Waking to a clear blue sky lifts the spirits, even though by 1030 it really was still too cold to sit on boat bow wrapped in blankets! So we walked into Berko and treated ourselves to coffee at Cafe Nero (R tempted by the £1 mince pie offer!) and then replenished our ‘essential’ supply of whisky for R and in memory of mum, sherry ready for my Sunday tipple. As mentioned in previous blogs I have days when I question our purpose on the boat and ask for a Godly sign. I believe that happened today. Returning from town we were talking about how we would manage to isolate on the boat if required as we don’t really have an address for home deliveries. We fell to talking to a young couple on the towpath and putting the world to rights, as you do! L told us she hopes to live on a narrowboat for a couple of years once her studies have finished and we were talking about some of the challenges, such as coping with the practicalities of isolation. L immediately offered her phone number should we ever have need of help and we offered her tea should she pass our boat on one of her regular towpath walks. Later I felt cheered to receive this message from L saying that our talk ‘was the ray of sunshine I needed’. A small happening but I think God is in the small and every day. Later, sitting on the boat bow who should appear but Clive, our allotment friend. Transpires he owns a couple of garages right where we are moored. He declined my offer of tea as he had things to do before the light faded but we chatted so long that the darkness came. He was explaining that because the canal is in a deep valley any stoves producing smoke result in all the nearby houses getting smoked out. This was a real problem before the arrival of smokeless fuel and is still an issue if boaters are thoughtless as to what they burn. He then disappeared into his garage and reappeared with a homemade bottle of pear & apple juice, produced from the bounty of the local orchards. Such a kind gesture. And tastes amazing!
Have just finished reading ‘Where the Crawdad sing’ by Delia Owens as it was recommended to me by a good friend. It would make a great read for a book club as I think there are many moral issues running through it. If anyone feels the same after reading it, let me know and I could set up an impromptu, one off, Zoom book club discussion.
NarrowboatTLC 