Been a long day! Thinking I would beat the crowds I was outside the large Tesco on our doorstep at 7am when it opened (don’t think I’ve seen 0700 since coming on the boat!) only to find everyone else had the same idea. The queue around the block reminded me of Christmases a decade or so back when queues in Christmas week were the norm. Once in the store itself it was hard to focus so early in the morning but I really didn’t want to forget anything and have to return. Wasn’t even sure what we want to eat on Christmas day but whatever it is, it has to be gluten free for H. Update on yesterday when we thought we would be nobby nomates – because we are in T4 like H we can be her support bubble and spend Christmas with her. So every cloud has a silver lining. H is our daughter who spent lockdown isolated as she lives alone so the thought of that repeating for her at Christmas was very sad. And another plus – she has hot running water, a real toilet and full sized bath. What’s not to like?! Well at least these are our plans tonight – who knows what the rules will be tomorrow.
Late morning a boat came and double parked alongside us as the delightful young couple needed a Tesco shop. Their Christmas plans were in tatters – as they live in London on the boat they didn’t want to leave it there unattended whilst they went to visit his parents so they were planning on leaving it somewhere near where we are. Then as all of London went from T3 to the unknown T4 they realised there would be no visiting and they had very little food, hence the necessity to shop. We got chatting and I was bemoaning our inability to charge our phones on 12v. The phones seem to be bled of battery power overnight ! He explained we needed to replace our 12v car USB plug and leads and all should be well. So, back to that queue, even longer now. However it was very satisfying to plug the new charger into the 12v system and see our problem solved. The young man, an IT techy by trade, even donated us a spare cable. It has been so difficult running out of charge and only getting it by turning on the engine and using the inverter. A very fortuitous meeting.
The afternoon was rather special. My neice it transpires lives very close to our mooring and she was able to come over for a walk and introduce me to my most recent great nephew. As we walked towards the boat along the towpath I spied a couple of bits of wood I thought R would like to chop up so I carried them home little realising how much of the walk still remained! The rain held off until just as they were leaving. Her plans have gone awry since she’s in T4 and her parents are not so I think she was glad of the distraction of seeing her old aunt.
A very frustrating evening realising our 4G is misbehaving and our telephone signal is incredibly weak. Just hope there’s enough coverage for an episode of Vera…..
NarrowboatTLC 