wants to eat me arghhhhhhhhhh.

Coventry Basin to Whiting's Bridge No.5 near Hawkesbury.

Hi Folks.

Coventry Basin to Whiting's Br No.5, near Hawkesbury Junction 6.5miles, 1 lock travelled in 2 hours 31 minutes.

I am not a woman who likes to be rudely awoken, it does not put me in a good mood, so to be woken up at 3.45am by some gobby youths was annoying to say the least. Surely at that time in the morning they should have been in bed? We lay awake listening to them shouting about and using all the swear word books in their vocabulary, I was also waiting for them to come near to the boat, because I would have been up and out of the boat. I am not a violent person, neither do I do confrontation, but you disturb my sleep at your peril. Thankfully as they were getting louder, the heavens opened and they must have legged it, because all went quiet. So there we were laying in bed wide awake, the only thing for it was to get up and make a cup of tea. After settling down beneath the duvet, I managed to go back into an easy sleep, when Marmite came and said good morning, which must have meant it was time to get up.

We were already to leave the basin by 8.30am, so we left our mooring and pulled in at the sanitary station where we emptied the toilet cassettes and got rid of rubbish, water is not needed until after next week. We said our goodbyes to the basin and headed off to our first port of call Tesco. But before we got there we picked up a new crew mate.

 

We had seen the bear on the way to Coventry, but could not get to it, but today we rescued this very cute Teddy Bear which I have named Bonnie the Bear. She is very dirty and of course wet, but after I finish this posting I am going to give her a good old wash. She will not fit into the washing machine, so I may have to get the scrubbing brush out.

We made it to Tesco, moored up and set off with our bags to get a large shop done. This shop was not just food it was also stuff for Christmas, so it was expensive arghhhhh, but had to be done. Somehow we managed to spend almost two hours walking around Tesco, mind you it is a large store. With the shopping done and loaded on to the boat, Keith steered the boat whilst I stowed the shopping away. We arrived at Hawkesbury Junction at 12.50pm, I stepped off of the boat and did the lock. As usual there were no moorings, so we carried on out into the countryside and we moored up just north of Whiting's Bridge No.5, near Hawkesbury Junction. We have the roar of the M6 near-by but it is shut out a little by a tall hedge. This will be home for a couple of days at least, because we are in no hurry.

Right I am off to give a dirty bear a bath, chat soon xx

A morning out in Coventry.

Hi Folks.

We had a change of plans over night, which we can easily do because we continuously cruise. The old plan was to head out of the basin to Tesco and onward to Hawkesbury Junction. The nw plan was to stay another day (song title in there somewhere) in Coventry.

We woke up this morning to the temperature having dropped to -1.6c over night, so it was a bit nippy when we woke up, I opened the cabin doors to a heavy frost, which meant that the engineering brick paving was slippery under foot when I took Paddy out for his walk.

By 9.30am we put on our coats and hats and set off into the city. I was on a mission to find a pair of waterproof walking shoes. Millets has now closed down in Coventry, so having been to Trespass and seen their prices we were on the hunt for somewhere else to buy some shoes. Keith asked a Coventry Council worker if he knew if there was another Millets in Coventry, he reckoned they had not moved, but had closed down completely, but he did know of a Sports Direct and was very kind enough to take us to the store, which was really nice of him. In Sports Direct, I bought a pair of Karrimor Arete Low Ladies Walking Shoes they were originally priced at £54.99, but I bought them for £27, so a real bargain.

The cheapest walking shoes in Trespass were £29.99, so I saved myself £2.99 and they look nicer.

We pottered around the city, stopping in the market to have a coffee for 75p each, which is an excellent price. We then popped into Wilkinson's to buy some more bird feeders, the ones on the market were to expensive. Whilst in Wilkinson's I bought a bottle of Shiny Sinks, which I am going to use to clean the brass work outside, it gets rid of the grime and tarnish and helps to being the shine up, ready for me to finish them with Brasso.

Lunchtime was approaching so we went into the Red Panda and had a Chinese Buffet meal, which was just as good as it had been the last time we ate there. After a lovely lunch we were just about all walked out, but I did go into Textiles Direct to buy some flannels. With nothing else to buy we sauntered back to the boat, which was lovely and warm. I began unpacking the shopping whilst the kettle was boiling on the back cabin stove, this was Marmite's opportunity to get nosey. Firstly she was in the bags to see what we had bought, then no sooner had I opened the shoe box and taken the shoes out, she was in the box led down. Marmite is just like a child, give her a cardboard box and she is happy.

Consider we are on the countdown to Christmas the city was not overly busy, even with the International Market on. I am sure that the big stores will be hoping that things improve as the days go by, otherwise we may see many big names going to the wall in 2012.

Time for a coffee and then feet up before feeding ourselves, mog and dog, I will then have the fires to do and the washing up, it will then be time for bed.

Chat soon xx

Dear Santa

Burton Hastings to Coventry Basin.

Hi Folks.

Burton Hastings to Coventry Basin 10.7 miles travelled in 4 hours 10 minutes.

Brrrrrrr a very chilly start to the day after the over night temperature dropped down to -0.9C, so there was a frost on the ground and on the roof of the boat.

After all the usual morning stuff we set off from our weekend mooring just ater 9am, but didn’t get very far, in fact we only made it round the first corner and the engine coughed, spluttered and then died. Keith ducked down into the engine  and I was left steering the boat in the breeze. Fortunately the wind blew us back into the towpath, with my guidance. Having fitted a new fuel filter over the weekend, we now had an air lock. Keith started bleeding the fuel system at the filter, he then fired her up but no go, so the next place to check was the injector pumps. With us moored up I helped him take the rocker over off and he bled the injector pumps. This time she fired on both cylinders and even ticked over from cold which she had not been doing, so changing the filter seems to have worked, fingers crossed. Of course it could have been the fact that Keith also cleaned the air filter, so it may have been this, or both, but at least we are back to full working order again. Engine ticking over sweetly I cast off and away we went, we had not gone ar when I recognised a Northwich bow coming towards us, it was David & Margaret on Adrastea coming the other way.

We had a brief chat before proceeding on our ways. They are spending Christmas on the Ashby so we will not see them again until at least next year.

Coming towards Hawkesbury Junction we saw NB Gerald No13.

 

The boat was all shut up, so Roy was out somewhere we thought, this proved to be the case because just after passing Hawkesbury junction we met up with Roy and again we had a brief chat before we carried onto Coventry Basin.

When we arrived in the basin there were only 2 other boats in the basin, so plenty of room to moor. We had a quick lunch of soup and bread and butter, before setting off to do some shopping in Coventry City. I wanted to go back to Argos to take my litter grabber back, they very kindly exchanged my broken one for a new one, so hopefully this one will last longer than the other one. Keith and I both like Coventry City, not only is it close to the basin, there is all the shopping we need there. I stocked up on some more bits & pieces for Christmas, especially at Poundland and 99p Stores, where I bought some Pringles for 99p a tube. I refuse to pay the supermarket prices, so will go looking for them else where. Normally when I am near a B&M I will get them from there because they are about 89p. I also bought some heavy duty gloves to help me with my litter picking. At Christmas we like to watch movies and eat nibbles, so we have bought ourselves the last two Harry Potter DVD's, so that is Christmas Day afternoon sorted unless we get a better offer. The odd thing was you could get The Deathly Hallows part 2 easy enough, but we had to shop around for Part 1, no one seemed to have it. Eventually we found one copy so bought it for £10.

I was a little surprised that the city was not busier with shoppers, maybe it is a little to early for some people. I am so well organised that I have even posted all my cards. The light was fading as we walked back to the boat, the Christmas lights were just coming on, so we did not get the chance to see them in all their glory. By the time we got back to the boat we were both flagging a little. Dinner is now in the back cabin stove and the kettle is on. No TV signal here so we will probably watch a DVD or just play games online.

Tomorrow we are off to the big Tesco out of the city to stock up on food.

Chat soon xx

Sunday a day of rest Ha ha ha.

Hi Folks.

As I sit and type up today's events it is pouring with rain and the wind is getting up. It is fantastic to hear the rain thumping on the roof of the boat, as if it were asking to come in.

Sunday began early with Keith getting up and making us a cup of tea, which was enjoyed in bed as we watched the Challenge channel. I do enjoy watching the old game shows, this morning it was Fun House and Takeshi Castle. Oh this girl knows how to get her day started with some fun ha ha ha. By 8.30am Paddy was rummaging around in his bed, which meant he was going to want to go out, so I was up dressed and out the door with him by 8.45am. As we walked along the towpath, Paddy had his nose to the ground, whilst I listened to the Field Fare in the trees. Of late I have seen hundreds of them eating the Haw Berries, which are in the hedgerows this time of the year.

Back on the boat Keith cooked us Bacon and Poached Eggs on Toast, which went down a treat, I then got on with stoking up both the fires ready for the day. With the back cabin stove warming up nicely, I got on with making a Turkey Casserole, which would simmer away all day in the back cabin stove oven. I cooked off the Turkey pieces, added onions and fried them as well before adding, Carrots, Swede, Potatoes and Leek. I opened a tin of Chicken Soup and added it to the pan along with some mixed herbs and garlic paste. I topped up the pan with some water, put the lid on the pan and popped it in the oven, another job done. With dinner cooking the generator went on to charge the batteries, so I took the opportunity to hoover the through to get rid of the dog hairs and dirt. I always look on it as a treat to use the hoover. Strange really because when I lived in a house the hoover got used every day. But on the boat I usually get the broom, dustpan and brush out. Whilst I got on with all of the jobs Keith tried to repair our indoor, outdoor thermometer because it had been playing up for a few weeks. I have no idea if it will work, but we can but try. Keith them cleaned the air filter on the engine, which was a little dirty. Only small jobs but all worthwhile doing. Most of the jobs were all done by 11am, which left the the rest of the day to watch Sunday films and it gave me the chance to chat to a dear friend on the phone. We have known each other for over 20 years and yet we still have plenty to chat about when we get the chance. Friendships like that do not happen every day.

The afternoon has now draw into the evening and as I said at the beginning rain is thumping on the roof of the boat, "McLintock" with John Wayne is on the TV, Paddy is in his bed, Marmite is in the back cabin and dinner is ready, I am now just waiting for the garlic bread to bake. This evening we will watch the results for "X-Factor" to see who goes into next weeks final. Last night I really enjoyed the final of "I'm A Celebrity". Dougie won, but to me both he and Mark we both winners, because they were such lovely young men. Gosh that makes me sound old Ha ha ha. Here's to next years program, I love a good laugh.

Right off to check on dinner and to fed the animals, so hope your weekend was a good one.

Chat soon xx