Blobbing, family, bloggers

Here we are, occasionally feeling as though we are getting too old for this boating lark, and over the last couple of weeks we have met two women who are single handers; one who is 80 and the other who is probably our age. Both of them extremely competent boaters who deal with locks immaculately! The 80 year old we met and locked down with at Braunston a couple of weeks ago, and met up with her again with lovely conversations in Rugby. She lives onboard all year but is out on the cut for 5 months and has a permanent mooring at North Kilworth. The other is a lady we met at the Hillmorton locks last week. We went down in parallel (the locks are paired) and she opened the first paddle for us as she arrived first, then David closed each gate that was on the same side as 'our' lock all the way down - except at the bottom lock where the volunteer lockie did all the work - David having come down the offside and having had to cross the road and then find his way across the boat yard to get to the locks ...

We had started off that morning at about 6.30 from near Bridge 87, less than half a mile out of Braunston, and it was such a beautiful peaceful cruise. I didn't even mind the Barby Straight which is about a mile long and shallow and has very little of interest - except for our curiosity about Barby Marina where we stored the boat back in 2014. We always look to see what is happening there - has it been developed more or is it still a basic operation? From the limited view available at the entrance, we could not tell if there was a clubhouse/marina building in place. Does anyone know? We remember clearly that the woman (Jenny, I think) of the couple was an extremely hard worker (moved boats, served diesel, did pumpouts, dealt with customers) and her husband seemed to spend much of his day on the computer looking at blueprints of a fancy marina building.

 We fetched up in Rugby not long after mid-morning and were quite lucky to find a space; it was on a bend but beggars couldn't be choosers - there are not many mooring spaces on the Oxford, and Rugby is popular. Not surprisingly - it has a Tesco Superstore not far from the cut, and I discovered today after googling, that there is a big Aldi and an ASDA that are reasonably close to Clifton as well.

We did a couple of days of blobbing, interspersed with going to Tescos, checking out where the railway station is so we can walk to collect Karol on Monday, going to the centre of town to the 3 shop - we are feeling the need to improve the cellphone and wifi service that we are getting from Voxi - the deal Voxi gives is great but internet service on the canal needs more ooomph than the Vodafone network provides. I think it's because the canal is lower than the surrounding land, but I don't know for sure. We've had a 3 contract in past years and I think at least my phone SIM will be swapped and I can keep my number which is pretty important given how hard it is to change banking information with a phone number change ...

As Marta, Trevor and Karol were coming down to Chipping Norton to see Olek at Marta's dad's place for the weekend, we hired a car and went over to see them all on the Saturday. I took two cheese tarts as our non-meat contribution, and I took cheese scones for Olek to keep for his work lunches ... Marta's sister Olga and her 3 kids came up from London for the day, so it was a pretty big family gathering and just lovely to see everyone. 

BBQ dinner - Marta's dad Kazek near the table with David. Trev and Marta, Peggy the wee dachsie looking hopefully for dropped or offered food.

Two of Marta's sisters: Olivia in the foreground and Olga. David is still at the table - what's that about?

Karol has had two teeth removed that were getting in the way of his adult teeth being able to grow. The resultant gap and his newfound ability to tuck his bottom lip in the gaps just cracked me up. Every time he did it I could not contain my laughter.

This was a manoeuvre that both Tim and Kirsty can do and neither David or I could. It looks even more impressive with the missing teeth gaps filled ...

 

We had been going to drive back in the early evening but as Olek also works at one of the pubs, we decided to find some accommodation, so we could have a drink (lime and lemonade...) and watch him work. 

 

Olek at work  - he had been in asked a few weeks ago if they had any work going as an extra to his day job with Kazek's team in construction/renovation. The night we were there he said he didn't get to pour one pint. I told him the next morning, that when we had pulled up at the pub in Kingham the evening before I had told David they needed Olek - he was absolutely vigilant about spotting and collecting empty glasses. That practice keeps tables looking tidy.

There was an Elvis impersonator that evening - have you ever noticed that no Elvis impersonators impersonate him as a young man - always the white suits with the sequins and the obligatory slight paunch ...

We stayed in a pub in Kingham - quite nice but, god, isn't accommodation high priced now? In the morning, we had intended to call in at Braunston and visit the boat festival, but it was extremely hot and we hadn't slept well (the night was hot so we had the windows open and a fan on, our room was above the main entrance of the pub and it didn't shut till about 11.30). So we headed back to the boat with a stop in Daventry to get a bit of shopping. Then I think I had a nap 💤😴

While David and I were travelling back to the boat, Marta and Trev took the two boys for lunch at the Crown Inn in Church Enstone, the village David and I lived in for 2 years back in 2006/7.  The pub was two doors up the lane from our cottage - the length of a cricket pitch. While they waited for their booking time, they went for a walk in the woods at Heythrop Park - a place we also walked often. 

Somehow I think those sticks are not particularly effective weapons - especially in a woods

Beautiful older grandson in the woods at Heythrop Park

Two beautiful grandsons - they may be 18 and 13 but they still know how to play...

It won't be long before Karol is too big for Olek to cart around ...

Three lovely guys.

On Sunday evening, Olek went in to Oxford and got a tattoo - it's the Taranaki Hardcore logo - he was wearing a T shirt with the logo on it (a gift from my lovely sister Dee when he was in Taranaki with the family)  so an easy copy for the tattooist. You can see it has the mountain (Taranaki) and the waves, plus the stars of the Southern Cross. It's very cool.

David's original idea for the time from last Monday to next Monday when we collect Karol was for us to head up to Hawkesbury Junction on to the Coventry and then up and back down the Ashby. Fortunately we decided against such mad rushing! Instead, before returning the car on Monday, we headed for Screwfix to purchase a toolbox, a set of spanners, a crescent, a set of allen keys, then headed back to the boat for a rest - such a busy time.

An artful shot David took of nb Waka Huia on the moorings back from the waterpoint. We could get water from that position which was a boon.

On Monday the canal at Rugby was like Piccadilly Circus - so many boats coming back from Braunston and the old and replica working boats take up a lot of space - their draft is deep so they need to claim the centre of the canal. Later that day we moved over to the 1 day park moorings near the water point - we did it during a lull in traffic.

Early on Tuesday morning we headed off to just past All Oaks Wood - Rugby and the traffic noise had been palling. And there we moored up and found that we were moored close to a famous blogger - Neil from Herbie. Kath reads my blog and occasionally comments - she often answers questions for me 😁😃😇

Lots of boaters know Neil and Kath. Neil tells me they are often referred to as The Herbies... Lovely lovely people.

So anyway, there they were. I decided I should make cheese scones to celebrate. And we also met Caroline and Martin from Chester who stopped with their dog (sorry, lovely dog, I cannot remember your name!) to chat about NZ. Half a dozen scones for each boat and there were still plenty for us.

The scones tasted fine but weren't the best I've made. I'm experimenting with a lower temperature in this oven but found this time the scones didn't rise as much as I wanted, and I still had to turn them over and return them to the oven to crisp up the bottoms. However I'm working on the theory that it's the thought and effort that count, people!

In the morning, Neil and Kath came to say goodbye and David was still in bed and I was at the table in my nightie (blogging IIRC). I think a photo of Kath and me on the stern deck of Waka Huia may appear on their blog shortly - and I am in my nightie but I did take off my red and white striped bed socks (a la Dr Seuss, Cat in the Hat, I think) so I could step down on to the towpath to give and receive hugs.

It was lovely to meet them in person - I am afraid I talked the hind leg off a donkey with them - I was so excited 😫😬😳

Duelling cameras as they departed. Neil did the painting on the can himself some years ago and varnished it - it looks fab.

Kath heading down into the boat as they left. Neil going at tickover - you can tell because the prop is only making very little waves on the surface. Good man!

 

After they left we decided to go and wind and come back to the same mooring spot. The winding hole is about 500 metres up the cut and is at an old and short arm. 

I wasn't sure which side the winding hole was - why I didn't judge that it would be the side with the old arm in I don't know. But I approached cautiously, realised  which side it was and started to turn. Even though David said 'Superb job, Marilyn' (it's ALWAYS the kiss of death to get praise before a manoeuvre is completed), because I was a bit late turning, I managed to get wedged between the rocks and hawthorn on the offside and the rocks under the bridge over the arm. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! David had to use the barge pole to push the bow off and for a few minutes he could not budge it. I even left the stern and went through to the bow to see up close what the situation was. He was able to start moving the bow off the rocks when he stood further back so his weight was off the bow and when I was able to move the boat a bit further back. Eventually we completed the turn, but AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to have other boats come upon us in flagrante dilecto, so to speak - wrong position, wrong wrong wrong!

But as we were returning along the cutting to the mooring place (with a strong smell of pig poo from one side or the other of the canal ...) a traditional boat came towards us. I was so pleased the steerer timed his approach when he did... And after that a NZer who had moored a couple of boats behind us whom I had taken a dislike to and avoided (within about 2 minutes of mooring up, he told me his ex-wife had been under Jacinda's thumb and was too scared to go outside during lockdowns, and that Jacinda had delayed NZers getting the vaccine...) came past us as well. 

So all in all, I had a lucky escape from ignominy!

We moored up again where Neil and Kath had been and pretty much blobbed the day away - I added the photos to the previous blogpost and published it but not much else, and David sorted out the toolbox; and then when everyone else had gone inside their boats and wouldn't be disturbed by the noise, he proceeded to hacksaw the D-rings off the chains attached to the solar panels - right above my head. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! And then he took about 40 minutes to file down one of the bolts that hold the pramcover sliders in place. Double AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Bad end to the day...

Have you ever been inside a metal boat with someone clanging, banging, sawing, filing metal on the roof? It is not something I would recommend.

Then the wind came up straight along the canal from the area of the pig farm. I raced through the boat and shut all doors and windows - I hate the smell of pig poo!

 Yesterday we left All Oaks Wood at about 8am - a late start, because we needed a pumpout and the Armada Wharf opens at 9am and we were only an hour away - no point in arriving early. A cheap pump out - only £15 - and diesel at £1.15 a litre. We were happy enough with the price as we have seen it for sale at more than that. (Ian told me this morning that he got some at 85p a litre recently - that was the price for over 50 litres.)

We had been going to moor up again at Rugby, but decided to just stop there for water. We assisted a couple on their boat whose bearings for the prop shaft had come loose. They didn't have a 17mm spanner, so we donated our spare one to them, helped them move their boat down a bit so we could get in behind them and clear the channel, Tied it up so the lady didn't have to keep holding the rope. I also helped a hireboat crew get in alongside us and breast up while waiting for our tank to fill.  The tap seemed much slower than it was before we headed for All Oaks Wood, but David reckons that the hosepipe may have been a bit kinked last time and what he thought was the gurgling of a full tank may actually have been the hose speaking... So we need to be a bit careful, but I am sure, based on the flow and the duration, that the tanks was pretty close to full. 

Once all our do-gooding had been completed and the tank was reasonably full, we moved on to beside the golf course. A pretty nice mooring and certainly quieter than in the town.

Today we walked to Tescos - there and back was 9268 steps so even though it was a 30 minute walk each way, I still didn't reach 10,000 steps! Hardly fair, I reckon.

We needed flour and other stuff. But how on earth did I run out of white flour? And I have bread to make - plenty of rye and wholemeal, but no white flour left! Doh!