Snow was forecast today but actually when we ventured out on a walk along the towpath it felt warmer than yesterday. We wanted to find a suitable mooring for tomorrow after we have completed the locks through Marsworth and out the other side. We met a delightful man walking beside the last lock we visited and he fell to talking to us. He was definitely someone with a positive outlook on life, always trying to see the glass half full. He used to be a football coach and then a mentor for troubled youngsters in London. He found that work heartbreaking as so often those he helped to recover from drug abuse, relapsed. A few years ago a friend who was a fishmonger asked for his help. As a result of that he now has a passion for fish and healthy eating. If I heard him correctly, there are 10 master fishmongers in Britain and he is aiming to be number 11! Moving to live with his mum near here and help care for her, he is learning all the aspects of the job that he needs to know before he opens his own shop. Such is his passion for supplying fresh fish he gave me his number and said to ring him whenever I wanted advice on a recipe or how to cook a particular fish. As R admitted that I wasn’t a great fan of oily fish such as mackerel, he suggested how to cook it in such a way I would be hooked (excuse the pun!). Finely slice a fennel bulb and lay in a dish topped with the mackerel, fresh as can be, juice of a blood orange and fresh parsley. Bake. Sounds delicious and simple so worth a punt! We parted on the best of terms and he heartened us by saying our chat had made his day! Reminded me how important it is to be ready to stop and listen when someone obviously wants to talk.
The walk through Marsworth was very picturesque with the Tring reservoirs to one side with lots of ducks and swans parading around. In a way quite a bleak, but beautiful landscape. A couple of pubs, a few houses but not much else of note. Nowhere to buy any provisions that I came across. I think it must be rather strange to live in a village that largely consists of a canal bisecting its centre with a scattering of 7 random locks close together!
Am in the midst of a P D James whodunit so tucked myself under the duvet this afternoon and read a few chapters. Then my regular Friday Zoom with friends, followed by another phonecard with a good friend and it was time for gin, supper and an episode of Vera followed by a feelgood, fairly soppy film (based on a true story). Then a relatively early night ready to tackle the locks tomorrow. At least I know halfway along there is a takeaway selling delicious hot chocolate. The one I had today wasn’t quite hot enough so I just need to try another one tomorrow asking for it extra hot, just to confirm the taste was the best chocolate drink I have had in a while!
There was an article in one of the newspapers this week entitled 21 ways to treat yourself in lockdown and I realised many of them they were indulgences I was already enjoying: proper coffee; comfy shoes (I even have on the boat a pair of the exact recommended birkenstock slippers – I bought them a couple of years back from the birkenstock seconds retail outlet in Bad Honnef where my sister in law lives!): long baths (well the one on the boat isn’t so long!); coats of many colours; shopping around for bargains; candles; cocktails; fresh flowers (slightly cumbersome on a boat with little space!); a project (I suppose that’s one way of looking at this narrowboat trip); a bookclub (bible study is nearest equivalent) and biscuits. I was so pleased to see them on the list. I have rediscovered the pleasure of a good biscuit with my morning coffee or afternoon tea. A guilty pleasure that I have not enjoyed for many a year. My waistline may not thank me but it is such a comforting treat.
NarrowboatTLC 