What a glorious morning with bright blue sky as we joined our Friday Filling Station prayer group at 8am. Sometimes the boat is just too cold then to get out of bed but today was surprisingly mild and made even better by a hot crumpet appearing topped with peanut butter and banana – what a good start to the day!
Before the promised rain set in we embarked on a walk to find the lakes we could see close by on Google maps. We didn’t allow for the flooding so had to alter our route somewhat. However we ended up doing a circular route arriving back at the flooded area and the only way through was to cross the busy (especially considering it’s a lockdown) A5 dual carriageway, taking our life in our hands! The last time we did something similar was in the height of a very hot summer a few years ago, whilst holidaying in Kent. We decided to walk some of the Pilgrims Way from Dover to Canterbury but setting off from our hotel which involved some unknown footpaths. I was dismayed to find one of them had us crossing a very busy ‘A’ road with no maintained footpath on the other side. I only had shorts and bare legs and found myself scrambling up a steep overgrown verge consisting of waist high brambles and nettles. The alternative was to walk along the actual ‘A’ road which as a dual carriageway seemed particularly precarious.
We foraged some wood on the way back to the boat so as R set about chopping that, I collected all our empty water containers and once again was like the lady at the well, walking to the water tap just back along the towpath. There were 8 canoeists waiting to go through the lock in two canoes braced together for stability and one member trying to operate the lock gates, helped along by R remarking that the bottom set of paddles needed to be closed before the top set were opened! It seemed like the canoeists were novices at the locks, so R surmised that as a group of similarly aged youngsters they were doing their Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. The jury’s out on that one – I’m not sure DofE would continue during the pandemic.
We sat on the stern enjoying our coffee and I took the following two pictures, one of R in front of me and a selfie so that you can see behind me. Once again I am intrigued by the difference in sky and light. I also loved the way the tree opposite us reflected in the water.
By the time our chores were finished the rain had started. I did my Joe Wicks routine and then got to thinking about lunch and a nice cup of tea. I was dismayed when the gas didn’t light, not believing we had already emptied the gas cylinder. I thought it was supposed to last on average 3 months. Looking back on my blog (I managed to hit first time on the exact day we had previously changed cylinders!) it’s been 6 weeks and I wouldn’t say I have done that much cooking. However it goes to show what a difference lockdown makes with no pubs open to get a hot meal every so often. I presume that’s why we have used so much gas so fast as the central heatingon the boat is done from diesel.
My regular Friday afternoon Zoom lifted my spirits and was an opportunity to get some film recommendations. On the back of that we have just watched The White Tiger recently released on Netflix. It certainly is not a feelgood movie but it does get you thinking and there are some great shots of India giving you a vivid picture of the tumultous country and its people.
Seemingly impassable 
NarrowboatTLC 