Perhaps not the best date to do something tricky like reversing a boat with no backwards steerage but we managed after filling the water tank to the brim. What I had not realised was how long it actually takes to fill the tank. Every time I thought it full because the water bubbled onto the deck, I waited with the hose in a bucket and then started to add more water. I think I emptied 3 buckets of water into the canal! Meanwhile R got chatting to a lady on the side who wanted some water jugs filled. It ended up a really interesting conversation about resentment, a subject that she is currently studying as a PHD. She has come to the conclusion that resentment that is not expressed eventually turns into anger. A thought to be considered at a time when there is so much resentment lurking in everyday life.
A friend who lives locally arrived late morning and we went on a lovely walk across the fields – an area of Berkhamsted that we had not previously discovered and it was refreshing to be in wide open spaces. Returning to the boat, with the wet weather closing in, I decided to try my hand at making a cake with the quinces I had pre-baked in the oven yesterday and was pleasantly surprised with the result.
A lesson was also learned about moving the boat, even if only by a few feet – check out the internet. I found myself for an hour standing on the towpath in the pitch dark so I could join the weekly Friday Zoom – my friends kept wondering why they couldn’t see the disembodied voice!
NarrowboatTLC 