Last day in the marina today. It’s been a treat waking up to instant heat from the electric blow heater although I have missed the stove in the evening. R has had a week off from the laying and lighting of fires, cleaning out the ash and chopping up the foraged wood. The downside is that you don’t get the same cosy feel in the evenings. We also have struggled with the Internet. Very poor WiFi so no advantage having WiFi included in the marina fees. Still, the shower block has enabled us to get very clean and the Elsan hasn’t had to be used so often! Am planning to use the washing machine before we leave tomorrow but that means being in the office by 0830 when it opens – there could be a bit of a queue. Then we will fill the water tank and might even make use of the electricity to vacuum the floors and charge all the electronic devices. The other plus of being here has been the recycling facilities. I am afraid our rubbish usually has to go in a general bin as the CRT does not provide much in the way of recycling.
We only plan to go through one lock tomorrow and then moor up nearby. Our idea of mooring near to Aldi is a bit pointless whilst the wasteland between Aldi and the canal is flooded. Still we were able to walk to Aldi today via the towpath which had dried out considerably – it was just a longer way round. I spied an M&S food so went there instead thinking it might be less crowded. Whilst at the checkout I made conversation by asking the cashier how her day was going and she told me she had a bit of a dry cough. Now here’s the thing. In the past I would have sympathised and thought no more of it. Today however my mind went into overdrive and when I returned to the boat I wiped down everything I had purchased with Zoflora. Over reaction or just how we have to be in a pandemic? Alert and cautious. I do hope she is OK and it must be a bit of a nightmare for the supermarkets if their staff get a covid outbreak.
R had a Zoom meeting with the church all morning so I took the opportunity to finish my P D James novel, ‘Original Sin’. The title did not become obvious until very near the end of the book but it was a great read and I shall look out for more of her novels for a bit of escapism. The sun came out at lunchtime so we had a very pleasant, warm walk until the sun retreated and the sky turned grey. By then we were laden down with rucksacks so the walk home generated its own heat!
A Zoom quiz this evening helped to pass the time and exercise the brain cells but I think we were probably the recipients of the wooden spoon yet again! We have a free subscription to Britbox for 6 months so we watched a bit of ‘Some mothers do have’em’ which still elicited a bit of a laugh and then R found a 1980s film to watch whilst I caught up with the blog.
NarrowboatTLC 