Maintenance deferred again - Ow ow ow

I wanted to write about our travels from Barrow on Soar...

View to the rear early in the morning when we left Barrow upon Soar

David untying before we depart - it was a beautiful still morning. Barrow upon Soar has some lovely homes down by the river and it is lovely to boat through with homes on one side and fields with walking tracks on the other.

As we approached Mountsorrel we saw these houses with roof-lines very reminiscent of the Netherlands

and seeing Mick and Julia for a picnic lunch at Birstall,

Dreadful photo of me, but caught Mick's best side and Julia looks beautiful from any angle. Best mooring spot at Birstall with the grass, but I did have to sweep/scrape goose poo by the cwt from the concrete and Mick swept off the grass clippings. The approach to that spot is a bit clunky though as there are lots of slabs of concrete and rocks under the water for the last 30 or 40 metres ...

and about not going to The Dining Room for dinner either night we were in Birstall (Thursday and Friday) but having excellent Chinese takeaways the first night (after we decamped from The Dining Room because there were kids there watching movies on their tablets and the kitchen staff were involved in a late running inspection), and then not going the next night after M&J had been for a picnic lunch, because we were still full from eating cheese tart and Vogel bread and yummy meats and beetroot and carrot salad and carrot cake and icecream.

And this is the ugliest church spire I have ever seen - it's the RC church in Birstall. Yuk!!

And I wanted to write about getting through Leicester without getting anything caught on the prop (yay!), and the drunks' lock (Limekilns) not being populated by drunks but by three young guys who were stoned and sitting openly smoking dope.

Approaching the lock near the National Space Centre

The Space Centre and a rather impressive weir. Autumn colours are starting.

And I wanted to write about how I snapped a rope when I tried to use the 'twice around a bollard and stand on the trailing end to stop the boat' but the boat was still going too fast and the rope just went snap. I had to run back to grab the back rope and get on the boat again to stop it, then ask a guy to help me pull it in after I'd flicked the portside middle rope over to the starboard side and thrown it to him.
Notes to self:
a) be going much slower when doing that trick, and
b) make sure the bollard has smoothness so the rope can move a bit before it bites, so some of the strain is taken.

One end of the snapped rope

and the other end - a bit scary. Good to see that the weld of the stanchion held.

I haven't written about a lovely mooring at King's Lock (recommended by Memory Map Plus [Julia]), where I sanded and rust-proofed spots on the lovely cream roof that needed remedying,

Dew on the vactanned spots - the morning after they were done.

 and David cycling from there to Double Rail lock yesterday and doing the locks on the way while I steered and listened to podcasts to pass the time and entertain myself.

And these were in the field above the King's Lock

And more of them. The people who live in the houses in the background have a great view - horses, the canal ...

But I won't tell you about any of that, because I need to write about how my back HURTS and why it does.

I had washed the bits of roof that needed rust treatment before I did said treatment after we arrived below King's Lock for the afternoon and night. And I decided that I needed to wash the roof thoroughly the next morning before moving off, so the roof would be dry and ready for spot undercoating when we moored up that afternoon. As the river water is VERY clean, I decided to use that, so scooped the bucket into the river from sitting in the cratch - necessarily one-handed. Bad bloody move - I felt the overstretch. And washed the roof and then did another 2 overstretches to get more water for rinsing - all this to save the water in the tank*** Stupid, stupid woman. And then I stood on the stern deck and steered for 4.5 hours as we progressed from King's Lock to below Double Rail Lock.

Instead of doing the undercoating, I went straight to bed with ibuprofen, tumeric capsules and a hot water bottle. I could barely stand and bending, sitting, leaning forward, taking off shoes and socks was agonising - AGONISING, I SAY!

David gave me a massage, stretched me and rubbed Vicks on my back (no ibuprofen gel or liniment on board) and they all helped; but this morning I had fully seized up again.

*** So having saved water, today I spent heaps of momey going to an osteopath 30 miles away from Kilby Bridge in Uppingham as, although he will be in Leicester tomorrow and Wigston on Wednesday, I could not face waiting. So I spent lots on Uber fares. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! To be fair, the driver was great - he waited for me in Uppingham as he knew there would be no Uber cars after the appointment.


So the roof is clean, but I am in no condition to do undercoating. David walked to the local Coop to get essential supplies (only essentials, Julia) and to buy more ibuprofen - came back without that as they cannot sell it. So he was going to find a pharmacy this afternoon. He was ultra hacked off when I looked on google maps and found a pharmacy on the same road as the Coop ...

Instead of doing another trip, he found his horse-pill sized ibuprofen tablets that I can cut in half and use to get me through tonight and tomorrow if necessary - I can buy more when I revisit the osteopath on Wednesday morning.

Hopefully, I will feel better enough tomorrow to do a bit of undercoating. I hope so, as Ed is coming to do an engine service and other bits. I will need to be in good enough shape for making cheese scones too and lunch - and I can hardly lie about in bed when he is here, now can I?