Only Cormorants

Arrived back at Bardney Lock. There was a lot of wind today so it meant crabbing ones way along. Plenty of divers about with several Cormorants spotted. No Shags on the canal sadly.

The way that the Crested Grebe dive, no more like glides, its way under water is wonderful to watch. It is effortless the way that they just disappear.

Starboard side of the boat is getting the Tim treatment tomorrow.

Back to Bardney

Tim the sign-writer spent a lot of time lying down on the job. I wish I had the skill that he displayed. He works in the Bardney area so if you want your boat livery painted at an extremely good price just drop me a line.

The photo doesn't do the work justice with the light reflecting off the boat sides.

Stopping at Washingborough on the way back I found the owls on the mooring side making any number of crossings to catch meals for their young. Both male and female were out hunting tonight.

A number of successful sorties were made and the catch can be seen hanging in one talon.

That damn cat has been swimming again. The electric point at the mooring didn't accept my card and I was told that the one on the other end was OK. With Dash on board I moved up the pontoon. Later he went for a walk and as luck would have it another green boat moored in the previous mooring. The cat climbed in at the stern and wandered through and out of the front. Here he met the boat owner and he left the boat in a hurry and on the wrong side. Last seen swimming to shore. Found a bit later looking bedraggled and unhappy.

Further to the Lincoln booming sound. Caroline says "That is the source of the noise. When I was once a little girl, I'd ask my mamma, (sorry, broke into a bit of Dorris there) "what is that noise?" Twas my father who let me into the secret as he himself used to work at what was then called Smith, Clayton Forge, which is a little further down stamp end."

The buildings in the pic below show part of the Smith, Clayton Forge.

Just around the corner from there is Stamp End Lock and this is the view you will get as you go under a humped road bridge.

The next morning I was up very early and this was the view from the bow doors.

You don't know what you have till you say goodbye

A chaotic week that was brightened by an quick visit from Abz.

As usual I didn't have time to think and was run ragged by her unlimited energy.

To fill in time we visited the Arboretum in Lincoln. If you are visiting the city then this is a good place to chill out for a while. The cafe at the entrance to the park is very good value and no attempt at all is made to over-charge on drinks and ice cream. A new experience.

In the midst of the park is the maze which needs running around for ages to find the centre.



There is a large Victorian lion that is just too big to be climbed upon.



But on the steps up to the play area there are a couple that make a nice seat.



Don't fall in to what would have been a cooling dip on a rather hot day.



At the top of the Arboretum is the play area. Not a great deal for the eight almost nine year old but it is tiring getting there :-)



A trip afterwards through the lock at Stamp End and down to Washingborough. A quiet mooring that gives access to the Water Rail Way and the blackberry bushes along the route.



While we we here we had a visit from Syd and Heidi. Presents for Abz and Abz took the photo but didn't think Syd was photogenic enough to be recorded.



Heidi took time to make a tiara out of a head band that Abz had been bought.



OK I am off then.


Well maybe not.



Just getting ready for the trip back to Lincoln this afternoon. Abz took the opportunity to take loads of photos of me moving the boat.



We found a natural play area with what was named the Climbing Tree'



A lot of time was taken up with recording the winning of a race by Barbie with the race and presentation of the trophy recorded for posterity



And the end of the day gives visions of Lincoln that can't be beaten.

Where did that week go to?

What with one thing and another the past week or so has been hectic.

A visit from Mal and the run ashore certainly made a change. There were trips out to Pyewipe, a mini-pub crawl and afterwards I had a trip down to Bardney to see a sign-writer who is going to do the name on the boat properly.

During the stay at Bardney took the opportunity to get a better look at the statue that I had watched being working on months ago. It really is very good. The next one I must get to is the sheep. These are further south and made by the same person that did the cows.

On the walk to the statue it was impossible to miss the large number of dragonflies. These where anything up to 100mm long it seemed. We couldn’t get a decent picture of them as they would not land to order. The Red Damselfly was much more accommodating for me.

A very nice day was spent on Sunday with a trip to Pyewipe with Brian, Elaine, Sarah and Tracey. A straight forward chill-out session was had by all and the beer was rather good too. On the way back bumped into an apple tree and filled the fruit bowl up.

There was bit of excitement at the mooring the other day. I spotted the Air Ambulance circling and heading to where I had heard ambulance and police at Lindum Hill. There was no place to land so he landed in the car park right in front of me. Certainly gave the car park a good clean. One or two cars might have been pebble-dashed during the landing.

If that wasn't enough I was only just getting over the excitment watching the Morris Dancers at the Brayford Pool