Granchie. Can I have a Welsh cake please?

Granchie. Can I have a Welsh cake please?

Of course you can sunshine. But just the one or it will spoil your tea.

OK

Uh!! That is not quite what I meant!!

More cycling yesterday evening to wind down. Just the two miles into Lincoln and back. At the end of the ride there was a large car park and in the car park a tower that was just there to be climbed. On the return trip every single fly in creation came out and tried to land on us.

We moved the boat back to Lincoln in the morning and after a leisurely ten minutes went off to visit Ian and deliver a food parcel of Welsh cakes. Abz, as an expert on playgrounds, spotted the one at Monks Abbey so on the return trip we stopped with an ice cream to rest. It was decided that although the park was nice it was designed for those of a shorter stature. Great fun even then as we watched the children racing around the park with water guns spraying all their mates.

Boat life has now gone very quiet.

Picau ar y maen

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Summer is here!

If this is the way that summer is going then bring it on.

I do believe that my knees have a touch of sun today.

I had a trip down to Lincoln just to charge the batteries and the canal is getting its colour back. The Dog Roses are coming out and the Irises are giving a splash of yellow to the banks.

The number of boats traveling up and down the cut was amazing. Some of the larger ones although they might have been doing the requisite 6kph but the wash was as bad as the waves on the Humber.

The nicest part of the trip was the multitude of cygnets and proud parents that are about. The Black swan was sitting next to a nest of five young with the mother actually on the nest with no problem at all it seemed.

I was in Barton when Abz came back from her best friend’s birthday trip to Bridlington. By the sounds of it it was a great success and enjoyed by all that were there.

For most of today my phone has been very iffy. I have changed the tariff and asked to keep the old number. After a number of hours being able to call out but not knowing what number I was calling from things got back to normal and I was deluged by texts to the usual number that were held in limbo.

I am working on the solar panels and do wish that they were on line today. Must knuckle under and get on with it.

Bit of a Curates Egg.

This blog is because Ann has complained that she doesn’t know where I am or what I am up to. Bit like being married really. OK the Ann here it is.

OK the dashed cat came back at 2300 as though nothing had happened and after giving it a good telling off by feeding it tuna and corned beef he hide in the bed.

Today is a big day.

My niece Beth is getting married but due to the facts of life getting in the way I can’t be there. So. I have had a bottle of wine AND packet of peanuts to celebrate on my own. Well I felt like splashing out. It is also the day of my last visit to what could loosely be called home. I had many years of enjoyment at Grasby but managed to step on too many toes it seems. One pair in particular. Hay ho such is life.

Trying to break my leg as a parting thought didn’t help either. I was carrying a four draw filing cabinet down the stairs from what was my office and lost my footing. I managed to land quite safely but the cabinet didn’t have the good grace to miss me when I landed. You should see the mess it made of the base of the cabinet.

Anyway – cheers Beth and Mark may you live long and happily together.

The Dashed Cat

A couple of days at Saxilby were very welcome and with a visit from Chris into the bargain – enjoyable. Whittering away and the time flew past and I hadn’t realised that it was 10 o’clock and time that the visit ended. I apologise Chris for having my back to the clock.

Then the weekend and a visit from my favourite mini-mobile disaster area. All the plans were made in advance of what we were going to do and it started well enough. As soon as Abz was onboard we set off for Lincoln. Spotting the black swan who now seems to be the extra help to the parents of half a dozen youngsters. A menagerie et trois which seems to be the thing these days.

Arrived safely in the Uni mooring and went off shopping to spend Abz’s pocket money which we succeeded in doing very quickly. Checked out Lidl and surrounding stores and back to the boat. Then it all started to fall apart.

Dash went off for a walk and we started on ticking off the items of the To Do list. Salt dough came first and I must admit the galley of a narrowboat leaves something to be desired when it comes to an eight year old + flour + salt + water.

Still I got the lumps out of it and most of it off the rest of the galley. :-) then the making of the items. These progress quickly and the fire was lit and the results put on the top to dry out. Computer games and the new acquisition kept us busy for a few hours. Getting close to bed time where is the Dash cat. Still out so leave the door unfastened for him to get in, wake me up so that I can lock up later.

In the morning we are moving on to the centre of Lincoln and then to Stamp End. Wot no Cat!! We are staying until he is found. Umpteen trips up and down the moorings and around the Uni buildings. No Cat. I am persuaded that a tin of tuna is worth a cat so open one up which we rattle and waft about in the search. Early lunch and have bacon sandwiches to use the smell to tempt him back. No Cat. Abz by this time is getting quite upset at the non-arrival of the cat and when the heavens open and the rain is belting down I can only just stop her going out with the umbrella to give it shelter.



During the wait for the cat things are still happening on the canal and off it. We spot the Army going past out on a training session and I remembered then why I joined the navy! :-)

While we were sat there thinking of the next move to get the cat back on board I heard a boat saying it was going full astern – three short blasts – they might have been but it was actually Naughty Cal asking if they could moor up alongside while they went off to the shops.

Even later Andy arrives to take Abz home and brings the inverter with him so that I can be back using the electrics more fully. Abz still worried and upset but its time to go and I have to promise to call the instant he returns.

Its been a funny old day

It all started last night with the view over the bow and the sound of the birds and the solitude. The canal can be an idyllic place to be.

Got up early as the cat had decided that the place for happiness was sitting on my head.

First thing to do was make a cup of tea and the view out of the window was peace.

Left the mooring and headed back to my favourite spot – Saxilby – and picked up the derv and calor gas. That should keep me going for a month or so. People outside with the children having a BBQ and having fun even though it is windy.

Cracked open a bottle of wine to celebrate being alive to some people.

Well it brightened my day

I left Washingborough yesterday and headed up stream to Stamp End. I was over taken on the way by a cruiser that was travelling at about the same speed as me but I thought it would be easier if he opened the lock and I went in first then closed up after he left so I let him pass. It certainly takes a lot of effort out of travelling when this happens.

Just before the centre of Lincoln I moored up and went shopping and booked the bike in for an MOT. To get across to the market area one crosses the road via a foot bridge. From here you get one of the nicest views of the Lincoln Cathederal.

And from the same point the view down the canal shows the mooring which is not as busy as the centre of Lincoln. The centre was crowded with youngsters and they were all very well behaved and enjoying their meetings with friends and the sun. It was nice to see.

I stopped the night at the end of the Uni mooring and visited B&Q to pick up some bitumen paint. I have decided to have the sides to just below the gunnel painted black as it is easier to match up rather than the green it is now.

First thing started the move on towards Saxilby and the diesel at Tongs DIY shop. With the engine on tick over the journey was slow and I let the Brayford Belle through and passed her again after she had turned around at the Pyewipe Inn.

It was then I was hailed by the hitch hikers!! Not really they just wanted to know about narrowboats as they were thinking of a holiday and wonder if they would be able to cope.

I don’t normally pick people up or give them a ride onboard but after chatting for a while decided that I was safe. :-)

Having reached the Woodcocks pub at the other side of Burton Waters I stopped to let them off and after even more chat invited the two delightful ladies in for a cup of tea and by now they are not only thinking of a holiday but ‘Can I live on a narrowboat?’

It made a refreshing change from normality.